New York wineries take a hit from unexpected guest

 ITHACA, N.Y. -- Maybe it was just a matter of mismatched taste.

"Maybe if she likes dry wines, she was served a sweet wine, or if she likes sweet wines, maybe she was served a dry wine,” said Peter Saltonstall, New York Wine and Grape Foundation Chairman.

Or maybe there was something wrong with that bottle of wine.

"You can have what they call a corked wine and what that means is there could be a cork taint in a very small percentage of bottles, maybe half of one percent,” said Saltonstall.
 
But either way, a comment from Democratic Senator Diane Savino of New York City about the award-winning Glenora wine left a bad taste in the mouths of local winemakers and angered two upstate legislators, who demanded an apology.

"We want to do everything we can to promote New York wines. The industry has grown by leaps and bounds over the past twenty years,” said Saltonstall.

New York is now the country's third-largest wine producing state, with more than one hundred wineries right in the Finger Lakes region. The industry generates $3.4 billion a year for the state's economy."

Their prestige has grown, too. Wines from New York have recently won accolades in international competitions.

Savino has since said she made the comment in jest and that her colleagues should be focusing on bigger issues. A sentiment Saltonstall can agree with.

"There's this angst that I just think that everybody's got to try to work through and that certainly the legislators just have to work better together,” said Saltonstall.

Saltonstall recommends they all take a deep breath and enjoy a glass of wine.