Winery Owner Pulls Plug On Helicopter Wine Tasting Event

MATTITUCK, NY — After an outpouring of public protest, the owner of a North Fork winery has announced that he has pulled the plug on an upcoming helicopter wine tasting event at his vineyard.

"I called BLADE and told them, do not send a chopper," Randy Frankel, owner of Shinn Estate Vineyards, told Patch Tuesday.

Instead of a one-time tasting event, which was initially planned for Sunday, Frankel said. "It will be zero times. I want to be a good neighbor. I listened and I want everyone to be happy."

Frankel said he told BLADE not to send a helicopter "this Sunday or any Sunday."

BLADE has not returned emails and calls for comment and the event remained listed on their website as of noon Tuesday.

On Sunday, a planned helicopter tour to a local North Fork vineyard for the wine tasting event had some residents seeing red.

According to a post on the BLADE website, the tour was scheduled for Sunday and slated to leave from BLADE Lounge West at West 30th Street in New York City at 10 a.m. and fly to Shinn Estate Vineyards for a wine tasting, arriving at the Mattituck airport at 10:40 a.m.

Tickets for the helicopter ride were listed at $345.

Some residents were livid over the prospect of yet another seaplane or helicopter flying overhead and shattering their bucolic quality of life for the purpose of a wine tasting.

After he was told the event would not be happening, Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell said, "I would hope, that in the future, all businesses in Southold won't give companies like this any consideration."

At Tuesday's town board work session, the board spoke out against the planned event; Russell said he'd had a report of another helicopter landing near another winery, with some mentioning a map that had been created listing landing sites other than the airport.

"We need to take any measures necessary to make sure no helicopter lands on any farmland in this town unless it's a crop duster," Russell said.

Councilman Bob Ghosio said while aircraft is allowed to land on open fields in New York State the issue would be if the town would allow it.

On the proposal, Russell commented on the "unmitigated gall of a western outfit trying to pair with a local business to bring helicopters into Southold. We are going to ask every business in Southold not to do business with these people. They are not being respectful of the community that supports you every day."

He added that he believes landing on agricultural lands is a use violation and said it was not the first time BLADE had advertised in town "and attempted to use Southold as a door mat. Doormats are meant to be walked on — and you're not welcome."

After hearing about the initial plan, Paul Pawlowski, speaking for owners of the Mattituck Airport, said the helicopter would not be allowed to land there and said neither he nor the owners had any prior knowledge of the promotion.

Laurel resident Margy Pisani, who lives on Peconic Bay Boulevard, and looks out over the airport, said she was upset by the idea of helicopter wine tasting tours. "Helicopters pollute our air and water. They disturb the tranquil quality of life we wish to preserve on the North Fork. We are already besieged by helicopters, sea planes, and private jets crossing over our homes en route to the South Fork. We need to control our destiny here on the North Fork."

Southold Town Councilman Bob Ghosio, liaison to the town's helicopter noise steering committee, spoke out on the proposed tour Sunday night.

"We have been told that they have not been given permission to land at Mattituck. So I don't know how BLADE can be booking flights to land there. One thing we don't need is more helicopters over our homes and landing at the wineries themselves shouldn't be an alternative. With Supervisor Russell's support, I've asked the town attorney to look into our land use codes to see if helicopters landing at wineries is even possible under current town code," he said.

Landing at the winery itself is something Frankel, who bought Shinn Estate Vineyards in April, said from the first absolutely will not happen.

"I would never have a helicopter land on my vineyard. I would never allow a helicopter to land on my property unless it was an emergency. Why would I risk damage to the vines?" he asked.

Frankel also asked why he'd upset his neighbors. "So 4 people can come? I have 412 people here on the weekend, do you think I really care about 4 more?" he asked.

Russell said, when he heard about the event initially, in his view landing a helicopter is "not a permitted use in an agricultural conservation zone. Further, development rights on that farm had been bought by the taxpayers years ago. This would be a violation of the easement. If the intent is to land helicopters on that land, immediate and severe action should be taken to stop it."

Patch file photo of a helicopter over the East End from a prior story about helicopter noise.