Winemakers Studio: A tasting room for wines without a home

Remember that wine you enjoyed last weekend but couldn’t find a tasting room for?

Well, soon it could be available at the Winemakers Studio on Peconic Lane in Peconic, a cooperative tasting room made for individual winemakers who previously did not have a concrete location to feature their varietals.

This central North Fork locale is a wine-lover’s destination for previously disregarded bottles that have long been searched for, but seldom found.

Anthony Nappa, the winemaker for Shinn Estate Vineyards in Mattituck and the owner of Anthony Nappa Wines, along with his fiancé, Sarah Evans, who is a chef at North Fork Table and Inn, took over the building earlier this month and aim to open it before Fourth of July weekend.

The Winemakers Studio will kick off by featuring wines from four different cellar masters.  Anthony Nappa Wines will have its popular white pinot noir, dubbed “Anomaly,” as well as Suhru Wines’ pinot grigio and syrah from Russell Hearn of Pellegrini Vineyards and Premium Wine Group, several bottles by the Grapes of Roth from Roman Roth of Wolffer Estate Vineyard and also the Leo Family from John Leo of Clovis Point.

They also plan to headline a rotating group of wines from other local wineries.

Tasting room manager Chris Fanjul expects to have local and tourist-heavy clientelle.

“When you come to the North Fork you are constantly looking for wines that will blow your mind,” Fanjul said.  “We will have them here at the Winemakers Studio.  No doubt about that.”

The Winemakers Studio is set to open upon the arrival of a satellite retail license, which they hope to have in place by the end of June. It is expected to open before the 4th of July weekend and regularly from Monday through Friday until late summer, when service will expand to seven days a week.

“I think this place is going to be a hit for experienced wine drinkers,” said Amanda Falcone of Aquebogue.  “I’ll definitely be coming here to find a wine out of the ordinary.”