Hudson River Region, Lake Erie and the Urban Wineries of New York

D’Amato & Szabo: Wine Thieves

An episode devoted to a few lesser known topics relations to New York Wines including growing in the Hudson River Region, Lake Erie and the burgeoning urban winery scene. An historic growing region, the Hudson River Region is one of the oldest established AVAs in the US having received the designation in 1982. It's also home to the oldest commercial vineyard and the oldest continuously active winery, Brotherhood Winery (1839), having survived prohibition by making sacramental wine. Only a 45-minute drive from Manhattan, grape growing takes place largely on the western shores of the Hudson River Valley that stretch from just south of Albany to just north of the city, following the path of the river to its end in the Atlantic Ocean. We'll also take a look at the grapes grown on the southern shores of Lake Erie and although largely for juice and table grapes, also by a growing number of wineries.
Who says you can't make wine in big cites? The fact that there are no vineyards in the city doesn't seem to inconvenience the swelling number of intrepid New York urban winery owners who source their grapes largely from Long Island and the Finger Lakes. John and Sara investigate the challenges of trucking grapes in from nearby wine regions, the relationships they develop with growers and how they virtually transport city-folk into New York State vineyards. All this and more in this 5th and final episode of the New York wine podcast series.
Joining the Thieves in a round table discussion are Matthew Spaccarelli of Fjord Vineyards in the Hudson Valley, Mario Mazza of Mazza Wines in Lake Erie, Colleen and Sebastian Hardy of Living Roots in Rochester and Christopher Nicolson of Red Hook Winery in Brooklyn, New York.
This episode was produced in partnership with the New York Grape & Wine Foundation.