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Some months ago I watched a TV show about two winemakers in France and their different approaches to the vine. One had a rock star approach. He partied hard and could often be found passed out among the fruit of his labor. The other, a third generation vintner, presided over his casks with a scientific precision. Everything was measured, analyzed in lab and thoroughly calculated before being bottled.
What was interesting about the two different approaches was not the difference in attitude, but that miles away, a sommelier doing a blind tasting of each vineyard’s offerings described the wine – and its maker – accurately. One was filled with love of life and passion, the other was pristine and perfect in a calculated fashion. Both were marvelous glasses of wine, but the sommelier could ferret out the lifestyle of the vintners merely through a sniff and a sip.
Visitors to the Hudson Valley Wine & Food Festival at the Dutchess County Fairgrounds this weekend – Sept. 7, 8 and 9 – may not have the refined palates of a Parisian sommelier, but with practice, says Michael Babcock, even the most novice drinker will be able to discern between a merlot, a pinot noir and a cabernet sauvignon.
Babcock should know. He’s the producer of this annual oenophile paean and the man who presides over the burgeoning WineRacks.com empire, born of a good deed nearly two decades ago.
Babcock began as a contractor. When his brother-in-law decided to open a wine store in Connecticut, he built and installed wine racks to showcase the bottles. As contracting work took a nosedive and word of his brother-in-law’s fabulous wine rack spread, Babcock turned his attention to creating wine racks full time. His decision dovetailed serendipitously with a change in the consumption market. “It used to be called the liquor store, and the format used to be 80 percent spirits and 20 percent wines,” said Babcock. “Now, it’s just the opposite of that – 80 to 85 percent wines to spirits in the last 15 years. People in the U.S. have started to engage. That all-important demographic of 25-45 are really enjoying it.”
After doing a substantial amount of work for Seagram, Babcock began WineRacks.com in 1994. The business, located in Tillson, commands 20,000 square feet of production space for its wooden wine racks (the wire wine racks are made by subcontractors), and other facilities in New Mexico and Austin. Babcock employs 26 people in the Hudson Valley and another 26 across the country.
Babcock’s company produces everything from “racks that hold four bottles to racks that hold 30,000 bottles.” Among WineRacks.com’s clients are most of the major hotels in Las Vegas, many restaurant chains and, of course, retail stores. The company also offers components for those interested in building their own wine cellars, and an endless variety of custom racks.
Why wine? “It’s a really great beverage, but if you really get into it and start to learn about it, it’s an enjoyable hobby,” said Babcock, who prefers reds but has devoted himself to the perpetual study of the infinite possibilities of the grape and the expansion of his palate. “Back then, I knew about as much about wine as anybody else,” he said. “I certainly have come along way since, and still have a long way to go.”
A thumbnail history
Babcock was inspired to start the Hudson Valley Wine Festival after attending the Aspen Wine and Food Festival in Colorado. It started seven years ago,” he said. “I was sitting in my office talking with my staff about the Aspen festival and I said, ‘God that’s really a great event; why don’t we do one? Nobody’s doing anything in the Hudson Valley. We’re in the cradle of great food and great restaurants, we’ve got the Culinary Institute of America right here in Hyde Park, and we’re surrounded by great New York wineries. Let’s do one!’ And everybody looks at me like: ‘You’ve got to be kidding. We make wine racks …’”
But Babcock, a man who’s not easily put off a path once he’s set himself upon it, was already halfway there. “‘It’s gonna be easy,’” he remembers telling the troops. “‘My friend Norm Grieg over at Grieg Farm said we could do it over there. Come on, hop in the car, let’s go over.’ And I bring them to this field … an enormous, empty field, and I said, ‘Isn’t it beautiful? Just imagine the tents – the people! Everything’s gonna be great!’
“And of course they said, ‘You’re insane!’ to which I said: ‘That’s beside the point. Come on, we’re gonna do this!”
From that eureka moment grew a festival that Babcock expects will draw more than 10,000 visitors this year. The popularity of the festival led it to outgrow its original digs – Norm Grieg’s farm in Red Hook. “We’re a little nostalgic about leaving the Grieg Farm,” allowed Babcock, who considers Grieg one of his better friends. “We were there for five years and we had a great time doing it there. But we’re victims of our own success. We outgrew what we could do there – just the enormity of building the site became prohibitive. We’d put up all these tents to house 10 or 12,000 people for three days – it was a tent city – all the sanitary, all the electrical, everything that you could imagine would have to go in there. We thought there would be an economy of scale, but it just wasn’t there. And it was getting too expensive to do and keep the price of the event reasonable.”
Babcock didn’t even have to look around for a more amenable site; it literally fell into his lap. “The new manager of the Dutchess County Fairgrounds, Bob Grems, approached me last year and offered their facility,” said Babcock. “And we came to a very good working relationship and we’re very happy to be there. By moving it to the fairgrounds we can maintain a reasonable ticket price and really expand the event.”
This year’s festival promises to be larger and more comprehensive – focusing on a complete lifestyle, said Babcock – than previous years.
If you go …
Wine hobbyists, serious aficionados and those who simply enjoy a tasty sip – and a bite to eat – will have a chance to peruse the offerings of dozens of wineries. The bulk of the wineries represented are from the Hudson Valley and Finger Lakes regions, with a smattering from Long Island and the northern reaches of the state. One entry hails from Virginia.
Anyone serious about wine should attend the kickoff “Grand Reserve Tasting” from 6 to 9 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 7, when 12 featured wineries will present their reserve offerings. Selected restaurants will create specialty hors d’oeuvres for the tasting, and an art gallery opening will also be featured.
