Stanley Tucci
Stanley Tucci is an American actor, writer, film producer and film director. He was nominated for several notable film awards, including an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, for his performance in The Lovely Bones (2009). Tucci's other recent celebrated roles have been in The Devil Wears Prada and Julie & Julia. He has been nominated three times for Golden Globes, and won twice — for his title role in Winchell, and for his supporting role as Adolph Eichmann in Conspiracy, both from HBO films. He also received a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for Winchell. He was nominated for Broadway’s Tony Award as Best Actor in a Play for his role as Johnny in the 2002 revival of Terrence McNally’s Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune.
Stephanie Caraway
Stephanie, a Certified Sommelier, began her career in New York working at a number of notable establishments such as Balthazar and the Cub Room. Moving on to Arizona, Ms. Caraway studied in the cellar of Peter Kasperski, while managing the Wine Spectator Award winning wine programs of Cowboy Ciao, Kazimierz, and Sea Saw. Subsequently, while with of Fox Restaurant Concepts, she was the steward of a quarter million dollar wine program and was responsible for the education of the staff of not only one restaurant, but several different restaurant concepts. Stephanie was honored by Food and Wine Magazine which named her one of the Top Sommeliers of 2010. She currently holds a position with Southern Wine & Spirits.
Ray Isle
Ray Isle is Executive Wine Editor of FOOD & WINE, the modern, stylish, trend-spotting, talent-seeking epicurean brand. In addition to overseeing F&W’s wine department, Isle writes the monthly column, Tasting Room, for the magazine, directs the title’s spirits coverage, and is the author of foodandwine.com’s wine blog, Tasting Room. Isle was promoted from wine editor in 2010, and has also served as deputy wine editor and senior editor. Prior to joining FOOD & WINE in 2005, Isle was managing editor of Wine & Spirits Magazine. He regularly conducts wine tasting seminars at epicurean events and appears as a wine and spirits expert on national television, including NBC’s Today and CBS’s The Early Show.
Alfred Portale
Alfred Portale is a culinary creator and innovator who runs the beloved Gotham Bar and Grill in NYC and his newer outpost, Gotham Steak, in Miami, at the Fontainebleau Hotel. In the past 26 years, he has received four 3-star reviews from the NY Times, and remains dedicated, every day, to continuing this evolution of creativity in fine dining. He was awarded the James Beard Award for Outstanding Chef in America in 2006. But his greatest achievement perhaps lies in having mentored some of the nation’s other great chefs, including Tom Valenti, David Walzog, Bill Telepan, Wylie Dufresne and Tom Colicchio.
Harolyn Blackwell
From the opera stage to Broadway, concert and recital halls around the world, Harolyn Blackwell has established herself as one of the finest and most versatile singers of her generation. She has performed before enthusiastic audiences at The Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, The Lyric Opera of Chicago and Teatro Colon de Buenos Aires amongst others. Her television credits include The Grammy Awards, The Kennedy Center Honors and The Annual Memorial Day and Fourth of July Concerts on PBS.
Nathan Lane
Nathan Lane most currently starred alongside Bebe Neuwirth in The Addams Family at New York’s Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. On stage, he recently appeared in Waiting for Godot (at Studio 54), David Mamet's November, The Odd Couple, and in Stephen Sondheim's adaptation of Aristophanes' The Frogs at Lincoln Center, for which he wrote the book. His portrayal of Max Bialystock in The Producers on Broadway won him the Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Tony Awards for Best Actor in a Musical. He also won the Olivier Award for his performance in the London production. On screen, he has appeared in Nutcracker 3D, The Birdcage, Mousehunt, and of course, the movie version of the musical The Producers.
Chateau LaFayette Reneau
Dr. Konstantin Frank Wine Cellars
Keuka Lake Vineyards
Martini Reinhardt
Red Newt Cellars
Thirsty Owl Wine Company
New York Finger Lakes
New York is the second biggest contributor to America’s total wine production – albeit with 5% of the total compared with California's 90%. New York has two major wine-producing regions: Long Island and The Finger Lakes. The former is known mostly for its Rosé wines and Merlots and is gaining attention for its Cabernet Franc and Chardonnay. However, when it comes to the Finger Lakes, Riesling is king.
The key to wine making in the Finger Lakes region is the lakes themselves. The Finger Lakes act as a natural heating and cooling system to the surrounding hillsides and make them just hospitable enough for hearty grapes like Riesling, Chardonnay, and Gewürztraminer. The region’s climate from year to year is unpredictable – with harsh winters and blazing summers not uncommon. The harvest season of 2009, for example, was uncommonly cool and wet while in 2007 the weather was warm and dry at the same time of year – making the wines from these two years markedly different.
Most of the wine making in the region is centered around the three largest of the 11 Finger Lakes: Seneca Lake, Cayuga Lake, and Keuka Lake. When it comes to Finger Lakes Riesling, the differences in wines produced at various spots throughout the region have much more to do with the winemaker’s preferred style than with where they were grown. However, there are spots like Seneca Lake’s Banana Belt on the southeastern shore that tends to be the warmest location and produces wines with a tendency towards more tropical flavors. Along the same lines, some insist that the wines from Keuka Lake’s shores have more mineral and steel qualities than other Finger Lakes Rieslings.
For more on Finger Lakes Riesling, click here.
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Within New York’s five wine regions, there are nine officially recognized viticultural areas similar to the “appellations of origin” (such as Burgundy) in France. They are Lake Erie; Niagara Escarpment; Finger Lakes; Seneca Lake; Cayuga Lake; Hudson River Region; Long Island; The Hamptons, Long Island; and North Fork of Long Island. Each region has distinct combinations of soil, topography, and climate that make the regional wines unique.
The Finger Lakes, located about 250 miles northwest of New York City, has been the center of the New York wine industry since the Civil War. It is the home of Pleasant Valley Wine Company, America’s first bonded winery, established over 140 years ago. Grape growing and wine production in this area date back to the 1820’s. Today, about 90% of the state’s wine is made here, and the area is still home to New York’s largest wineries.
The Finger Lakes region is often compared to Germany’s Rhine region due to similarities in growing conditions. The Finger Lakes region is best known for Riesling and is home to over 200 Riesling brands, producing 100,000 cases of Riesling each year.
One of the great things about Riesling is its versatility — it comes in a variety of styles ranging from Dry to Medium Dry, Medium Sweet and Sweet. The average Finger Lakes producer makes 2.5 styles of Riesling wine a year.
More than 30 years ago, Charles Fournier, a French champagne maker, and Dr. Konstantin Frank, a European immigrant ignited the “vinifera revolution” which elevated the Finger Lakes into a world class wine producing region. They collaborated on vinifera vintages grown in vineyards along Keuka Lake, strongly believing that old-world grapes could thrive and produce world-class wines in the New World once the proper rootstock was established. And they were right!
As they age, Rieslings tend to develop a “petroleum-like” note that is an integral part of the aroma profile, and which is sought after by many Riesling lovers.
Each year the New York Wine & Grape Foundation organizes the New York Food & Wine Classic which is now in its 26th year. All 303 wineries in the state are eligible to compete for coveted awards including the Governors Cup and Winery of the year. Last year 850 wines and 17 spirits were entered in the competition. More information is available at: www.newyorkwines.org