Applewood Winery Blog

Bounty of the Hudson was a BLAST!  Tasted so many great wines.  Hudson Valley really has it going on with their winemaking.  Hats off to Jason, Jeremy & Randi of WV winery for doing a great job on Bounty.  Michelle & Jennifer did a fantastic job and really enjoyed themselves (but not too much.)  They sold a ton of Stone Fence Hard Cider.

I recently sat down with Debbie Giaquindo "The Hudson Valley Wine Goddess" (Wow, a real goddess!) who has her own blog  http://hvwinegoddess.blogspot.com/and answered a few questions for her.

 

The 2009 Vintage is now in the tanks and it's time to be introspective and take a look back at what we've done over the past year to make better wine, to reach for the "Holy Grail" of a fine Hudson Valley wine

Summer 2009 has been an especially wet one with cooler temperatures in the Hudson Valley.  Vine growth has been very vigorous with excessive leaf cover which has made a lot of work for us to hedge the vines back to maximize sun exposure of the clusters. 

“Riesling is the grape of the 21^st century” declares winemaker Jonathan Hull.

Sommeliers have always loved Riesling for it’s piercing acidity.  Winemakers love it for the wide variety of styles that it lends itself to.  It can range from a dry wine with crisp apple and pear flavors to Sweet dessert wines with honeyed notes.

Applewood Winery is expanding our vineyard in Warwick beyond it's humble beginnings and I am convinced that the vineyard should be converted to Organic or Biodynamic practices.

The separation of food and wine sales is artificial. Wine and food go naturally together and it would increase overall wine sales in NY to pickup your wine with your groceries.

I've always enjoyed when I traveled out of state and could pick up some wine with my vittles for dinner. It makes for much more of an impulse buy and will expose millions more to the mystical, fascinating world of wines.

Yes, Those shelves will undoubtedly be filled with homogenized, blended, French Oaked,"New World" wine.  But for many it will be their first exposure to wine and food together.

I am a winery owner in NY's Hudson Valley and I truly believe that the more wine people drink the better it is for every winery owner out there everywhere. I don't mind the competition it raises the bar on everyone.  Will anyone even recognize a NY wine of unique character and individuality?  I'll save that for another post.

The sale of wine in grocery stores will unfortunately put some Mom & Pop Liquor stores out of business.

The stores that will survive will be the ones that know their stuff. As a winemaker my motto is taste , taste, taste.  I patronize my local wine store all the time because the guy is incredibly knowledgeable and tastes hundreds of wine a month. No clerk at Stop & Shop will ever replace him.