Star winemaker in emerging American region shows old-guard elites how it's done

A renowned winemaker calls New York's Finger Lakes "one of the only cool continental climates in the U.S. for wine-growing" — touting the beauty and benefits of an area that is increasingly grabbing the national spotlight. 

Nova Cadamatre, together with her husband, Brian, opened Trestle Thirty One winery in 2015 in the Finger Lakes. She splits her time between the emerging powerhouse region and California's globally recognized Napa Valley. 

Unlike California, where summers are reliably dry and conditions stable, the Finger Lakes see "precipitation of some sort throughout the year — and it includes us having rain during the growing season," Cadamatre told Fox News Digital. 

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The result is wine that tastes different than anywhere else in the country, she said. 

Wine Enthusiast recently named the Finger Lakes as the American Wine Region of the Year — a feat that Gov. Kathy Hochul's office said "recognizes the region’s world-class winemaking, sustainable practices and collaborative community that have helped define New York State as a leader in American viticulture."

Her office's note added, "It’s a win for our state’s economy and our reputation as a global wine destination."

In bestowing the honor, Wine Enthusiast said, "New York’s largest wine-growing region has come a mighty long way in a few decades. Where wine lovers once had to search for quality, these days it’s the norm."

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"Making wine in New York really forces you to be creative and very resourceful because the industry is not as well established as it is in California," said Cadamatre.

The region has been evolving fast. 

Since her very first Finger Lakes harvest, Cadamatre said she's watched the area shift from underdog to emerging powerhouse.

Climate change, while destabilizing in many wine regions, has had a paradoxical benefit in the Finger Lakes, Cadamatre said.

"We are becoming warmer," she said. 

"We're able to grow different varieties than we did 20 years ago and ripen them more consistently."

She likens the region's trajectory to Napa's early ascent.

"The Finger Lakes, right now, is kind of like where Napa was in the 1970s," she said.

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Cadamatre views Trestle Thirty One's Engine Riesling, featured in the Fox News American Wine Club, and Cabernet Franc, available through the Fox News Wine Shop, as ambassadors for a region still creating its identity.

"They're really great exposure to what the region has to offer," she said.

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The Engine Riesling is "great as just an apéritif or a sipper or with a cheese plate and charcuterie, hanging around with friends," she said.

"But it's also dry enough where it'll go really well with lighter, red meats."

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For a winemaker who has built her career on both coasts, Cadamatre is bullish about the future of viticulture in the Finger Lakes.

"I think it's just a real testament to all the work that the community's done here to get the word out about our beautiful wine region," Cadamatre said.

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She's the first female winemaker in the United States to earn the prestigious Master of Wine title — which she earned in 2017. 

"It's the highest level of certification you can achieve in the world of wine," Cadamatre said. "Right now, there are about 432 of us in the world."

As she also recently told SUNY Morrisville, where she earned her degree in horticulture, "I've been working my butt off for a long time. I've made a lot of wine over 20 years."

Learn more about the Fox News Wine Shop here.