Viticultural Practices in LI–Part III: Peconic Bay Winery

Based on an interview with Jim Silver and Charlie Hargrave, 20 April 2011, with some additions from the Peconic Bay Website.

Peconic Bay Winery, which derives its name from the eponymous body of water by which it is located, was established in 1979 by Ray Blum, making it one of the oldest wineries in Long Island.  Today it is owned by Paul and Ursula Lowerre, who live and work in New York City, but they leave the day-to-day running of the winery by a very capable team that includes Jim Silver, the General Manager, Greg Gove, the winemaker, and Charlie Hargrave, Peconic Bay’s vineyard manager.

Charlie started his career by working to help establish Hargrave Vineyard with his brother Alex and sister-in-law Louisa Hargrave, which in 1973 was Long Island’s pioneer winery, converted from an old potato farm.  As the area’s earliest vineyard manager, he therefore brings many years of experience with him to Peconic Bay Winery, where he started working in 2001.  He’s involved in every aspect of the vineyards, from the winter pruning all the way to the harvest and its post-season cleanup.

While managing roughly 55 acres of planted vines, Charlie applies sustainable vineyard practices, and works with organic and biodegradable pesticide agents to the extent possible, but there is certainly no intention of seeking organic certification.  After all, given the challenges of a humid climate and the ever-present fungal pressures on the vineyards, as well as other pests, conventional pesticides such as copper may occasionally be necessary to control, for example, downy mildew, although it is used as little as possible, and not at all in most years, as it is toxic and builds up in the soil. He has also tried organic products like Regalia, for instance, and may test it again; however, Serenade did not provide satisfactory results when it was used.  Above all, the ultimate objective for viticulture at Peconic Bay is two-fold—growing the highest-quality fruit in an economically sustainable manner.

One of the most pernicious of grapevine pests is the grape berry moth (or GBM).  Rather than use insecticides to control it, the vineyard employs pheromones that confuse the male moth and make it difficult for it to mate.

To help keep weeds down and encourage the emergence of beneficial insects such as ladybugs, praying mantises, and other pest predators, Charlie has planted two grasses, perennial rye and creeping red fescue as cover crops; they are low-growing and do not require as much mowing as do other grasses.  Within the vine rows, Roundup is used to control weeds which can cover or hide problems with the bases of the vines and any suckers that may appear, as these sap energy that the plant could better use for the crop fruit.

Another aspect of managing the soil is maintaining it pH, for North Fork soil tends to be acidic and must be balanced by adding lime, but its acidity will periodically return to unacceptable levels, requiring that the soil be tested every year and when needed, say every third year, additional lime is spread in the vineyards to be soaked into the soil by rain.

One of the ways that the winery tries to keep a low-impact profile when using pesticide sprays, such as Stylet oil (mixed with phosphoric acid and calcium to build up the vines’ cell walls and provide some resistance to fungi), is to employ a tunnel sprayer such as the one shown on the left, a Lipco TSG-2 trailer for spraying two rows at a time.  This machine can recycle up to 40% of the spray material over the course of a season, saving thousands of dollars just of pesticide alone by recovering what drips off the foliage, not to speak of the fact that it almost entirely prevents drift in the air, thus protecting field personnel, other fields and crops, and nearby bodies of water.

Indeed, because of its commitment to sustainable viticulture, Peconic Bay is directly involved with the VineBalance program of Cornell University Agricultural Extension.  In fact, an entire row of Chardonnay has been turned over to the program by Jim, the GM, so that they can experiment with it as they wish.

Much of the care and nurturing of grapes simply cannot be done by machine.  Pruning and tying, shoot positioning, thinning the leaves (also referred to as “opening up the canopy”) is vital to providing proper air circulation and sun exposure to the grape clusters; all these methods require knowledgeable, practiced hands.

The varieties grown at the vineyard include Riesling, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Chardonnay, which produces some of their best wines.  For example, on the parcel called Sandy Hill the grapes are more subject to drought than elsewhere in the vineyard.  Its terroir, however, also grows grapes with sugars that are higher and more concentrated, ultimately resulting in the best Chardonnay grapes of the property.

Picking the grapes by hand is one of the most costly commitments a winery can make, but it ensures that the most optimally-ripe grapes are harvested, as there is selectivity while picking.  Charlie and his field crew closely observe the trellis and the canopy of the wines, and respond quickly to any problems that develop.  Peconic Bay Winery states that it is committed to hand harvesting to the extent possible.  The winery’s production level— 6000 to 8000 cases a year – makes hand-harvesting viable, though machine-harvesting can be done if needed, as in the case of a threatening rainstorm, in which case speed is of the essence.  Charlie also knows the region and its climate better than most on the North Fork, and understands what weather changes can mean to fruit growing in any parcel of the vineyard, so he quickly grasps what needs to be done through all vagaries of weather, be it excessive rain or periods of drought.  For example, the Peconic Bay’s Website quotes Greg Gove, “In 1999 we had hurricane Floyd come through.  We were picking the grapes around these rain events, and in the midst of it all, the press broke down.  We had to borrow a refrigerated truck to load it with as many grapes as we could.”

Jim Silver, Greg Gove, and Charlie confer throughout the harvest, comparing notes on what affects each aspect of their responsibilities in deciding when to pick.  The perfect balance of three factors are vital to deciding when to pick the grapes:  pH, sugar levels (measured in Brix), and Total Acidity, or TA.  Then they consider issues like short-term weather forecasts, available tank space in the winery, and the ready availability of a machine harvester or a hand-picking crew.

The result is that Peconic Bay wines have won many awards over the years.  To mention but a few:  La Barrique, an oaked Chardonnay has won multiple awards, including Best Wine Discovery (White) at the 2007 Wine Literary Awards in California, their Riesling was named one of the top ten Rieslings in the United States, a Merlot was designated as Best in New York State, and so on.  Quite a track record.  And it all begins in the vineyard.

Peconic Bay Winery, PO Box 818, Cutchogue, NY 11935 | Phone: 631-734-7361 Fax: 631-734-5867

Peconic Bay Winery