Remembering Ray Blum -- A North Fork Wine Pioneer

I was saddened last night to hear that Ray Blum, one of Long Island's true wine forefathers, passed away yesterday after a long bout with illness.

Ray played an integral part in Long Island wine's beginnings, founding Peconic Bay Vineyards (now Peconic Bay Winery), planting several vineyards all over the North Fork (including some that are now a part of Bedell Cellars and Paumanok Vineyards), and most recently running and owning Ackerly Pond Vineyards.

In such a small, localized wine industry, everybody knows everybody else and I know Ray will be missed. Charles Massoud of Paumanok Vineyards emailed me today saying "He was a tireless worker and it is difficult to think of the North Fork wine scene without thinking of his immense contribution to our industry."

Comments

[Jay]

Holy crap, man, this is sad. I worked for Ray at Peconic Bay Winery in 1998 - I was in the tasting room and loved it so much that I went into wine full time three years ago. I'm very, very sorry to read this news. My thoughts are with his daughter and wife.