New York State Named “Wine Region of the Year” by Wine Enthusiast Magazine

Wine Enthusiast Magazine recently named New York State as their “Wine Region of the Year.” New York was chosen over other renowned regions from across the world, including the wine producing regions of France, Italy, and California.

New York State is the Nation’s third largest wine producing state with over 375 wineries, including 119 in the Finger Lakes region alone. The greater Finger Lakes region has become the center of New York’s booming wine industry. The Finger Lakes wine industry has recently been recognized by the New York Times, Wine Spectator magazine, Yahoo, and now Wine Enthusiast magazine as one of the premier wine producing regions in the world.

“This is a great accomplishment for New York State and the Finger Lakes region in particular,” said Senator Mike Nozzolio, who represents the Finger Lakes region in the New York State Senate. “Our local wineries have been producing world-class wines for years now, and it is an honor for our State and our region to be formally recognized as the wine region of the year,” continued Senator Nozzolio.

Senator Nozzolio has been instrumental in promoting the wine and beverage industry in the greater Finger Lakes region. Senator Nozzolio was successful in securing the funding needed for the Finger Lakes Community College to partner with Cornell University establish the Finger Lakes Viticulture Center, now under construction adjacent to the Cornell applied agricultural research station and the Cornell Agriculture and Food Technology Park in Geneva, New York.

The new Finger Lakes Viticulture Center will enable our State's future winemakers, grape growers, vineyard workers, winery managers and everyone else who has a part in the process of making and marketing wine, to study at the same location where some of the most innovative agricultural research in the world is taking place.

The Viticulture Center will support efforts to continue to expand the local wine and tourism industry and create well paying jobs for people from all across the Finger Lakes region. The Center will include a world-class winemaking lab, grape crushing pad, rooms for storing and aging wine, classroom space, and a teaching vineyard.

The Ag-Tech Park location provides the potential for an expansion of the viticulture program in the future through its partnership with Cornell University.

“The new Viticulture Center will help to create jobs and economic opportunities in a wide variety of fields related to the tourism and wine and grape industry,” Nozzolio continued. “As the art of winemaking continues to gain in popularity, we are witnessing an unprecedented growth in the number of wineries here in the Finger Lakes region. The construction of the Viticulture Center will support the continued growth of this important, job-producing industry.” The Viticulture Center is expected to open in early 2015.

To learn more about the Viticulture and Wine Technology program, please visit www.flcc.edu/academics/viticulture or call (585) 785-1000.