Long Island Wine Press | Wine Country Newcomers

Wine Country Newcomers

ALL IN THE FAMILY

Italian Roots

From the early ages of wine production, it was the Italians who had more to do than anyone else with the expansion of the art. The ancient Romans were making and distributing their wine to areas now known as France and Spain, while the wealthy denizens of the capital of the Empire drank the finest stuff from the neighboring land. Wine, a vital source of calories in the Mediterranean diet, was a staple at the banquets of the rich and on the midday table of the plebes.

Cut to the 21st century on the North Fork, where the heritage of wine, family and food for the descendants of Italian immigrants persists. The evidence is a recent round of newcomers setting up shop to create the eternal libation of their homeland — Italy.

Mark Tobin, left, of Mattebella Vineyards, promoting Long Island wine at the South Beach Food and Wine Festival in Miami Beach. With him are Tom Matthews of the Wine Spectator and renowned Italian winemaker Piero Antinori.
Photo courtesy of Long Island Wine Council

The creators of four new winemaking ventures, each with their own approach, say their drive to make wine comes from a family tradition rooted in the small villages where their parents and grandparents were born. They join the recently opened Diliberto Winery in Jamesport, profiled in the spring issue, in bringing a new generation of Italian flair to Long Island Wine Country.

Scarola Vineyards

Mr. Scarola's father, Cosimo, grew up on a masseria, a small family farm, in Bari. When Cosimo set up his family in Astoria, Queens, the home was an old farmhouse, surrounded by enough land to plant. The Scarolas grew vegetables and grapes, and winemaking was an activity for the whole family.

It was something Frank Scarola, who lives in Garden City with his wife and children, missed. Soon he was out on the North Fork purchasing grapes and making wine with Roman Roth at Wölffer Estate in Sagaponack. The bug took hold.

He and his family now own six acres on Main Road in Southold, just east of the center of the hamlet. Next spring they will be planting and then tending, harvesting and vinifying their own fruit. Plans are also under way for a tasting room.

Donna and Frank Scarola. Photo courtesy of the Scarola family

Currently the Scarola label, which is adorned with a design echoing the colored glass windows of Ellis Island, is on bottles of merlot and cabernet franc, but Mr. Scarola wants to push it further.

"I want to expand it to an Italian theme," he says. "That's what's true to my heart. One of my efforts is to come up with a good Italian varietal that will work well on the North Fork."

An obvious choice is pinot grigio, he says, but he wants to plant at least four different kinds and at least one red, perhaps barbera.

While his favorite wine of late is Amarone, the red dried-grape wine from the Veneto region in northeast Italy, Mr. Scarola says he wants to make wine that represents this area.

"I'm looking to let the North Fork speak for itself," he says, "and not act like another region. I want to make aromatic, elegant wines that bring out the natural characteristics of the fruit, and not manipulate it too much."

But more importantly, he says, it's got to be shared with people. "You have to have it with food, and enjoy it and talk and laugh and cry. Well, hopefully, maybe not cry."

His full-time job in New York City as a software designer admittedly is making the process slow going, but the vineyard and his home in Mattituck help him maintain a dual identity.

"I go from a 6 x 6 cubicle and then come out and enjoy nature," he says.

But one thing happened that he didn't expect.

"I didn't understand until I started doing this, but I find it great talking to people, answering questions, getting the feedback," he says. "One of the things I want to do is to reach out to all five [New York City] boroughs, go to benefits and events and spread the story. There are still a lot of people, 30-plus years later, who don't realize Long Island makes wine. I find that amazing."

Web site: scarolavineyards.com

Sannino's Bella Vita Vineyard

The Sannino family of Cutchogue came up with a different approach to extend Anthony's family's history with wine. He and his wife, Lisa, have opened a winemaking school on their property on Alvah's Lane that will enable students to make a barrel of wine from start to finish. That means they'll pick the grapes and label the bottle as well as everything in between.

Mr. Sannino's family were also Italians living in Queens who made wine. His mother was from Ischia, an island in the Mediterranean just off of Naples. Its sister island, Capri, is better known, but Ischia was once covered in vines, says Mr. Sannino.

His childhood experiences led to an adult quest for expertise. Mr. Sannino took a distance course in winemaking from the University of California at Davis, the acknowledged premier wine school in the United States. "It was pretty intense," he says. Over the next 10 years he volunteered at many North Fork vineyards during harvest and in the winery.

Then, in 2006, he bought the vineyard, a 5 1/4-acre parcel planted with two acres of cabernet sauvignon, two acres of merlot and 1/2 acre of cabernet franc. The wines he makes for himself are all reds, he says, and he soon will start experimenting with the cabernet sauvignon, which he had never bought before, and making red blends.

Lisa and Anthony Sannino with their children (from left), Francesco, Ava Grace, Marisa and Miranda. Photo courtesy of the Sannino family

The 2007 vintage will be the inaugural year for the wine school. Mr. Sannino says he has space for about 30 people and so far nearly half that number have signed up.

For $3,500, aspiring winemakers will go home with 275 bottles of wine and the experience of a year as a farmer, laborer, scientist and artist. Students are Students are required to spend four sessions at the winery and are invited to visit the vineyard at any other time of the year, where he and his wife have their home.

"We're very enthusiastic about it," says Mr. Sannino. "It should be a hit out here."

Web site: sanninovineyard.com

Mattebella Vineyards

With his wife's maiden name Ferrari, Mark Tobin fell into winemaking easily. His father, an owner of hotels in Miami, used to take him along when he was buying wine. As an adult, Mr. Tobin has often turned the driveway of his summer home in Westhampton Beach into a crush pad.

