Prospero Winery Seeks to Fill Captain Lawrence Void

It’s not so surprising the closest thing to Napa in these here parts is Pleasantville's . For one thing, the award-winning winery is a stone’s throw from the award-winning , which is leaving the village . 

Prospero received a residual benefit from all the beer-lovers who trekked to Captain Lawrence, especially on Fridays, said Melissa Prospero, who oversees the winery’s product, sales, marketing and branding.

When the brewery moves to Elmsford, visitors and locals alike will have more of an opportunity to taste and learn about fine wines, since Prospero will take over some of its space for production and also plans expand its building at the corner of Marble and Castleton Avenues to provide a larger tasting room along with room for events.

At this site in 1973, family patriarch Tony Prospero started selling vegetables that he picked up early in the morning at Hunt’s Point Market. At the time, there was only one supermarket in the vicinity of downtown Pleasantville.

Just as he brought in vegetables from the Bronx, Prospero began importing grapes and juice from California to make homemade wine, a hobby that blossomed into the creation of three businesses that now employ about 35 people.

An office in California procures the raw materials, Prospero Winery deals with the finished wines and Prospero Equipment Corporation sells winemaking gear around the world and is overseen by Danny Prospero, Melissa’s brother.

“It’s like the Home Depot of home winemaking,” she said.

Visits, held in the retail space, are fun and creative.

The August 6 pairing will mate a Viognier with salmon and cream cheese crostini and on August 13, guests can sample a Syrah coupled with mini beef sliders. Raw almonds to clear the palate sit in small baskets on the bar-like area.

The winery's tasting menu includes a flight of up to four wines for free, eight wines for $5 and a full flight, at least a dozen wines, for $10 with a special glass. Unlike most other wineries, they also sell an Italian Cheese platter with sausage for $9 and a Pecorino sample platter for $7.50.

“My mother never liked to go to the wineries because there was nothing to eat,” said Melissa Prospero. “’How can you taste wine without food?’ she’d say.”

The tastings provide an opportunity to try before buying. Tours of the wine-making space are by appointment. Winemaker Alfredo Veronesi turns out 6,000 cases a year of over two dozen different types of wine from full bodied reds, like Merlot, Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon, to delicate dessert, sparkling and white wines, all created and aged on the premises.

Bottle prices range from $7.99 for a 2003 Cab to a 2003 Caliban, a Cab and Merlot blend. Of course, Prospero makes bottle named after its locale, a Pleasantville Red and a Pleasantville White.

The gift shop and tasting room space offers many wine accessories, including bottle stoppers, gift baskets, corkscrews, t-shirts, books and the company’s own olive oil. This is the first year the company has imported grapes from Italy, said Melissa Prospero.

She grew up in Pleasantville, but has a strong connection to the home country, having studied there for two years in college and serving an apprenticeship at a winery in Tuscany.

Though groomed for her job since she was a child, it is something of a dream gig, she said.

“I love wine and the conversation that it brings to groups of people all over the world,” she explained. “Almost everyone can relate to it. I’ve been to dinners with winemakers all over the world who spoke different languages and couldn’t communicate, but pass them a glass of wine and it brings a smile to their faces.”