News about our Vineyard & Winery

By Invitation Only at Marshs
Photo above: Ann Marie Borghese of Castello di Borghese Vineyard & Winery and Jack Mitchell, owner of the legendary men’s retailer and the best-selling author of Hug Your Customers, recently paired up for a special, by invitation only, Wine Tasting event at Marsh’s, Huntington for the Melville Chamber of Commerce.

Marsh's is a third generation, family owned specialty men's shop located in the heart of Huntington Village (Long Island, New York).

About the book: Hug Your Customers
From Publishers Weekly

If you work at a Fortune 500 company and live in southern Connecticut or New York's Westchester County (two of Manhattan's most affluent suburbs), chances are you buy your suits at Mitchells (in Westport, Conn.) or Richards (in Greenwich, Conn.). These two independent clothing stores are some of the most successful in the business and outfit CEOs from Chase, GE, IBM, Merrill Lynch and Pepsi. Mitchell, whose father started the business, shares the secret of his success in this but cheerful guide to keeping customers happy. Hugging your customers, he says, has nothing to do with being touchy-feely around them and everything to do with offering them over-the-top service. For Mitchell, that means literally offering a customer the coat off your back, if that's the only one left in the store in the customer's size and preferred style and color. It means going to customers' homes to tie their bow ties for big events. It means serving coffee and bagels in the store and giving away hot dogs in the parking lot on summer Saturdays. Some might view this as fawning, but for Mitchell, it's the best way to keep customers coming back. His advice-know your customer, think outside the box, have a "no problem" attitude-is hardly groundbreaking. But those who work with customers daily have much to gain from this chipper, inspiring handbook.

William J. Holstein, The New York Times "This book is a suprising little gem."

Borghese Vineyard & Winery is chosen as the BEST OF LONG ISLAND - WINERY & VINEYARD

Castello di Borghese was chosen as 2006 Winery of the Year. After polling readers, the editors at the L.I. Press chose Borghese Vineyard as 2006 Winery of the Year with a special feature as Editors Choice.

Castello di Borghese Vineyard is 1 of the 1000 places you must see before you die

According to the best selling travel author's new book 1000 Places to See Before You Die, USA and Canada, a New York Times bestseller. There is also a popular television show on the Discovery Channel featuring the first published, international version of this wildly popular travel book.

The North Fork of Long Island, NY is one of the 1000 places and our winery,
Castello di Borghese Vineyard and Winery , Cutchogue, North Fork Long Island is featured specially.

From Italy to Long Island

For another local winemaker, Prince Marco Borghese, wine was simply a way of life. He grew up in Scarperia , Italy , outside of Florence , where everyone made their own wine-that was just what families did. In 1999, Borghese bought the region's oldest winery, Hargrave, and began Castello di Borghese Vineyard & Winery.

"It's a very Italian thing to do," laughs Borghese, who runs the winery with his wife, Princess Ann Marie Borghese.

In his first years in business, Borghese was still selling the remaining Hargrave stock while devising a strategy to market his own label. Since then, Borghese has become a recognized grower and maker of good wines in the industry. But Borghese believes they have found a niche: growing the very fragile and trendy pinot noir grape.

Long before the movie Sideways enlightened the everyman to this wine, sommeliers, growers and serious wine geeks worshipped pinot noir for its delicate nature but unforgettable, explosive taste. Borghese is now selling pinot noir, something most vineyards cannot claim. The grape takes a great deal of love and care, something Borghese says is found throughout most of the area's wineries and vineyards.

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Calendar Dog Benefits Animal Rescue Organizations
Borghese Family featured in National Rescue Pet Calendar

Ann Marie Borghese of Borghese Vineyard was featured with her dog in the 2007 CSU Winery Pet Calendar benefiting animal rescue organizations across the country. She was pleased to join the calendar submissions this year with her recent addition to the family, Brix, a one-year-old Bracco Italiano rescue dog.

