Wine Industry Gathers Wednesday

By Rachel Ward

Rochester, NY – The New York wine industry will converge on Rochester this Wednesday, as "Viticulture 2010" begins.

Jim Trezise is the president of the New York Wine and Grape Foundation. He says the conference is held every three years, and is targeted at wine industry professionals. It covers everything from growing and bottling wine in the age of global warming, to marketing it on a tough budget.

The conference and trade show aren't open to the public, but attendees can register to attend, on the day of the event at the Rochester Riverside Hotel.

Trezise says New York is generally supportive of its wine industry, but that small family-owned-and-operated wineries still face significant distribution challenges.
He says those small outfits don't have the budget to market their own wines - but when they use distributors, they lose out on profits.

Trezise says he's also expecting a vigorous debate about the governor's proposal to sell wine in grocery stores during the conference. He says the foundation can't take a public position on the proposal, but there are wine industry members on both sides of the issue.

The conference was first held in 2000 and has taken place every three year or so since then. Regional conferences are held between the state-wide conference.

Trezise says New York versions of wines like Riesling tend to match up with their German and European counterparts, in terms of quality - and they're competitive price-wise.

But he says small New York wineries don't have the economies of scale and government subsidies necessary to compete with South American wines.