Sale of vinter to California-based owner may bring changes to New York wineries

 

As Broadfields Wine Cellars of Southold yesterday confirmed that it had been sold, East End vintners said reports that a Napa Valley-based owner was moving in could mark an important step in the evolution of the Long Island wine industry.

Karen Meredith, who with husband, Robin Meredith, had owned Broadfields and its two Tasting Room outlets, said yesterday the sale of the family vineyard and outlets was finalized on Oct. 25. They declined to identify the new owners.

But people close to the transaction and those who recently met with the buyers said the new owner is Pine Ridge Winery, a prestigious Napa Valley, Calif., winery owned by Manhattan-based investment and holding company Leucadia National Corp.

Sarah Barnes, a representative for Pine Ridge, has been meeting with Broadfields' partners on the East End through last weekend, the sources said. She didn't return calls to her Salt Lake City office seeking comment.

According to Kathleen Dolson and Marianne Sawicki of the Southold real estate firm Allan Schneider Associates, which handled the sale, the Broadfields property of 18.3 acres, the Broadfields label and the Tasting Room stores (including an owned building) sold for $ 1.925 million.

Theresa Dilworth, owner of the Comtesse Therese vineyard in Aquebogue, whose wines are sold through the Tasting Room stores, said she met with Barnes as recently as this weekend. Barnes and the Merediths, she said, have indicated it would be "business as usual" at the Tasting Rooms in Jamesport and Peconic, which are scheduled to reopen as soon as today. Both outlets had signs on their doors yesterday saying they were closed because of "special circumstances" and would be open "very soon."

"They will continue selling my wines and continue business as usual," Dilworth said.

Pine Ridge, which also owns Archery Summit winery in Oregon and last month purchased the Charles John Vineyard in Southold, has expressed an interest in opening a winery on the Southold grounds, Dilworth said.

Jackie Campbell, co-owner of Charles John Vineyard, confirmed yesterday that the Southold vineyard had been sold. "We are still going to make wine," she said, speaking for herself and her husband, Matt Campbell. "We'll buy local grapes."

The Charles John Vineyard property of 38.6 acres sold for $ 2.6 million, said Dolson and Sawicki. About 36 acres are planted.

Broadfields wines are made by Premium Wine Group in Mattituck.

The presence of a respected Napa Valley winery on Long Island was viewed by local vintners as a strong endorsement for the region.

"This is going to be a very important step in the history of the region," said Dave Page, co-owner of Shinn Estate Vineyards in Mattituck, describing the purchase as akin to the first French winemakers buying into Napa Valley. "Anytime you get new talent to the region, it raises the bar. They're saying, 'This is a viable wine region.'"

Dilworth agreed, noting that Pine Ridge, and Leucadia, could have purchased a winery in any number of wine regions in the country.

Robin Meredith said he and his wife, who bought the former potato farm in 1997, plan to stay in the region for at least a year, but may eventually move west to launch another wine-based venture.