By Lenn Thompson, Editor-in-Chief

I wrote back in May about Shinn Estate Vineyards and its desires to erect a wind turbine in its vineyard to harness East End winds for power.

That saga is on-going and filled with follow-up meetings and hearings. Owners David Page and Barbara Shinn remain hopeful that their turbine project will be underway soon — but they won't be the first North Fork winery using wind power.

Osprey’s Dominion Vineyard today celebrated the ground breaking of their own Wind Power turbine. The producer commissioned Eastern Energy Systems, Inc. to install a 20k wind turbine at their North Fork winery in the Town of Southold. This will be the Long Island Power Authority's (LIPA) first Farm Service turbine, undertaken through the Backyard Wind Initiative created this year.

The turbine is expected to produce an estimated 42,802 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity per year for an annual energy savings of $7,918. The projected total cost of the project is $144,000. A LIPA rebate of $69,401 is anticipated, significantly off-setting the expense for the system. Osprey Dominion Vineyard may further reduce the cost of the system via a Federal tax incentive and by selling the excess electric energy produced back to LIPA.

ODV doesn't get a lot of publicity for it's "green" endeavors, but Osprey’s Dominion was the first winery on Long Island to power their maintenance equipment with biodiesel fuels, starting in 1999.

Osprey’s Dominion will host a ribbon-cutting event in the spring where they plan to release their first bottle of a limited edition “FLIGHT” wine, their first wine made with wind power.