Our Winery, Long Island, New York
Ninety acres of vinifera grapes grow under the watchful eye of the soaring Osprey, our vineyard’s namesake.
The Long Island wine region is located at approximately the same latitude as the great wine-growing regions of France.
At Osprey’s Dominion, we truly believe our location (being surrounded, yet sheltered, by both the Long Island Sound and Peconic Bay) and the complexity of the farming soil here, contribute significantly to the quality and character of our grapes, and hence, our wines.
The Long Island wine region is located at approximately the same latitude as the great wine growing regions of France.
At Osprey’s Dominion we truly believe our location (being surrounded, yet sheltered, by both the Long Island Sound and Peconic Bay) and the complexity of the farming soil here, contribute significantly to the quality and character of our grapes, and hence, our wines.
Our overall philosophy is to produce the best wines with the least interference from humankind.
We believe that our unique location, soil complexity, and Mother Nature give us something different to work with each year. It is our job and vocation to develop what we’ve been given, into the very best it can be.
Our ‘Reserve’ wines are produced only in those years where the right conditions of sun and rain can give us what we need to make a bottle of truly great wine. We create our wines to please the most discerning palates.
Our overall philosophy is to produce the best wines with the least interference from humankind.
We believe that our unique location, soil complexity and Mother Nature give us something different to work with each year. It is our job and vocation to develop what we’ve been given, into the very best it can be.
Our ‘Reserve’ wines are produced only in those years where the right conditions of sun and rain can give us what we need to make a truly great wine. We create our wines to please the most discerning palates.
Meet the Team
Bud Koehler was among the first vintners to settle on the North Fork. After retiring from a job in construction in 1983, the Farmingdale native headed out east with his wife and 11 children and purchased a 24-acre plot of land in Peconic. He planted grapes and founded a vineyard that would be in the company of just three others: Hargrave Vineyard, Pindar Vineyards and Paumanok.
“I’ve always been building and making,” he said. “I wanted to make something with my hands.”
He called the vineyard Osprey’s Dominion Vineyards after the brown and grey bird ubiquitous in the North Fork’s skies. In the early years, Mr. Koehler only grew grapes and sold them to surrounding wineries. His entire family, 11 kids and all, hit the grapevines each October, forming their own harvesting crew. He soon expanded the operation by purchasing 16 additional acres near Locust Avenue in Mattituck and teaming up with a good friend, Bill Tyree.
In Loving Memory of Bud Koehler – Owner & GM
Bud: Owner & GM; Loretta: Executive Assistant; Scott: Sales Manager
Mr. Koehler and Mr. Tyree together purchased 50 more acres in Peconic and decided that adding a winery would make for a more prosperous business. They had a production facility installed in a building on the newest Peconic property and bottled their first wine in 1991. They restored a farmhouse on Main Road in Peconic, just in front of the largest vineyard, into a tasting room.
As the years went on and more wineries sprung up along Main Road and Sound Avenue, crowds came in unprecedented numbers via stretch limousines and party buses, setting a scene vastly different from when Osprey’s Dominion first opened. Now, Mr. Koehler has a gazebo and a small stage for live band performances set up outside, as well as plenty of picnic tables for summertime visitors. The vineyard’s signature wines are those in a label called Flight, which was named by Mr. Koehler and Mr. Tyree, who are both pilots.
“We felt there’s always the desire of man to achieve flight,” Mr. Koehler said. “We’re always trying to achieve the highest quality of wine.”
After all these years, Mr. Koehler, 82, still loves Long Island’s wine industry — the growing crowds of wine lovers, the award competitions and the work of the vineyard, which he doesn’t plan to give up any time soon.
“I’m always out there,” he said. “Always doing something.”
