Pugliese Vineyards
by Steve Inglima, Associate Publisher
Photos by Chris Davies

Our featured winery for this issue is the family owned and operated Pugliese Winery on Rt. 25, in Cutchogue, on the North Fork of Long Island. Our Publisher, Chris Davies, and I journeyed through the snows of this January to interview the folks who make Pugliese wine. Although the cold of the middle of winter in New York doesn't generally inspire thoughts of walking through a vineyard, there was more than enough warmth to go around during our delightful interview with the owner, Ralph Pugliese, as well as his sons Peter and Larry.

This is a real family business, with virtually all staff being closely related.Other family members have been active in the business at various times, such as

Artists at work

Ralph's daughter, although now with several small children, she works only behind the scenes making specialty vinegars. Pat, Ralph's wife, though not present for the interview, is the tasting room manager. But her most impressive contribution is the finely detailed paintings on the champagne bottles, as well as the art for the labels of all of the wines. These hand-painted (with nail polish, no less . . . and you girls out there think your nails require patience!)

Pat's signature hand-painted flowers

bottles are each individually hand-painted, yet remarkably consistent… a requirement of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms as each label type must be registered.

Ralph and his family have a way of making you feel at home in their world, whether it's conversation about wine, or the art of growing grapes, or the business of being in the wine business. And it's refreshing to listen to someone who learned the art by doing and is willing to shatter myths and icons in the process. Our interview was enhanced by our host's gracious nature. He brought to the tasting counter a delicious loaf of bread and a giant wheel of Asiago cheese, as well as other deli delights to enhance our tasting experience. And taste, we did! Nothing is more mutually enhancing than a glass of wine, a loaf of bread, and good company.

Just to keep it simple, the text is preceded by the initials of the speakers:

RP = Ralph Pugliese
PP = Peter Pugliese
SI = Steve Inglima
CD = Chris Davies

Our interview proceeds:

SI: What are your roots?

RP: I was born in Brooklyn. My father was born in Italy. My mother, here.

SI: Does your family have a history in winemaking?

RP: My father always made wine… in Italy, and then when he came to this country as well. He didn't produce wine commercially, but for our own family. I learned by helping, ever since I was I was a kid. I didn't miss many vintages, and we made wine every year. I've got one wine barrel back here. You know how many years I've had it? 44 years! And there's wine in it!! Some customers who come have asked, "Is it true that the barrels are used only once, then sold?" I tell them, "I don't know what other wineries do, but I've one barrel that's 44 years old!"

SI: You've been making wine for family consumption for a while. When did you decide to go into this commercially? Was this a dream of yours? Was this land purchased especially to make a vineyard?

RP: Yeah. I started the vineyard 20 years ago. I always made wine, and when I came here, Hargrave was the only one I knew of out here. When I started planting my grapes, I didn't know I was right in the middle of all of this. Next door was Ressler Vineyards (at the time; now it's Palmer); Dell was right there putting grapes in, you know, and Pindar was right down there, and Peconic Bay. It all centered around right here! It was amazing, I tell you.

CD: So this is your 20th anniversary ?

RP: Yeah… of growing the grapes. I started making wine in '86. Right now we have 50 acres total, 40-42 planted. I used to be the smallest, but I've passed a few people. The first property purchased was 12 acres, and I grew grapes there, then other properties became available; about 13 years ago, about 23 acres. Two years ago we purchased the property on Bridge Lane, which is another 17-18 acres. It's physically connected to my house and the other properties. It's contiguous, but separate, pieces. I'm in the process of putting up a new building in the back.

Pugliese family pitches in to build a new champagne cellar

The foundation is in. It's for storage, and I'm putting in a new champagne cellar which will be totally underground.

SI: Have you lived here since 1980?

RP: At first, just weekends. 13 years ago we became permanent residents.

SI: Do other family members live on premises?

RP: They will be building houses here in the near future. My other son has the house next to me. It was the house we started out in. The house in the front is now rented. Do you want a glass of wine?

