Wine, by nature, is not a fast-moving business. A newly planted vine alone takes a minimum of three years before you see any viable fruit from it, and even longer than that before things really start getting interesting. Add in a year’s worth of work and grow time, months of har-vesting, weeks of fermentation and settling, months or years of aging in barrel or bottle… If you’re looking for a quick-fix kind of occupation, winemaking is definitely not it.
But still, changes happen. Young guns find their way to the wine world and wind up in the tasting rooms, cellars and vineyards, adding new blood, new life and fresh ideas and approaches to our wine region’s ongoing, ever-evolving story.
Like these folks. Some are just starting out in life, while some are changing the lives they had. How they wound up here and in this career is as varied as each of their distinct personalities, but they all have one key thing in common: a deep passion for our region and for making great wine here. Keep your eyes peeled for these names and faces at a tasting room, wine list or newly discovered favorite bottle near you…
Name: Kathryn Sheridan
Occupation: Proprietor of KS Cellars and co-founder of The Mushroom Pot Project
Originally from: Shelter Island, New York
How’d you get into the wine business? It was a happy accident. A friend who worked at Pellegrini Vineyards in Cutchogue called one morning to ask if I could fill in at the tasting room. I said, ‘Sure, no problem,’ completely unaware that those three casual words would reroute my entire life. Pellegrini encouraged my curiosity and answered every question I had. That, in turn, inspired me to pursue a deeper education about wine, vineyard management and winemaking.
What drew you to Long Island wine? I’ve had the privilege of working in other wine regions — the Finger Lakes, Germany and Italy — but Long Island is home. This place shaped my viewpoint on wine and there’s a certain loyalty and respect that comes with starting my company on this soil.
Favorite grape to work with: Petit verdot. It’s edgy and a bit temperamental, but when cared for with intention and handled thoughtfully, it unfolds into a stunning, expressive wine.
Wine pet peeve: Saving a bottle for ‘the perfect moment’ — and I need to take my own ad-vice here because I’m guilty of it too! However, often the best moments are the simple ones — like a cozy Tuesday night shared with someone you love. Wine is meant to be enjoyed and it will make your small moment feel special.
Best thing about your job: What I love most about my work is the opportunity to pour my energy into something that’s truly mine. I end each day tired yet grateful to be exhausted. It means I spent the day building my dream.
Where do you hope to see yourself in your career 10 years from now? Ten years from now, I’ll still be chasing curiosity — vintage by vintage — pushing boundaries where they deserve to be pushed and honoring the vineyard where it insists on leading. I know when I stay true to those principles, the wine will follow. Along the way, I also hope to pay it forward through education, helping others explore wine with the same curiosity that keeps me in-spired.
Name: Andrew Rockwell
Occupation: Head winemaker at Sparkling Pointe
Originally from: Rocky Point, New York
How’d you get into the wine business? I didn’t originally plan on a career in wine. I was on a science track, but a series of experiences changed that. In college, I met people who were doing wine internships abroad, which opened my eyes to the idea that wine could be a sci-entific career. While finishing my master’s at Stony Brook University, I worked in the tasting room at a winery, which became my real introduction to the industry. I realized I preferred hands-on work over a desk job, decided to explore more “just for fun,” and then met my wife, Melissa, who was also working in wine. From there, it stopped being a temporary curi-osity and became the start of a real career.
What drew you to Long Island wine? Both my wife and I were born and raised on Long Is-land and are fortunate to continue living here and working with this wonderful grape-growing region that is capable of producing world-class wines. I’ve always been impressed by the sparkling wines across multiple producers from day one.
Favorite grape to work with: For me, sparkling pinot noir, pinot meunier and chardonnay are truly special. I love cabernet franc and petit verdot for reds. I’m excited to experiment with some newer varietals to our region for sparkling, such as albariño, along with other lesser-known Portuguese [grapes], and some of the new grape [varieties] that the universi-ties are working with that show higher disease resistance, also showing promise.
