Sustainability comes in many guises. Like beauty, or even justice, sustainability represents different things to different people, and over the years our perception of its meaning has changed.
In 1987, the United Nations Bruntland Commission set out to define the word, and give it context in our world. Sustainability was defined as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
That purposefully specific but broad definition can encompass four main areas of sustainable development: economic, environmental, human, and social. In the Hudson Valley, wineries are taking diverse steps to safeguard the land and community now, and for future generations—all while also ensuring that their business remains economically viable for themselves and the people they employ.
Sure, it’s the right thing to do, but in many ways it also makes sense from a marketing standpoint. More and more wine lovers are keen to sip sustainably. Close to 70 percent of consumers say sustainability is more important to them than it was two years ago, according to a recent NielsenIQ survey, and among wine consumption specifically, 63 percent of regular wine drinkers want to prioritize sustainability when choosing their wine.
In addition to choosing wines that actively support sustainable practices, wine and spirits lovers can make more sustainable decisions themselves when traveling around wine country. Check out our itinerary ideas that can help reduce your environmental impact when visiting.
Environmental Certification in New York State
The New York Wine & Grape Foundation, an industry non-profit that promotes the quality and diversity of New York wines, has created the New York Sustainable Winegrowing Program “to encourage vineyards across the state to enhance environmental stewardship, foster social responsibility, and ensure a prosperous and healthy future for all,” explains the program’s manager, Justin Jackson.
“The first wines produced from third-party certified grapes farmed under the program were released this year. Wine lovers can identify the wines by looking for the New York Sustainable Winegrowing trustmark on the bottles,” Jackson says.
But what does that mean exactly?
The New York Sustainable Winegrowing Program created standards specifically designed for the Empire State’s terroir. There are 144 action items to implement, all of which address specific aspects of sustainability, including the application of pesticides, soil health, water protection, energy conservation, social equity, resource use, and the disposal of waste.
Growing grapes sustainably in the New York State generally can be difficult, but the challenge is especially daunting in the Hudson Valley.
“The Hudson Valley, more so than other winegrowing regions, is built on microclimates,” Jackson says. “While the river and its tributaries provide the warming needed to ripen and keep grapes alive through the winter, pockets of land along these bodies of water are few and far between.”
Jackson notes that growers lucky enough to farm near the Hudson have almost universally adopted the use of cover crops to prevent runoff and keep their soil healthy on steep slopes.
“Fertilizer usage has been reduced through soil amendments like biochar and the use of recycled grape pomace in vineyards,” he notes.
While many vineyards and wineries in the Hudson Valley are working toward official certification, several have already achieved it, including Benmarl Winery, Clover Pond Vineyard, Fjord Vineyards, Hudson Valley Vineyards, Milea Estate Vineyards, South Dominion Vineyard, and Whitecliff Vineyard.
At Whitecliff Vineyard, a vegan, sustainable winery, founders Michael Migliore and Yancey Stanforth-Migliore have been creating award-winning wines for decades, while also honoring the Hudson Valley’s farming legacy and ensuring its future by farming responsibly and preserving open space. The winery went commercial in 1999, and is now celebrating its 25th anniversary.
Since 1979, the pair have trialed dozens of grapes—both vitis vinifera and hybrid—on their 26 acres in Gardiner, to figure out which grapes could be farmed with biodynamic principles in mind, prioritizing water quality. They even built a geothermal wine production facility which minimizes the winery’s carbon footprint. Their second vineyard, in Hudson, NY, was also certified.
The 37-acre Benmarl Winery overlooks the Hudson River Valley from its perch in Marlboro, and not only does its estate lay claim to being the oldest vineyard in America, it also holds New York Farm Winery license number one.
The deep history is rivaled only by its broad commitment to the future and sustainability. Winemaker Matthew Spaccarelli notes how “new technologies and winemaking practices” aid him in addressing issues of sustainability.
“This is not only a challenge, but a responsibility,” Spaccarelli says.
