 |
"Build it and they will come" could well be the motto of the new 2,000-square-foot Vinification and Brewing Technology Laboratory due to open at Cornell's New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, N.Y., in the next six to 12 months.
"Scientists at Cornell and industry will be able to use the new facility to develop uniquely New York wines, beers, meads, vinegars and other fermented products," said Mark McLellan, director of Cornell's Institute of Food Science and chairman of the Food Science and Technology department at Geneva. "Together, we will also use it to train students and industry personnel and as a proving ground for new technology and equipment."
McLellan 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. There is no facility like it in the East.
The project was launched at a press conference and wine tasting at the Experiment Station July 8, when Scott Osborn, president of the Seneca Lake Winery Association, contributed $5,000 from the group of more than 24 wineries on Seneca Lake toward the construction of the new lab.
"We are helping to finance the development of this fermentation facility because we believe it will help the industry compete in international markets," said Osborn, president of Fox Run Vineyard and Winery in Penn Yan. "The Experiment Station has helped make the Finger Lakes one of the premier wine regions in the world."
"This $5,000 contribution is the first show of support from industry and represents a momentous first step," said station Director James E. Hunter. "When we lobby legislators for money, the one question they ask is: 'If your work is so important, what is industry doing for you?' "
The station is seeking $250,000 to $500,000 in start-up funds and hopes to establish a $1 million endowment for staff and programming.
The station will rely heavily on contributions from industry to help get the facility up and running. Equipment manufacturers are being contacted for in-kind donations of pilot-scale winery and brewery equipment, including tankage, presses and filtration units. More extensive work will be done in the next three years when the State University of New York (SUNY) begins the scheduled renovation of the Food Research Building where the lab -- currently an unused machine shop on the north end of the building -- is located. Funding is also part of the station's $2.5 million GENEVA Plan being proposed to the New York State Legislature.
Long term renovations include building a loading dock and ramp; sloping and tiling the floor; and additional staff support. The west end of the facility will focus on brewing. Equipment will include a mash lauter, boiling kettle, fermenters and tankage. The east end will hold three 200- to 500-gallon storage tanks and an office/lab. The central workspace will include a stemmer and crusher, fermenter and pasteurizer.
An industry fundraising team will be in place this fall and is being organized by Domenic Carisetti, manager of winemaking at Canandaigua Wine Company, who has more than 20 years of experience in the wine industry in New York.
In the past 20 years, New York has emerged as the number two wine producing region in the country, behind California. There are 110 wineries in the state; 96 of which have been established since 1976, when the state Legislature passed the Farm Winery law.
"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 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 a growth segment of the industry.