Years after closing tasting room, Peconic Bay Winery in contract to be sold
The 55-acre property that had been home to Peconic Bay Winery in Cutchogue is in contract to be sold, according to an agent from Town & Country Real Estate.
A closing is scheduled for next month, according to Hal Zwick of Town & Country.
He declined to announce the buyer or terms of the pending sale, but said he believes the new property owners aim to maintain it as agriculture.
“They’ve been inside planning what they’re going to do with the tasting room,” he said. “They’ll make an announcement at a later date.”
He added that “they are going to take good care of the place.”
Mr. Zwick confirmed the buyers also secured nearby residential property on Oregon Road that was for sale under a different real estate company.
“One buyer purchased both of them,” he said.
Stefan Soloviev, the owner of Crossroads Agriculture, who recently purchased Santa’s Christmas Tree Farm in Cutchogue at auction for $1.8 million, did not respond to a request for comment on whether he intended to purchase the Peconic Bay Winery property. Mr. Soloviev, who was ranked 33rd on The Land Report’s list of the 100 largest landowners in America in 2018, purchased more than 300 acres of farmland on the North Fork in 2017.
Peconic Bay Winery closed its tasting room to the public in January 2013 while transferring its operations to the Empire State Cellars store at Tanger Outlets in Riverhead. At the time, winery general manager Jim Silver said there were no plans to close the Cutchogue location altogether. But in August of that year, the winery, including the tasting room and additional acres of planted vineyards on Main Road, was put on the market.
In the years that followed, additional events were held on the property and the winery sold its remaining inventory out of the tasting room in 2015. Also that year, the Southold Town Board rejected a special events permit for a cider festival called Pour the Core that had been planned at the winery.
Peconic Bay Winery was purchased by Paul and Ursula Lowerre in 1999. The winery was founded 1979.
Photo caption: Peconic Bay Winery has a new buyer, years after its tasting room closed. (File photo)
