Dan's Papers - August 10, 2007 - A Letter To The Dan's Papers North Fork Editor

Lenn Thompson's July 13th Over The Barrel column was careless, slanderous and irresponsible. The fact that he wrote this column is disturbing. However, the fact that your editorial board chose to print it is shocking.

Thompson writes, "Pindar, Duck Walk, Martha Clara, Pugliese and to a lesser extent Palmer Vineyards are all tasting rooms where you'd almost expect bad behavior to take place more often." The column further states, "The wineries in question aren't without fault as well. I think many of them tolerate the bar crowd if it means making money. That is their right-and goal-isn't it?

These remarks are offensive. As leaders in the Long Island Wine industry, we have worked tirelessly to preserve the agricultural heritage of the East End, cultivate a now widely-known and respected wine region and provide enjoyable and meaningful experiences for visitors to our tasting rooms.

Our commitment to the East End as a wine region is spoken through the thousands of acres of vines we grow, the investment we've made and the wine we produce. We are proud to share the fruits of our labor with those who appreciate it. To say that our establishments encourage, condone or welcome bad behavior is flip, negligent and not becoming of your publication.

Thompson also asserts that our tasting rooms are not staffed by family members and if they were would be less prone to "craziness." We are proud vineyard owners and operators who enjoy the support of our families working hard to ensure the success of this great wine region.

As such, we are playing an integral role in the region-wide effort to develop guidelines and procedures for the limousine and tour operators that tend to bring larger groups to East End wineries. Thompson's article makes our tasting room staff seem incompetent.

On the contrary, as ambassadors for all who visit the region, they take their jobs very seriously. Across the board, our tasting room employees possess excellent people skills and most have also taken the TIPS (Training in Intervention Procedures) course to learn about how to deal with a myriad of situations.

Thompson blatantly backpedaled in his blog response to Long Island Wine Council Executive Director Steve Bate's blog posting about the column. Thompson writes, "I think that this discussion has veered in a direction I didn't intend anyway. My main point (at least in my head) was that the New York Times story irresponsibly makes it sound like these events are common. They just aren't" Here Thompson is correct-these incidents are few and far between. Where he is off the mark is in having the audacity to state that "there are tasting rooms that cater to all kinds. You'll be able to quickly identify which tasting rooms are about the wine and which are about the party. Just remember, you get what you for."

Thompson has gotten what he's asked for by writing an attack-ridden-column. He's successfully alienated five leaders in the Long Island wine industry from supporting his efforts or those of your publication.

Dr. Herodotus "Dan" Damianos
Jacqueline Entenmann
Bob Palmer
The Pugliese Family