As we approach the final days of harvest with activity on the press pads slowing and the juice finding a temporary home in tanks, hopefully many in our industry are able to stop and take a quick breath of air before we find ourselves in the fury of the holiday season. This period presents a good time for all of us to begin thinking about our 2021 strategies and plans.
This has been a difficult year on many fronts, so while I usually focus my weekly editorial on the positive stories emerging from New York’s grape and wine industry, I felt that it was important to also share the growers’ harvest experience this year.
I enjoy keeping up to date with this Fall’s harvest in Cornell’s Véraison to Harvest Newsletter that is edited by Tim Martinson and Chris Gerling. The newsletter provides a valuable update on the progress of harvest across the state including detailed reports on berry samples. Given all the tumult this year, I am encouraged to read that harvest stands out as a bright spot as fruit quality continues to be good to excellent across the
Our thoughts and prayers go out to our colleagues in Napa Valley who face the threat of yet another fire this year. COVID already made this a challenging year as wineries across the country had to rapidly readjust their businesses. It is unfortunate that for some their difficulties now include tainted grapes and damaged or destroyed property. If you would like to do something to help, you can contribute to Napa Valley Community Foundation and the Sonoma County Resilience Fund, and
Hosmer Winery’s Rieslings receive recognition in both Top 100 Wines of 2020 and Top 100 Best Buys of 2020. Hosmer Winery is known for its wide portfolio of estate-grown Rieslings. In the most recent Special Issue of Wine & Spirits, not one, but two of Hosmer’s Rieslings are recognized in their Top 100 series.
This year’s upside-down nature makes some days feel great, other days marginal, and hopefully only a few days confounding and discouraging. I describe it as a mixed-bag year because we have endured the COVID challenges longer than expected by adapting to a new business environment while balancing the loss of tried and true business practices and an uncertain future. I acknowledge the veiled pessimism of my words, however I urge us all to adopt Winston
