Who Makes Your Wine? George Nosis
George Nosis, Winemaker
In 2008 George began working at a Sweet Land Farm, a CSA in Trumansburg, New York. There, he learned the fundamentals of managing a 20-acre farm operation and gained hands-on experience in the fields producing both vegetable and fruit crops. At the same time, he founded a self-financed, small-scale educational winery to explore vinifying techniques of red vinifera varieties from the Finger Lakes Region. During this period, he produced wines from five different vintages to establish his style of
winemaking.
Since 2014, George has been assistant winemaker at Atwater Vineyards and has appreciated having Vinny, who is always willing to share his knowledge and expertise, as a mentor. George has brought his signature inventiveness and work ethic to the position and in winemaking has found an ideal combination of science and art.
One of the things George enjoys most about Atwater is that the entire process is conducted on our extraordinary site. From growing the grapes in the vineyard to making the wine on the same property and meeting customers in the tasting room, he enjoys seeing the process from start to finish. He also appreciates the seasonality of winemaking, both in terms of how the winemaker’s tasks change throughout the year and how vintages change over time. This year, he’s particularly proud of the opportunity to share the winemaking process with our wine club members and guest through events
such as Hands on Harvest.
George’s ongoing passion is working with wild fermentation which is being used in three 2019 wines: Pétillant Naturel (70% Riesling, 30% Gewürztraminer), skin fermented wine (Pinot Gris), and Cabernet Franc. In August, he was a featured speaker at the Finger Lakes Fermentation Festival, sharing his knowledge of wild fermentation with the community.
Outside of work, he enjoys hiking and spending time outdoors on his Burdett property with his wife, Aimee, and four rescue dogs. He also is a fan of reading and movies.
He loves to pair salads with Atwater’s Dry Rosé of Blaufränkisch 2018.