Despite how harsh this long, miserable winter has been to Upstate New York’s vineyards, research shows that New York wineries are booming. Syracuse.com recently reported on research conducted for the New York Wine & Grape Foundation showing the enormous growth in the Empire State’s wineries in the last three decades.

In 1976 New York only had 14 wineries, but by 2013 there were 416 wineries in 53 of the state’s 63 counties. A lot of credit goes to the New York Farm Winery Act in 1976, which made it easy for small wineries to flourish with incentives and reduced regulations.

And it’s not just New York’s impressive number of wineries that signals growth. Finger Lakes-area wineries, in particular, are receiving critical claim even on an international scale. The New York State wine industry is worth about $4.8 billion a year.

Oh, and we got a mention in this article!