State wineries on ever-growing trend

The number of wineries in New York State has hit 316, with six more licenses pending. In addition, there are 54 satellite stores with two more pending.

That's the year-end tally, according to the New York State Wine & Grape Foundation (NYWGF).

"Most impressive, the 20 new wineries are spread across 15 different counties from Chautauqua in the Lake Erie region to Suffolk on Long Island and even King's (Brooklyn)," said Jim Trezise, NYWGF president.

The newcomers, by country alphabetically:

• The Apple Station Winery (Cayuga)
• 21 Brix Winery (Chautauqua)
• North Star Vineyard (Clinton)
• Venditti Vineyards (Jefferson)
• Red Hook Winery (King's)
• Harvest Moon Cidery (Madison)
• A Gust of Sun (Niagara)
• Midnight Run Wine Cellars (Niagara)
• Long Cliff Vineyard & Winery (Niagara)
• Raymor Estate Cellars (Ontario)
• Saratoga Lake Winery (Saratoga)
• Kymar Farm Winery & Distillery (Schoharie)
• Eremita Winery (Seneca)
• Deep Root Vineyard (Steuben)
• Lime Berry Winery (Steuben)
• Mattebella Vineyards (Suffolk)
• Woodstock Winery (Ulster)
• Monello (Yates)
• New Vines Bed & Breakfast (Yates)
• Point of the Bluff Vineyard (Yates)

The new satellite stores, by country alphabetically:

• The Champlain Wine Company (Clinton)
• Swedish Hill Winery (Saratoga)
• Sheldrake Point Vineyard (Schuyler)
• Empire State Cellars, Riverhead (Suffolk)
• Harbes Family Farm & Vineyard (Suffolk)
• The Winemaker Studio by Anthony Nappa Wines (Suffolk)
• Magnus Ridge Winery (Yates)

"A 2011 law intiated by the state Department of Agriculture & Markets ... has made it simpler for farm wineries to open satellite stores, so I expect even more to open in 2012," Trezise said.

"From 2001 to 2011, 198 new wineries have opened, far more than in the previous 180 years, and in just seven years -- from 2005 to 2011 -- the 152 new wineries exceeded the total from the prior 20 years, essentially quadrupling the growth rate.

"Each new winery means new investment, new jobs, new tourists, and new taxes for the State of New York, which already benefits from more than $3.76 billion annually of economic activity generated by our industry.

"The challenge now is to "grow the market" at a greater rate than winery growth so that the new wineries aren't cannibalizing the market share -- tourists and sales -- of the pioneering wineries that got everything started in the first place."

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