N.Y. wineries taste global benefits

Mary Chao | Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat & Chronicle

Show Caption Hide Caption Finger Lakes wine explosion What's driving the growth in Finger Lakes wineries.

ROCHESTER -- Looking out to his vineyards on the west side of Seneca Lake, vintner John Martini of Anthony Road Wine Co. reminisces about what the Finger Lakes region was like when he and his wife, Ann, decided to buy some land in 1973.

They were looking for an alternative to their busy lifestyle in New Jersey and decided to grow grapes for Taylor Wine Co. Land was cheap at about $300 an acre, he recalled, and just a few vineyardists were growing grapes for wine.

Today, Seneca Lake is home to 65 wineries. New York state reached a milestone of 400 wineries this spring. There were 13 in the state prior to 1975, and 35 between 1976 and 1984, according to the New York Wine and Grape Foundation. The Farm Winery Act of 1976 encouraged the growth of smaller wineries after the big companies pulled out of most of their local contracts.

Between 1986 and 2015, 351 new wineries were formed, with 131 launched since 2011. That also has meant a hefty boost in wine-related tourism. And it is putting Finger Lakes wineries on the international map for wine connoisseurs and foodies.

A shift in consumer tastes favoring small boutique wineries is helping to drive the growth for Finger Lakes products. Consumers enjoy getting to know the story behind each winery and the vintner’s vision of the wines.

Just as New York wines started making inroads in the crowded Manhattan market over a decade ago, Finger Lakes wines are popping up in European and Asian countries. Visitors and travel writers are promoting the region, and winery owners are starting new ventures and partnerships abroad.

“The world is getting smaller and there’s a cachet to New York,” Martini said.

International outreach

Martini teamed up with Fox Run Vineyards owner Scott Osborn and Villa Bellangelo owner Chris Missick on a European venture called New York Wines, SaRL. Incorporated in Luxembourg, the venture enables the wineries to ship wines in large containers instead of small batches, cutting down the cost of freight. The joint venture has a warehouse and offices in Brussels, Belgium.

In its first year in 2014, the three Seneca Lake wineries shipped 2,500 cases of wines that sold in several European countries, including Denmark, Belgium, Germany, France, Sweden, Finland and Scotland, Osborn said.

“What we found is that the quality of our wines is far superior and cheaper,” Osborn said.

Europe is well-known for its old-growth vines — some in France are more than 150 years old — but there are plenty of mediocre wines as well, Osborn said. The joint venture made it cost-effective to sell wines in Europe at a price that Europeans like, typically between 10 and 15 euros a bottle, roughly $15 to $20 in the U.S., he said.

More small family-owned businesses are exporting products to overseas markets, said Susan Spence, vice president of the New York Wine and Grape Foundation. Part of the effort to increase awareness is to bring buyers and media from target markets to visit New York wine regions so they can see the geography and soil, meet the people in the industry and sample products.

This month, a group of three importers and two media representatives from Japan are in the Finger Lakes. Later in the month, there will be a small group from Hong Kong. In September, a group from Europe will be touring, she said.

Kudos from wine publications also boost the reputation of the Finger Lakes. The international Wine Enthusiast magazine rated the Finger Lakes one of the “Best Wine Travel Destinations in 2015.”

That kind of attention is driving growth at the tasting rooms, where profit margins are higher than they would be if the wines were sold through distributors. The land that the Martinis paid $300 an acre for some four decades ago — the equivalent of $1,606 in today’s dollars — now goes for $5,000 to $6,000 an acre, and the seasonal shack that once served as Anthony Road’s tasting room two decades ago is now a state-of the-art, climate-controlled building with several bars for tastings, a gift area and an art gallery. But it pays off in attracting visitors from around the country and around the globe. Martini exports his wines to Japan, among other countries.

At Hunt Country Vineyards in Branchport, Yates County, off Keuka Lake, co-owners Art and Joyce Hunt built a large tasting room in 2000 to handle the influx of new visitors, with a gift shop that sells local foods and wine-related souvenirs. They are planning on opening a cafe in the next few years.

The Hunts are among the winery pioneers in the Finger Lakes region, having opened in 1981. The Hunts’ son Jonathan, the winemaking director, and his wife, Caroline Boutard-Hunt, are co-owners and the sixth generation on the farm.

Business has continued to grow each year, with the exception of 2008, at the height of the recession, Art Hunt said. More consumers are buying direct online, and social media outreach has enabled the winery to attract customers from all over the country, he said.

“What’s happening in the Finger Lakes region is so exciting, but it’s a lot of work,” Martini said, noting that seasons are short and the soil quality variable.

Even with the climate challenges and rising land costs, entrepreneurs continue to look to the Finger Lakes, drawn by the romanticism of being a winery owner.

“There is plenty of room for growth, but we need to manage it,” said James Trezise, president of the New York Wine and Grape Foundation. “I see the Finger Lakes as continuing to grow in the number of wineries, quality of the wines and reputation around the country and world.”

Trezise notes that in New York, there are 65 wineries on 35 acres versus almost 300 wineries on a similar-sized plot of land in Napa Valley, California. The region would never get as big as Napa Valley simply because upstate New York does not have California’s year-round sunshine. While drought is a major issue in California and water is plentiful here, topography and harsh winter temperatures can be a challenge.

