Autumn in New York is a season made for exploration. The air is crisp, the landscapes glow with vibrant color, and vineyards are alive with the energy of harvest. Across the state’s diverse regions, from Long Island’s coastal vineyards to the glacier-carved Finger Lakes and the Hudson Valley’s Shawangunk region, fall offers the perfect opportunity to experience New York wines at their peak. A Destination Rich in History and Innovation
The 2025 growing season is here, and 2024’s season may look like specks of dust in the rearview mirror. But there are still things to discover about how New York’s wineries and vineyards fared in 2024. Last October, as the busy season in the vineyards wrapped up, signs pointed to an “epic” harvest season. Wine growers from all of New York State’s major growing regions, who had been adding up
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
The New York Sustainable Winegrowing program is excited to announce that applications are now open for the Vineyard Certification process. Following the success of welcoming 19 new Certified Vineyards last year, the program is now open to all wineries and vineyards in New York. The NYWGF Sustainable Winegrowing program provides a pathway to voluntary third-party certification that verifies vineyards are using the best practices to ensure environmental, social, and economic
February 20, 2024 – The New York Wine & Grape Foundation (NYWGF) is pleased to announce the winners of the prestigious 2024 Unity Awards. The Unity Awards were created in 1990 for the community to recognize, encourage, and celebrate cooperation among grape growers, wineries, researchers, retailers, and others to advance the entire industry. Honoring the longstanding and bold spirit of our community members and their numerous achievements, NYWGF is proud
With more than 11,500 wineries to choose from in the U.S. alone, beverage enthusiasts could drink a bottle of wine from a different winery every day, and not run out of new options for several years. Exciting for thirsty, novelty-loving wine lovers, less so for vintners eager to establish a loyal base of supporters. These days, that entails a tightrope walk: wineries have to establish personal relationships with people who
Direct-to-consumer (DTC) sales are increasingly becoming important for small and medium-sized wineries; in many cases, wine clubs are foundational to sustained DTC success. The classic distribution model, amid widespread consolidation, is no longer viable for most wineries. Distributors have been merging and consolidating for decades now. Currently, two distributors account for more than half of all wine sales in the U.S. Meanwhile, the number of wineries across the country are
Hybrid grapes are seen by many as the store-brand version of real-deal grapes. Sure, they have some notable benefits: they’re generally less expensive, and in many ways just as good as the name brand versions. But they don’t have the cache, street cred and long history of their Vitis vinifera counterparts. But in New York—and other regions of the Northeast and Midwest where real-life growing conditions often fail to be
September 20th, 2023 – Penn Yan, NY — The New York Wine & Grape Foundation (NYWGF) is pleased to announce the culmination of its Brand Expansion project in partnership with Born Collective. The goal of this initiative, which began in April 2022, was to create tools and resources designed to increase the recognition of the New York wine and grape industry to global trade, media, and consumer audiences. NYWGF is
In the ever-evolving world of wine and grape production, research plays a crucial role in advancing knowledge, improving practices, and ensuring the sustainability of the industry. The New York Wine & Grape Foundation (NYWGF), since its inception in 1985, has been sponsoring an ambitious and comprehensive viticulture and enology research program in close coordination with industry and academia. We are happy to announce the release of the research reports for
Governor Kathy Hochul today announced the winners of the 37th Annual New York Wine Classic, a nationally recognized competition highlighting the best of New York’s wine industry. The competition’s 2023 Governor’s Cup was presented to Paumanok Vineyards 2019 Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc from Long Island. In addition, Paumanok Vineyards was also honored with the Winery of the Year award. The Governor made the announcement this evening during a special live virtual
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Valerie Venezia-RossPhone: 1 (518) 229-3765Email: valerieross@nywgf.org PENN YAN, NY, June 28, 2023 – The New York Wine & Grape Foundation is proud to announce the certification of the first set of vineyards from the New York Sustainable Winegrowing program, marking a significant milestone in promoting environmental, social, and economic sustainability in the New York wine industry. This voluntary third-party certification program recognizes vineyards that adhere to
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Valerie Venezia-RossPhone: 1 (518) 229-3765Email: valerieross@nywgf.org PENN YAN NY, June 12, 2023 – The New York Wine & Grape Foundation (NYWGF) is pleased to announce that the 2023 New York Wine Classic Award winners will be honored on July 13th at 6:00PM EST in a live virtual ceremony hosted by Karen MacNeil. The New York Wine Classic Awards Ceremony will reveal and celebrate the prestigious “Governor’s Cup” (Best Wine), “Winery
Building on the success of the recently updated New York Wine Reference Guide, NYWGF is now pleased to bring comprehensive, expertly delivered New York wine education to you each week from April 25th through June 20th, 2023. All are welcome to join writer and educator Dan Belmont as he leads this nine (9) part series designed to help you build essential knowledge about the history, styles, varietals, and exciting innovations
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Valerie Venezia-Ross Phone: 1 (518) 229-3765 Email: valerieross@nywgf.org PENN YAN NY, March 1, 2023 – The New York Wine & Grape Foundation (NYWGF) is pleased to announce the winners of the prestigious 2023 Unity Awards. The Unity Awards were created in 1990 as a way for the community to recognize, encourage, and celebrate cooperation among grape growers, wineries, researchers, retailers, and others to advance the entire industry. Honoring the longstanding and bold spirit of