Wine pet peeve: I’m not a fan of when wine professionals take the wines too seriously or try to convince people of what they should be tasting in the glass. While I take my job seri-ously, wine should be fun and about enjoyment. Everyone has their own sensory percep-tion and associations.
Best thing about your job: A beautiful short commute to work every day across scenic causeways and farm fields. It’s a very relaxing way to both start and end the day.
Where do you hope to see yourself in your career 10 years from now? Making high-quality wines here on Long Island and continuing to build on the hard work of those who came before me in this region.
Name: Chris Ariens
Occupation: Owner of Theo Vineyard
Originally from: Brillion, Wisconsin
How’d you get into the wine business? Headfirst! After 30 years in the media business, I was looking for a next act and had a few requirements: learn something new, stay involved and build. When I saw McCullough Vineyard was for sale in spring 2024, I started talking with Sam, and six months later I dove in.
What drew you to Long Island wine? We’ve been living on the North Fork since 2018 but started coming here five years earlier. We watched as the industry evolved and matured with growers and winemakers experimenting with new varietals and techniques and saw how much more room there was to grow. That was all appealing as we started looking at the business opportunities.
Favorite grape to work with: Of our six [varieties] (the big five Bordeaux grapes as well as chardonnay), I’m partial to malbec. One client bought some of the malbec for a rosé and it was just two of us harvesting the morning of Sept. 23, then getting the grapes to the wine-maker by lunchtime. So it might be the hands-on experience of picking, lugging and watch-ing it go into the press for the first time but, being partial to malbec as a consumer, I’m really excited for our first 100% malbec next year. All that said, our chardonnay was beautifully re-silient this year. And we’ve got big plans for those grapes, too.
Wine pet peeve: All the talk about decreased consumption habits. I realize it’s a reality, but as an industry, if we focus on solutions and growth strategies and producing great wines, we all win.
Best thing about your job: Working predominantly outside alongside a hardworking crew.
Where do you hope to see yourself in your career 10 years from now? I’ll be here, learning something new every day. And I hope Theo Vineyard is known for growing consistently high quality, premium grapes, for making award-winning wines and providing a unique experi-ence for locals and visitors to the North Fork.
Name: Luca Messana Santander
Occupation: Assistant winemaker at Wölffer Estate Vineyard
Originally from: I was born not far from here, in Manhattan. My family had a place in Nolita, on Elizabeth Street.
How’d you get into the wine business? At an early age, my family moved from New York City to our family farm and vineyard near Florence, Tuscany, in 1999. Here, my parents continued the vine growing and winemaking tradition that had started with my grandfather. Some of my fondest memories with family and friends are tied to my growing up on our biodynamic vineyard. This makes being in the wine business very personal for me. From an early age, not only did I quickly discover that wine, a table and food are excellent at bringing us together to create wonderful positive bonds, but I also discovered a love for flavors, aromas and chem-istry. What I learned working harvests at home but also in Chile, Oregon and Burgundy still holds true for me now and my hope is that I can ferment some of that happiness in the wines I make.
What drew you to Long Island wine? In 2021, I was on my way home to Italy for Christmas. I worked in Burgundy at the time and was presented with the opportunity to help a very spe-cial friend who was making some terrific hard apple cider from wild foraged native varietal apples here in New York State. I took the opportunity, moved to Delaware County and learned a great deal from this experience. Time had passed and as the 2022 harvest ap-proached, I felt a strong desire for grapes to be back in my life. It so happened that I was get-ting ready to leave New York for a job opportunity in Oregon when my friend brought to my attention that at this exact time, Wölffer had a vacant spot on their winemaking team. I had known about Long Island wines since I was a teenager, as Wölffer is featured in the New York section of The World Atlas of Wine by Hugh Johnson and Jancis Robinson. I thought of this opportunity as a chance to work and make wine in the place I was born, and what a place this is!
