What’s in a name? For two North Fork wineries the answer might be a promising future.
Both Shinn Estate and Laurel Lake Vineyards announced in recent weeks that they will be operating under new names.
For Shinn Estate in Mattituck, which hasn’t been owned by Barbara Shinn and her husband David Page since 2017, the current owners said they wanted a name more personal to them. They selected Rose Hill Vineyards.
“Rose Hill is where we first planted our roots in New York, and where we ultimately fell in love with the East End,” owners Randy and Barbara Frankel said in a press release sent by their daughter Chelsea, who runs the Oregon Road winery with them. Rose Hill is a neighborhood in Manhattan.
The Frankels joked on the winery’s website that the name “Frankel Cellars just didn’t seem to cut it.” The Frankels are also partners in Croteaux Vineyards in Southold and Randy Frankel is a former Goldman Sachs partner.
The Frankels first used the Rose Hill name for a bottle of rosé. It will now be used for the winery brand and at the bed and breakfast on the Mattituck vineyard — though they wanted to assure customers things will otherwise be staying the same.
“We will always strive to provide the best experience for all of our guests,” they wrote in the release. “Our vineyard crew, winemaker Patrick Caserta, tasting room staff and our family remain incredibly invested in 2000 Oregon Road.”
The sale of Laurel Lake Vineyards in Laurel is much fresher, having taken place this winter. New owner Dan Abrams, an ABC newsman, also selected a personal touch when coming up with his winery’s new name, Ev&Em, a spokesperson wrote in an email. It’s named for Abrams’ children, Everett and baby Emilia, who was born in February.
“By calling it Ev&Em I hope that maybe when my kids are grown they’ll be a little more incentivized to take care of, and pride in, the wines that bear their names,” Abrams told Newsday, which exclusively reported the name change.
While it’s not always the case that a Long Island winery changes names after a sale, it’s also not unprecedented. Most recently, the former Martha Clara Vineyards, named for a matriarch of the Entenmann family, in Riverhead was rebranded RG/NY soon after it was purchased by the Rivero-Gonzalez family in 2018. Castello di Borghese was once Hargrave Vineyards, the eponymous winery of the region’s founders.
Other wineries have kept the names of their previous owners after a sale, including Palmer Vineyards, Lenz Winery and Bedell Cellars.
The Rose Hill Vineyards name change is official now. Ev&Em hopes to complete its rebranding in late summer or early fall.
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