SI: (Like I'm going to argue) Sure. We want to somewhat systematically taste your offerings. I believe that one of your Chardonnays is oak barrel fermented, the other stainless.

RP: The barrel fermented Chardonnay is $12.99, and the stainless is $9.99. We try to keep our prices down. All year we get people coming in saying "You've got great wine, and the prices are reasonable."

SI: Who's your official winemaker?

RP:

Peter Pugliese, Wine Maker

My son, Peter. I gave him the chores. I just told him to keep it simple, keep the chemicals down. You grow good grapes, it's not hard to make good wine.

CD: When did Peter start as the Winemaker?

RP: Couple of years now. I'd say about three. He's been making wine since he's been a kid, too.

SI: Virtually all wines have sulfites in them. What's that all about?

RP: During fermentation, wines create natural sulfites. More can be added too. If you have healthy grapes, fermentation creates all the necessary sulfites. If the grapes have problems, you'd better put some in. You don't have to be a chemist to do this.

SI: You've said that owning and working a winery, you're actually in several businesses simultaneously.

RP: You're a farmer first. That's just one business. Then there's the manufacturing of the wine business. And the selling of the wine is another business. We have no salesmen, and we have no distributors.

CD: How many cases per year?

RP: We're up to? I'd say this year we're going to have 6,000 cases, maybe a little more.

CD: What are your hours for tasting?

RP: During the winter, it's from 10AM to 5PM, Monday through Saturday, and Sunday, 12-5. From the spring to fall it's 12-6. Sometimes we stay later. This past summer, sometimes we were here till 7! We were busy.

SI: Do you have private tastings?

RP: If it's required.

RP: Do you want some champagne now?

Ralph Pugliese mans the tasting counter

SI: (Twist my arm) Sure!

RP: We just got an e-mail from a new airline, Blue Jet. They're going to have champagne on one of their flights with the Governor and Senator on there. They want to know about pricing, etc. How about some cheese with that?

SI: Now, this champagne is the full methode champenoise?

RP: Oh yeah… this is the real thing.

SI: How long should this be in the bottle?

RP: Ideally, four years or so on the yeast.

SI: You've got two different kinds of champagne and a sparkling Merlot. When was the first year that you produced champagne?

RP: First year. Peter, what's the plaque on the wall say? 1988.

A few of Pugliese's many medals

That was the first year, and we won two awards in California! We won a silver medal for the champagne, and we won for "Most Aesthetic, Best of Class".

SI: This is not something your family ever did, not something you learned growing up…?

RP: No. I've always liked champagne. I drank red champagne years ago.

SI: How did you acquire the knowledge to make champagne?

RP: It's simple… but easy! Of course, I've done some reading. The main thing is that you've got to grow good grapes. If you grow good grapes, winemaking is easy. When you grow bad grapes, you've got to be a good winemaker and a good chemist. You laugh, but it's true. It's basic, you know. You pick the grapes at certain brix. You want it between 18 and 20 brix.

SI: What are brix?

RP: Brix is the sugar content, or percentage, of the grape. For still (non sparkling) wine you want the brix to be 22. There's a range, you know. You use a little refractometer. You pick up the little prism, squeeze a little of the grape juice on it, one or two drops, you look up to the sun, and then there's a chart.

Ralph pours some Blanc de Blanc Brut

If I showed you once, you'd know how to do it. When it's in the certain range, it's almost time to pick the grapes. You check the acid. You know, you don't want the acid to be too high. It's a very simple test. The three main grapes that go into champagne are Chardonnay, the primary, then Pinot Noir,and then Pinot Menieur. Because the Chardonnay is the main grape, I make the Blanc de Blanc. In order to call it Blanc de Blanc, it has to be 100% Chardonnay. Then you can make the Blanc de Noir, from Pinot Noir, then from the Merlot, we make sparkling Merlot.

SI: Using the same methode champenoise?