For the past decade, Spaccarelli (the man wears many hats!) and his partner Casey Erdmann have also been creating sustainable wines at Fjord Vineyards in Milton. Flanked by Storm King Mountain to the west and Mt. Beacon to the east, the vineyard’s distinct microclimate helps the pair create terroir-driven wines sustainably.
The auspiciously placed vineyard takes advantage of one of the most temperate pockets of the Valley, with well-draining soils, allowing them to grow old-world vitis vinifera grapes as well as a blend of cold-hardy and disease-resistant varietals.
Fjord uses cover cropping, and as few inputs as possible in the vineyard and cellar.
In Staatsburg, the 102-acre Milea Estate Vineyard includes a meadow, pond, organic gardens, an orchard growing a dozen apple varieties and other fruits, and a greenhouse—in addition to the responsibly farmed vineyard. The entire estate is surrounded by woods and forested land, which naturally ensures a more biodiverse and healthy landscape for grapes.
Milea Estate selects grape varieties based on their compatibility with their soils and climate to ensure fewer inputs, and farms with the lowest impact possible on the soil and surrounding land.
Collaborative Work + Climate-Friendly Grapes
Farming with fewer inputs, more cover crops and eco-friendly soil amendments is probably the most obvious route to sustainability. But there are several other roads to take as well.
“Cold-hardy hybrid grapes provide a way for vineyards to make use of marginal land and reduce the number of vines lost through the winter,” says Justin Jackson. “Hybrids also tend to require fewer pesticides as an added bonus, reducing the potential for runoff into the Hudson River.”
Cold-hardy hybrids have been booming in the Hudson Valley for decades thanks to pioneers like Benmarl Winery, Whitecliff Vineyard, and Hudson-Chatham Winery in Ghent. Over decades of experimentation, it became clear some grow better in the field and age better in the bottle. Today, Hudson Valley vintners can proudly release single variety or blended bottles of Chelois, Baco Noir, Chambourcin, Seyval Blanc, and Vidal, knowing that they’ll perform well upon release, while also being capable of reaching new depths of flavor after years in the cellar.
While vitis vinifera—think Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Merlot and most every variety that tumbles off the tip of your tongue—are more well-known and arguably more regarded than cold-hardy and disease-resistant hybrid grapes, many see these “alternative” grapes as the future.
Even staunchly traditional wine regions like Bordeaux and Champagne are now allowing growers to plant hybrid grapes due to their suitability to endure various extreme weather conditions and the disease pressures they so often usher in.
The realities of the Hudson Valley’s consistently challenging terroir have made hybrids practically necessary for growers for decades, but in recent years it has been a matter of survival
amid increasingly wet, cold, hot, and dry conditions depending on the month, or sometimes even the day.
J. Stephen Casscles, a long-time viticulturalist and author of Grapes of the Hudson Valley and Other Cool Climate Regions of the U.S., has a vineyard with more than 90 different cool-climate varieties in Athens, NY, that includes heritage grape varieties from the Hudson Valley and Cape Ann, French-American hybrids, and what he describes as “chance” hybrids he has identified.
Casscles farms this panoply as a matter of personal curiosity and interest, and a desire to identify the most winter-hardy, fungus and insect resistant, late budding (to avoid frost damage), flood and drought resistant, productive, and high-quality grapes that will be suitable for growing in the Hudson Valley.
“I prioritize these grapes because growers are increasingly looking for grapes that will enable them to reduce the amount of pesticides they spray, and those that can survive our more violent weather patterns caused by climate change,” Casscles explains.
After decades of growing these grapes and making wine from him, he has found that Hudson Valley Heritage varieties like Jefferson, Croton, and Bacchus, and French-American hybrids like Baco Noir and Seyval Blanc flourish both in the field and in the glass.
Casscles is also teaming up with local vintners and craft beverage producers (see page 10) to reintroduce these heritage varieties to growers and makers here and across the world.