New York has some of the most diverse territories and soils in the world, all in one state. All five main wine-growing areas of New York are uniquely suited to make great wine. I believe Long Island’s East End sits in a rare sweet spot. It has a combination of the maritime cli-mate with gently defined seasonality, soils formed by ancient glacial deposits that encour-age deep root growth while naturally draining, and passionate winemakers/grape growers. This makes for a terrific terroir!
Favorite grape to work with: This is a tough question. It’s hard to name just one. If I had to pick just one for the East End I would say cabernet franc… but of course, chenin blanc, sauvignon blanc and merlot need their own special shoutouts!
Wine pet peeve: When someone is wearing a strong cologne at a wine tasting. Also, winged cork screws. Period.
Best thing about your job: I get to work with the seasons and make one of the three key el-ements needed at the dinner table: People, food and wine.
Where do you hope to see yourself in your career 10 years from now? This is a great question. Hopefully in good health, surrounded by friends and family, and still making great wine.
Name: Sam Wood Jr.
Occupation: Cellar hand, Macari Vineyards; winemaker and proprietor, Sunken Forest Wine Company
Originally from: Kismet, Fire Island, NY
How’d you get into the wine business? I grew disheartened with the lack of local wine support across the NYC hospitality industry, so I was eager to pursue my own “back to the land movement” during the pandemic.
What drew you to Long Island wine? My great-grandparents were potato farmers in Calver-ton, so I was motivated by a direct connection to the North Fork. I fortunately was given an opportunity to join the Macari winemaking team in 2022.
Favorite grape to work with: Chardonnay, baby.
Wine pet peeve: Local restaurants choosing to highlight our imported competitors in-stead of supporting New York agriculture.
Best thing about your job: The continued learning mentality set by the Macari family, head winemaker Byron Elmendorf and cellar master Andrew Kim. I also enjoy the daily ferry com-mute from Shelter Island to the North Fork.
Where do you see yourself 10 years from now? I’d be happy contributing to New York agri-culture by any means.
Names: Angela Ledgerwood and Anthony Martignetti
Occupation: Owners of Old Sound Vineyard. Angela is also a literature podcaster and pub-lisher, while Anthony is a restaurateur, designer and illustrator.
Originally from: Sydney, Australia, and outside of Boston.
How’d you get into the wine business? Both of us via the restaurant world. Angela long ago in LA, and Anthony runs a hospitality group in NYC and now on the North Fork at The Old Mill Inn.
What drew you to Long Island wine? The possibility! And, of course, the proximity to all our other projects. Being two hours from New York City makes it financially possible to work there and make wine here.
Favorite grape to work with: We had our first harvest of gamay this fall — favorite to work with? I’m not so sure, as its thin skin and susceptibility to sour rot proved quite tricky, but I’m certainly excited to drink it. Angela says albariño, which we also harvested for the first time this season and proved to be a joy to farm, even if the first harvest yield was quite low.
Wine pet peeve: In a restaurant, when your server takes the bottle away from the table — I’m like nope, that’s mine, I’ll pour it when I want. In the bottle, when the wine tastes like a brand and not a place, a set of parameters to match rather than the product of a season, the land and the winemaker.
Best thing about your job: Walking up and down the rows with our two-year-old son, watching the grapes change from flowers to fruit, especially when it gets to be sample sea-son and he can start tasting them.
Where do you hope to see yourselves in your career 10 years from now? Having our then 12-year-old son do all the tractor work and mowing while we drink our 10-year-old gamay.
Name: Allissa Goodale
Occupation: Winemaker and vineyard manager at Borghese Vineyard
Originally from: I grew up on the North Fork; I graduated from Mattituck High School.
How’d you get into the wine business? I moved back home after I graduated college with a degree in English Literature, knowing I did not want to become a teacher, nor a writer, so I started working in a tasting room (the former Martha Clara Vineyards). I was 21 and found a job where I was being paid to talk to people and learn about wine?! Amazing! When the former winemaker of MCV, Juan Micieli-Martinez, took the tasting room staff on a tour of Premium Wine Group to see where and how the wine was made, I immediately knew I had found my calling and wanted to work there. I started at Premium in April 2014 on the bottling line and worked my first harvest that fall. Then I discovered there is a whole community of traveling winemakers between the northern and southern hemispheres. The rest is history! I worked a vintage in New Zealand in 2015, then in southwestern Australia in 2017, and in May 2018 was hired at Borghese.
