Christopher Matthews Praises Quality Wines in the Hudson Valley

Christopher Matthews, a Manhattan-based press, communications and public affairs specialist, is also an independent wine writer, consultant and educator. His articles about wine and spirits, food and travel have appeared in New York Law Journal Magazine, RuralIntelligence.com, Epicurious.com, and Kitchen and Cook. As a wine consultant and educator, he has conducted tastings for corporate and private events. He studied at the International Wine Center in New York, from where he received the Wine and Spirits Education Trust’s Advanced Certificate (With Distinction). A member of the Wine Media Guild of New York, he is also passionate about gardening, horticulture and bird-watching (especially the St. Louis Cardinals!).

Christopher also co-writes a blog, UpstateDowntownny.com with his wife Kathryn. Kathryn Matthews is an independent lifestyles writer, who contributes to The New York Times, O Magazine, Town & Country, RuralIntelligence.com, SNOW and epicurious.com.Recently, Cris wrote about his tasting of Hudson Valley wines at the most recent 2011 Hudson Valley Wine Competition. Matthews praises wines from Bashakill Vineyard, Clinton Vineyards, Hudson-Chatham Winery, Millbrook Winery, and Oak Summit Vineyard.

Wirtes Matthews, "Despite being the oldest wine region in the country, the Hudson Valley is still trying to find itself as a wine region, given the difficult climate and the small (but increasing) number of wine grape growers in the valley. But the top wines from this competition clearly show that quality wines can be produced in the Valley, and they set a high bar for the local wineries."

Read the whole thing at:
http://upstatedowntownny.com/2011/09/25/best-hudson-valley-wines/

Hudson Valley Art & Wine Exhiit Opens n Albany October 5, 2011

The Hudson Valley Art & Wine exhibit opening in Albany is scheduled for Wednesday, October 5 from 5-7pm at the Albany Heritage Area Visitors Center, 25 Quackenbush Square. Parking and other info is on the attached invitation. The opening is for invited guests, so please feel free to pass the attached invitation to anyone you would like to have attend — friends, relatives, associates, press, etc. RSVP is requested but not mandatory. (The more the merrier!) Brookview Station Winery and Hudson-Chatham wineries will be present, along with wines from Millbrook. This is the last opening of the traveling exhibit and it will remain in Albany until the end of the year.

Hudson Valley Wine & Grape Association Announces the Results of the 2011 Hudson Valley Wine Competition

Poughkeepsie, NY , September 12, 2011: The Hudson Valley Wine & Food Festival at the Dutchess County Fairgrounds in Rhinebeck, New York was the setting for the 2011 Hudson Valley Wine & Spirits Competition. This competition highlights the Hudson Valley Regions wines & spirits and the growing interest the public has for them. The competition was open to all commercial wineries & distilleries in the Hudson Valley AVA using New York State fruit, but more exclusively, Hudson Valley fruit. This was the first year the competition introduced the spirits category.

The wines were judged by a panel of 13 distinguished wine experts that included: Bill Radner, Sommelier & Wine Director for Xaviar’s Restaurant Group; Christopher Matthew, Manhattan-based media communications & public affairs specialist and independent wine writer; Bob Brink, Fine Wines Manager at Arlington Wine & Liquor; F. Paul Pacult, Publisher/editor of F. Paul Pacult's Spirit Journal, contributing editor for Beverage Dynamics, and author; Steven Kolpan, Professor of Wine Studies at The Culinary Institute of America; Ramon Mira de Orduna, Associate Professor of Enology at Cornell University; Stephanie Mira de Orduna, WSET Certified and wine buyer; Bill Dowd, Author and Editor. Developer of Dowd's Guides, a portfolio of online sites dealing with food, drink and destinations; Ned Towle, Founder and Director of the Westchester Wine School; Mary Cressler, Certified Sommelier, Wine Location Specialist and proprietor of Vindulge Wine Education & Consulting; Stephen Carrizzo, Wine Philosopher and e-commerce developer for Mid Valley Wine & Liquors; Jay Roelof, Director of Education and buyer of New York, German and Sparkling Wines for Suburban Wines & Spirits. To read more about the judges click here.

