New York Wines Clean Up on Medals at California Show

From Jim Trezise at the New York Wine & Grape Foundation:

Hazlitt 1852 Vineyards 2014 Vidal Ice Wine won "Best of Show" at the recent International Eastern Wine Competition/East Meets West in Sonoma, Calif. 

I wrote that sentence a month ago, but now that same wine took Best of Class at the Great American International Wine Competition held last weekend in Rochester, NY.  That double win is a tribute to both the quality of the wine and the quality of the judges. 

Another Best of Class winner was Wagner Vineyards 2015 Semi-Dry Riesling, with Wagner's 2015 Dry Riesling winning a Double Gold as well.  Other Double Gold winners were Hazlitt Light Port, Merritt Estate Bella Ice, and Silver Springs Merlot.

Gold medals were awarded to 240 Days 2015 Rose; Atwater 2014 Dry Riesling; Chateau Lafayette Reneau 2015 Late Harvest Riesling; Coyote Moon Fire Boat Red; Glenora 2015 Vidal Blanc Iced Wine; Hazlitt Red Cat, 2013 Gewurztraminer, and Cider Tree; Idol Ridge 2014 Vidal Blanc Ice Wine; Knapp 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon, and 2014 Dry Riesling; Long Point 2014 Syrah; Montezuma Ice Apple Cider; Schulze Catawba; Silver Springs Pinot Grigio; Swedish Hill 2015 Vidal Blanc; and The Winery at Marjim Manor Heart of Gold.

New York wines won a total of 122 medals.

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.