For media entrepreneur, TV host and author Dan Abrams, sitting on his winery’s upper terrace and surveying his 44-acre vineyard property is the culmination of a long-held plan first sparked when he became a wine collector. Soon, his goal of producing a luxury Long Island wine will be realized when his Bordeaux-style red blend from the excellent 2022 vintage, which is aging in French oak barrels, will be released.
The standard profile for those who acquire wineries is one that includes an appreciation for a second act in life. Typically, they make their fortunes in some lucrative field and then sink millions into a wine property as a second career. For Abrams—the chief legal affairs correspondent for ABC News, host of Dan Abrams Live on NewsNation, and co-author of books on U.S. Presidents—the winery project is part of his packed first act.
The idea started when Wine Spectator profiled his wine collection in 2006, during his tenure at MSNBC. “It wasn’t the crowning jewel of coverage—I’d had profiles everywhere from People to The New York Times business section— but it was the most exciting one,” Abrams says, explaining his collection at that time focused on highly extracted Australian wines. “I have to say that I still haven’t gone fully European and prefer a California Cab to a French Bordeaux,” he says. “Same goes with Pinot Noir. I prefer an elegant California Pinot to a French Burgundy.”
The path to acquiring a wine property kicked off on California’s Central Coast in the early 2000s when a friend asked him to partner.“I never pulled the trigger,” he says. “Then I watched as more and more friends acquired vineyards and I got jealous.” His search resumed in 2017, when Charles Massoud of Paumanok Vineyards, one of the North Fork’s oldest wineries, took him to Laurel Lake with its mostly Chardonnay vines planted in the 1980s and not yet on the market. “It was a unique property with physical beauty and enormous potential,” Abrams states.
“When I went back to Laurel Lake for a second time, there was a bachelorette party, and a woman was throwing up. This was the antithesis of what I wanted my winery to be,” Abrams declares, noting he’d have visitors by reservation and absolutely no party buses doing stops. In 2021 Abrams pulled the trigger and launched Ev&Em Vineyards—named for his children, Everett, 12, and Emilia, 3—and undertook a major redesign of the tasting room and terraces using custom furniture sourced from Unalome, the Bali-based sustainable maker of artisanal products in wood. The company uses all local materials to create eco-friendly furnishings in modern Scandinavian design.
“One of the gems of Ev&Em is you taste outside on a large, elevated terrace right on the vineyard,” he says. A second terrace, designed as a tasting lounge with handsome nautical striped couches, is situated on the upper level. French doors and a folding glass window wall open to the surrounding decks. There’s a subterranean room filled with French oak barrels centered by a 14-foot-long teak table that seats 20 for private tasting dinners. General Manager Kristen Curcie, who was previously at Guild Hall in East Hampton, runs the hospitality. The space can accommodate 125 visitors in the sunlit tasting room and terraces. Tastings flights—Classic, Reserve and chocolate pairing—include Chardonnay, Pinot Gris and Gewürztraminer and four red varieties.
“The year 2022 was our breakout year. We made an impressive Pinot Noir. You’d say, ‘Wow, is this North Fork Pinot Noir?’ and our Reserve Cabernet and Reserve Merlot are strong and can easily top California wines,” he says proudly. It’s the Bordeaux blend, which is in barrel now and will be priced at $125, that will be his highly anticipated collectible. “I think it will deliver in quality,” he says. “My only problem is I can’t decide whether to name it The Everett or The Emilia.” Indeed, that’s always the conundrum with winemakers and their wines: Which one is their favorite child?
