Paumanok and Palmer vineyards are two of the North Fork’s oldest wineries, each having been founded in Aquebogue in 1983.
Now one is assuring the other’s legacy continues.
The Massoud family, owners of Paumanok since its inception, purchased Palmer’s 60-acre vineyard, winery and inventory in August. The sale included the Palmer brand, which continues under the stewardship of an integrated team of Paumanok and Palmer staffers.
The wineries have a lot in common. Two of Riverhead Town’s first three wineries, Palmer and Paumanok have reputations among the more respected and widely known wine brands on Long Island. They are also both certified sustainable wineries.
“The acquisition of Palmer Vineyards makes sense for Paumanok on several levels,” Paumanok founder and owner Charles Massoud said in a statement. “We find it very well-suited to our viticulture and we are looking forward to add to the acreage that we farm in the same area.”
While rare for a Long Island winery to change hands, Palmer is the third to be sold in the past 20 months. Shinn Estate Vineyards in Mattituck was purchased by New Jersey financier Randy Frankel and his wife, Barbara, in April 2017 and almost exactly a year later a family group headed by Mexican businessman José Antonio Rivero Larrea and his daughter, Maria, acquired Martha Clara Vineyards in Riverhead.
In this rare instance, however, the owners of an existing local winery took over a neighboring operation and decided to keep the existing brand intact.
