The Evolution of Sherwood House Vineyards

in Mattituck may have started small, but it's not so tiny anymore.

In a feature in the Long Island Wine Press, owner Barbara Smithen explains how the winery grew.

They took their first crop of harvested grapes in 1999 to Aquebogue's Paumanok Vineyards, which produced their first bottle: a Burgundian-style chardonnay.

Ms. Smithen then went door-to-door in Manhattan, where she and her husband still lived and worked during the week — he as a cardiologist and she as a financial public relations official — to try to sell cases of her Chardonnay.

The couple now expects to sell 3,000 cases of their full lineup in 2012.

Sherwood House was the center of controversy over the summer, as because it sits on preserved land. The winery, which also operates a new picturesque tasting room in Jamesport, said it is trying to get another outdoor site plan approved by the planning board.

The new facility, Smithen said, will be an outdoor sculpture garden, and according to planning department documents, two patios totaling nearly 900 square-feet are proposed. 

Are you a fan of Sherwood House's wines?