Eighty Five wines and 5 spirits made in the Hudson Valley were entered in the competition. This year we also included a Winery of the Year category. The Winery of the Year is presented to the winery that had the best overall showing based on the number of awards in relation to entries. The winery’s overall number of gold medals is taken into consideration and they have to submit at least three wines for judging.

The winners of the 2011 Hudson Valley Wine Competition

Winery of the Year - Millbrook Vineyards & Winery

Best in Show - Bashakill Vineyards 2010 Black Bear, Cabernet Franc

Best Overall Hudson Valley Wine (made with Hudson Valley Fruit) - Clinton Vineyards Jubilee

Best Sparkling - Clinton Vineyards Jubilee

Best in Category - White Wine - Millbrook Vineyards & Winery 2009 Proprietor's Special Reserve Chardonnay

Best in Category - Red Wine - Bashakill Vineyards 2010 Black Bear, Cabernet Franc

Best Spirit - Tuthilltown Spirits Hudson Baby Bourbon

Double Gold Medals went to Bashakill Vineyards 2010 Black Bear, Cabernet Franc; Clinton Vineyards Jubilee and Tuthilltown Spirits Hudson Baby Bourbon.

Gold Medals were awarded to Hudson-Chatham winery for their 2008 Chelois, and their Paperbirch Highlands Raspberry; Millbrook Vineyards & Winery 2009 Proprietor's Special Reserve Chardonnay; Oak Summit Vineyard 2010 Chardonnay; Tuthilltown Spirits Hudson Four Grain Bourbon.

Silver Medals were awarded to Bashakill Vineyards 2010 Coyote, 2010 Blue Heron; Benmarl Winery 2009 Slate Hill White, 2010 Cabernet Franc; Brookview Station Winery 2010 All Aboard, Whistle Stop White, Sunset Charlie; Brotherhood, America's Oldest Winery 2008 Merlot, Ruby Port; Catskill Distilling Peace Vodka; Clearview Vineyard 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon, 2010 Vidal Blanc; Clinton Vineyards Romance, Seyval Naturel; Glorie Farm Winery 2010 Red Monkey, 2010 Black Currant; Hudson-Chatham Winery 2008 Empire Reserve Red, 2010 North Creek Block Seyval Blanc; Magnanini Farm Winery 2010 Seyval Blanc, 2010 Rosso Da Tavola; Millbrook Vineyards & Winery 2007 Proprietor's Special Reserve Cabernet Franc; Robibero Winery 2010 87 North, 2008 Pinot Noir; Tuthilltown Spirits Hudson Manhattan Rye Whiskey, Hudson NY Corn Whiskey, Heart of the Hudson Vodka; Whitecliff Vineyard & Winery 2010 Reserve Chardonnay.

Bronze Medals were awarded to Bashakill Vineyards - 2010 Dragon Fly, Lemberger; Benmarl Winery 2009 Merlot, 2009 Cabernet Franc, 2010 Slate Hill Red, 2010 Baco Noir, 2009 Frontenac, 2010 Catuwba; Brimstone Hill Vineyard 2010 Vidal Blanc, 2010 Noiret, 2010 Cayuga White; Brookview Station Winery Pomona, Oh What a Pear, Just Peachy, Scarlotta Bing; Brotherhood, America's Oldest Winery 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon, 2009 Pinot Noir, Grand Monarque; Clearview Vineyard 2010 Estate Noiret; Clinton Vineyards 2009 Tribute, Cassis, Nuit; Glorie Farm Winery 2007 Cabernet Franc; Hudson Chatham 2008 Merlot, 2009 Baco Noir Reserve-Casscles Vineyard; Magnanini Farm Winery 2009 Rossa Riserva, Millbrook Vineyards & Winery 2010 Tocai Friuiano; Tousey 2010 Chardonnay, 2010 Cabernet Franc; Tuthilltown Spirits Spirit of the Hudson Vodka; Whitecliff Vineyard & Winery 2010 Riesling, Awosting White.

The Hudson Valley Wine & Grape Association mission is to increase the quality and quantity of wine and grape production in the Hudson Valley through education, knowledge, networking and cooperation. The Hudson Valley Wine & Grape Association demonstrates and highlights the quality of our regions grapes and wines and growing interest the public has for them and wines from the valley's cool viticultural growing region.