RP: Yes. Fermented naturally in the bottle. You can make champagne out of any grape.

SI: Wouldn't that be called "sparkling wine" actually? Doesn't champagne technically have to be produced in a specific region of France?

RP: I call it champagne. Who says we can't call it champagne? You see Korbel? They call it champagne. They make 1.4 million cases a year. And he (the owner of Korbel) says, "I'll always call it champagne". It is methode champenoise. There was an article in 'Vineyard and Winery'. They had a big article on him for the millennium year, 2000. They started 130-140 years ago. In 1972, the French started complaining about their use of the term. But he said we'll never change the term and call it sparkling wine. He said, "My great grandfather started it, and he used 'champagne', and if we ever changed the word 'champagne', he'd turn over in his grave!"

CD: There was a proposed French charter which wasn't signed by the Americans. They had proposed that, but we never signed and agreed to it.

RP: You see, in Europe, they have the Common Market (and thus an agreement). The Italians call it Spumanti. The Spanish call it Cava. The Germans call it Kiel. The French have put pressure on our government, on the BATF, to change the name. Hey, we saved them in two World Wars. What do they want?! Oh, and all of their grapes, they're planted on American root stock! They got wiped out with the Philoxera in the early 1900's. You know that, don't you? They got wiped out! They sent from America, root stock, and they planted their varieties on the American grapes.

SI: So, there's no more French wine! Actually, we acted like a bank, essentially, as we took much of our grape stock from them, and gave it back.

RP: Anyway, we can call it champagne. I'm a little older than you. Growing up, when we asked for champagne, we were talking bubbles! You see the movie, "The Gay Divorcee" with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers? You know that song, "I get no kick from champagne?"

SI: Mere alcohol doesn't thrill me at all…

RP: What are they taking about? Some town in France? They're talking about the bubbles! You know what I'm saying? Come on! Get outta here… can't call it champagne! I put on the back of the bottle "fermented naturally in this bottle" which means the same thing. Next time we get the labels made, we'll put "methode champenoise". Many people don't know what that means.

SI: That's true, though some do. We're (longislandwinecountry.com) hoping to reach people who aren't necessarily experts in wine. We want to increase the appreciation of wine. We want to promote the idea that when you have a drink, you have a choice. There may be a health benefit to a glass of wine that a vodka martini may not confer. There are good reasons to be drinking wine that have nothing to do with getting soused… helping digestion, increasing the enjoyment of your food, benefits for your health… And it tastes good!

RP: (Pouring some Merlot) I don't want to give you too much of any one thing… unless you want more champagne. It's all right with me!

SI: (Choices, choices?) Well, we need to take notes on everything. (I finish a delicious glass of Blanc de Blanc).

SI: How many different types of grapes are you growing currently?

PP: I lose track, myself!

RP: I don't lose track. Cabernet, Chardonnay, Merlot, Riesling, a little Gewurztraminer, which we're starting with. We're going to make more dessert wines, and the Niagara, which is a native American grape, which I blend into my port wine, with the Muscat. I grow a little bit of that just for the Port… and Sangiovese, and a little Zin (Zinfandel).

Ralph gets ready to pour Sangiovese

I've got some if you want to taste it, but I'm going to phase that out. Twelve years, I've been fooling around with it. One year you get grapes, the next year…

SI: You're willing to experiment?

RP: It'll take another 20 years, and we'll all still be experimenting. And anyone who tells you different is lying! When we first started, I didn't have any money for tractors, and post pounders, and post diggers. Believe it or not, the first twelve acres they (motioning to his sons) put in by hand; they dug the post holes. That's the truth! And we made the posts! Don't laugh!! It's the truth! We made cement posts with steel rods in them. (Pouring wine) Here's some Cabernet Sauvignon.

SI: (Still no resistance here!) What do you see for the future? Do you see more expansion? Are you experimenting with anything new?

