Lau Alexandra“Seek not…the life of the immortals; but enjoy to the full the resources that are within thy reach.”
-Pindar, 5th century BCE
When thinking of how to begin this post about Pindar Vineyards, I wanted to do some research on the history of the name, “Pindar”. Though both the winery in Peconic, New York and its owner are named Pindar, it originally became a household name thousands of years ago, in ancient Greece. At that time, a man named Pindar was writing poems and cementing himself as one of the greatest ancient Greek lyric poets. His reputation stands for good reason: a quick Google search of Pindar’s poems shows that many of his words are not only applicable to life in ancient Greece, but are also relevant enough to have been written this year.
Fittingly, Pindar Vineyards embodies the spirit of poet Pindar’s quote, above. The vineyard is the oldest family-run winery on Long Island, and for forty years the Damianos family has been dedicated to bringing an enjoyable wine-tasting experience for all guests. However, to do so requires a team effort, which owner Pindar Damianos understands well. While I was visiting, Mr. Damianos was busily working alongside his staff, moving boxes, cleaning glasses, and providing tastings for customers. In between these tasks, he was kind enough to take time to speak with me about his family’s passion for winemaking, and why Pindar Vineyards remains one of Long Island’s most popular wineries.
Mr. Damianos explained that part of his winery’s dedication to guests’ enjoyment is understanding that their visitors encompass all types of wine drinkers, from novices to connoisseurs. As a result, they make different types of wine for all palettes, and strive to educate guests about their wine. For example, their four seasons wines- Winter White, Spring Splendor, Summer Blush, and Autumn Gold- are on the sweeter side and make for easy drinking. Though technically considered to be wines that are great for novices, they are some of the vineyard’s most popular wines.
If the seasonal wines are “introductory wines,” Pindar Vineyards also provides plenty of tastes for the more advanced wine drinker, such as their Pythagoras Red, which is a blend of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. Mr. Damianos explained that over time, our palettes mature, which enables us to enjoy drier varieties. Regardless of where one may be as a wine drinker, it is not difficult to find a wine that is suitable to your tastes at Pindar. As someone who is still expanding her palette, I appreciate that Pindar has this understanding of their customers. The tasting that Mr. Damianos poured for me provided wines suitable for a variety of palettes, and I was able to taste the differences in wine as it progressed from introductory to more advanced. As a personal bonus, I was excited to find that I liked the Pythagoras Red, since it is a blend of two of the drier red wines.
Perhaps one of the most recognizable features of Pindar Vineyards are the sunflowers that bloom annually on the grounds. As a Long Islander, it is almost a rite of passage to come to Pindar at some point and take pictures in the sunflower field, so before we finished our conversation, I had to ask Mr. Damianos about it. The story he told me is fantastic: in the early 1980s, Mr. Damianos’ father- Pindar’s original owner- happened to be driving by some of their acreage of Chardonnay, when he noticed one lone sunflower growing amongst the grapes. He decided to name that year’s Chardonnay after that one sunflower, and from there, planted sunflower seeds along the side of Pindar’s tasting room. Since that year, the release of each year’s Sunflower Chardonnay is timed to coincide with the full bloom of the sunflowers. This is a tradition that is now 35 years strong, and only seems to be growing in popularity.
Pindar had already been a favorite Long Island winery of mine before I began Drink.Explore.Repeat this summer. It’s the winery I visit most frequently, both for the wine itself, and for its comfortable atmosphere. Mr. Damianos reinforced this when he said that the vineyard strives to maintain a welcoming atmosphere, free from any pretension. Listening to him speak, he undoubtedly values his customers, and continues to educate himself and his staff on the best ways to make guests happy. He stated that he never wants to be a “winery of ‘no’”; rather, he wants to continue to welcome and ensure that visitors are having an enjoyable experience. Part of the vineyard’s success in doing this certainly comes back to their embodiment of the team culture- both management and staff are always on premises and working together. I witnessed this on my visit, as after I spoke with him, Mr. Damianos continued to circulate both indoors and outside on the grounds, completing tasks and making sure that guests were enjoying themselves.
Poet Pindar may have written about enjoying the resources one has access to over 2,500 years ago, but his words certainly apply to life in 2020. If quarantining and social distancing has taught us anything, it’s that we need to appreciate what we have, and to enjoy each experience to the fullest, because it can be taken away quicker than we may have realized. On that note, I’ll be spending the rest of this afternoon enjoying some Sunflower Chardonnay and planning my next trip to Pindar. Salut!
‘til next time,
Lau
