When we talk about New York wine, the Finger Lakes and Long Island usually get most of the attention. I, of course, will always remind you about the Hudson Valley.

But there’s another New York wine region that deserves a spot on your radar.

You just have to travel a little farther north.

Okay—a LOT farther north.

For this episode of Uncork Your Mind, I sat down with Kyle Mizuno, Director of Winemaking and Head Winemaker at Rolling Hills Estate Winery in Westport, New York, in the Champlain Valley.

We’re talking way up there, near the Canadian border, in a part of New York surrounded by the beauty of the Adirondacks and Lake Champlain.

Kyle’s journey to this corner of New York wine country is almost as interesting as the grapes he’s working with.

Because Kyle came to Lake Champlain from Napa Valley.

And he didn’t come north to make Napa wine.

He came to discover what the Champlain Valley could become.