Sparkling Pointe (39750 County Road 48, Southold, 631-765-0200) is sending out sips and further promoting sustainable practices.
In the Bubbly Box, Sparkling Pointe’s subscription service delivered six times per year, customers get access to two bottles of Sparkling Pointe wine and products or information from a non-profit of the vineyard’s choice that receives a portion of the proceeds.
This year, the business is supporting the ReWild Long Island North Fork chapter, who champions a biodiverse, resilient, healthy regional ecosystem.
“We really wanted to do something that spoke about sustainability, and obviously we’re an agricultural business, so I think we wanted to promote the fact that we want local native species, we want pollinators and we want to be part of that kind of ecology,” says Gillian Schroeder, operations manager at Sparkling Pointe.
The first box of the year went out in January, in which ReWild North Fork provided native seeds and a QR code with instructions for how to plant them along with Sparkling Pointe’s first bubbly of the season.
“To be recognized by them is an honor that I can’t stop smiling about,” says Nancy DePas Reinertsen, ReWild North Fork’s co-chair.
The next box is set to go out on March 23 with additional boxes in May, August, October and December.
“The idea behind [the subscription] is basically getting one bottle of everything that we make each year with throw ins and a library wine or something more special,” says Sparkling Pointe director of operations Melissa Rockwell. “It’s a way to, on a small scale, taste everything that we’re doing here.”
In the March box, ReWild North Fork plans to include information regarding Earth Hour on March 28, where the organization encourages people to turn off non-essential electricity for one hour, highlighting ecology-friendly practices.
As Sparkling Pointe is part of the New York Sustainable Wine Growing Group, the business has a major focus on being stewards of the land, keeping in mind their care of the vineyard balancing viability within the conditions of the Long Island region with input reduction, soil health, water protection and preservation of biological diversity.
Sparking Pointe stores their wine in a net zero energy building, meaning they produce as much renewable energy onsite as they use. They have also eliminated the use of plastics and serve a food menu with almost all New York State products buying direct from the producer.
ReWild North Fork holds similar values educating and developing native plant gardens for non-profit organizations with the acronym C.R.O.W.N. — compost, recycle, organic, waterwise and native — at the forefront of their practices. They will use the proceeds from Bubbly Boxes for continued initiatives across the several chapters of ReWild Long Island.
ReWild North Fork plans to promote their native plant sales and native garden tours through their partnership with Sparkling Pointe and to continue conversations about innovative ideas towards an even more sustainable North Fork.
To learn more about the Bubbly Box, priced at $80 including shipping, click here.