For more information on the Hudson Valley Wine & Grape Association visit www.hvwga.com

For an alphabetical listing of wineries and their winning wines click here.

For more information on the wine competition contact Debbie Gioquindo, CSW 914.474.7780

Note From Editor: A special shout out to Debbie Gioquindo on pulling this all together. A lot of planning and work went into revamping the entire competition. A lot of logistics. Congrats to her in a big way!

Hudson Valley Wine & Food Festival 2011 Photos

The Hudson Valley Wine & Food Festival 2011 was a big hit! The weather was tremendous, the crowds were great, and the vendors were happy. The aisles were full of happy fair goers.



Bryan Van Dusen of Hudson-Chatham Winery.



Michael Migliore of Whitecliff Vineyards.

Mary Vogel of El Paso Winery.


Fred and Paula of Cereghino-Smith Winery.


David Pazdar and father-in-law Tom, of Pazdar Winery.


Ben Peacock and brother of Tousey Winery.


George Caifero of Cascade Mountain Winery.


The folks of Happy Bitch wine.


Karen Gardy of Brookview Station Winery.


Debbie Gioquindo, the Hudson Valley Wine Goddess, and the person who organized the Hudson Valley Wine & Grape Association Competition 2011.


Bob Bedford of Hudson Valley Wine magazine.

Hudson Valley Food & Wine Festival 2011 This Weekend Sept 10 & 11, 2011

Despite lots of rain the Hudson Valley Wine & Food Fest is definitely still on! Hours are 11am-6pm on Saturday September 10th and 11am-5pm on Sunday September 11th. The Rhinebeck Fairgrounds are in great shape and the weather is looking good for the weekend. You may want to check travel conditions at www.511ny.org to make sure your route to the fairgrounds is clear.

Celebrating our 10th year, the Hudson Valley Wine & Food Fest is a celebration of the gourmet lifestyle in the Hudson Valley. The Fest features hundreds of wines from all over New York and the world, more than 100 gourmet specialty food, fine art, & lifestyle vendors, food sampling from some of the region’s best restaurants and live entertainment. Visitors can learn about wine and food from our many Cooking demonstrations and Food & Wine seminars throughout the weekend and enjoy the rare opportunity to meet and speak to the wine makers from some of New York’s best wineries.

Always the weekend following Labor Day, the Hudson Valley Wine & Food Fest takes place at the beautiful Dutchess County Fairgrounds in historic Rhinebeck, New York. Parking is free and we’re a short trip from the Rhinecliff train station.

Things to know:
Chef cooking demos
Debbut of Art & WIne Exhibition in the New Hudson Valley Wine Magazine
HVWGA Wine Competiotn...winners will be announced at the fair!

Lot's of good things! Come on out!

For more info, check out:
http://www.hudsonvalleywinefest.com/

Marisa D’Vari Raves ABout the Hudson Valley

Marisa D’Vari writes about wine for several publications, including London’s FT, Robb Report, Quarterly Review of Wine, the San Francisco Chronicle, Food Arts, South China Morning Post, Sante, and many more in addition to being Wine & Spirits Editor for Taste Cincinnati magazine. She is the publisher of AWineStory.com in addition to syndicating her weekly column to a variety of newspapers, magazines, newsletters, and blogs.


Her most recent article is about the Hudson Valley!

"Do you live in NYC?... and do you know that just an hour away you can enjoy a NY wine experience with Hudson Valley wines?<Today some lucky members of Manhattan's Wine Media Guild visited the region and met the following winemakers

Michael Migliore – Whitecliff Vineyard
Cesar Baeza – Brotherhood Winery
Matt Spaccarelli – Benmarl Winery
Carlo DeVito – Hudson-Chatham Winery
John Bruno – Oak Summit
John Graziano – Millbrook
Karen Gardy – Brookview Station
Phyllis Feder – Clinton Vineyards


All winemakers participated in the planning/expense of the trip, yet Matt Spaccarelli, pictured above, acted as host -- he picked up half of our members in NYC, and the event (due to rains) was held at his winery."

Read the rest and more at:
http://awinestory.com/2011/09/visiting-the-hudson-valley.html