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RLW4’s Roy “Buddy” Wines at his offices in Southampton. (Photo credit: Doug Young
Do you have to grow up on the South Fork to care deeply about it? No, but it sure doesn’t hurt.
RLW4 Builders owner and founder Roy “Buddy” Wines grew up helping his dad, learning to dig trenches and irrigation systems, and other house-handy tasks. But calling himself “the rebel in the family,” he detoured from plumbing into building and was working other construction gigs from 1993 to 2002 before founding his current company.
“I started with me swinging the hammer by myself,” he says, recalling how he and some high school buddies took on handyman jobs in the off season, which provided the experience needed to develop a full-time, all-year enterprise. But, he says, it was as much about building relationships as houses.
“A lot of architects have their contractors and builders that they like to work with,” says Wines, “and when you are in a relationship of that nature, everyone knows what’s expected and knows how each other works, and it’s very hard to break through and earn the trust.”
But it was his foresight in seeing a change in the trade that helped him boost his business. Take a listen to his story…
Amy Zavatto is the Editor-in-Chief for southforker, northforker and Long Island Wine Press. She's a wine, spirits, and food journalist whose work appears in Wine Enthusiast, InsideHook.com, MarthaStewart.com, the New York Post, Liquor.com, SevenFifty Daily, Imbibe, Men’s Journal and many others. She's the author of The Big Book of Bourbon Cocktails, Prosecco Made Me Do It: 60 Seriously Sparkling Cocktails, Forager’s Cocktails: Botanical Mixology with Fresh, Natural Ingredients, and The Architecture of the Cocktail. She is a respected judge for the American Craft Spirits Association’s annual small-production spirits competition, and has moderated numerous panels on the topics of wine, spirits, cocktails, and regional foodways. She is the former Deputy Editor for the regional celebratory publications, Edible Manhattan and Edible Brooklyn, as well as the former Executive Director of the Long Island Merlot Alliance. She is a member of the New York chapter of the international organization of women leaders in food, wine, and spirits, Les Dames d’Escoffier. The proud daughter of a butcher, Amy is originally from Shelter Island, N.Y., where she developed a deep respect for the East End’s natural beauty and the importance of preserving and celebrating it and its people.
