It's all about red wines at Shalestone Vineyards

Rob Thomas has carved out a unique niche in the Finger Lakes wine industry. "Red Is All We Do" hangs from the Shalestone Vineyards sign along Route 414 in Lodi. If you are looking for a sweet white wine don't bother stopping there.

JEFF RICHARDS/Star-Gazette Shalestone Vineyards' tasting room is located along Route 414 in Lodi.

Rob has a simple outlook on life. He wants to do things his way, at his pace. In the first five minutes of conversation with Rob, I felt the rat race pace of my life melting into the background. Rob could have a larger winery, but it would mean more work than he and his wife, Kate, could do by themselves.

You see, Rob is the winemaker as well as the vineyard manager. He also pours wines with Kate during tasting hours on the weekends from May to the end of September. The tasting hours allow Rob to spend time with his customers during the summer. It also lets him to get back to the vineyards and making wine the rest of the year.

Six acres of vineyards normally provide him with enough fruit to produce about 1,000 cases of red wine each year. Almost all of that is sold at the winery tasting room. The rest is sold to restaurants that wish to carry his Finger Lakes red wines.

"Wine gives pleasure to life," Rob says. "The fact that it comes out of the earth - this is the essence of where I live. That's the connection to the land."

Rob has focused on producing only red wines - cabernet franc, merlot, cabernet sauvignon, pinot noir and two blends, Legend and Harmony.

Many people, even those deeply involved in the wine business, believe that the short growing season and harsh winters in the Finger Lakes make it difficult to grow some red vinifera grapes successfully in the region.

So why did Rob challenge the general feeling that making red vinifera wines in the Finger Lakes was not feasible?

"I had a strong intuition that the red grapes would grow on shallow soil above the shale," Rob says. That's not to say that Rob isn't a realist. "Anyone who lives in the Finger Lakes and doesn't expect winter damage is not completely there," he says. Rob loves the land in the Finger Lakes and considers himself a homesteader.

JEFF RICHARDS/Star-Gazette Shalestone Vineyards winemaker and vineyard manager Rob Thomas had this storage building built into the hillside and then landscaped all around it.

Originally from Connecticut, Rob earned a degree in agronomy (management of farm land) at the University of Connecticut. While still in college, Rob spent a summer working at a flower farm north of San Diego.

"I was the only American and didn't speak any Spanish," Rob remembers. But "they were friends to me," Rob says, and he even was invited to go to a wedding with one of the workers.

After graduation, Rob traveled extensively, driving an old car and camping out. Finally he settled in the Finger Lakes area - to grow grapes.

"I was a classic New Englander that didn't know about New York," he says.

But he knew enough about land prices to realize that this area "was a heck of a nice place to live, especially with the cost of getting started."

Rob and Kate cleared the land, built their house and planted grapes. They also raised two children: Seth, now 24 and in the Peace Corps, and Liana, 19, who will be a sophomore at New Paltz State College this fall.

Rob worked in area vineyards, and then was vineyard manager at Chateau Lafayette Reneau before becoming the winemaker there in 1987. He was the winemaker at Lamoureaux Landing from 1991 to 1998. While he was working at other wineries, he was busy planting cabernet franc and cabernet sauvignon grapes on his own property, starting in 1986.

Even though Cornell was recommending that planters stick with just pinot noir for red vinifera grapes, Rob really believed that this area would support other varieties. His vineyards are near the water on the east side of Seneca Lake, which most years provides more temperature moderation during harsh weather.

However, this past winter the cold air settled near the lake and warm air rose above it. Vines farther up were better protected, but those near the water received the most damage.

Rob describes the loss as "significant, not only this year but for the next three years."

But Rob sees this setback to his vineyards as a challenge to his skills as a winemaker.

"The cool thing about winter damage is that it's humbling," Rob says. "It helps keep you on your toes. Making wine this year is going to be entirely different than last year. It's an opportunity to get more experience in my life. If it ever happens again, I'll be the wiser for it."

Every year there are issues - drought, disease or cold damage, Rob says.

"One of the essences of the Finger Lakes is that it is never the same year to year," he says.

Rob has been producing wine under the Shalestone label since 1995. He's pleased with his varietals, but he takes pride in his blends.

"A wine like Harmony (a blend of cabernet franc and merlot) gives me the opportunity to be as creative as I can with the grapes," he says.

Rob and Kate opened their tasting room in 1998 and wine production was moved from a building near their house to a new structure next to the tasting room in 2002. Over the years, Rob has noticed that the area winemakers are really just like one large family.

"There is a sense of cooperation" among Finger Lakes wineries, Rob says. "I look at the fact there is a group of winemakers that I have grown with."

Although Rob wants to continue to develop as a winemaker, that doesn't mean he's planning to expand the winery.

"My wife and I always think about leasing land and growing more, but would I be happy with the change in lifestyle?" he questions. "I know the root of my happiness. I'm proud that I have a small business that provides a wonderful lifestyle.

"If I won the lottery my biggest joy would be figuring out how to give it away."

Wine Guy picks

- Cabernet Franc, 2002: Good fruit nose and flavors of plum, spice and oak.

- Red Legend (nonvintage): A blend of Leon Millot, cabernet franc, merlot and cabernet sauvignon. A rich and creamy soft wine with strawberry and berry flavors.

Shalestone's suggestions

- Cabernet Sauvignon, 2001: Rob likes the complexity and depth of the wine.

If you go ...

Phone: 607/582-6600.

Web site, e-mail: www.shalestonevineyards.com; shalevin@capital.net.

Business hours: Noon to 5 p.m. Friday through Sunday, May through September. Also by appointment.

For comments or questions, Jeff Richards can be reached at 607/271-8279 or 800/836-8970, ext. 279, or e-mail: jrichards@stargazette.com.