Long Island the Next Napa? Maybe In Some Ways

There was a nice piece in Newsday over the weekend written by LENNDEOVURS friend (and Long Island wine pioneer) Louisa Hargrave.

She discusses the influx of money into the Long Island wine region and feels that it's a natural part of Long Island's progression as a wine region. The 33 year old region is simply growing up if you ask me.

Comments

[Bill]

Great article. I hope she's correct in her conclusion: the money will not push out the passion.

[Ben]

To the contrary Bill, I think the money will help fuel the passion

[Bill]

Ben, on the consumer side I agree. Corporations like Leucadia can do things to improve wine quality/marketing/distribution that the little guys can’t. That’s great for consumers and for Long Island.

I’m worried though, that over time we’ll loose all of our family run estates to big companies--that there’ll no longer be, as Sal Diliberto puts it, “a story in every glass of wine.”

To the wine drinker in Wyoming this is not important. S/he wants good wine at a good price as we all do. But, as a Long Islander I want something more.

I want that glass of wine to have a story. I want to delight in meeting the man, not the CEO who made the wine. I want world wide recognition and distribution of our wines, and I want the region and wineries to retain their allure.

Too much to ask? Maybe not. A healthy mix of corporate and private ownership would do the trick. As Louisa Hargrave suggests, for now anyway, “The corporate "money" investors are not pushing out the "passion" people.”

I hope it stays that way.

[Bill]

Oops...

It was Chef John Ross who said every bottle of wine comes with a story, not Sal Diliberto (although I can imagine him saying something like that).