Still, small wineries are indeed big business for the region, said Bob, King, Ph.D., an agricultural specialist and a professor at Monroe Community College.

While land costs have soared in the Finger Lakes region over the years, there is still room for the average entrepreneur to make money, King said. But it takes a good business plan, he added.

Starting a business

After working for Martini and for Dr. Konstantin Frank Vinifera Wine Cellars, Johannes Reinhardt opened Kemmeter Wines in the summer of 2013, selling five varieties of boutique white wines.

A native of the Bavaria region of Germany, where his family owned a winery, Reinhardt fell in love with the Finger Lakes and decided to make it his home.

“In many ways, it’s like the land I grew up in, in Germany,” said Reinhardt, 48. “It’s hilly, the seasons are short.”

With his personal savings and a bank loan, Reinhardt bought land and built a small, 400-square-foot tasting room across from Anthony Road. He and his wife, Imelda Ryona, live in a house next to the tasting room.

Reinhardt declined to say how much he has invested in the business. According to the wine and grape foundation, between 2006 and 2008, the average winery owner invested $400,000 to start a business that includes vineyards, tasting rooms and other amenities.

“I have always wanted to own my own business,” he said. “I want to be part of a growing industry.”

Growth in the region does not mean high profits for a vintner. Like any small-business manager, Reinhardt manages his finances carefully. He keeps his winery small to keep overhead costs low. Tastings are by appointment. He sells direct to consumers because he could not survive as a new small business selling at wholesale prices.

“We do not do this to make as much money as possible,” Reinhardt said. “We do it because we have a heart and passion for the industry.”

Down a few miles on the west side of Seneca Lake, Swedish native Oskar Bynke pours renowned Hermann J. Wiemer Vineyard wines for visitors from the New York City region.

With a hearty chuckle, he shares his knowledge and love of wines with siblings Brian and Lindsay Davis and Dede Solley, who are touring wine country for Dede’s birthday celebration. Even on a day with torrential downpours, the tasting room was filled with tourists.

Bynke and his business partner, Fred Merwarth, bought the winery from Wiemer, its founder, in 2007. Merwarth is the winemaker. Bynke is the marketer.

Bynke’s marketing prowess paid dividends for the new winery owners when in 2011, Hermann Wiemer wine was served to the most powerful man in the country. Wiemer’s 2008 semi-dry Riesling was on the menu at a Democratic fundraiser at New York City’s Red Rooster hosted by President Obama at a cool $30,800 a plate.

Profits have climbed steadily for the past few years, with the winery selling out of its inventory. Since the winery limits its production of wines to those made from grapes it grows and harvests, the business’ profits have increased due to direct sales to customers online and at the winery rather than by increasing production, Bynke explained.

“We can’t produce enough,” said Bynke, 40.

Consumer shift

The boom in Finger Lakes wines is largely due to a shift in consumer tastes over the past two decades, Martini said. When he started in the business growing grapes for Taylor in the 1970s, bulk wine was king and people didn’t really care what they drank, Martini recalled. Now, there’s an artisan craft movement, with consumers much more sophisticated about what they eat and drink, much as the craft beer movement has made inroads in the beer industry.

“No one drinks a Bud Light anymore,” Martini said.

While that’s not entirely true — exhibit A being any sports venue you care to name — the American palate has clearly become more cultured.

With the growth of the Finger Lakes wine industry, production has increased over 50 percent since 1985, to about 175,000 bottles annually.

Quality boutique wines in small editions are what set the Finger Lakes wine region apart from other wine regions such as the larger Napa Valley wine trail, Trezise said.

“We are known for good wines,” Trezise said. “We are the premier Riesling region in the country.”

Consumers are also looking for experiences, Trezise noted. They enjoy visiting the wineries and taking in the sights and sounds.

Over the years, the Finger Lakes region has earned kudos from other wine-making regions, said MCC’s King, who traveled to California a few years ago to meet with food and wine industry experts there.

While the wine industry in the Finger Lakes is becoming more diversified, with tourism a big part of the sales, King thinks consumer access can be improved. Many Finger Lakes wines are sold direct to consumers from the vintner and additional national retail channels can help spread the word, King said.

“There’s a big interest in local and diversity,” King said.

The number of visitors to the wine regions of New York has exploded from 384,000 in 1985 to 5.3 million visitors in 2012, according to the wine and grape foundation.

The increase in visitors has prompted an evolution in policies. Most wineries now charge a few dollars for tastings rather than offering them for free. And the region is drawing party buses, which some wineries are declining to accommodate to avoid crowds who have consumed too much alcohol.

Trezise expects the region to add an additional 40 to 50 wineries in the next decade as consumers respond favorably to the wines.

The industry should be able to accommodate that kind of an expansion, said Bradley Rickard, associate professor of agriculture economics at Cornell University. Demand for Finger Lakes wines is growing in state and out of state as well as in restaurants in New York City and liquor stores around the Northeast. The fact that Wine Spectatornow lists the Finger Lakes region in its annual wine ratings is a good signal that demand is rising for these wines, Rickard added.

The region draws new visitors each year, such as Bob and Arleen Boruta, who traveled from Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, to tour Finger Lakes wine country with friends. As wine enthusiasts, the couple earlier visited Napa Valley.

“I heard about the Finger Lakes for years,” said Bob Boruta, 70. “They have a good reputation.”