Martha Clara Joins Long Island Merlot Alliance

Riverhead’s Martha Clara Vineyards has joined the Long Island Merlot Alliance, a trade organization that promotes the production of superior merlot and merlot blends.

Martha Clara Vineyards, founded by the Entenmann family, is a sustainably farmed 100-acre vineyard in the Northville district. It is the eighth member to join the Long Island Merlot Alliance, which includes Clovis Point, Lieb Cellars, McCall Wines, Raphael, Sherwood House Vineyards, T’Jara Vineyards and Wölffer Estate Vineyard.

 “We at Martha Clara Vineyards are very proud to call ourselves members of the Long Island Merlot Alliance,” winemaker and general manager Juan Eduardo Micieli-Martinez says. “Our interest to join was spurred by the renewed focus and expansion plans of the alliance and Martha Clara Vineyards to push the bar on quality to its highest point. We believe the research that the alliance is conducting will help increase the quality of merlot and merlot based wines on Long Island overall. We are very excited to be part of this newly focused effort and firmly believe that despite the high quality currently being produced that the best is yet to come.”

The alliances conducts research and analyzes the data for the wineries of Long Island to advance as one of the top growing regions of merlot in the world, according to the Long Island Merlot Alliance. It funds its operations through the sale of Merliance, a 100% merlot blend that includes wine from each member vineyard.

This joint group effort and understanding that together we can achieve much greater things then as individuals is key to the future success of this region,” said Roman Roth, the president of the alliance and the Wölffer Estate Vineyard winemaker and partner. “Together we will work on our goals to further improve the quality, image and reputation of Long Island merlot and merlot based blends.”