Under the Blue Roof: Tousey Winery
by Christopher Matthews

While the Hudson River Valley is a historic—and bona fide—wine region, the number of wineries on our (east) side of the river is slim. And Red Hook’s only winery/tasting room, Alison Winery at the Greig Farm dairy barn, has been shuttered for some time now. This makes the October 16 opening of the Tousey Winery tasting room at the Blue Roof Market on Route 9, in Clermont, a welcome development.

The Tousey in question is well-known local beekeeper and farmer Ray Tousey, who has been a fixture at local farmers’ markets with his antique truck, honey and beeswax products (and popular live bee display!), seasonal berries and fruit juices. And, since 2006, occasional wines and liqueurs made from local grapes and fruit under the Tousey nameplate.

A stone’s throw from the Dutchess-Columbia County line, Tousey Winery is the southwest gateway to the Hudson-Berkshire Beverage Trail (HBBT), a bi-state trail featuring quality producers of wines, ciders, beers and spirits in Eastern New York and Western Massachusetts. At the opening a full line of newly bottled wines debuted, including two whites (a blend and a Riesling), a rosé blend and two reds (a Cabernet Franc and a Pinot Noir).

Local roots
No stranger to fermentation, Ray had previously grown and pressed apples for cider at his Blue Roof facility (which he built and owns), until New York State mandated pasteurization for commercial cider a few years back. Soon thereafter, Ray met veteran spare-time winemaker Bruce Tripp at the Rhinebeck Farmers Market, where Bruce asked whether Ray “ever considered using those black currants to make cassis?” Ray had indeed, and that question spawned a friendship and collaboration to make a Crème de Cassis liqueur with Ray’s four varieties of black currants. With a good deal of trial and error, they perfected a recipe using Ray's own honey (rather than the typical sugar), to balance the tart, macerated (in grain alcohol) currants. An instant hit, the liqueur has developed a cult-like following at the local farmers' markets. Tousey Winery was conceived.

Convinced that the Hudson Valley (HV) could be a truly great wine region, Ray and Bruce embarked on some successful small batch wine projects at the Blue Roof facility, with the ultimate goal of cultivating their own grapes. They even made a tasty, sweet-tart plum wine from Ray’s own trees. Test vines have been planted at Ray's Clermont property, featuring varieties that Tripp believes to have potential and commercial appeal in the HV, like Riesling, Cabernet Franc and Traminette. But the jury is still out, because vines only produce grapes in year three after planting (2011, in this case). Given Ray’s wide ranging activities however, and Bruce's full time job at IBM, the duo hesitated to expand the winemaking operation.

Enter Ray’s daughter, Kimberly, and her husband, Yorkshireman Ben Peacock, and (now) two grandkids, who in 2009 were living in Denmark. In spring 2009, the Peacocks took a family vacation to Clermont to introduce Ray to his first grandchild, Justin, then a newborn. During that visit, Ray broached the idea of Ben and Kimberly relocating to Clermont to help take the winery to the next stage. Finding Clermont and the HV region family-friendly, and attracted by "the buzz around New York wines" and the challenge of growing the business (despite no prior experience in the wine industry), Ben and Kimberly decided to cross the Atlantic. Ben would work as a jack-of-all winery manager, and develop a tasting room concept, while Kimberly would join Ray at the farmers' markets to promote and sell the wines. In short order, Tousey had become a family affair.

The Valley and the Lakes
The focus at Tousey has been, and remains, the Hudson Valley region. But without grape-bearing vineyards (yet), fruit has to be purchased. And as Ben soon discovered, there’s a shortage of quality HV grapes. Although the oldest wine region in the country, the HV has the smallest production of New York State’s four major regions (Lake Erie, the Finger Lakes, Long Island are the others), with only some 400 acres under vine. According to Steven Mackay at the Cornell Extension, vine acreage would almost have to double to meet the demand from local wineries. How come? Put simply, the HV is a difficult and expensive place to grow wine grapes due to climatic extremes, multiple pests and competing land use issues. Despite the obstacles, wineries like Millbrook and Whitecliff (on the other side of the river) show that excellent wine from HV grapes is not mission impossible. And the number of HV grape growers has actually risen recently, albeit not enough to keep up with demand from wineries.

So, most local wineries have to buy grapes (or bulk wine) from the Finger Lakes and/or Long Island regions to supplement HV sources. This is Tousey's path for the short term.

Once Ben was on board, he started distance courses in chemistry and winemaking to get up to speed with Bruce in the cellar. The two also sought out assistance from the Cornell Extension, which in turn led to an introduction to Peter Bell, winemaker of the estimable Fox Run Vineyards in the Finger Lakes, as a sounding board on the Tousey wines in the pipeline.

Coming from a successful business background in England, Ben wanted to produce a quality, manageable line of wines to establish the brand, using grapes that could be eventually be grown by Tousey, or sourced in the HV. Consultations with Bell revealed, however, that the wines already in tank were not commercial quality, stemming from inferior, over-cropped HV fruit too thin in terms of flavor profile. It was bad news, with an upside: a good chemistry developed with Bell, who encouraged them to source grapes and wines to blend from the Finger Lakes to start. He also offered his rolodex of Finger Lakes growers and—even more important—access to Fox Run’s large grape production, not to mention blending and bottling facilities. Pretty soon Ben and Bruce were commuting regularly to Penn Yan, Fox Run’s location on Seneca Lake, to make the next wines for Tousey, with Peter Bell as a consultant/mentor

Impressive strides
From my recent visit to the spare, but welcoming tasting room, the Finger Lakes gambit seems to have paid off; overall, the wines are well-made, and a couple are compelling.

The Queen of Clermont (New York State, 2009, $16.00), the “house white” label, is a lively blend of Chardonnay, Cayuga and Traminette, all grapes that can (eventually) be grown or sourced in the HV. Tripp is a big fan of Traminette for the HV, a newish French-American hybrid that exhibits the floral and lychee qualities of its notable parent, Gewurztraminer, but with much more winter hardiness. And the Queen does exhibit a floral nose, along with tangy grapefruit and citrus notes on a clean finish. Think Asian-style fish preparations for a nice food pairing.

The Cabernet Franc is a blend of two vintages (2007 and 2008), and therefore non-vintage, but it took something good from both: a clear purple-ruby, it has pure Cab Franc character—hints of mint, briar fruit and tobacco leaf. Medium-bodied with good structure, this is a pretty, fruity quaffer, reminiscent of Cab Franc-based wines from France’s Loire Valley. For the highly touted 2010 vintage, Tousey has HV Cab Franc already in the tank, procured from Oak Summit Vineyard, a reputable Dutchess County Pinot Noir specialist that also grows Cab Franc and Chardonnay to sell. Cab Franc is high on the list for red vinifera (European) varieties to grow in the Valley, and Bruce and Ben are excited by what's in the cellar.

Through intelligent partnering, hard work and learning on the fly, things have come together nicely for Tousey under the Blue Roof. It remains a work-in-progress, and an important bellwether for the local wine scene. This winter, the tasting room will be open on the weekends. In addition, Tousey will take part in the Red Hook and Rhinebeck winter farmers' markets, where the new batch of Hudson River Region Cassis will once again be available.

A welcoming toast to Tousey Winery!