Skip to content
WineHQ
Search

Administrative area · United States

New York State

A cold-climate eastern state whose serious wine depends entirely on large bodies of water keeping the vines alive through winter.

continentalcool
What to expect in the glass

Riesling that is high in acidity and citrussy, dry to off-dry; Cabernet Franc that is light, leafy and fresh. Cool-climate profiles throughout.

About New York State

New York is the third largest wine-producing state, and it is genuinely cold — cold enough that viticulture is only possible where a deep lake or the ocean moderates the winter.

The Finger Lakes, glacial lakes deep enough not to freeze, are the principal region; Long Island, surrounded by the Atlantic, is the other.

Much of the state’s historic production used native American species and hybrids, which survive the winter where Vitis vinifera would not. Riesling’s success in the Finger Lakes from the 1960s changed the picture.

New York State is a administrative area, not an appellation

No authority delimits this name or attaches rules to it. A political unit — an Italian region, an English county, a US county — used as a wine area because that is how the industry and its readers talk about it, not because a wine authority delimited it. That does not make it less real or less useful — it means nothing legal follows from it, and you will not generally find it on a label as a controlled designation.

Grapes

Wines from here

white

Finger Lakes Riesling

New York State’s cool-climate Riesling — precise, high-acid and made across the sweetness range.

Places within it

  • Finger Lakes — New York State’s cool-climate region, producing dry and off-dry Riesling of genuine quality.
  • Long Island — A maritime AVA on the eastern end of the island, and the only significant Bordeaux-variety region on the American east coast.

What to eat, and how to serve it

Derived from this region’s signature styles. Each is listed separately, because a region does not have one serving temperature.

Finger Lakes Riesling

Serve at 8–10°C (fridge cold).

Try with fillet steak, salmon or white fish.

Where to go next

Places worth trying if you like this one — neighbours, rivals, and the obvious step across.

  • Finger Lakes — New York State’s cool-climate region, producing dry and off-dry Riesling of genuine quality.
  • Long Island — A maritime AVA on the eastern end of the island, and the only significant Bordeaux-variety region on the American east coast.

Sources

Sources consulted