Cork Supply USA –one of the nation's leading supplier of natural cork and packaging products to the wine industry joined efforts with Vineyard and Winery owners across the United States to create the 2007 CSU Winery Pet Calendar. Dogs, cats and even parrots are featured in this year’s edition. Local photographer Natasha Beccaria photographed Brix & Ann Marie last summer. Jake the German shepherd, rescued by one of CSU’s executives ten years ago, was CSU’s greatest inspiration for the calendar.

This is the calendar’s second edition and continues to build popularity. The calendar photograph submissions include a $10.00 donation which will benefit animal rescue organizations throughout the United States. Flip to the month of February and you will find Ann Marie and Brix enjoying the gardens overlooking the vineyard.

Brix and his long, soft, floppy ears and expressive eyes can light up a roomful of people in an heartbeat. “He’s a little shy at first”, Marco Borghese explains, “but once he gets to know you, he’ll be the first to greet you at the door with his wagging tail and a nudge of his nose”.

Rescued
One-year-old Brix – Borghese’s newest ambassador - joined the Borghese family during an unexpected rescue mission last summer organized by Marco and Ann Marie Borghese and their two children. “We were delighted to welcome Brix to our home,” says Ann Marie Borghese, “We knew he was special from the moment we saw him”. Several months ago, Ann Marie heard ‘through the grape-vine’ of several Bracco Italiano dogs who were in need of immediate rescue in South Carolina. The Borghese Family didn’t think twice about jumping in their car for the long drive to the Carolinas.

Winemaking Name
The Borghese’s love of wine inspired the newest family member’s name. Brix was named after a well-established wine term for measuring sugar levels in grapes. One look into this dog’s eyes and you can see he is off the charts in sweetness levels. The Brix scale is named in honor of its inventor, Adolf F. Brix, who calibrated it in 1870.

Noble Breed
The Bracco Italiano, also called the Italian Pointer, is a classic and ancient pointer and one of the only native Italian Gundog breeds. The Bracco is an ancient breed dating back to the fourth and fifth centuries B.C. They are considered an antecedent of many of todays modern sporting dogs. The breed belongs to the Hunt, Point and Retrieve Group of dogs.

The breed has been present since the Middle Ages and became widespread in the Renaissance period. It was held in very high regard by the nobility. In fact, feathered game hunting was an exclusive appendage of the aristocracy. It was bred by the Gonzaga and Medici families. The subjects born in those kennels were sought out by nobles and royal families, such as the Borgheses.

The vineyards aren’t the only nice scenery on Long Island

Eye-catching bachelor’s Fernando and Giovanni Borghese both were featured in Frommers Budget Travel supplement – Girlfriend Getaway magazine – as two of NY’s youngest and most eligible men among the highlighted group.

These two NY bachelors are sons of Prince Marco Borghese who owns Castello di Borghese Vineyard & Winery in Cutchogue, Long Island, NY.

Borghese Supports Charity

Ann Marie Borghese, of Castello di Borghese in Cutchogue, can be found at many prestigious charitable events across the region promoting Long Island Wine Country. She has contributed Tasting Certificates for Borghese Vineyard in take-home “goodie bags” for the Arthritis Foundation, and Borghese wines were poured at the Pajama Program luncheon at the Pierre Hotel, in NYC. This charitable foundation provides new pajamas and books to children, nationwide.

Celebration for Mother Earth Concert

Ann Marie Borghese, the first Long Island Press’ Fortune 52, honoring LI women who make significant contributions to their community, attended the Celebration for Mother Earth Concert, on the 25th anniversary of Earth Day. Proceeds from the Concert, featuring music talents such as Joan Osborne, Kevin Bacon with his brother Michael, and Jen Chapin, daughter of the legendary Harry Chapin, benefited Grassroots Environmental Education, a non-profit organization dedicated to educating the public about the links between common environmental exposures and human health. Concert attendees enjoyed the goodie bags with Borghese Wine Tasting certificates.

Ann Marie and Marco Borghese with The Bacon Brothers, Kevin and Michael

Borghese on Celebrity Chef Tour

Celebrity Chef Tour, featuring Food Network star Guy Fieri, was in town recently and invited Ann Marie Borghese, spokesperson for Borghese Vineyard, to speak about Long Island Wine Country and its special Wines, to increase awareness of this relatively new, yet prestigious region.

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