Born and raised in New Jersey, Craig Hosbach’s winemaking journey began close to home before finding his calling in the Finger Lakes of New York. Embarking on his professional path, Hosbach accumulated over a decade of experience across multiple wineries within the northern New York winemaking region before assuming the role of head winemaker at Hunt Country Vineyards in 2017. From there, Hosbach honed his craft and shared his boundless enthusiasm for winemaking. Fast forward to 2023, Hosbach now has a pivotal role at Fox Run Vineyards as Head Winemaker, infusing his expertise and passion into every bottle. Just a year after being hired, Hosbach’s presence at Fox Run has been apparent, releasing his first vintage of Dry Rosé in 2023 and receiving high praise from some of the most well-respected names in the wine industry.
Media Inquiries: hosbachcraig@gmail.com | https://foxrunvineyards.com/
What’s the ONE THING unique, authentic, & memorable about your winery brand?
Fox Run believes in cultivating an environment of inclusion with the goal of making wine more approachable. Using accessible terminology to help break down the barriers that can make wine feel “intimidating” for new consumers. I believe this is what makes us most unique and truly authentic to who we are.
Describe how and what you’d do with your winemaking career or winery business if you were not constrained. Sky’s the limit!
If time and money weren’t an issue, one thing I would love to do is be able to travel to more regions around the world to expand my palate and learn about their techniques. I don’t think you can ever do this too much, meeting incredible people and tasting the great wines they are making. I feel like this would be in the spirit of Anthony Bourdain’s show Parts Unknown.
Outside of that, I’m genuinely happy with where I am and what we have here at Fox Run. As years go on, there is always exciting new equipment that can help with efficiency and cut back on labor stress. Some fun equipment would be a hydraulic red fermenter for cap management, cross-flow, and spec, among other things. These would be fun to use, but you won’t catch me complaining about what we already have either, we have always prioritized finding new equipment to make the winemaking process better.
What is the One Wine most emblematic of your brand and/or winemaking style? Tell us its story.
The one wine that I think is most emblematic of our brand and my own winemaking is Dry Riesling, specifically our 2022 Dry Riesling as it was my first vintage here at Fox Run.
Riesling was the reason I came to the Finger Lakes, it is so versatile and one of my favorite varieties to work with. It’s the most food-friendly wine in the world and it just so happens that our region is one of the best at making Riesling. You find so many complex aromatics, textures, and nuances – it’s an easy wine to geek out over. Click here https://winecharacters.com/2022-fox-run-vineyard-dry-riesling/ for this wine review
Bonus Question – What are your wholehearted convictions related to the wine business? Not your wines!
My wholehearted convictions are based on removing the euro-centric approach to the wine industry. I believe we need to create our own identity a s a brand, region, and nationally as well.