Edmund enjoys the French term "vigneron" to describe his role at North Cliff Vineyards.   Vigneron is a term the French use to describe a person who grows the grapes and makes the wine from those same grapes.  The vigneron is someone who nurtures the grapes in the field throughout the growing season, protecting the grapes from disease and pests in the vineyard.  

Edmund knows the grapes in his vineyard.  He walks through the 20-acre vineyard in Mattituck every day.  He inspects and tastes the grapes to make sure they are of the highest quality.  He doesn't use restricted chemicals or herbicides in the vineyard.  He strongly believes that herbicides disturb the natural balance in the vineyard.  Edmund says, "great wine begins with great fruit" and that no matter how skilled the winemaker-- it all starts in the vineyard.  

In October, it is not unusual to see Edmund in his tractor pulling a trailer full of grapes to his winery in Cutchogue.  He brings the freshly handpicked grapes directly from the vineyard into the winery.  Edmund then destems and prepares the grapes for fermentation by placing the grapes in tanks to undergo natural fermentation.  Edmund doesn't use factory yeasts to induce fermentation---instead he allows the natural yeast from the farm to ferment the grapes.  There is no need to inoculate the grapes with sulfur when the grapes arrive at the vineyard since he carefully handpicks and inspects every bunch of grapes before leaving the vineyard.  

Edmund believes his passion for growing grapes is in his blood.  Edmund's family on his father's side were from the French wine region of Alsace.  Like the vignerons of Alsace, Edmund continues the tradition on the North Fork of Long Island.

North Cliff Vineyards

United States

Winemakers

Edmund Power

Winemaker