Raise your glass ”¦ to the defense of the red, white and rosé.
The state will now allow wineries to operate up to five branch stores under a single license, rather than the five separate licenses currently required. The move, plus several others, could facilitate expansion for an industry now active in 51 of 62 New York counties and with a statewide annual impact placed at $3.76 billion.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently signed legislation codifying the changes, which were recommended in 2008 by the state”™s Wine Grape Task Force under the direction of the Department of Agriculture and Markets.
Farmers, too, are about to get a break with so-called custom crushing. The legislation should free up smaller grape growers to market their products to wineries. Previous crush-and-ship legislation was deemed unclear.
Shippers reports had been a thorn in farmers”™ sides, requiring a constant flow of paperwork. Now, shipping reports still must be maintained, but only to be made available upon request and not filed constantly.
All wineries, no matter the size, are subject to the same $50 fee. Previously, those wineries making fewer than 1,500 gallons per year were classified as microwineries and bought separate licenses.
Wineries had been limited to five charitable events per year; not anymore. The new legislation requires wineries to obtain a single permit concerning all their charitable events.
The New York wine and grape industry has a $3.76 billion economic impact from the production of wine and grapes grown on nearly 1,400 vineyards statewide. Since the passage of the Farm Winery Law in 1976, the number of New York”™s farm wineries has grown from under 20 to 306 today.
Wine production has increased more than 50 percent in the last 20 years to nearly 200 million bottles annually, the governor”™s office reported. New York is now the third largest wine-producing state in the country, behind California, and recently Washington. The sale alone of New York wines accounts for $420 million annually.
The state reported more than 5 million tourists visit New York wineries annually, with the Hudson Valley one of the state”™s five leading wine regions. The other four are the Finger Lakes, Long Island, Lake Erie and the Niagara Escarpment.
“With wine being one of the fastest-growing sectors of that industry, this legislation offers numerous benefits to farm wineries that will have a ripple effect throughout the countryside,” state Agriculture Commissioner Darrel Aubertine said in a statement.