RP: Oh, yeah. Eight years ago, we tried experimenting with a little Sangiovese. Last year we put two acres. It's the Italian grape. I'm the first that is selling the Sangiovese. It's the main grape of the Chianti wine. This is the third year we've offered it, and this year we're putting in more. We're putting it where we had three rows struck by lightning, and it just wiped out three rows of Merlot, in 1992. And this past year, lightning struck another two rows.

SI: It strikes a whole row at once?

RP: It hits and travels right down the metal wire and fries the whole row! Grapes hanging on the row get fried right off.

SI: Aren't the poles grounded? Isn't there something every ten feet or so?

PP: The wood poles are in the ground two feet. The anchors are in the ground three feet, and there's metal in the anchors.

RP: By the time it gets to the end, forget it! We're not the only ones. The first time we've seen it was at Hargrave. This was years ago? 17 years ago. We passed there? a whole row all burned up. He said he got hit by lightning, but here, that was unheard of. Everyone was talking? He must have sprayed something. Then it started happening. One year this guy gets hit, then next year someone else. It's true! Lightning!

PP: It's a real shame. You see the clusters formed getting towards the end of August. Then this happens, and within a week, forget it. It looks like someone sprayed weed killer on them.

RP: It's a sin. And the row that was struck this past year was a 900 foot row doubled up!

SI: Can't you put a lightning rod somewhere else?

PP: We're looking into that. You know, we're trying to do something, but this particular spot was the lowest spot in the vineyard.

SI: It could be that there's water underneath.

PP: That's what it was!

RP: Anyway, after that happened, I saw an article about some certified Sangiovese grapes for sale, so I thought I'd give it a try. We know Chardonnay grows well, as does Merlot; Cab, some years, is a late ripening grape, but we've been lucky with that so far.

SI: You also blend.

RP: Yeah, in the table wines.

SI: How would you describe the Sangiovese compared to the Italian classics like Chianti or Valpolicelli?

RP: The Valpolicelli is a little heavier. Sangiovese is a lighter wine. The clusters are bigger. The grapes are bigger, you know, and it makes a lighter wine. It's eight years, but I'm still experimenting. Every year has a little different growing conditions and you have to keep your eye on things. I could get it a little darker, which I intend to do.

SI: My grandfather, who was from Sicily, used to make his own wine from the grapes he grew in his backyard. My brother still has his old crusher and press.

RP: That's good. Never get rid of it. People come in all the time. Honest, I tell them, "make a little of your own wine. I'll help you with what I know. It's nice to make wine." That doesn't stop them from buying wine 'cause they'll buy something they don't make, like champagne.

CD: What's your favorite of your wines?

RP: I drink the Chardonnay mostly, but with pastas and steaks, I drink the red wine. I drink the

Hand-painted bottle done for Brian and Donna McNulty as a gift for the birth of their daughter, Amanda Lorelle

Sangiovese. I prefer red. And we've got the red Port which we like a lot. (To Larry) Get a bottle of the sparkling Merlot. Too bad she (referring to his wife) doesn't have a hand-painted sparkling Merlot. It's nice. My wife does these bottles. I love these bottles, and we have it in a paper label, and I tell customers who pick up the hand-painted one, "this costs a few bucks more; it's hand painted. It's the same port wine". "That's OK", they say, "It's for a gift. I want this." They don't mind spending a little more. I happen to love this, me personally.

SI: The bottle's a keeper. No one would want to toss that bottle.

RP: My wife's the only one who does the writing, and she draws the flowers. You know, it requires four coats of paint! It's not one, but four, the last being a pearlized coat. (Pouring from another beautiful bottle) Here's a little Cabernet Franc.

RP: The champagne, our millennium bottles, we sold to couples, and my wife wrote special messages on it to folks in big companies, and they took care of getting it there. You know, we can't ship out of state. We sell a lot of champagne. Some of the vineyards are shifting to Merlot in place of Chardonnay, but I need the Chardonnay for my champagne.

SI: What do you make and sell the most?

RP: Not for nothing, but the champagne. I think we make mostly that. That's why we need the Chardonnay.

