Dan's Papers -January 9, 2009 - Christian Wolffer, 70

Christian Wolffer, the founder and owner of the Wolffer Estate Vineyards in Bridgehampton, was killed in Brazil on New Year's Eve, struck by a speedboat while swimming off a beach in Brazil. He was 70.

Wolffer was a leader in the grand tradition, an adventurer, a developer, a millionaire, a man with vision and imagination, who lived life to the fullest. Dashing and handsome, he was also a horseman, a lover of women, a world traveler and a good friend to all. He was best known here in the Hamptons for having purchased about 200 acres 20 years ago, and, with unerring skill, transforming it into one of the premiere wineries in this community. Before Wolffer, there were wineries on the North Fork, but none in the Hamptons. Two before him had tried and failed. Some said the weather was different here and a winery could not be done successfully on the South Fork. Wolffer proved them wrong, as his lush vineyards, visible just north of Montauk Highway between Town Line and Sagg Main, proved. On his property, he also built what is arguably the most beautiful winery building ever constructed here, a reproduction of a French chateau, where, among other things, fundraisers and weddings often take place amidst the most elegant background imaginable. He also built there the 100-acre Wolffer Estate Stables, where employees provide boarding, schooling, breeding and instruction.

Wolffer was born in 1939 in Hamburg and as a small boy lived through the bombing of his city during World War II. At 17, he worked as a trainee at a bank, and then as an employee of an import/export company. He later worked in Mexico, where he managed the sales force for a German chemical company, then for a European printing company in Latin America. He spoke six languages.

In 1971, at the age of 32, he moved to Canada, where he began developing real estate properties, primarily building indoor tennis and squash centers, funded by European investors he knew. Soon he was developing properties in countries all over the world. He often traveled as much as 200,000 miles a year.

In 1987, Wolffer moved to the United States, setting up a world headquarters in a small office building on the corner of Butter Lane and Montauk Highway in Bridgehampton for his worldwide operations. And it was there, since his office was directly across the street from mine, that I came to meet this dashing man, who was then in the process of purchasing the potato farm in Bridgehampton that would soon be the centerpiece of his developments. He was in his late 40s at that time.

Wolffer was steady, good humored and dedicated. He was also athletic and smart. He had recently become divorced from his wife, Naomi Spencer, of Marks and Spencer in London, and he was starting over. They had two children who were, at that time, six and three. I was in a similar position in my personal life.

I went to many events at Wolffer's Estate, many of which I sponsored, including a bash for about 200 to celebrate the launch of the recent book I wrote, In the Hamptons, published by Random House last May.

I think it is fair to say that Wolffer was one of those men who was capable of making the dirt fly, of using his imagination, of rallying people around him and changing things for the better. An entrepreneur in the grand tradition, most of the things he did involved helping people enjoy their lives. He developed wineries (he had just purchased a part ownership in a winery in Argentina) and he built recreation facilities. Before coming to Bridgehampton, he bought the 5,000-acre Waimea Valley in Oahu that straddled the river leading down to the sea there, and though it didn't work out, his plan was to make it into an adventure park. He lived large.

He also lived well. He dated beautiful women, traveled the world, enjoyed great wines - one of the wines at Wolffer Estates is currently selling for $100 a bottle - and I think perhaps the event he looked forward to and enjoyed the most was the Hampton Classic Horse Show held every Labor Day weekend in Bridgehampton, at which one of his three children, Marc, Joanna or Georgina, might ride, and where he always offered one of the grand prizes.

He died too soon. Still vigorous at 70, he was planning still further adventures. In addition to the part interest in the winery in Argentina he bought, he was negotiating to purchase another in its entirety there.

That Wednesday, attending a party in Brazil, he walked down to the beach for a swim, where, after a time, a boat ran him down and drove off, leaving gashes in his back. This was at Saco de Mamangua Beach in the beachfront resort town of Paraty, 100 miles down the coast from Rio. He called for help and was helped to shore by a local friend he was with, Rodrigo Hilbert, who is a TV soap opera star in that country. He was then taken by car to the nearby Hospital Santa Casa de Misericordia, where he was pronounced dead from massive loss of blood. Relatives of Wolffer claimed the body, and he was buried in his native land of Germany this week.

The employees at his winery, many of whom have worked for him for 20 years, will dearly miss him, as will his many friends and family.