New York State’s answer to Copia – the New York Wine and Culinary Center – opens this Friday.

The US$7. 5m nonprofit center – the equivalent of Napa’s Copia: The American Center for Wine, Food and the Arts – is based in the city of Canandaigua in the Finger Lakes wine region.

The center is the new home of the New York Wine and Grape Foundation, which looks after an industry of 210 wine producers, up from 19 just 30 years ago. The state’s wine industry is the fourth largest in America.

The board’s president is Richard Sands, also president of Constellation Brands, the world’s largest wine company. Before a name change in 2000, Constellation, then based in Canandaigua, was the Canandaigua Wine Company.

The center is a boon for the booming Finger Lakes, which (with Long Island) is one of New York’s two main regions and America’s foremost riesling producer.

Each week, the center’s wine tasting room will feature a new menu of New York wines, which can be bought in bulk. The Taste of New York Lounge will offer dishes paired with wines, and there will also be a focus on wine education, wine and food matching and cooking using local ingredients.

Written by Howard G Goldberg in New York

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Howard G Goldberg
Howard G Goldberg
Decanter Magazine, Food & Wine Writer

Howard G Goldberg is a wine writer and critic based in New York City. He made his name writing about wine for The New York Times, where he worked for 34 years. He has written various books on food and wine, including Prime: The Complete Prime Rib Book and All About Wine Cellars. He compiled The New York Times Book of Wine – a collection of the publication’s best wine articles.