Find a list of Wineries, Wine Trails, and places to go wine tasting in Ulster County. Also visit Hudson Valley Wineries, Hudson Valley Wine Trails and Winery Tours. Visit the wine tasting rooms where you can taste award-winning wines. Learn about the history of wine making as you tour the wineries in the Hudson Valley. Find winery locations, tasting menus, wine tasting options, and more about the wineries in Ulster County and the Historic Hudson Valley.

Visit one or more of the wineries in Ulster County. Book a tour on the Shawangunk Wine Trail, set between the Shawangunk Mountains and the Hudson River. The trail is composed of eleven wineries, all family owned. The wineries are located in Orange and Ulster Counties and pass through many attractions and outdoor activities. Book a room at one of the charming bed and breakfasts, dine in the delicious restaurants in Ulster and Orange, and bask in the spectacular scenery including the world famous rock climbing "Gunks". In the evening, see a play or outdoor concert. Or just relax with friends, curl up with a good book, whichever you do, don't forget to have a glass of Hudson Valley wine.

Wineries in the Shawangunk Wine Trail include
Adair Vineyards in New Paltz
Applewood Winery in Warwick
Baldwin Vineyards in Pine Bush
Benmarl Vineyards in Marlboro
Brimstone Hill Vineyards in Pine Bush
Brotherhood Winery in Washingtonville
Cereghino Smith Winery
Chateau Lafayette Reneau in Glens Falls
El Paso Winery in Ulster Park
Glorie Farm Winery in Marlboro
Kedem Winery
Magnanini Farm Winery in Wallkill
Palaia Vineyard in Highland Mills
Robibero Family Vineyards in New Paltz
Stoutridge Vineyard in Marlboro
Warwick Valley Winery in Warwick
Weed Orchards & Winery in Marlboro
Whitecliff Vineyards in Gardiner

Visit one or more of the wineries in Ulster County and learn about the history of each winery. Book a trip to visit the wineries in the Hudson Valley. For a great day out on the winery trail, plan a tour of several wineries. Before embarking on your trip to the wineries in the Hudson Valley, read all about The Art of Wine Tasting.

Plan a vacation in the Hudson Valley of New York. The Hudson Valley offers a wealth of historic sites, magnificent scenery, and many outdoor activities. Activities in the Hudson Valley include boating on the Hudson River, hiking and biking trails through stunning landscape, birding and nature study in hundreds of peaceful sanctuaries and parks throughout the valley. The towns of the Hudson Valley are home to many award winning golf courses including Van Cortlandt Park Golf Course, America's oldest public golf course and the golf course at Mohonk, a 107 year-old historic landmark golf course.

Plan a winery tour in the Hudson Valley and experience the charming wine tasting rooms where you can taste some of the valley's award-winning wines. Tour the winery, meet the owners, and learn about the art of making wine. Have a delightful lunch outdoors, or end your day by dining al fresco overlooking the beautiful vineyards of Ulster County.

Visit the wineries in the Historic Hudson River Valley. The Hudson Valley offers more than 30 wineries, magnificent scenery, the majestic Hudson River, and the Hudson Highlands as a backdrop to the vineyards. View the scenery that inspired the Hudson River School American art movement. Taste the wines, visit the winemakers, learn about the history of each winery and about wine making.

Between visits to the wineries, go boating, hiking, birding, and take in the amazing landscape of the Hudson River Valley. Stop at the organic farms in Ulster County where you can buy fresh produce to enjoy on a picnic out in the invigorating and refreshing air.

Experience kayaking in the Hudson River, rock climbing at the Gunks, or just relax at one of the beautiful parks in Ulster County. When its time to eat, have a picnic at a nearby park and enjoy the produce from a local winery. Dine on freshly baked bread, cheeses, fresh fruit, and your favorite bottle of Hudson Valley wine.

The Art of Winemaking
Winemaking is an art. Grapes vary by climate, type and soil. There are several hundred widely different cultivars of grapes grown in the United States. The cultivars are grouped into four types: European (Vitis vinifera), American (Vitis labrusca and its derivatives), Muscadine (Vitis rotundifolia) and French hybrids, crosses of V. vinifera cultivars with disease-resistant wild American species. There are many different styles of wine, and there are many ways to make each style. No two winemakers seem to agree on the "exact or correct" way to make wine.

Types Of Wine
The types of grapes used to make a wine are the most important factor in the taste of the wine. However, the flavors are also affected by other factors such as soil, exposure to sunlight, climate, how the grapes are handled and fermented, types of yeast used, whether the wine is aged in wood, etc. Because of this, the same type of wine can be produced in several different regions, yet, taste different.

Varietal refers to the grape variety used to make a particular wine. Serious wine-producing countries and states regulate the amount of a particular grape that make up a particular wine. In California and Washington any wine referred to by the name of the grape (Chardonnay, for example) must be at least 75% of that grape; most varietals in Oregon must be 90% of the named grape; and Alsace requires 100%.

History of Wine
Wine has been around for thousands of years. From ancient civilizations to modern times, wine has been produced and enjoyed by peasants and kings. Evidence of wine production dates as far back as 6000 BC, to early Mesopotamian culture. The Mesopotamians were the first known people to cultivate grapes.

