| Issue #35, November 24, 2006 |
Out Of The Cellar And Into The World
New Talent At Bedell/Corey Creek Tackles The Challenges Of A Global Wine Market
By Lenn Thompson
Trent Preszler, chief operating officer of Bedell Cellars and Corey Creek Vineyards, was hired by owner Michael Lynne, who is also co-chairman and CEO of New Line Cinema, in 2003 to help move his winery forward.
Since then, Preszler has overseen a great many changes at the wineries. John Levenberg, formerly of Paul Hobbs Winery in Napa, has joined the winemaking team. They’ve added an outdoor tasting pavilion that offers gorgeous vineyard views and have upgraded the winemaking facilities. A new crush pad more than doubles the fruit-receiving area, the barrel room has been expanded with seventy new barrels, and seventeen new custom-made stainless steel tanks with removable lids have been installed in the fermentation room.
What’s next for Preszler, Bedell and the region as a whole? Dan’s Papers recently caught up with Prezler to find out.
Dan’s Papers: What were you doing prior to joining Bedell?
Trent Prezler: I joined the Bedell team after completing my M.S. in Agricultural Economics at Cornell University. At Cornell I spent most of 2002 writing a thesis about consumer acceptance of New York wines in the New York City market. Additionally, a classmate from Cornell’s Johnson School of Management worked with me to form a small market research company that was advising John Hancock Financial Group on their global vineyard acquisition strategies.
Dan’s: Bordeaux. You hear the comparison between Long Island and Bordeaux all of the time. Why do you think that is?
Prezler: When Long Island viticulture was still in its nascent years – particularly in the 1980s and 1990s – there probably was a tendency to draw reference points to places like Bordeaux as a means of understanding how the climate and soils of Long Island fit within the regionally segmented scheme of global agriculture. I think those comparisons are less relevant now as Long Island forges its own unique identity among the great regions of the world.
Dan’s: Okay. If you had to compare Long Island to any other region, what would be it?
Prezler: At Bedell, we are producing wines which exhibit at once the best characteristics of California with the best of Bordeaux. With our climate and soils on Long Island, we have the unique ability to produce wines showing well-extracted, delicious fruit on the front palate, complemented by food-friendly tannins and structure in the mid-palate. It’s the best of both worlds.
Dan’s: What are the biggest challenges facing Bedell and Corey Creek right now?
Prezler: This year at Bedell we bottled thirteen wines and nine of them sold out within the first six months of release. This is a direct result of our commitment to quality in the bottle and the fast growth of our wine club and national distribution networks. Since we have no plans to increase production volume, our challenge now is to optimize the management of our wines.
Dan’s: In so many places on this planet, restaurants only serve local wines. This is true throughout Europe, California and even the Pacific Northwest. Why isn’t the same true, in general, in Manhattan or even Long Island?
Prezler: You almost exactly quoted the opening sentence of my Cornell M.S. thesis! Walk into any restaurant in Napa and you will see almost exclusively California wines on the list. Ditto for French wines while dining al fresco at any bistro in Provence, and ditto for Washington wines in Seattle. One of the most perplexing issues in New York is the resistance we see in the marketplace toward local agricultural products. I’m not sure, but it may have something to do with the fact that New York has such a major convergence of cultures from all around the world, diluting people’s affinity for something ‘local.’ At Bedell, we are working every day to educate New York consumers and key sommeliers to open their eyes to the world-class wines we are crafting right here in their own backyard.
Dan’s: You’ve said before that one of your goals is to get your wines on top lists throughout the world. What has to happen for that goal to be achieved?
Prezler: We have to start at home first and gain broader acceptance among New York City restaurants and retailers. Bedell is making considerable progress in that regard – and I note that other Long Island wineries are too. If I may coin a new phrase, New York is such a “groundforce” in the food and wine industry that success here will lead to success in other major cities.
Dan’s: I know that Bedell was involved in some of the pre-planning of the Long Island Merlot Alliance, but Bedell is not a part of the group. Does that mean that Bedell isn’t focusing on merlot?
Prezler: Actually, Merlot is a wonderful grape for Long Island and it comprises the largest percentage of our acreage at Bedell. The beauty of Merlot is that unlike longer-maturing varieties, such as Cabernet Sauvignon, you can drink a Merlot just a year or two in bottle and it’s going to be deliciously approachable. It will not necessarily require five to ten years in bottle before revealing its charms. Merlot is also a tremendous blending grape and can be particularly exciting when blended with other varietals that grow well on Long Island.
Dan’s: You mention blending and with your Cupola, Taste line, and now Gallery blends. Bedell seems to have a new focus on blends versus varietal bottlings. Can you tell us a bit about that shift in focus?
Prezler: At Bedell, we believe strongly that blended wines have several major benefits. The process of making blended wines is highly qualitative and even experimental, which allows the full creative talents of our winemaker to be revealed. We grow many different varietals to world-class levels and blends are an outlet for their convergence. Additionally, when you create a blended wine with a particular branded name and particular combination of grapes, you are creating something truly unique which many not have existed before anywhere in the wine world. That is an exciting process to be a part of.
Dan’s: Will this change in philosophy carry over to the red wine program? Will we start seeing more red blends?
Prezler: Our blended program really began to take shape with the 2005 vintage and the whites from ‘05 were released this year. In 2007, we will be releasing Bedell’s 2005 reds, which will include Bedell 2005 TASTE Red, a blend of 55-percent Merlot, 25-percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 10-percent Cabernet Franc and 10-percent Syrah. TASTE Red is a wine we are very excited about.
Dan’s: Looking beyond Bedell, what are the biggest challenges industry-wide, in your view?
Prezler: I am on the board of MKF Research LLC, the pre-eminent wine think tank based in Napa. In that capacity, I have had many conversations with peers at small farm boutique wineries in California. There are several issues that everybody seems to be concerned about, including national and global consolidation of distributor networks and the rapid emergence of consistently styled, well-marketed wines from the Southern Hemisphere – Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Argentina.
Dan’s: Why do you think that Bedell is uniquely positioned to succeed in the world industry?
Prezler: At Bedell, we have made major commitments to quality in the bottle, a state-of-the-art facility and bringing world-class talent to Long Island. The results of our business model are already quite compelling and we believe the future is very bright.
 |
