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Tastes have changed and times have changed, but the grapes keep growing, and the need to move the finished product from the winery to the wine rack never ends.The wine and grape industry in the Finger Lakes region hasn’t just grown out of customer demand for the locally produced wines. The concerted efforts of two volunteer groups that are celebrating important milestones this year have played a major role in the New York wine industry’s growth.
The New York Wine Grape Growers, Inc. was established in 1960 when grape growers in the area realized a connectionwas needed between the vineyards and the lawmakers in Albany and Washington.
By 1980, the organization had established its headquarters in Penn Yan, and one day, Maxine Fullager, the wife of Milo grape grower Howard Fullager, walked into the Grape Grower’s office bubbling with excitement over the idea of a new group.
She and her husband had just returned from a trip to the Niagara Escarpment grape growing region in Ontario, Canada, where she learned about the Women’s Action Group, which had been organized there to promote the local wines.
Soon, Fullager and Juanita Spence, who was the Grape Grower’s office manager, were planning a meeting to bring together women who could help organize a similar group here.
Explaining the need for the group, Fullagar said, “So many grapes have gone on the ground in the past few years. We feel we have to increase our market.”
While the Grape Growers organization worked hard on issues like grape prices, labor issues, production costs, pesticide registration, tax laws, liquor authority regulations and more, there was still a need to promote the product.
On June 27, 1981, some of the women from Ontario traveled to Penn Yan for a meeting they called “Hands Across the Border.” Shortly after, the Women for New York State Wines were traveling around the state, pouring wine samples at all kinds of locations to promote the products that help increase the demand for the grapes back home in the vineyard.
During a recent meeting with the organization’s current president, Donna Gridley, Spence recalled serving wine to governors, senators and assemblymen in Albany, VIPs in every major city in the state and in unusual locations, such as the top of the ski jump in Lake Placid, where a group of scientists from around the globe were meeting about water quality issues.
Tastes have changed and times have changed, but the grapes keep growing, and the need to move the finished product from the winery to the wine rack never ends.The wine and grape industry in the Finger Lakes region hasn’t just grown out of customer demand for the locally produced wines. The concerted efforts of two volunteer groups that are celebrating important milestones this year have played a major role in the New York wine industry’s growth.
The New York Wine Grape Growers, Inc. was established in 1960 when grape growers in the area realized a connectionwas needed between the vineyards and the lawmakers in Albany and Washington.
By 1980, the organization had established its headquarters in Penn Yan, and one day, Maxine Fullager, the wife of Milo grape grower Howard Fullager, walked into the Grape Grower’s office bubbling with excitement over the idea of a new group.
She and her husband had just returned from a trip to the Niagara Escarpment grape growing region in Ontario, Canada, where she learned about the Women’s Action Group, which had been organized there to promote the local wines.
Soon, Fullager and Juanita Spence, who was the Grape Grower’s office manager, were planning a meeting to bring together women who could help organize a similar group here.
Explaining the need for the group, Fullagar said, “So many grapes have gone on the ground in the past few years. We feel we have to increase our market.”
While the Grape Growers organization worked hard on issues like grape prices, labor issues, production costs, pesticide registration, tax laws, liquor authority regulations and more, there was still a need to promote the product.
On June 27, 1981, some of the women from Ontario traveled to Penn Yan for a meeting they called “Hands Across the Border.” Shortly after, the Women for New York State Wines were traveling around the state, pouring wine samples at all kinds of locations to promote the products that help increase the demand for the grapes back home in the vineyard.
During a recent meeting with the organization’s current president, Donna Gridley, Spence recalled serving wine to governors, senators and assemblymen in Albany, VIPs in every major city in the state and in unusual locations, such as the top of the ski jump in Lake Placid, where a group of scientists from around the globe were meeting about water quality issues.
Gridley says her involvement in the organization has led to travel to Washington, D.C., New York City and Napa Valley, Calif., among other places.
Over the years, the members of WFNYSW have traveled at their own expense to all the wine grape growing regions of the state to learn about the region, the wineries and their wines. Along the way, they purchase supplies of wines to be used for the tastings they host.
During a wine tasting, the women help educate tasters about the wines and wineries.
At one point, Gridley says, it wasn’t unusual for the group, mostly based in the Yates, Steuben and Schuyler County region, to host three events in a weekend, and up to 20 events in a calendar year.
However, the economic slow-down of the past three years has meant a slow-down in reservations, she says.
One of the events the group consistently is called upon to host each year is a tasting for a parent’s reception at the University of Buffalo.
Many of the volunteer members of WFNYSW are key to the operation of the New York Wine Classic, a major competition for New York State Wines held each August. Judges in that competition determine the winner of the coveted Governor’s Cup, the top award for New York State Wines.
Anyone interested in learning more about the New York Wine Grape Growers, Inc. should visit the newyorkstatewinegrapegrowers.com.
Anyone interested in learning more about the Women for New York State Wines should contact Gridley at 315-536-7175 or via email at gridleyvineyards@gmail.com.
