November 16, 1998
Seneca Lake Wine Trail Announces
Additional $5,000 in Support for Cornell Wine and Brew Lab
by Linda McCandless
Geneva, NY - Funding for the Cornell Vinification and Brewing Technology Laboratory (CV&BTL) under construction at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station, in Geneva, NY, received a $5,000 boost from the Seneca Lake Wine Trail Association on October 30, 1998. The money brought the contributions and services donated by industry in 1997-98 to over $60,000. Two other recent contributions include $1,000 from Lamoreaux Landing Wine, and $618.56 from the Finger Lakes Wine Growers Association.
State appropriations are being used to renovate 2,000 sq. ft of existing space into a Vinification and Brewing Technology Lab (artist's sketch above). The project is a state-GENEVA-industry partnership and will result in the only wine and brewing technology facility in the East.
ARTIST CREDIT: Sketch by William Bensen
"This is exactly the kind of support from the private sector we need as leverage for state support for the Geneva Plan," said Station Director Jim Hunter, who attended the check passing ceremony. "Very often, we are asked what industry is doing to help support the Experiment Station. This project is a win-win partnership between the Station, industry, New York State, and Cornell. Together, we will not only get the facility built, but conduct the level of programs that wineries and breweries in New York need to build market share." The state contributed $150,000 toward the construction of the facility in 1998.
"Everybody in the Seneca Lake Wine Trail Association understands the benefits of having technical expertise in wine making and grape growing close by," said Bev Stamp, of Lakewood Vineyard, president of the association. "Ours is a growing industry." She cited a 10 to 20 percent increase in tourism activity at the wineries in 1998, and reported that the 21 members of the Seneca Lake Wine Trail distribute 400,000 brochures a year-as many as Watkins Glen International. "It is a staggering reflection of the amount of interest and activity generated by the wine industry in our area," she said.
The funds were the profits from a Chocolate and Wine event held in February, 1998. It is the second such donation to come from the Seneca Lake Wine Trail: In July 1997, the wine trail donated $5,000 to launch construction of the CV&BTL.
Scientists at Cornell and industry personnel will use the new CV&BTL to develop uniquely New York wines, beers, meads, vinegars and other fermented products. Mark McLellan, director of the newly established lab, expects suppliers and manufacturers to use the space to place pilot scale winery and brewing equipment to run small-scale trials and offer operational and testing courses for people in the winemaking and brewing industries. It will be shared by researchers, students, wineries, breweries, suppliers, and equipment manufacturers, as well as educators, consumers, and national associations.
State appropriations are being used to renovate 2,000 sq. ft of existing space into a Vinification and Brewing Technology Lab (artist's sketch above). The project is a state-GENEVA-industry partnership and will result in the only wine and brewing technology facility in the East.
ARTIST CREDIT: Sketch by William Bensen
"We hope to do as much for the brewing industry in the next 20 years as we have done and will continue to do for the wine industry," said McLellan. In the last 20 years, New York has emerged as the #2 wine producing region in the country, behind California, which is #1. There are 125 wineries in the state; 110 of them have been established since 1976, when the NYS legislature passed the Farm Winery law. In upstate New York, there are three large breweries with national reputations-Anheuser-Bush, in Baldwinsville, F.X. Matt in Utica, and Genesee in Rochester-and 35 to 40 microbreweries, which are the growth segment of the industry.
NOTE TO EDITORS: Download 300 ppi versions of the above photographs by clicking on the photos. If you prefer a hard copy of the photographs, contact Rob Way at rfw2@cornell.edu or call 315-787-2357.
Suggested captions are:
1. In a check-passing ceremony held at GENEVA on Oct. 30, Bev Stamp, president of the Seneca Lake Wine Trail, presented a $5,000 check to Kathy Russell, who is chair of the fundraising committee (pictured ) for the Cornell Vinification and Brewing Technology Lab.
PHOTO CREDIT: R.Way/NYS Ag Expt Sta/Cornell
2. State appropriations are being used to renovate 2,000 sq. ft of existing space into a Vinification and Brewing Technology Lab (artist's sketch shown . The project is a state-GENEVA-industry partnership and will result in the only wine and brewing technology facility in the East.
ARTIST CREDIT: Sketch by William Bensen
Contact: Linda McCandless, Communications Services
Telephone: (315) 787-2417
e-mail: llm3@cornell.edu
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