Our First FLXCursion as a Winery
We attended our first industry conference as winery owners last week. FLXCursion, a conference that celebrates Riesling, brought together winemakers and growers from around the world. We didn't know what to expect going in, and we left having met people we'd only known by name, while also strengthening connections with so many great members of the FLX wine community. Here are some highlights, which are just a few of the many great conversations we had.
Day one: the Grand Tasting and Ancora
After the Grand Tasting on day one, we ended up grabbing dinner at the bar at Ancora in Geneva, where we ran into Peter Becraft, head winemaker at Anthony Road. Good wine talk over good food is hard to beat.
That same evening, we connected with Daniel Shafer, another winemaker building a winery without walls. It turns out there are more of us doing this than you'd think, and we really enjoyed comparing notes with someone who gets the model firsthand.
Day two: the Riesling crawl
After a full day of educational sessions, the Evening Riesling Crawl took us to a bunch of great restaurants on Linden Street. While tasting wine at the Rusty Pig, we sat down for a quick bite and ran straight into Nova Cadamatre of Trestle 31 wines. Having really enjoyed the panel she spoke on earlier in the day about Riesling’s international rise, we were lucky enough to get even more winemaking insights from her.
On more than one occasion during the conference, we caught up with Erin McMurrough, winemaker at Little Clover Wine Company, who was also on the panel with Nova. Erin makes beautiful sprakling wines and is the founder of Wineries Without Walls. She has been so welcoming to us since day one as a new winery. Really loved having the chance to meet up face-to-face!
The Frank family
Finally, during the Grand tasting at the Dr. Konstantin Frank booth, we had the pleasure of talking with Meaghan Frank, Dr. Frank’s granddaughter, who runs the Dr. Konstantin Frank winery today. Even though the booth was packed, she still gave us her full attention and a genuinely thoughtful conversation.
Then on the last night, dinner at Kindred Fare, we had the unexpected pleasure of sitting next to Meaghan’s parents, Fredrick and Maryclaire Frank. Maryclaire and Niki hit it off right away, comparing notes on careers in law and people they had in common. Fred, who is still involved in the winery but has turned over the day-to-day to Meaghan, talked with Scott about winemaking trends in the Finger Lakes, past and present.
What we learned
We walked away with a better understanding of the Finger Lakes wine region, and an appreciation that: 1) it’s small enough that you end up at the same restaurant as the people whose wine you've been drinking for years, and 2) it’s generous enough that established winemakers make time for two people who have only just started, leaving us with a fuller sense of how we fit in this community.
Already looking forward to next year! Thanks to this year’s conference director, Shomari Smoak, and team for putting on such a great event!
For more of our Finger Lakes wine adventures, make sure to check out this post.
Thanks for joining us on this journey! Before you leave, don’t forget to subscribe to our blog and also check out our Facebook group, Finger Lakes Food and Wine Adventures.
Cheers from the lake!
—Niki and Scott
