Tear Down This (Wine) Wall! Supporting NY Wine Means All Parts of NY State

Kristin Vanden Brul shows off her new offerings from Long Island

By Evan Dawson, Finger Lakes Editor

If you walk into a wine shop on Long Island, will you find Finger Lakes wines? How about the other way around - do you expect to find Long Island wines in Finger Lakes shops? I recently discovered the shuttered mentality up close in a wine shop on Keuka Lake. The employee said, "We can't sell Long Island wines. People would get upset with us."

This assertion was backed by only the flimsiest logic, that somehow the Finger Lakes is competing with Long Island (and assumedly the Hudson Valley and the Niagara Escarpment) and to offer those wines is to insult local producers.

Well, this mentality needs to be shipped out of state. And soon. But the good news is that it's slowly changing - in shops like Wine Sense on Rochester's Park Avenue.

Owner Kristin Vanden Brul has lived and worked in the Finger Lakes. She offers a boutique shop with wines from around the world and she has always offered her favorite Finger Lakes selections. After a recent visit to Long Island, Kristin decided she needed more shelf space for New York wine.

"I have no idea why anyone wouldn't want to offer the Finger Lakes alongside Long Island wines," she told me. "They're so different. They compliment each other beautifully."

A confessed Pellegrini fan, Kristin fell hard for Shinn Estate Merlot - so hard that she has "already drank about a case of the '06 myself, and I've been giving free bottles to customers. I tell them, 'Try it once.' They can't even believe it. I don't mind giving the wine away because I love to see their reaction, and I know many will come back and buy more."

It's a good tactic because, as Kristin has discovered, the challenge is simply convincing more people to try New York wines from a different part of their state. In Rochester, customers are open to Finger Lakes wines. Most have never tasted a bottle from Long Island. So last week Kristin offered a class on Long Island wines. It sold out.

"When they taste Long Island Merlot blind they tend to think Bordeaux. I've seen it over and over," she said. "They're a little slow to buy Long Island wine, but I don't think prices are too high. I think the prices match the quality - I really do."

Another challenge is simply getting the wine in stock.

"I pay to have it shipped to Wine Sense," she explained, "but that's not having it trucked in. It costs more to have it shipped, but I think it's worth it. And I've already taken to going down to the New York Wine and Culinary Center to scout out new bottles."

This is the kind of enthusiasm that could help the wine industry across the state. Red Feet Wine Market in Ithaca recently added a section on Long Island wine. 

So how about your wine shop? Can you find a selection from across the state? Or is there a super-local bias?

"Up here we've known that the Finger Lakes is making world-class wine," Kristin said as she unpacked a box filled with bottles from Macari, Channing Daughters, and Lenz. "Now we can show people the world-class wines from Long Island. And if you're interested in Finger Lakes wine, it only makes sense that you'd be interested in Long Island wine." Makes sense to me.

Comments

[Steve]

Thank god! I'm heading to Rochester next week and will be heading there!

[Evan Dawson]

Steve - Be warned, she has a wide selection but it's not deep! I know that Kristin is trying to build an inventory, but it might be worth giving her a call to check her stock or reserve bottles. Are you a Long Islander?

[Lenn Thompson]

What a great way of looking at New York wine as a whole. And, I have no doubt that she'll sell that Long Island wine once she introduces her customers to it.

Kudos...and I look forward to visiting your shop sometime when I'm in the area.

[Gretchen]

Oh I HATE wine censorship!

[steve g]

Evan-I am a transplanted Long Islander in Albany. I do business out towards Rochester. I am actually looking for properties in Long Island wine country as we speak as a 'vacation' home.

I understand that the selection may not be deep. I will stop in and show support none the less if I get a chance and I can find the store between business appointments.

[Dave Foley]

I'm not at all surprised by the underlying rivalry between the Finger Lakes and North Fork. Just look far West for an example that has been going on for years and years: Napa vs Sonoma.
My father in law lived in Santa Rosa for quite some time so I have made a few trips out West for wine tasting. Napa and Sonoma are separated by only a few miles, yet there is a clear and passionate and distinct loyalty to one or the other that permeates the area. Each side takes enormous pride in it’s own product and boasts its virtues over the other.
Why should NY be any different? In fact, I might be a bit disappointed if there wasn’t a rivalry. Doesn’t the FL want to be better than the NF? Doesn’t the NF want to be better than the FL? Don’t they want to be better than everyone and anyone? Doesn’t competition and deep rooted pride breed better performance from all sides?
I say to forget the harmonious, unified bliss. Take the gloves off and let ‘er rip and let the best wine region stand alone. As a consumer, I’ll reap the rewards of more competition and passionate focus, and that is a win-win for me!!
(Sorry… I get that his was a completely self serving response, but I WANT GREAT WINE!!!!)

[Steve]

I agree with Dave. But it makes no sense that retailers choose sides in this debate, especially when the two regions seem to have different niche. While there are certainly nice whites on Long Island, I generally view the Finger Lakes as more consistently good for whites. While there are certainly nice reds in the Finger Lakes, I view Long Island as consistently better on Reds.

And what about the Hudson Valley? Although , my anecdotal experience has been that the overall region's product is not nearly as good from year to year, I would put certain wineries I have tried up there with LI and FL. I'm thinking of Brotherhood's Reislings and Millbrook's pinot noir for instance. I don't see a lot of distribution outside of the Hudson Valley for those products.

[r. olsen-harbich]

Kristin - thank you so much for your support!

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