The ancient Egyptians recorded the harvest of grapes on stone tablets and the walls of their tombs. The Egyptians loved wine and imported what they could not grow. The Egyptian Pharaohs were especially fond of wine. Some of them were buried with bottles of wine in order to make their journey to the underworld more tolerable. Wine was a social drink in Ancient Egypt and great importance was given to its production and consumption. The Egyptians were not the first to grow wine, but they were the first to record the process of wine making and celebrate its values.

Wine in Ancient Greece and Rome
Wine in ancient Greece was praised and immortalized by poets, historians and artists. Wine also played a role in the religion of Ancient Greece associated with the god Dionysus. Like the Egyptians, ordinary citizens did not consume wine. It was considered a privilege of the upper classes.

During the time of the Roman Empire, the production of wine spread throughout Europe. At this time, wine became available to the common citizens. Some cities even built bars on almost every street in order to promote wine. Roman wine was said to be sweet rather than dry. Pure red or white wines were almost unthinkable in Ancient Rome. The Romans believed that flavoring was more important than the original taste of the wine. They added such flavors as fermented fish sauce, garlic and onion to their wines.

The Dark Ages
During the “Dark Ages”, wine production was mainly kept alive through the efforts of monasteries. As the Church extended their monasteries, they began to develop some of the finest vineyards in Europe. Although most wine production was done in monasteries, some religious believers diluted their wine with water in order to make it "safer" for them to drink. Since most of Europe lacked a reliable source of drinking water, wine was considered to be an important part of their everyday diet. During this time, people also begin to favor stronger, heavier wines.

14th and 15th Century
England began importing wine from Germany when they lost Bordeaux to the French in the 14th century. Portugal also shipped wine to England, which helped keep the two countries on friendly terms. During Shakespeare's time, wine was very much a staple of the diet. Beer was a favored alternative, yet wine enjoyed more attention. It was during this time, when wine began to diversify and consumers began to value the concept of variety in their drinking. Citizens of Shakespeare's age clearly enjoyed drinking wine and began to discuss its virtues and pitfalls with greater enthusiasm than in the previous centuries. By the end of the 16th Century, for the first time, an abundant supply of fresh drinking water was available to London and so the wine industry was moved into a new age.

17th and 18th Century
The wine industry saw a brief decline in the 17th century. Politics and religious propaganda did little to promote the drinking of wine for pleasure. Wine also had to face the rival of a clean and readily available supply of drinking water. Despite all of this, many new developments helped the wine industry keep its popularity. The invention of better glass making, the cork and other accessories, as well as better methods of production helped to promote wine in the 17th century.

Wine went through several changes during the 18th century. England witnessed many of these due to its political relations with France. Because of the strained relations with France, the English were without a major source of wine and had to look elsewhere for their drink. They turned to Portugal, Holland, and South Africa for their wine.

Despite their strained relations with the British, the French wine industry soared in the 18th century. Many people feel that this was when the wines of Bordeaux really began to flourish. The merchants who frequented the Bordeaux region came from Holland, Germany, Ireland and even Scandinavia. As a result, Bordeaux was able to successfully trade wine for coffee and other much sought after items from the New World, which helped cement the role of wine in the growing industry of world trade.

19th Century
During the early 19th century, when the British were fighting the Napoleonic Wars, they were unable to get a steady supply of wine from France, and instead turned to Portugal. Port became the favored wine in England during this time.

Champagne also gained favor in the 19th century. The French widow Nicole-Barbe Clicquot-Ponsardin is credited with making Champagne the celebrity wine of the world. She found easier ways to remove the sediment from Champagne and replaced it with wine, sugar, and brandy. She also organized the production of Champagne so that it could be done in an assembly line, making this beverage truly "modern."

The wines of New World began challenging those of the Old World in the 19th century. Thomas Jefferson was convinced that the lack of fine wines in America was driving his fellow citizens to drink too much hard liquor. This idea carried on after his death and influenced the way Americans viewed wine. Ohio was the first region in America to successfully grow grapes for wine. Its glory soon faded, however, and California soon took its place.

Although the 19th century is considered to be the golden age of wines for the Bordeaux and Burgundy regions, it was not without tragedy. Around 1863 many of the French grapevines began to suffer from a mysterious disease. It was soon discovered that this disease was the caused by the Phylloxera aphid. Some French winemakers at this time, moved to the Rioja region in northern Spain, and taught the Spaniards to make wine from local Tempranillo grapes.

Modern Times
The last 90 years have seen a revolution in the wine industry. The scientific background of wine making has developed greatly, allowing for many things that were once impossible to be accomplished. An example of this would be refrigeration. Before the 1940s, wine was supplied to people according to their geographic location. After the development of refrigeration, it was easier for wineries to control the temperature of their fermentation process. This enabled high quality wines to be produced in hot climates.

Machines that harvest grapes more quickly have allowed vineyards to become larger and more efficient. Grapes can also be harvested during day or night, allowing vineyards to control the temperature and climate when grapes are harvested.

Modern wine makers can now achieve total control of every stage of wine making, from harvesting and crushing to bottling. Though recent advances in technology have benefited the wine industry, they have also led to the temptation to produce more wine at the expense of quality. Wine makers face the challenge of producing wine for a larger market without losing the character and individual flavor of their wines. More countries are producing more varieties of wine than ever before. Advances in technology will ensure that this trend will continue, with more countries producing more wine, and better wine.