Vineyard Walk with Barbara Shinn

“Sustainable farming means leaving the land in a better condition than you found it for future generations,” explains Barbara Shinn, owner and vintner of Shinn Estate Vineyards. Located off rural Oregon Road in Mattituck, the 20 acres of farmland is cultivated as a sustainable and biodynamic preserve.

Shinn explains all during an afternoon Vineyard Walk through the Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Sauvignon Blanc grapevines. Straight rows of vines are planted in close proximity to an agrestic farmhouse. As a group of wine enthusiasts stroll through the rows with Barbara and her playful border collie, Panda, groups of white grapes are beginning to turn a sunny gold while nearby clusters of green are turning an incarnadine red – a process known as veraison.

A lanky wind turbine works in the slow breeze and stands as a symbol to Barbara’s commitment to sustainability. The turbine, combined with two solar arrays, produce 100 percent power for the entire estate. Solar and wind power are only a few ways in which Barbara and her husband, David Page, encourage “farming mindfully.”

When Shinn and Page purchased the land in 1998, neither of them knew much about growing grapes or making wine; however, both their approach to permaculture and consistent hard work has gained them notoriety as one of the only prospective biodynamic and organically certifiable vineyards on both Long Island and the entire eastern United States.

As we walk on down the rows of summer grapes, Barbara points out that below the trunks of vines and trellises are cover crops that are beneficial to protect against soil erosion while building the structure of the soil, regulating vine growth, enhancing biological diversity in the roots, and providing an advantageous insect habitat. More broadly, since the vineyard is farmed as a meadow, the owner’s stay true to their pledge to be sustainable by improving air, land, and water quality.

Now reaching low-hanging clusters of pale grapes, Barbara points out that these vines produced her first organic harvest of Sauvignon Blanc under the guidelines of the National Organic Association. Although the 2010 white will not have a label denoting its “organic” nature, the vineyard is in the process of obtaining an organic certification in the next few years. The farmland must be worked for three full years before Shinn Estate can be granted a certification. For now, Barbara, David, and their crew continue to use items such as compost tea, seaweed, fish emulsion, and horn silica (crushed powdered quartz - a biodynamic product that stimulates and regulates leaf growth) to make their wine.

As our Vineyard Walk comes to an end, Barbara and Panda show us to a tasting area where wood barrels serve as tabletops. As we proceed to sip many distinctive wines, the 2010 Sauvignon Blanc has a singular impact on my palate. This organic wine has notes of grapefruit, melon, fresh herbs, and lemon. Both aromatic and acidic, pair it with goat’s cheese on a summer’s day.

On the other hand, a red that would warm you on any cold winter evening is the 2009 Wild Boar Doe. Packed with earthy tones and notes of cedar, smoke, chocolate, and berries, I certainly understood the holistic approach to farming with one sip: Shinn and Page’s viticulturist aim is to create a natural ecosystem within their farmland and practice the idea that working the land takes more than just science. It also takes intuition. Through their farming techniques and belief in sustainability, the owner’s have managed to create a unique terrior or “sense of place.”

With another sip of the Wild Boar Doe, I am transplanted back into the farmland and can really taste the essence of Shinn Estate.

The Vineyard Walk is every Saturday and Sunday at 1:30 p.m. at Shinn Estate Vineyards on Oregon Road in Mattituck.