Cornell University

Gary Barletta, co-owner and winemaker at Long Point Winery in Aurora, NY, has been a familiar face in the Finger Lakes Wine Industry for many years.  Barletta grew up in an Italian neighborhood in Syracuse, NY where his grandfather introduced him to the art of winemaking.  In 1976, Gary began making his own wine from an old press in his grandfather’s basement.  Gary and his wife Rosemary then turned their passion into a profession in 1999 by establishing Long Point Winery on a beautifully scenic plot of land on the east side of Cayuga Lake.  Since it’s establishment, Long Point Winery has won many awards for their high quality wines.

Q1: Is winemaking an art or science?

It’s an art.  If it were a science then every vintage would come out tasting the same.  Of course there is a lot of science involved, but it (winemaking) would be much more standardized if it were just a science.  Instead, you have to give it your own touch and adjust it according to taste, and that’s the bottom line: how it tastes.  So in that sense, it’s much more of an art.

Q2: What are the biggest challenges facing the Finger Lakes wine industry?

For this area the biggest challenge is marketing and marketing properly.  For years we (Finger Lakes) have been known for our Concords and Catawbas.  But in the last 30 years, we’ve been growing some really nice viniferas and showing the world that we can produce high quality vinifera wines.

Q3: What is your winemaking philosophy?

My philosophy is to try to make the best wine possible.  We don’t overcrop our vineyard, so we have a lower yield for a higher quality fruit; quality over quantity.

Q4: What is your favorite wine?

Zinfandel.  I really like the blackberry, pepper, and spicy characters in the wine.  It pairs with many different foods.  In fact, Zinfandel is the only red wine I’d recommend with seafood.

Now that we are well into the growing season, much of my responsibilities are focused on making sure the vines are trim, tidy, and healthy.

One of the most beneficial practices towards producing quality fruit is to make sure that the vines’ shoots are positioned up trough the catch wires of the trellis system.  This practice serves four very important purposes: (1) to make the rows more accessible to equipment, (2) minimize tension on the trellis system produced by sprawling vines, (3) allow for more thorough and even chemical application, and (4) allow the vines better sun and air reception.

This close-up photo shows how the bird netting protects the clusters from bird, deer, and other pest damage.

– Ryan

Owner and winemaker at Long Point Winery, Gary Barletta, was sure to give us a full week’s notice before ‘bottling day’.  A few selected days out of the year are devoted to bottling the wine, and require intense preparation and diligence, especially on the part of the winemaker.  Bottling days tend to be some of the more hectic days at the winery with all hands on deck and a steady work pace.  Long Point Winery hires the service of a mobile bottling unit operated by Cornell grad and owner/winemaker of Hickory Hollow Wine Cellars, Peter Oughterson.  Mobile bottling units can save wineries the enormous up-front costs of a stationary bottling unit and also the floor space required by one of these units.

Like a highly-tuned, machine-opearted assembly line, the bottling unit fills a bottle, squeezes in a cork, shrinks on a capsule, and sticks on a label, all in a matter of seconds.  It was really quite fascinating to witness all the raw materials come together to produce the finished product.

More soon.
Ryan

Soon after the fall harvest months, vineyard managers begin preparing for the next growing season.  When I first started helping out at Long Point Winery, we were out in the vineyards in our Carhartts in 20 degree weather trudging through the snow.  January, February, and March are when the vines need to be pruned.  It’s at this time that the vines are still dormant and easier to manage.  Pruning is a simple but necessary process of selecting the healthiest or best positioned canes and removing the rest.  Because Long Point Winery’s vineyards utilize a vertical shoot positioning system, we only left 3 or 4 canes per vine.

After pruning is finished the vines need to be tied to the trellis system.  We do this to maximize the vine’s sunlight and air reception, thus lessening disease pressure and improving the overall health of the vine.  This process of tying the vines down is also known as ‘wrapping’, and ideally you want your vines to be tied before the buds begin breaking open.

Tying vines

More tying

3 acres of Riesling

This spring we experienced an early bud break from a stretch of warmer days in mid-March.  Because of this we had to hurry to catch up with the vines and get them tied.  But as you can see from the pictures, the vines not only opened up but had quite a few shoots by the time we finished tying.  On a side note, it should be interesting to see how this year’s early bud break will influence the vintage of the wines they will produce.

More soon.
Ryan