“The grapes we work with produce high-quality wines, but can be grown in an environmentally responsible way under adverse conditions,” Casscles says.
Long-Term Land Stewardship and Communal Collaboration
Environmental sustainability can only go so far. All of the eco-friendly grapes in the world won’t keep a winery that isn’t reaching out to the community in business. For many wineries, sustainability begins in the vineyard, but then extends well beyond its bounds.
Brotherhood Winery is the oldest consistently producing winery in the country, with cellars dating back to 1839. To cellar and age its wines, Brotherhood has leaned into the built-in air conditioning that the original underground hand-dug cellars feature. And they’ve kept intact many of the original stone buildings, repurposing and modernizing them to welcome larger events, like weddings, while still preserving their architectural character and charm.
Stoutridge Vineyard & Distillery, founded in 2001 in Marlboro, was built from the ground up with sustainability and community in mind.
Co-founders Steve Osborn and Kim Wagner discovered the abandoned farm and vineyard in 2000. Tucked into a limestone ridge, the land had hosted vineyards on and off since the late 1700s.
They built their winery into a hillside with wine cellars underground, allowing them to take advantage of passive geothermal energy to naturally keep barrels and tanks cools. In the summer, the winery utilizes solar-generated electricity, and in the winter, heat from their stills to warm the building.
The founders think carefully about reducing their carbon footprint whenever possible, opting for a trolley winch instead of a forklift in the production space, and using gravity to filter and process their wines, instead of pumps and filters.
Anything planted around the vineyard is a native species, in the hopes of attractive indigenous pollinators and birds. Stoutridge’s fields also host owl and bat boxes, because they provide natural insect and pest elimination, which reduces the need for chemical intervention.
Even the parking lot is made from upcycled asphalt in lieu of traditional paving.
Other farm operations with have diversified their businesses to ensure long-term sustainability and health.
Applewood Winery has invested in long-term land, farm, and community stewardship, expanding their orchard operation to include cider production (Naked Flock) using fruit grown onsite and by local farmers. They host live music events and provide cabanas and picnic areas and acres of beautiful Hudson Valley terroir to explore, in addition to opening their doors to visitors for DIY apple-picking in the fall.
In 1990, Warwick Valley Winery & Distillery started growing apple trees. Today, they offer one of the most diverse pick-your-own orchards for visitors on the East Coast, boasting more than 65 varieties of heirloom and modern apples. In 1994, they began fermenting those apples, creating a hard cider juggernaut in Doc’s Cider, which is now available in 28 states and three countries.
A few years later, Warwick expanded again, launching the American Fruits brand with a line of fruit brandies, liqueurs and cordials. In 2012, they built Black Dirt Distillery, the largest craft distillery on the East Coast. The facility hosts music festivals and features an onsite farm-to-table cafe and outdoor grill so visitors can spend the day eating and drinking sustainably.
Wineries, like Quartz Rock Vineyard, which has diversified its revenue stream with both wines and ciders produced from fruit grown on-site, also opts to give back directly to the community. Each year, they donate thousands of pounds of their farm-grown fruit to local food pantries. That is on top of the donations and special events they host that raise thousands of dollars for non-profit organizations that address a range of needs, from children who have been victims of violence to victims of domestic abuse.
Others, like City Winery Hudson Valley in Montgomery, embrace the community vibe in a sustainable environment. Opened in 2020, City Winery began drawing acclaim almost immediately, with accolades from international competitions like the New York International Wine Competition, the Great American International Wine Competition and the Jefferson Cup Invitational.
City Winery is now drawing hordes of visitors eager to try their wine flights in the zero-plastic tasting room, hit brunch or dinner at their in-house restaurant, or go for vineyard tours. The historic facility uses hydropower generated by a mill on the Wallkill River to power the entire operation, including their popular events and concert series that draw up-and-coming talent and national acts.
Sustainability in the Hudson Valley isn’t one size-fits-all. Luckily, around the region you’ll be able to find it being practiced in paradigms both narrow and broad.