But buying grapes and making the wine at home wasn't enough; he wanted to be part of Long Island Wine Country.

"I love the North Fork," he says with an excitement that's contagious. "It's an underrated jewel. And it's getting better. The vineyards are maturing, the quality of fruit is increasing. You can tell it's about to get the credit it deserves."

So Mr. Tobin jumped in and bought 22 acres of vineyards in Cutchogue that were already planted with seven acres of chardonnay, 6 1/2 of merlot and 1 1/2 of cabernet franc. The vines are predominantly European clones, he says, which fits his tastes.

"I want to make wine in an Old World, classical style. They have to be well-balanced, enjoyable wines made with limited tinkering," he says.

In Miami, where he lives with his wife, Christine, and their two children, Mr. Tobin is a constant advocate of the region, taking a bottle of Long Island wine to a blind tasting. It was the 2001 Jamesport Vineyards Cabernet Franc.

"People thought it was French," he says. "That speaks volumes. They thought it was a Chinon [a cabernet franc from the Loire Valley in France] and when I opened it up their mouths hit the floor. Think about it."

Mr. Tobin is a fan of Jamesport Vineyards. Ron Goerler Jr., an owner and the vineyard manager, is managing Mr. Tobin's vineyard, named Mattebella after his children, Matthew and Isabella. His wine is made at Jamesport Vineyards, and his first release, from the 2005 vintage, is expected soon.

Mr. Tobin believes he's in the forefront of something big. "The Long Island Wine Council [on whose board he sits] is embarking on a new marketing strategy and the reception's been awesome. There's a critical mass of excitement going on."

Contact: Mark Tobin, 305-858-2400

Denise and John Medolla. Photo courtesy of the Medolla family

Medolla Vineyards

"Winemaking has been in our family for centuries," says John Medolla, who with his wife, Denise, has been making Medolla Vineyards wine at The Lenz Winery for five years. They just released their 2002 merlot.

His family came from Torre del Greco, in the Campagnia region surrounding Naples. The tradition, he says, was passed to his mother and her sisters by his grandmother, who was famous in the neighborhoods of his youth — Red Hook and Carroll Gardens in Brooklyn — for turning nearly any kind of grape into wine.

"I can still recall the grape lugs in the street," he says. "People would use whatever they could get, seedless or anything, because of the cost."

One of this grandmother's favored varietals, he says, was piedirosso — "red foot" in Italian — which was native to the region back in the old country, but she also used moscato.

Mr. Medolla can afford to be picky now. He makes one kind of wine and one kind only: merlot. "That's what we want to get really good at before we move on to other varietals," he says.

To do so, he's been working closely with Sam McCullough, vineyard manager at Lenz, who has his own vineyard in Aquebogue. There Mr. Medolla and his family hand-harvest their grapes and bring them back to Lenz, where they work with winemaker Eric Fry.

"The three of us just seem to work well together," he says.

The Medollas' children, John and Anita, help with the harvest. Photo courtesy of the Medolla family

People are noticing. The Medolla's first release, a 100 percent merlot that spent two years in oak and 2 1/2 years in bottle before it was released, received a score of 88 from the Wine Spectator. At 500 cases per year, a select few will be able to taste it.

The most important thing about wine, says Mr. Medolla, is what you do when you're drinking it.

"It's the passion for family, food and friends," he says. "Our whole day here revolves around our dinner. It's all about socializing with the people you love. We're big with that."

Web site: medollavineyards.com

Home Grown

Harbes Family Farm and Vineyard

While Long Island Wine Country is drawing families with roots in the Mediterranean, one family whose roots reach deep into Long Island soil is getting into the wine business as well.

Harbes Family Farm, with outlets in Mattituck and Jamesport, is selling its 2005 and 2006 vintage merlots and chardonnays among the produce and flowers grown on the farm, right next to the super-sweet corn the family is famous for.

"The barrel-fermented chardonnay goes best with it," says Ed Harbes, the family patriarch, in quick response to a menu question.

Harbes Family Farm was one of the first to give up potatoes for something they could directly retail to the consumer. And with wine, Mr. Harbes sees another way to keep his agricultural operation going.

"We're really optimistic about the future of grapes and the combination of vegetables and the agriculture experience," he says. "It's a nice combination; its going to be a new direction for Harbes farm."

The Harbes family in their vineyard. Photo courtesy of the Harbes family

The original Harbes farm was Mr. Harbes' great-great-grandfather's on his mother's side. He started farming in the 1600s in what is now known as Hempstead. On his father's side, Mr. Harbes' great-grandfather started in 1850 in Plainview. The farming operation was moved to its current location in Mattituck in 1968 by his father. Mr. Harbes, newly married, started tilling the soil in 1978.

"By 1989 I was fairly convinced potatoes would decline as a profitable crop on Long Island," he says. "I believe the vineyards will continue to evolve agriculturally. The acreage on Long Island went from zero to 3,000 since the '70s. It's the only commodity increasing in acreage over the last 30 years."

On sale now at the farm stands are a merlot and two styles of chardonnay, one raised in barrel and the other in steel. The five acres Mr. Harbes has under vine are half merlot and half chardonnay, and that's what he's sticking to for now. His son Edward, a recent graduate of Cornell, is now working as the vineyard manager and intends to become the winemaker.

"We're very happy he's chosen to make a career with us on the farm and are hoping that will be one of his niches," says Mr. Harbes.

Right now the family is working with the Massouds at Paumanok Vineyards in Aquebogue to make their wine. Tastings are available at the farm stands.

"One thing nice about wine," concludes Mr. Harbes, "if you have a little left over, you just bring it home for supper."

Web site: HarbesFamilyFarm.com