Erik Longabardi and Benford Lepley, both Long Island natives, started Floral Terranes in 2017 out of a shared passion for fruit foraging and fermentation. Their ciders and wines, made in Erik's garage in Roslyn, are a by-product of their deep interest in the conservation of land and fruit trees on an ever-developing Long Island. For their cider production, they forage apples from an array of sites - ranging from one-off roadside trees to residential yards to small orchards. The incorporation of wine production with their ciders was a natural progression. Through the years, they have developed relationships with a number of growers on the North Fork and are now sourcing fruit from an unnamed site, referred to as 'Elijah Vineyard' in Mattituck, NY, less than a mile from the Long Island Sound. It's surrounded by abandoned farmland, vineyards, organic vegetable farms, and tree nurseries.

All of their still ciders are naturally fermented and allowed to go through their complete malolactic fermentation. They are aged in glass demijohns and neutral barrels before being hand-bottled. For their wine production, the grapes are foot-stomped and left in open-top containers to ferment spontaneously (the white wines either see a period of skin-maceration or go direct-to-press). The wines are matured in old neutral wood barrels for up to 10 months before bottling. For cider and wine, they add the minimum effective amount of so2 at crush; from that point on, there is only a small addition at bottling or sometimes none at all. The results are delicious and express a clear sense of Long Island terroir. Simply put, Floral Terranes are making some of the most compelling wines and ciders in New York State, and we are thrilled to have the opportunity to work with them.