Raphael Vineyard

Raphael is a Tuscan-styled estate in Peconic that has built its reputation almost entirely on serious, age-worthy Merlot.

Founded by the Petrocelli family in 1996 and named for patriarch Raphael Petrocelli, the winery was conceived from day one as a Right-Bank Bordeaux project transplanted to Peconic — Merlot-dominant blends, gravity-flow cellar, French oak, long élevage. Consulting winemaker Paul Pontallier, the late director of Château Margaux, shaped the early house style; current winemaker Anthony Nappa, one of the most respected names on Long Island, has held the line for over a decade. In the cellar The Raphael cellar is the most overtly Bordeaux-modeled facility on the North Fork. It's gravity-flow on three levels — fruit drops down to fermentation, then to barrel, then to bottle without pumps that can bruise the wine — and the vaulted barrel hall is built for long élevage with high humidity and low temperatures. Nappa runs small open-top ferments on the top reds, uses native yeasts when the vintage cooperates, and ages the First Label and La Tavola roughly 22 to 24 months in French oak with a meaningful new-oak component before another year of bottle age. The whites — a stainless Sauvignon Blanc and a small-lot Chardonnay — are deliberately understated; this is a red house, and they know it. What I order in the tasting room Start with the Sauvignon Blanc for palate calibration, then go straight to the Cabernet Franc, then the La Tavola Bordeaux blend, then — if it's open — a pour of First Label. The Reserve flight is the one to book; it's seated in the smaller cellar room, includes a library pour when stock allows, and is the only way to taste through the top reds back-to-back. If you can plan ahead, the barrel-tasting experiences during the spring and fall release weekends are the most interesting events on the East End for a serious red drinker — Nappa pulls samples directly from barrel and walks you through the blend in progress. Best time to visit Late September through early November is the prime window — harvest energy on the crush pad, the courtyard fountain still running, and the seated cellar tastings at their most atmospheric. Late spring (May into early June) is the second-best slot, when the new vintage of Sauvignon Blanc has just been released and the wedding-season takeover hasn't fully started. Saturdays from late June through September are mostly given over to private events; book a weekday or a Sunday morning if you want a serious tasting. The signature bottle First Label is the wine. It's a Merlot-dominant Bordeaux blend (typically with Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon, occasionally a touch of Petit Verdot) drawn from the best lots in the cellar, aged roughly two years in French oak, and held in bottle until Nappa thinks it's ready — which is often three years or more after harvest. In a strong vintage it is, dollar-for-dollar, one of the best red wines made in the United States: dense black fruit, cedar, graphite, and a fine-grained tannin structure built for at least a decade in the cellar. Raphael is where I take people who already love Bordeaux and don't think Long Island can play in that league — First Label in a strong vintage drinks alongside a $60 Saint-Émilion without flinching.

First Label Merlot, Reserve Cabernet Franc, La Tavola

Raphael is where I take people who already love Bordeaux and don't think Long Island can play in that league. The First Label Merlot in a strong vintage drinks alongside a $60 Saint-Émilion without flinching.