A brief history
Peter & Deborah Carroll bought the Lenz Winery in 1988, ten years after its founding, and when the Long Island wine community comprised fewer than ten established wineries.
In April 1989 they were joined by Eric Fry, the winemaker who presided over a year-by-year process of quality improvements for thirty years until his retirement. Over most of this time he was assisted by Sam McCullough who agreed to join Lenz in November of 1989 as vineyard manager. Together with Tom Morgan, this core team grew Lenz and made consistent gains in vineyard management and wine quality.
The team has now changed slightly, Thomas Spotteck has replaced Eric Fry, after working for 3 years as his assistant winemaker. And, after Tom Morgan retired his role was taken over by Jerol Bailey.
Philosophically, we are big believers in:
Varietal characteristics: What does this mean? It means that when we release a gewurztraminer, or a merlot, or a sauvignon blanc, we want it to stand out as a clear and outstanding representative of that particular variety, offering a mix of that grape variety’s central characteristics in aroma, texture and flavor.
Varietal ripeness: What does this mean? It means that, since we want our wines to show full varietal character, we need to ripen them consistently to the point they will reveal those characteristics. Unripe or less-than-fully-ripe grapes will not yield proper varietal character, and so we also believe in…..
