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Field Notes

News and Updates from the New York Wine & Grape Foundation

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Final Entry Deadline Approaches for the 25th Annual Finger Lakes International Wine & Spirits Competition

New York Wine & Grape Foundation April 26, 2025

The Finger Lakes International Wine & Spirits Competition (FLIWC), now celebrating its 25th year, is inviting wineries and distilleries from around the globe to submit their best products for a chance to be recognized among the industry’s finest—all while supporting a cause that changes lives. With the entry deadline of May 16, 2025, quickly approaching, producers still have time to take part in one of the largest charitable competitions of its kind. The FLIWC is

New York Wine & Grape Foundation Announces Statewide Listening Sessions for Growers and Wineries

New York Wine & Grape Foundation April 26, 2025

The New York Wine & Grape Foundation (NYWGF) is pleased to announce a series of regional Listening Sessions taking place this spring throughout New York’s major grape growing regions. These events are designed to provide an open forum for grape growers, winery professionals, and industry stakeholders to share feedback, ask questions, and help shape the future of New York’s wine and grape industry. Each session will include a complimentary lunch, opportunities for meaningful conversation, and

New York’s Sustainable Winegrowing Program in Action: New Map Highlights Certified Vineyards & Wineries Using Sustainable Grapes 

Robin Shreeves and Kathleen Willcox April 8, 2025

New York is home to an expanding network of certified sustainable vineyards dedicated to minimizing environmental impact, ensuring economic stability, and safeguarding worker health and safety. This certification is awarded through the New York Wine & Grape Foundation’s (NYWGF) Sustainable Winegrowing program. Vineyards that achieve certification, along with wineries producing wines made from at least 85% certified sustainable grapes, are authorized to display the Sustainability Trustmark at their vineyards and on their bottles.  Now, NYWGF

Flexibility is Key to the Best Vineyard Practices

Robin Shreeves and Kathleen Willcox April 1, 2025

Sustainability is not a one-size-fits-all concept in most industries. In the wine world, a cookie-cutter checklist of musts for a winery or vineyard to be considered sustainable simply doesn’t work. Our wineries in New York have different sustainability challenges than wineries in California. Even within New York vineyards may have different sustainability challenges depending on the growing region. There are a lot of variables. Matthew Spaccarelli—who won the 2023 John H. Brahm III Grower Award

How These New York Wineries Are Rethinking (Social) Sustainability 

Kathleen Willcox and Robin Shreeves March 11, 2025

Anthony Road Wine Company courtesy of Rima Brindamour. When we talk about sustainable wine, we usually talk about vineyard practices. And while farming with care is a large part of the story, there is also more to it.   In 1987, the United Nations Brundtland Commission defined sustainability as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”  In other words, sustainability can and perhaps should encompass

Spring Is (Finally!) Here in New York 

Kathleen Willcox and Robin Shreeves March 4, 2025

The winter of 2025 was not for the faint of heart: Central New York saw 25+ feet of snow, and the polar vortex plunged much of the state into frigid temperatures on-and-off from December through February.  Which is all to say, everyone—even the snow obsessives among us—is eager to greet spring this spring. There are few better ways to do it than in wine country, where spring is a time of celebration and renewal, not