Macari Vineyards

Macari Vineyards is a 200-acre family estate in Mattituck — one of the largest biodynamic operations on Long Island.

Macari farms holistically across both sides of Sound Avenue, raising Sicilian donkeys, longhorn cattle, sheep, ducks and laying hens alongside the vines — the animal manures, composts and cover crops feed a biodynamic preparation that's been built into the program since the early 2000s. The Macari family bought the original 500-acre farm in 1995, and the estate has grown into one of the largest contiguous family-owned vineyards on Long Island, with viticulture led for years by Kelly Urbanik Koch and winemaking now in the hands of Byron Elmendorf. In the cellar The house style splits cleanly into two voices. Under the Macari label the wines are precise and varietally honest — stainless Sauvignon Blanc, restrained barrel-fermented Chardonnay, classic Bordeaux-blend reds. Under the Lifeforce label the team gives itself permission to play: skin-contact whites, pét-nats, amphora ferments, low-sulfur reds, and a rotating cast of small experimental lots that sell out from the tasting room before they ever reach distribution. Both lines share the same low-intervention spine — native-yeast ferments where possible, judicious oak, minimal fining — and both benefit from the biodynamic farming behind them. What I order in the tasting room Start with Katherine's Field Sauvignon Blanc. It's the North Fork's clearest answer to a Sancerre — grapefruit, wet stone, taut finish — and it sets up the rest of the flight. Move into the Reserve Chardonnay (the one with the longer barrel élevage), then the Estate Cabernet Franc, then ask whether any Sette or Bergen Road is open by the glass; if it is, that's where the flight should end. On the Lifeforce side, the pét-nat is the showpiece, and if the orange/skin-contact bottling is poured it's worth the upgrade. The Mattituck tasting room has the Sound-view lawn and full picnic service; the Cutchogue room is smaller, quieter, and the better seated experience if you want to actually talk about the wines. Best time to visit May and June are Macari at its best — the lawns are open, the rosé has just been released, the kids' programming on the back field hasn't peaked yet, and the room is full but not crushed. September and October are a close second, especially if you want to walk the animal pastures with the cattle out. Avoid mid-July through Labor Day Saturdays unless you booked the lawn at least two weeks ahead; this is one of the most-photographed venues on the trail and it shows up in the reservation log. The signature bottle Bergen Road is the wine to take home. It's the flagship Bordeaux blend — Merlot-led, with Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot in supporting roles — drawn from the oldest blocks on the home farm and aged roughly 22 months in French oak. In a strong vintage it shows ripe black cherry, cedar, baking spice and a slate-mineral finish that's the calling card of Macari's biodynamic farming. It drinks well on release and rewards a decade in the cellar; I'd put a bottle of Bergen Road from a warm year against any equivalently-priced California Bordeaux blend and bet on Macari every time. If you only have time for one tasting room your first weekend out, make it Macari — the biodynamic story is real, the Sauvignon Blanc is a perfect aperitif, and the back lawn might be the prettiest seated tasting in the AVA.

Katherine's Field Sauvignon Blanc, Bergen Road, Lifeforce Chardonnay

If you only have time for one tasting room your first weekend out, make it Macari. The biodynamic story is real (walk the back fields and you'll see the longhorns), the Sauvignon Blanc is a perfect aperitif, and the back lawn might be the prettiest seated tasting in the AVA.