Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/152772
wine marketing New Y ork wineries & Best Worst business decisions Photo by Kristian Reynolds BY David Furer N ew York state wines have been improving steadily in recent years. The increased technical expertise employed by growers and producers has been painstaking and slow, but identifiable results have been quantified with better sales, more medals and higher prices. Follow-through is assured by the ever-increasing number of tourists who flock to the Finger Lakes and Long Island, with coverage regularly provided by local and regional publications. The marketing and promotional work of the New York Wine & Grape Foundation and its director, Jim Trezise, is among the best of any state outside of the infinitely better-funded California. Rieslings (especially dry) and Chardonnays (both oaky, crisp and unoaked) remain the hallmarks of these regions, while increasingly better examples of solo Merlot or Merlot-driven blends along with the occasional Pinot Noir receive praise from more critics, assuring consumer awareness. But times were not always so easy, as we discover in this state overview of wine producers' best and worst career decisions. Anthony Road Wine Co. Owner John Martini says he "keeps moving along one step after another. "I cannot think of any decision that has caused us a great deal of pain. We have grown slowly to 12,700 cases per year (60% red and 40% white wines) without investing an exorbitant amount of money." When pressed he admits, "Probably the worst decision was not digging a well. We had one for a year or two, but it dried up. We had to buy water at a steady pace. All the water we used in 2012 at the winery came expensively out of a truck. "The health department will not allow us to run the winery and separate tasting room without a steady supply, and we could not run our main source to the production facility without a special siphon. Dr. Frank Vineyard on Keuka Lake. We should have dug a well at the beginning and are now considering it. We do not have access to Seneca Lake, which we look upon, and besides, we would have to treat the water if we did." Martini attributes his best decision to dumb luck. "We were lucky to get Johannes Reinhardt as our winemaker. We started in 1990 with the 1989 crush, and he arrived in 2000 after working at Dr. Frank's followed by a return to his native Germany. He was not necessarily interested in coming back, but I called him, he called back, we flew him in, we spoke of philosophy without tasting any wines he had made, and he came back that summer. It has been a very good fit. When my wife Anne and I spoke with him we told him there would only be one winemaker and that will be you, so there is no second-guessing. "Our son Peter joined the company 14 years ago and has improved our sustainable practices in 75 acres, making great strides to improve fruit quality with more attention to management practices such as leaf removal." 64 p r acti c al w i ne ry & v i ne yard S EPTE MBER 20 13 The flagship white wine is dry Riesling (11.9% alcohol and 0.08% residual sugar [RS]), which makes up 20% of white wine volume. A 30% Cabernet Franc/70% Lemberger blend (13.2% alcohol) is the flagship red wine. The largest volume red wine is Tony's Red (40% Cabernet Franc and 60% Rougeon at 10.3% alcohol and 3.3% RS). Dr. Frank's Vinifera Wine Cellars "We have been in business since 1962 with the oldest vineyards planted in 1958," reports current family majority owner Fred Frank. Dr. Konstantin Frank's expertise in working with vinifera in cold climates gave him the impetus to start a renaissance in New York state. Fred Frank was working for Banfi Vintners in 1993 when, with his father Willy ailing, he took over the family estate and grew it to become what is probably the most recognized winery east of the Mississippi River. He and his cousin Eric Volz grow grapevines in the "banana belt" of Seneca Lake along with vineyards on Keuka Lake. Winemakers from Germany, Australia and California make this one of the most broadly scoped teams. Wines include long-finish and mineral-like Rieslings, Gewürztraminers and Rkatsiteli that are distributed in 35 states. Annual production averages 60,000 cases (76% white, 20% red, 4% sparkling wine). "I think one of the worst decisions— one that I am guilty of, something which can also be said of my father and grandfather—was that, in the early years, tourism was not as popular as it is today. Years ago, if someone drove up, my pre-