Sagaponack Farm Distillery: Awake from a Short Winter's Nap

You learn a lot sitting on a bar stool, especially when the tender on the other side is also the proprietor and knows they have a pair of attentive ears. Marilee Foster of Sagaponack Farm Distillery greeted visitors with an inviting smile at the reopening of the distillery tasting room on Sagg Road on February 9. During dry January the distillery took a short winter’s nap, and is now revived and ready for sippers.

The brief winter hiatus was a time to refresh and regroup, the staff taking stock and smoothing the way for the busy season to come. The breather also made time for refurbishing the eye-catching wood bar that’s a focal point in the space.

“The counter was once a giant elm, and it originally grew nearby, on Parsonage Lane in Sagaponack,” explains Foster. “It died in the ’80s due to Dutch elm disease. A master woodworker, Tom Matthews, had it all those years at his place in Southampton, until 2019 when he helped us design and build the bar.”

Foster’s reverence for her farming heritage is apparent — she inherited the earth, literally, and she is grateful for it. She and her brother Dean, sixth-generation farmers at Foster Farm, the family’s old farmstead two miles down the road — run both operations together along with “some very dedicated employees.” The Fosters have one of the remaining few potato farms on Long Island, currently growing about 200 acres worth, along with 30 acres of vegetables and a small reserve of herbs and grain.

So when exactly was the decision made to start turning tubers into tipples? With the evolution of crop supply and demand over the years, especially on the East End, the Fosters knew they needed to make some changes. They soon looked at their harvest in a whole new light, seeing its potential in liquid form. With natural resources at their fingertips — potatoes, wheat, rye, corn, sweet potatoes, and botanicals — they realized they had the seeds for success.

The idea for a tasting room came next. For Foster, she says there aren’t too many places that are a true cocktail lounge experience. Her hope was to offer just that — a place to come enjoy a good old-fashioned cocktail, engage in conversation and embrace the true essence of these farm-to-bottle spirits.

Marilee Foster wears many creative hats, and besides boring her hands in soil she also savors the grip of a paintbrush. She designs and crafts the labels for their bottles, and she points out one pride and joy in particular. The Single Spud — a barrel-aged spirit made from heirloom potatoes — is clad in a simple label bearing a tractor.

“The farm has been in the family for many generations and so we do have antique tractors and equipment on the property,” she explains. “As inspiration for the label on one of our spirits, I used a drawing I made of one of these old tractors.”

As far as the spirits themselves, they are crafty, aromatic, and bottled with devotion. You can sample a flight featuring a variety of pours — pre-selected, you-pick or let-them-pick-for-you based on your preferences. For those not cut out for stand-alone snifters, there are mixologists at work shaking up classics like a Manhattans or Old Fashioned as well as imaginative concoctions. The gin and juice is one of their signature drinks — a brilliant combination of their small-batch gin, rhubarb liqueur (made from their own-grown rhubarb), lemon and currant cassis. Foster notes they don’t make the cassis, but through their tasting room they have the opportunity to discover some authentic and delicious regional products.

They also produce an Aquavit, a potent spirit of Scandinavian origin, that’s housed in a sleek, gorgeous bottle. The profile is earthy and as it rests on your tongue a rainbow of herbs unfolds giving way to caraway, cilantro, and dill.

“We most recently released two barrel-finished whiskeys,” Foster adds. “One is a 5-year-old Sagaponack rye whiskey, finished in a used oak barrel–that first aged Long Island cabernet sauvignon. The second is a 5-year-old Sagaponack bourbon that was finished in a Spanish sherry barrel. We’ve also newly released our latest run of potato vodka.”

For the remainder of the off-season they are open for sipping on Fridays and Saturdays until 7 p.m., the perfect stop for a pre-dinner libation. They also fit their calendar with live entertainment and other happenings.

“Music goes well with cocktails, but we also host the occasional food truck. In addition, we plan informative events, giving customers the opportunity to meet our distiller and learn more about our spirits. Agriculture in general, and specifically our historic farm, is always on the syllabus,” says Foster. You can follow them on Instagram @sagaponackfarmdistillery for a full schedule of goings-on.

The Fosters are part of a progressive era in agriculture, making farming appealing to new generations — no doubt inspiring young folk to trade in their laptops for a spade. There’s certainly soul in their spirits.

Visit sagaponackfarmdistillery.com for more information.