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      • Established in 1996...

      Raphael was born from the vision of owner John Petrocelli, who named the winery in honor of his father and continues a centuries old family tradition of winemaking.

      Raphael The Petrocelli Family strives to produce Long Island's greatest wines, incorporating both New World advances and Old World traditions We are located on the North Fork of Long Island where the gentle maritime influence of the surrounding water provides a moderate climate allowing our grapes to fully ripen, achieving perfect balance, aroma, and flavor. Using sustainable vineyard practices, hand harvesting, spontaneous fermentation and a natural winemaking philosophy, Raphael produces hand-crafted wines that reflect a pure expression of the unique climate and soil of the North Fork.

      The Winery

      The winemaking philosophy is based on an understanding of the cycle of nature, the climate and soil, the ripeness of the grapes and the success of time-honored techniques. Utilizing gravity flow and a natural winemaking philosophy, Raphael wines are produced sustainably, utilizing spontaneous fermentation with little fining and filtration resulting in wines that purely express our local terroir. Our goal is to produce ripe, fruit-driven wines that exhibit a marriage of depth, finesse, elegance, and balance – the flavors of the North Fork – provided first by the terroir and secondly, by the dedicated, impassioned attention of our own hands.

      The winery was designed by John Petrocelli who was inspired by the Italian monasteries of his ancestral home. Our production facility blends classic Mediterranean architecture with modern winemaking equipment. By building the winery 12 feet underground we are not only able to make our wines using a gentle gravity-flow method, but were able to construct a very energy efficient building using the earth’s natural 55F temperature to cool the winery in the summer and warm it in the winter.

      Terroir

      An old French proverb states, “Only the vines that overlook the water are capable of producing wines of great quality.”

      Terroir is the French term that can be loosely translated as “a sense of place.” It is the influence and interaction of the climate and soil of a specific location on the flavors and aromas of the grapes and subsequently, the wine. The North Fork of Long Island is the sunniest spot in New York State and one of the few places on the east coast that can properly ripen European wine grapes. Our terroir is derived from our glacial soils and maritime climate that is influenced by the surrounding waters of the Peconic Bay and the Long Island Sound. Some characteristics of our terroir found in the wines of the North Fork are flavors of indigenous, coastal fruits such as strawberry, blackberry, cranberry and beach plum in the red wines, as well as a distinct saline minerality found in many of the whites.

      If you own a retail store or a restaurant and would like to feature Raphael wines, please contact one of our marketing and sales representatives by calling 631.765.1100 x101.