Bedell Cellars in Cutchogue, one of the North Fork’s most respected wine producers, is for sale.
The listing includes 95 acres, about 75 of which are planted with vines, and both the Bedell and Corey Creek brands and operations.
The listing price, which includes a 23-acre vineyard on Wells Road in Peconic, is $17.9 million.
In addition to the vineyards and tasting rooms, the sale would include a four-bedroom cottage and the production building and events pavilion on the Bedell property. The vineyards are all 100% certified sustainable.
Held by Gary DePersia of Corcoran, the listing popped up just weeks after the death of Bedell Cellars owner Michael Lynne, a film executive who purchased the properties and brands separately about 20 years ago. The properties are currently owned by his estate.
Mr. Lynne, a part-time resident of Sag Harbor, made his initial investment in the wine region when he purchased the Corey Creek property and tasting room in Southold in 1999. One year later, he purchased Bedell Cellars in Cutchogue from Kip and Susan Bedell, for a then-record $5 million sale.
Mr. Lynne’s investment in the Long Island wine industry, which includes the purchase of a preserved 22-acre vineyard in Peconic, came around the same time as his greatest success as a film executive. The former co-chairman of New Line, along with friend and longtime business partner Bob Shaye, is often credited with the idea to convince filmmaker Peter Jackson to develop “Lord of the Rings” as a trilogy instead of a single film. That decision earned the studio nearly $3 billion in worldwide box office and 11 Academy Awards in 2004, including best picture for the final installment in the franchise.
While still somewhat rare for a Long Island winery to change hands, three have sold in the past two years. 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. Last July, it was announced that the Massoud family, owners of Paumanok Vineyards in Aquebogue, had bought the neighboring Palmer Vineyards.
While the Shinn and Palmer brands have remained intact, Martha Clara will be rebranded RGNY next month. That sale, which included 88 acres of planted vines and the neighboring Big E Estate, closed at about $15 million, a record sale for a winery listing.
