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Salvatore Diliberto, owner and winemaker of Diliberto Winery in Jamesport, is truly a one-man winemaking show. He planted his first vines in 1998 and first harvested fruit in 2001, that led to two of the three gold medals he won at the 2004 New York Wine & Food Classic. He was awarded Best Merlot at the New York Wine & Food Classic the following year, 2005. Diliberto isn't new to Long Island fruit, however, having used it to make wine in his Queens basement since 1986.
According to Howard Goldberg of The New York Times, "Mr. Diliberto makes what Hemingway called honest wines. The reds appeal to the gut and to the heart. . . . At bottom, every drop of Mr. Diliberto's reds is un lavoro d'amore, a work of love."
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If
his plans proceed smoothly, he will break ground this fall
for a formal tasting room, which he expects to open in the
spring.
When
Mr. Diliberto is not commuting on weekdays from his home in
Hollis Hills, Queens, and his law practice in Fresh Meadows,
he tends the three acres of vines on the five-acre property
that he and his wife, Maryann, own at 250 Manor Lane in Jamesport.
"'My plan is to gradually reduce the time I spend in
my practice and increase my involvement in the winery and
vineyard,'' he said. ''We would like to be living full time
in Jamesport by 2006 and, most importantly, to spend a month
or two or more in Italy each year. If we keep the winery at
1,500 cases, I believe we can have this diversity in our lives.''
''There has not been a day of my life that has not been influenced
by my Italian-American heritage,'' he said. ''I have never
sat down at a meal at the home of a friend or relative in
Italy where wine was not on the table. Sometimes in my barrel
room, I feel the presence of family members and paisans, and
I sense their hands guiding me, giving me the benefit of all
their knowledge of winemaking.
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