Success!
There's lots to feel good about in New York wine. New York has just hosted its most successful wine event in years! The 2026 Cab Franc Forward event was a tremendous success. More than thirty wineries, numerous excellent examples of the grape, a packed press tasting, a phenomenal tasting panel headlined by Windows on the World bestselling wine author Kevin Zraly, and a sold out public tasting event. More than 700 people came through the rooms in a 12 hour period. For an industry event, it had all the hallmarks of achievement one organization could ask for.
“Today marks a meaningful milestone for New York wine,” said Gabriella Macari, Co-Founder of Cab
Franc Forward NY. “I have always believed that what we cultivate here deserves global recognition.
Cabernet Franc expresses the balance, complexity, and character that define the state’s winegrowing
regions. Seeing our wineries united around a shared vision reflects the strength and pride of New York’s
wine community.”
“Cab Franc Forward NY was created by people who believe deeply in the future of New York wine,” said Max Rohn, Co-Founder of Cab Franc Forward NY. “This grassroots movement brings growers, winemakers, and advocates together to champion Cabernet Franc as a defining expression of our state. These wines capture New York’s energy and authenticity, and our collective ambition is to elevate them in the global wine conversation.”
Congratulations of the Cab Franc Forward organizers!
All agreed that this tasting, by far, exceeded by quality and flavor, any previous Cab Franc Forward tasting. The best wines yet. And the 2024 and the 2025 are showing immense promise, meaning quality will only get better. This even more fantastic news.
A great event in numerous ways.
What Next?
Now, in New York, Riesling has been the cock of the roost since the early 2000s, culminating at the same time with Evan Dawson's book SUMMER IN A GLASS in 2014. New York Riesling is still one of the best three Riesling regions in the world. And quality and flavor has improved since those days.
But few major wine regions or producers (by country) have ever been carried by white wine. Maybe New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc? California Chardonnay? But even so, other than Champagne, most of the major collectible wine regions make red - Napa/Sonoma, Rioja, Chile, Argentina, Italy are all carried by red wines.
New York (and the east coast) has finally found its red voice with Cabernet Franc. The wines are getting better and better. And a distinctive, less oak, more fruit forward style is finally catching on - first with younger consumers, and now with the vino cognoscenti!
But New York's real problem is size. And size does matter. And I'm not saying the state isn't big enough. I'm saying, they're not making enough quality wine to serve the American market place.
Perhaps this is a good thing. Perhaps now is not the right time given the state of the wine, beers, and spirits industry. But the time to start planting more, and making more, is definitely upon us. The time to hone our skills, and create better wines, is now.
But, New York comes up a little short. The best of the Cab Francs are only making approximately 250 cases on average - lending to a boutique image. Some are much lower. New York doesn't need a savoir - New York needs someone with the imagination and resources to rise to the challenge. Whether it is through a commune style blending and bottling, or the outside investment of others, a bigger brand must arise - and one that stresses quality.
Do New York's wineries measure up to national distribution? Not yet. Families like the Osborns, the Martinis, the Hazlitts, the Franks, the Wolffers, have long dominated the upper end of the industry, trying to sell quality wine in large scale in New York. They helped get the industry to where it is now. Several of these wineries are in more than 25 states, which is a goodly size. Fox Run, Anthony Road, and Dr. Frank were the first names to cross the line into the winners circle with their Rieslings. The Wolffers landed with Rose'. But who will cross the line with Cab Franc?
This Grand Tasting should help to galvanize the idea - New York red wine has arrived. Now, what to do with it? By the time new plantings come on line, and the bottlings are ready for sales, is five to six years out when you consider how long it is to bring a wine to market. And let's be honest, given the state's longitude and latitude, frosts and blights are not out of the question as hazards along the way. But Cab Franc works everywhere in the state. One of the best wines of the tasting came from the Niagara Escarpment - a 13 years old Arrowhead Springs - chosen by Zraly himself.
If you are Federated, or Southern, or Empire, or any other distributor here on the east coast, where do you position New York? More importantly, how do the power brokers of New York's wine industry change that perception. It will only come through coordination and cooperation. Just as it did with Riesling.
And I know that the current marketplace now seems like the wrong time to make this move - but this is just the kind of counter intuitive thinking that makes empires. It's the kind that wins battles. It is the kind of bold thinking that wins wars and establishes lasting success.
The wine has never been better - but to what end? How does New York become a great wine region - not just a good region? The conversation is bigger than this single post can explore. However, follow up pieces will be on their way.
New York is the third or fourth largest wine producing state in the union, behind California and Washington, and in a nip and tuck race with Oregon. A good red wine would take them from nice to excellent local wines, to a highly estimable region.
New York is good enough, perhaps even better, but how does it claim, nee' demand, its place at the table? Quality - and size - matter.
PS
For a great read on Cab Franc read Kathleen Wilcox on the subject: