Alie Shaper and Robin Epperson-McCarthy outside their new tasting room, Peconic Cellar Door, in Peconic. (Credit: Vera Chinese)
Peconic Cellar Door, an airy space with a farmhouse chic aesthetic, is the recently opened joint tasting room for winemakers Alie Shaper and Robin Epperson-McCarthy.
An Australian term for the tasting room of a boutique winery, cellar door is also often cited as being one of the most beautiful phrases in English. It’s an apt description for the inviting, consumer-friendly spot.
At Peconic Cellar Door you’ll find Shaper’s two wine brands, Brooklyn Oenology and As If Wines, as well as Epperson-McCarthy’s Saltbird Cellars. Tastings, glasses and bottles of those wines will be available. Brooklyn Oenology makes about 4,000 cases per year and the other two produce about 500. The wines are made from North Fork grapes, and in the case of BOE, some from the Finger Lakes, at Mattituck’s Premium Wine Group.
“We want this to be an experience, an education and a way to hang out with the winemakers,” said Epperson-McCarthy, who along with Shaper can be found pouring behind the bar this summer. (more…)