Peconic Bay Winery Moves Tasting Room Operations to Empire State Cellars, Re-Focuses on the Wine and Leaves Agritourism Behind
Live music and a fun atmosphere brought big crowds to Peconic Bay Winery every weekend
Live music every weekend. A food menu well beyond snacks. Big crowds. North Fork agritourism at its best. That’s has been Peconic Bay Winery the last several summers. Other wineries have turned to agritourism for financial stability and profitability, but few did it better than Peconic Bay.
But no more. Later this morning, the winery will announce that it is closing its tasting room to the public, moving day-to-day retail and tasting operations to Empire State Cellars at Tanger Outlet Mall. The Cutchogue tasting room will now be used exclusively for private parties and wine club events.
There will be a new area within Empire State Cellars that is dedicated to Peconic Bay Winery operations. ““The tasting bar can accommodate dozens of interested wine tasters each day and the hours of operation are much longer than they are at the winery. We’ll reach a lot more people this way,” Jim Silver, general manager of Peconic Bay Winery and Empire State Cellars, told me via email.
Office and administrative work, fermentation, bottling and storage of wine will continue at the Cutchogue location.
Why abandon agritourism at a time when nearly ever winery is at least dipping a toe in — and close its tasting room when a handful of others have opened second ones? “A great deal of money and effort is spent to move customers to a location, that is, make a portion of the 2 million visitors to the region visit you particular place. Four years ago we welcomed five or six thousand people a year, now its more like forty thousand people. I don’t think we could move that many by simply touting the wine more — it ends up being a constant stream of live music, events and providing a gorgeous atmosphere. All of that erodes the margins naturally, but it also distracts from the wine itself. What we learned from Empire State Cellars is that we could truly accomplish our financial goals and have it be about the wine. And that seems more like a long term solution,” said Silver.
Experience tells Silver that opening the Cutchogue location only for special events will make the location more profitable as well. “The large scale events like NOFO Rock and Folk Fest and the medium scaled events — things like Johnny Winter, John Pizzarelli, the Dirtfarmers and Cider Festival — earned more for us in a day that we could in nearly a month. They are complex to manage, but without the distraction of day-to-day operations we feel we can do a better overall job on those, and at the same time offer the location up
to our Wine Club members for their exclusive use,” he said.
After Silver told me about his plan a few weeks ago, I’ve been thinking about what they could say about the region’s present and mean for the region’s future. Obviously several tasting rooms rely on live music and the like to attract customers. I’ve been vocal in my belief that agritourism has the potential to erode wine quality over time. Peconic Bay’s move seems to support that — at least in part. But it also calls into question the profitability of North Fork tasting rooms in general.
Peconic Bay can close its tasting room because of Empire State Cellars. Other wineries don’t have that option. If agritourism doesn’t work — either because it costs too much to partake or because local government shuts it down — will other tasting rooms close? Maybe, but maybe not.
What is clear is that the local wine industry is still figuring out its own long-term sustainability. This is an important time in Long Island wine. A lot could change in the next three-to-five years.
The fiscal realities of Long Island wine country may mean a move back to boutique wineries — rather than weekly music festivals — and boutique wineries can only survive if they are making the absolute best wine possible.
Boutique or not. Tasting room or otherwise. A hyper focus on quality over broad market nickels and dimes is a welcome change. This region can and should compete with the best wines, not the bargain aisle and I am glad to see more and more people coming to that conclusion. Best of luck Peconic Bay!
Don’t disagree at all, Regan. Quality and distinctiveness will be what wins the day.
Eric Asimov recently Tweeted that he thought many Long Island wines were wannabe California. That can’t continue in a time when drinkers are looking for uniqueness and sense of place.
