One Woman Wines & Vineyard (5195 Old North Road, Southold) has made their property into much more of a destination in recent months, unveiling a project that’s been years in the making.
In the red barn, a stone’s throw from the former tasting room — a modest shed that fit no more than a handful of guests — is an open, airy new space that’s the culmination of mother-daughter owners Claudia and Gabriella Purita’s talents and passions.
It quietly opened this past December, but has been a popular spot ever since. Open Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and weekends from 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Fridays from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. visitors can enjoy the indoor area with ample seating (and climate control for all seasons), a patio for alfresco sipping, bathrooms and an on-site cafe with traditional Italian coffee bar drinks, baked goods and other goodies, among other amenities that the previous tasting room lacked.
“It was long due,” says Claudia Purita, owner of One Woman.
Claudia planned ton start the project in 2007 but other priorities arose made her back-burner the new space.
“We kept the look of the old barn [for the new building] to stay with the country feeling,” Claudia says. “But it’s very welcoming, the space that we have, and the way we do things in there.”
Another recent addition to the vineyard is The Half Note, which turns the space into an on-site weekly jazz venue, which once was part of the business the family once ran on Main Street in Greenport with Claudia’s husband, Frank Purita, who passed away in 2019.
Gabriella made it her mission to honor her late father’s love for music by reintroducing the venue he brought to the North Fork in Southold.
Each Friday from 6 to 9 p.m., jazz musicians take the stage. Everyone is welcome, but the idea behind the space was to create a haven for other music enthusiasts like her father.
“It’s in the same room where we do tastings during the day,” Claudia says. “On Friday night it transforms into a music hall.”
The tasting room also has a full bar with creative, modern cocktails and spirits made by Gabriella.
Despite the recent developments at the property, the passion behind the start of the space is what makes it stand apart.
One Woman began with Purita’s generational love for sustainably growing and tending to a space. When the former potato and melon farm that existed on the Southold property was up for sale in 2001, she knew she wanted to make something of it.
Raised on her family’s farm in Calabria, Italy and spending several years in the restaurant industry on Long Island, it felt natural to Claudia to return to her roots. Claudia
The vineyard, which Purita manages herself, is part of Long Island’s Sustainable Winegrowers Association, and adheres to their practices of strict sustainability standards and forbids the use of herbicides and pesticides.
Tickets for shows at The Half Note are sold here.
