Full Bottle in Front of Me

Hudson Valley Wine Tour

by Peter Barrett and photographs by Jennifer May, May 27, 2009

I think that we can safely say that the Hudson Valley has never been a better place for a foodlover to live. Artisanal cheeses, grass-fed, humanely raised animals, and the extraordinary variety and quality of our produce are now in plentiful supply at the thriving and multiplying farmers’ markets around the region. With the much-needed arrival of spring, and the attendant burgeoning of parties, weddings, and barbeques, the locavore in our area can indeed take great pleasure in the world-class bounty that is available to us. What should we drink with it?

Wine is an important part of New York State’s economy, especially in rural areas; we rank fourth in wine production nationally, and wine tourism has never been more popular. Riesling from the Finger Lakes is regarded by some as the best example of the grape produced in America. A wine from Long Island recently broke the $100-per-bottle price mark. Wineries are proliferating, and more vines are going in the ground every year. So how well does the Hudson Valley provide for a locavoracious oenophile?

I’ve known musician John Medeski (of Medeski, Martin, and Wood fame) more than 10 years, and in that time we’ve spent a lot of time drinking wine—together and separately. In his travels, he has met and befriended many winemakers all over the world, and tastes extensively wherever he goes. He’s also a genius, so his ability to retain and analyze information on the subject is astonishing. Simply put, John knows more about wine than anybody I know who is not in the wine business (and more than many who are). Given our love of wine and the fact that we’ve lived up here for a while now, it seemed wise to go out and acquaint ourselves with the Hudson Valley scene, and find out who is making wine that rises above the drink-it-because-it’s-local category and becomes something to seek out on its merits as wine.

Our survey was in two parts: a tasting tour of wineries, and a dinner later on with a sommelier friend where we tasted about a dozen more bottles. On balance, we were underwhelmed, but there were a few bright spots and there’s reason for some optimism going forward. In general, it seems clear that much of what is being produced is picnic wine: simple, affordable whites and a few reds that make for pleasant sipping at a concert or cookout. But in terms of wine that is world-class, which could hold its own against examples from more famous parts of the world, there is not much to be found.