I’m going to sit on this information for a bit before making my final decision on how I feel about it. I will say that Peconic Bay Winery was the first place on the North Fork to get my attention by mixing good product with a fun (not Jersey Shore) like atmosphere when I first visited years ago. I know my crowd will be saddened by this news as PBW has always been a ‘must visit’ for the mindful, but sun loving, gorgeous view seeking city crew. (Who have good palates and are there to taste and purchase, not party.) I wonder if pushing a reservation only policy could ensure guests are coming for the wine experience not the scene. That being said, I agree with Regan and would welcome substance over style anytime. Hopefully, I’ll get INVITED to said private parties and can still enjoy the space at PBW.
The one thing that will get lost will be the connection of the bottle to the place it comes from. There is something special about tasting the wine, sitting in a field looking at the place that wine grew from, where the fruit became the wine. A little romance will be lost.
Michael — you nail a point that I brought up to Jim immediately after he told me about this. But of course he doesn’t have the romantic notion of the place that we do — it is a business.
And only some of the chardonnay is visible from the tasting room area anyway
Not entirely correct! I have a terribly romantic notion of the place – and for this particular place more so than any other vineyard on earth, believe me.
But you’re also right that it’s a business and getting the wine the respect it has long, long, long deserved means getting it out to more people, and under better conditions to appreciate those qualities.
Fascinating…good luck Peconic Bay!
Thanks Bryan, looking forward to your CF and PN …
If the special music events mean greater profitability for the vineyard, then I am in favor of 6 or 8 true concert events during the summer with ace performers. By selling and serving Peconic Bay wines and local beer during well-run private gatherings or public concerts, Jim can build brand strength while providing a much-needed entertainment outlet for many on the North Fork. While some of the NIMBY naysayers will claim that the vineyard should be limited to simpler agritainment and no concerts should be held there, I say, at least the land around the facility will remain under vine if the business can remain profitable.
This is good news. I hope its done to realize long term viability, rather than breathing room short term. I say this as I have heard of long term employees leaving due cost cutting measures. Also, it seems many of the concert series stretched PBW thin in recent years, and it makes perfect sense to decrease overhead in one facility, while raising foot traffic in their retail facility. Jim – any plans for expansion of ESC?
Best of luck.
Fair points, but not entirely correct. We’ve not lost any long term employees in quite some time, and the concerts didn’t stretch us thin at all. Some made a fair profit, some less, but all were very strong events for us. We do intend to keep doing them – medium scaled events, not the large two day festivals though.
And you’re right, overhead in one facility is always a concern, especially when another one is doing so well. Yes, we are looking at expanding ESC, not in footprint but in additional locations.
I wish Peconic Bay the best of luck. This is a rather transparent and unfortunate situation.
If there were not financial trouble here – why not fuel both locations, expand other market presence and not turn off a loyal and large consumer base? Agritourism is still a critical part of any LI Vineyard’s bottom line – like it or not.
If Peconic Bay is serious about branding and expanding – hope their efforts are solid within the market beyond a Riverhead outlet parking lot.
You are closing a truly amazing location that endeared loyal paying customers to you.
No, it’s not transparent or unfortunate. There’s no financial trouble. Why not fuel both locations? Why not exapnd other markets? Agritourism, is part of any LI vineyard’s bottom line, like it or not?
You, madam, are not sitting in my chair, and you are not aware of so, so, so many things that it makes my head hurt. Our business and our decisions are our own. I am probably the poster boy for Agri-tourism – but a critical part? It is NOT a critical part for some wineries, just as it is not a critical part of ours. I exported more wine today (really, this afternoon) than I would sell all year in the tasting room.
I’m afraid your ability to speak to “branding and expanding” businesses like this one will not hold up to closer examination. We don’t make locations – we make wine – great wine – and that’s what we’re selling. That Riverhead parking lot you speak of gets 12 million more visitors per year than the entire wine region combined – and that’s who we are aiming to meet.
I think the idea of ESC is good. Location in my opinion is bad for that style of business. You may get 12 million more visitors a year than wine country however I would take ten shoppers of millions of visitors. People going to an outlet mall are looking for deals, seconds, closeouts and ect. You are trying to sell NY wines that have a higher price point than wines with better reviews, notability, and name brand recognition. I am not saying that LI does not make great wine but I will say most are not house hold names.