Visitors to the fair Saturday and Sunday can choose to eat at one of 20 restaurants on site, and can sip the goods from more than 60 wineries. One wine-and-food-sated blogster reporting on last year’s festival divulged that scrumptious delicacies such as crab and lobster roll, curried goat, German sausages and all manner of baked goods could be had in addition to all the surprisingly good wines. “White tents. Blue sky. Green lawn. Great wine,” wrote the delighted scribe. “We had a ball.”
Chef tastings and presentations are scheduled during this year’s event, including an appearance by Iron Chef Peter Kelly from Xavier’s and X20, along with homegrown talent Ric Orlando (New World Home Cooking) and Josh Kroner (Terrapin Restaurant). Wine seminars will also be offered.
Think you can’t bring the kids to this hedonist’s paradise? Think again. Babcock believes the festival is about a “lifestyle,” and has incorporated bouncy houses, face-painters and other children’s entertainment into the mix to keep the whole family happy. “The wine festival is just a great event, if you like wine, food and great music,” said Babcock.” It’s a great, relaxed time.”
There are several different categories of tickets to the event. A VIP ticket (only available in advance, through the Web site until Sept. 4) is $100. The ticket includes admission to Friday’s Grand Reserve tasting and each day of the festival, a wine tasting seminar with Christine Ansbacher (as well as a copy of her book, “Secrets from the Wine Diva”), a VIP hospitality area and VIP parking. A one-day tasting ticket costs $25 in advance or $30 at the gate. The ticket includes a gift bag with a piece of stemware to use to sample all the wine you can safely imbibe. For designated drivers and minors, there are non-tasting tickets for $12 in advance or $15 at the gate. Those tickets include free water, soda and a souvenir glass upon exit (weekend tickets cost $20 in advance, $25 at the gate). If you want to make a weekend of it, buy a Weekend Tasting Ticket ($40 advance, $50 gate), which includes unlimited wine and a tasting glass.
For more information about WineRacks.com, visit the website or call 658-7181. For more information about the Hudson Valley Wine Festival, visit www.hudsonvalleywinefest.com, where you can get an update to the following list of wineries that will be on hand this year:
Booth 3: Ashley Lynn Winery of Mexico, N.Y.
Booth 6: Damiani Wine Cellars of Hector, N.Y.
Booth 21: Atwater Vineyards of Hector, N.Y.
Booth 22: Sheldrake Point Winery of Ovid, N.Y.
Booth 27: El Paso Winery of Ulster Park.
Booth 28: Millbrook Vineyards & Winery of Millbrook.
Booth 37: Mazza Chautauqua Cellars of Mayville, N.Y.
Booth 38 & 39: Glenora Wine Cellars of Dundee, N.Y.
Booth 40: Keuka Overlook Wine Cellars of Dundee, N.Y.
Booth 42 & 43: Lamoreaux Landing Wine Cellars of Lodi, N.Y.
Booth 44 & 45: McGregor Vineyard of Dundee, N.Y.
Booth 46: Knapp Winery of Romulus, N.Y.
Booth 47: Heron Hill Winery of Hammondsport, N.Y.
Booth 48: Hunt Country Vineyards of Branchport, N.Y.
Booth 51: Fulkerson Winery of Dundee, N.Y.
Booth 52: Seneca Shore Wine Cellars of Penn Yan, N.Y.
Booth 53: Chateau Lafayette Reneau of Hector, N.Y.
Booth 55: Cascata Winery at the Professor’s Place in Watkins Glen, N.Y.
Booth 56: Hazlitt 1852 Vineyards of Hector, N.Y.
Booth 57: Anthony Road Wine Company of Penn Yan, N.Y.
Booth 59: Four Chimneys Organic Winery of Stanley, N.Y.
Booth 65: Warwick Valley Winery of Warwick, N.Y.
Booth 66: La Provencale Cellars of Woodstock, Va.
Booth 67: Red Barn Winery of North Syracuse, N.Y.
Booth 73: Cascade Mountain Winery of Amenia.
Booth 77 & 78: Treleaven Wines of King Ferry, N.Y.
Booth 79: Pazdar Winery of Scotchtown, N.Y.
Booth 93: Keuka Spring Vineyards of Penn Yan, N.Y.
Booth 94: Americana Vineyards & Winery of Interlaken, N.Y.
Booth 96: Brotherhood Winery of Washingtonville, N.Y. — billed as “America’s Oldest Winery.
Booth 99: Bloomer Creek Vineyard of Hector, N.Y.
Booth 102: Montezuma Winery of Seneca Falls, N.Y.
Booth 118: Leidenfrost Vineyards of Hector, N.Y.
Booth 119: Clinton Vineyards of Clinton Corners.
Booth 120: Ravines Wine Cellars of Hammondsport, N.Y.
Booth 121: Alison Wines & Vineyards of Red Hook
Booth 124: Rasta Ranch Vineyards of Hector, N.Y.
Booth 125: Catharine Valley Winery of Geneva, N.Y.
Booth 126: Fox Run Vineyards of Penn Yan, N.Y.
Booth 129: Thirsty Owl Wine Company of Ovid, N.Y.
Booth 132: Benmarl Winery of Marlboro.
Booth 137: Warm Lake Estate of Brockport, N.Y.
Booth 140: Long Island Meadery of Holbrook, N.Y.
Booth 141: Thousand Islands Winery of Alexandria Bay, N.Y.
Booth 147: Johnson Estate Winery of Westfield, N.Y.
Unassigned so far:
Buttonwood Grove Winery of Romulus, N.Y.
Swedish Hill & Goosewatch Wineries of Romulus, N.Y.
Wagner Vineyards of Lodi, N.Y.
Whitecliff Vineyard of Gardiner.