CD: Are you looking to acquire more acreage?

RP: You keep your eyes open. There's still plenty of land.

CD: Do you do anything with recipes, that you give to your customers?

RP: No, but I always wanted to print some up 'cause I got a lot of recipes, specialty things. Like I went to buy a couple of eggplants yesterday, but you won't get this eggplant in a restaurant. They stuff them with ricotta cheese.

SI: Eggplant rollentini.

RP: I make it a little different. Very easy. You slice the eggplant very thin.

SI: You dip it in the egg?

RP: No egg! No, no, no. Just fry it. Then you let drain on the paper. Then you get the prosciutto - you know, prosciutto?- and you cut that up and put the mozzarella, a little fresh parsley, nice grated cheese - you know, asiago, parmagiana, whatever you want to use - pepper, no salt… the prosciutto and cheese have enough salt.

Ralph slices Asiago

Put it in a pan, and pre-make a marinara sauce, you know, with nice Italian plum tomatoes? the whole Italian tomatoes without the puree. I like to crush them good with my hand. A little olive oil, garlic, and put the marinara sauce in the bottom of the pan. Very simple. Just roll them up. Put the marinara sauce on the top, then put it in the oven…15-20 minutes at 350-400?. Once you eat those, you won't want the ricotta ones no more. You don't see them in restaurants. We had a restaurant (in Brooklyn), and we wouldn't make them for customers, just ourselves. It's a lot of work involved.

CD: What do you call this?

RP: Raphael's eggplant rollentini.

SI: You grow your own tomatoes?

RP: Yeah, sure. Last year, my wife made 46 cases of jarred tomatoes.

SI: That's a lot of tomatoes!

RP: She's using tomatoes from the year before! That's a lot to make? 46 cases! She goes home and does it at night. (She works at the winery during the day.) And she uses fresh basil.

SI: You grow that as well?

RP: Oh, yeah. And it's the best marinara. We use it for pizza? everything. I make my own ravioli and manicotti. Last week, I made fettucini 'cause I was tired!

PP: It's easier to make fettucini; ravioli is a little more work.

SI: You make your pasta from scratch?

RP: You know something? I always made the pasta. We had the restaurant. We had the big ring, the flour, the egg, a little salt, a little olive oil. I never measured nothing. My wife taught me. You know how she does it now? Blender! Two little cups of flour, two eggs, a little salt, the olive oil? Whirrrrrr! It makes a ball!! It's fast. You take it out and do it again, and again. I make ten of them.

PP: There's a huge difference when you make it yourself. It's so light.

RP: Some like it heavy. We like it light. You want to try some Port?

SI: (I can't struggle to resist)

CD: How do you get Port so sweet?

RP: We stop the fermentation. And it's fortified. All port wines should be 20-21% alcohol. To get it to 20-21% alcohol, we add wine spirits which we get from California. It's 190 proof. You want to try some of that? Laughs)

SI: (I definitely prefer Port to 190 proof) I've had 190 proof, as Everclear?. It doesn't have a taste. It sucks all of the water out of your tongue! You can get it in the Midwest. It's good for cleaning lenses and tape decks!

RP: You want a little Chardonnay?

SI: Sure!

CD: This doesn't taste overly woody. Of course, this is after we've tasted the reds.

RP: We have one Chardonnay, 1996; it tastes really woody. I prefer it not as woody. Some people like that, though. I don't like it. You know something? We hand-pick everything here? No machines. We get the kids, everyone. It scares a lot of people to pick by hand. But, really it's no big deal. The first grapes you pick are the champagne grapes, the Cardonnay. What else do you want to try?

SI: (Everything? again and again, but….) We need to take some pictures of you and the gift packs.

RP: Sure!

SI:With that, our interview was concluded, but we know that's not the last time we'll be going to Pugliese. The wine is excellent, the tasting room filled full with beautiful photographs, and the style is pure Famiglia Italiana!