Milea Estate Vineyard is located not far from where I grew up. Ironically, I didn’t know much about it until I met owner Sang Milea at the 2024 Atlantic Seaboard Wine Competition award ceremony in DC, where she accepted a Best in Class award for her 2022 Vincenza Reserve BDX blend.

Sang extended an invitation to meet her and husband Barry Milea at their winery. During a sunny early September day, I was finally able to sit down and get the full story of how the winery was founded.

The story started decades ago, when Barry’s transportation company was hired by several Finger Lakes wineries. This then-new wine region was showcasing their wines in New York City and needed temperature-controlled trucks for the journey. Some of them gifted him bottles as a ‘thank you’.

Ironically, Barry wasn’t initially impressed with what he tasted. While famous today, back then the Finger Lakes wine region was still in its infancy, and the wines must have showed it. Barry wondered if he could do better.

One advantage he had was his proximity to New York City. Barry’s home in the Hudson Valley was just 80 miles from the biggest single wine market in the US. If the Finger Lakes could make wine, why couldn’t the Hudson Valley?

This interest led to several test plantings at Barry’s home. While he learned Riesling didn’t love his vineyard site, the overall results were promising enough that Barry purchased the neighboring farm, which became the site of his main vineyard and tasting room.

Now, Milea has 14 acres under vine, including Cabernet Franc, Blaufränkisch, Chardonnay, and several hybrid grapes

Barry discussed the relatively ‘virgin’ nature of viticulture in the Hudson Valley. While vineyards have long been found in the area (NY state’s oldest vineyard isn’t far from here), many of them were relatively small mom-and-pop operations that lacked the capital necessary to elevate their businesses.

He emphasized hiring top talent is necessary to attract wine drinkers who are normally spoiled by the NYC wine scene. To this end, Milea upped their game by hiring a chef from the nearby Culinary Institute of America and a Napa winemaker. They also purchased nearby Clinton winery, which Milea is currently turning into a sparkling wine house.

Sang was especially proud of the kitchen, which allows Milea to be a one-stop-shop for visitors. I especially loved the fig and burrata and couldn’t say ‘no’ when Sang was offering me more cookies.

I also was able to explore the wine list in depth. I started with an excellent a great sparkling, which had lots of toasty brioche notes and great acidity, and followed it with their “Queen Medow” a Chambourcin-heavy rosé made with a dash of Merlot.

Next up was a Grüner Veltliner and a pair of Chardonnays. The former had a spicy nose and notes of flint and minerality…maybe some apricot? The unoaked Chardonnay was very clean with apple notes. The Reserve Chard had a lot of texture and was probably my favorite non-sparkling wine of the day.

Then came the reds. The 2022 Cabernet Franc was really aromatic, with notes of raspberry and black cherry on the nose and dried fruit on the palate. No pyrazines here; this was more of a Loire-style wine.

We finished up with their ‘Sang’ Cabernet Franc, a Blau, and the 2022 Vincenza Bordeaux blend.

I loved my visit here. They spared no expense on hospitality and overall presentation, with a great mix of food and wine. Next time I’ll have to revisit the Cabernet Francs with the sliders.