Agriculture and tourism leaders want better for Thousand Islands-Seaway Wine Trail

Aug. 16—WATERTOWN — Local agricultural and tourism leaders are hoping to revive the languishing Thousand Islands-Seaway Wine Trail.

Jay Matteson, agricultural coordinator for Jefferson County Economic Development, said that the wine trail has become just about dormant in recent years, but he hopes to uncork it once again.

"It's just not as active as we would hope it would be," he said. "We'd like to see if we can help save it."

When it was first introduced in 2007, the idea was for wineries to work together to promote the trail to attract visitors and organize events with each other.

But over the years, wineries went their separate ways to work on their own to lure visitors.

And now Matteson plans to get together with Corey C. Fram, director of the Thousands Islands International Tourism Council, and Cornell Cooperative Extension officials to see what can be done to get it going again.

A couple of weeks ago, Matteson was asked about the status of the trail at a Jefferson County Agricultural Development Council meeting that he oversees.

Since then, he's talked to a couple winery owners who told him that the trail is like an empty bottle of wine.

The wine trail was created in 2007 by an act of the state legislature, and it took another act to add to the original list. That legislation was passed and signed in 2021 to add two more wineries to the trail.

The Thousand Islands Winery in Alexandria Bay, the first winery that opened in the north country 20 years ago, was a driving force on the trail when it began.

But the A-Bay winery lost interest in the venture several years ago, when there was talk about adding breweries and distilleries to the trail, said Nicholas Shanley, general manager of Thousand Islands Winery.

It seemed like the focus changed year to year for whatever was new and wineries were no longer as prominently promoted as they had been in the past, he said.

David B. Fralick, whose wife Sandra owns The Cape Winery in Cape Vincent, recalled how no one stepped forward to take over organizing the trail from him after he became ill three years ago.

"Nobody wanted to take it over," he said. "It was hard to get anyone to do anything."

While the trail was still struggling, The Cape Winery and White Caps Winery in Chaumont became the sixth and seventh wineries on the trail list in 2021.

The biggest advantage of being on the trail was signage, Fralick said.

The wineries got large roadside signs put up, with a symbol of grapes, the name of their winery and a distance marker pointing motorists in the right direction.

After that, Fralick said nothing happened.

"It's been dormant ever since," he said.

While the Seaway trail is barely in existence, Sam Filler, executive director of the New York State Wine and Grape Foundation in Penn Yan, stressed that the north country's individual wineries are doing well.

When it was still active, the north country trail was one of the smallest ones of the nine in the state, compared to the Seneca Wine Trail, part of Finger Lakes wine country, where a total of 144 wineries are clustered along four scenic lakes.

Yet the wine industry in Jefferson County attracts about 136,100 tourist visits and generates $94.39 million in tourist dollars a year, according to an economic impact study completed by the wine and grape foundation.

That's why Matteson hopes that the Seaway trail will make its triumphant return.

"It's been something that's important for Jefferson County," Matteson said.