Empire Room at New York State Fair Serving NY Wines, Spirits

The new operators of the Empire Room at the New York State Fair are offering both New York wines and New York spirits for sale this year.

Last year, not quite sure what was going on. A vineyard owner emailed me after last year's fair to say the Empire Room wasn't selling one single New York wine.

A story http://www.steubencourier.com/x1531247936/State-fair-eateries-ignore-N-Y-state-wines from last year in the Steuben Courier Advocate headquartered in Bath stated only one New York wine -- from Glenora Wine Cellars -- was being sold at the Empire Room.

Of course, I couldn't verify anything because I received zero responses from three phone calls and two emails to the state Department of Agriculture and Markets.

Anyway, this year, new Empire Room operators Jay and Kathy Bernhardt, owners of the Hotel Clarence in Seneca Falls and the Red Mill Inn in Baldwinsville, and Ben Eberhardt, who manages operations at the Sherwood Inn in Skaneateles and the Colgate Inn in Hamilton, have brought many New York state wines and spirits back to the Empire Room.

In fact from 2 to 4 p.m. today, there will be a wine tasting of wines from Glenora Wine Cellars on Seneca Lake. 

So congrats to the Empire Room for being a real Taste of New York.