What drew you to Long Island wine? Growing up out here I have always known how spe-cial this region is. I love our maritime climate and how we can produce wines that are ap-proachable and also complex and age-worthy. I also very much appreciate the community of winemakers and vineyard managers and all the friends I have made in this industry.
Favorite grape to work with: We grow six different grape [varieties] here at Borghese and I really love our chardonnay. The fruit produces crisp and tropical stainless-steel whites, silky crème brûlée-like flavors when aged in barrel and, in our recently released Brut Méthode Champenoise, crisp, toasty bubbles that make you want to keep coming back for more.
Wine pet peeve: When wine is thought to be unapproachable. I clearly know how much work goes into making every bottle, and I love being able to share the product with family and friends and make it fun and enjoyable for them. Seeing people’s reaction to their first taste of a new vintage I know will make them as happy as it makes me brings me joy.
Best thing about your job: I love the history of working at the founding vineyard on Long Is-land and managing the process from bud break to bottle. I feel grateful to be able to have a hand in every step and could not do it without the Borghese team. Our staff is full of hard-working and passionate individuals that make it a joy to come to work every day.
Where do you hope to see yourself in your career 10 years from now? In 10 years, I imag-ine I will be continuing my career on the North Fork, understanding not just the vines but the cycle of nature and how everything is intertwined. Every year teaches me something new.
Name: Marin Brennan
Occupation: Winemaker at Bedell Cellars
Originally from: I was born and raised on Long Island’s North Shore, making the pictur-esque drive from Miller Place to Cutchogue each day at the beginning of my career. After several years working in the cellar, I chose to make the North Fork my home, where I have now lived for more than a decade.
How’d you get into the wine business? I studied hospitality management with a focus on wine at Johnson & Wales University. A summer position in a tasting room, taken while fin-ishing my coursework, soon turned into a harvest role, and it was during that experience that I realized I wanted to pursue a career as a winemaker.
What drew you to Long Island wine? Growing up here, I always understood how special Long Island is, and once I began my career, I knew this was where I wanted to stay. Learning to craft terroir-driven wines under the guidance of my mentor, Rich Olsen-Harbich, only deepened that commitment. Our maritime climate allows us to create expressive wines — whites and rosés with crisp, refreshing acidity and a distinctive saline minerality, and reds that range from fruit-forward and approachable to powerful and age-worthy.
Favorite grape to work with: One of the wonderful things about making wine on Long Is-land is the wide range of grape varieties our vineyards can grow. Here at Bedell, I have the opportunity to work with 15 different varieties, which makes each vintage exciting and hard to choose a favorite. Still, cabernet franc has always been special to me. It’s quintessentially Long Island: fruit-forward with beautiful spice and herbal notes, and it has become a cor-nerstone grape for our region.
Wine pet peeve: One of my biggest wine pet peeves is the idea that white wine should only go with seafood and red only with meat. Sure, it’s not bad advice, but there’s a lot of gray area in that rule. I’ve paired cabernet franc with vegetarian dishes and seafood and I’ve en-joyed chardonnay with surf and turf. My approach is simple: open whichever bottle you want and enjoy it — there are really no rules when it comes to wine and food.
Best thing about your job: The best part of my job is seeing guests enjoy the wine I’ve had a hand in creating and appreciating all the work that went into it. There’s something really special about knowing someone chose a local bottle for their holiday table or to send to family and friends.
Where do you hope to see yourself in your career 10 years from now? Looking ahead, I see myself continuing to craft some of the highest quality, sustainably grown, terroir-driven wines here on Long Island, staying true to the character of the region and the land we farm. I hope to continue exploring the unique potential of our vineyards, highlighting the diversity of our grape varieties and sharing the story of Long Island wine with each bottle.
