Leverett man starts up own wine label

By MICHELLE ABBASCIANO Bulletin Contributing Writer

Published on November 21, 2008

Leverett - Love life. Go fishing. Care for the planet. Drink wine. This is the motto of Mark Seymour, a Leverett resident launching his own wine label, Fish Hook Vineyards. Seymour, an avid saltwater fly fisherman and veteran of the wine industry of over 30 years, has partnered with his longtime friend, fellow fisherman and Oregon winemaker Stephen Cary, to make their own seafood-friendly wines - and give back to the planet while they're at it.

The vineyard and winemaking operation are based in Oregon.

A founding principle of the label, and its main endeavor, was to do some good with the profit from their wine sales. To accomplish this goal, Seymour and Cary decided to donate a portion of the proceeds to the Ocean Conservancy organization.

"Because (Cary and I are) avid fishermen, that was just the natural way to go for us," Seymour said. "It was the best organization for this label. Even the way we made the wine, we made it to go well with fish and seafood. (The organization) just fits perfectly," said Seymour.

According to its Web site, the Ocean Conservancy focuses its efforts and resources on four critical objectives: restoring sustainable American fisheries, protecting wildlife from human impacts, conserving special ocean places and marine reserves, and reforming the government for better ocean stewardship.

When Seymour called the organization, he explained his proposal and they gladly accepted. "They were very enthusiastic about it," Seymour said.

In addition to its first philanthropic goal, Fish Hook Vineyard also seeks to make quality wine that shows the true character of the grapes and subtle mineral qualities of the vineyard, and making a little bit of money to support their fishing hobby, while having fun at the same time.

"We wanted to tie it all in with our passion for fishing and the sea, hence the label's name, striper fish logo, and our involvement with the Ocean Conservancy," said Seymour.

Seymour and Cary, both in their early 60s, have been in the wine business for decades, and starting a label is something they have both wanted to accomplish.

"A lot of the people in the wine and food business ... they usually work for somebody else. So I thought it would be cool to have our own winery. It is definitely something I've always thought about," Seymour said.

Idea moves forward

Although Seymour may have had other chances in the past to start a label, or at least be involved in one, he has passed them all up - until now. The opportunity was too good to pass up when it came along last year, said Seymour.

The label took about 14 months to get under way. Cary was the first person Seymour called, and when he asked his longtime friend if he could do it, Cary agreed almost right away.

"It's hard to get things moving. Especially anything that the government is involved in, where there are licenses and requirements and everything ... there's a lot of stuff that needed to get done," said Seymour.

"But it wasn't that long, honestly," said Seymour. "I'm lucky to have a very good friend in the organization who is a really good winemaker."

The wine is estate-bottled, and the grapes are from a sustainably farmed single vineyard in the McMinnville AVA (American Viticultural Area) in the Willamette Valley, Oregon. Because Oregon is quickly becoming one of the great pinot blanc producing areas in the world, and Cary is one of the best practitioners of the art of making great wine, Seymour said, the two decided to make Fish Hook's first release the 2007 Pinot Blanc.

Wine's accents

According to Seymour, pinot blanc is a fairly unknown grape variety. "My experience is, if we get people to try the wine, they usually like it and buy it," Seymour said.

There are no noticeable oak flavors in the wine. It is clean and crisp, with hints of melon and peach, and shows a lot of mineral quality both in the nose and on the palate, according to Fish Hook Vineyard's Web site.

Seymour decided to make the Pinot Blanc his first release for a variety of reasons. "I had been drinking this wine for a while ... the winery (where it was from) had been making it for about 14 years. He's really good at it and has a really good site for making it, so that's the main reason," said Seymour.

Pinot blanc is similar to chardonnay, but Seymour and Cary wanted to do something different with their label. "We could have done chardonnay, but there's thousands of them. There really aren't that many pinot blancs," Seymour explained.

Fish Hook wine is available at various local stores. It also will be available in a few restaurants shortly. Although they just launched the label in June, their wine is in stores around Boston and the Cape, as well as in New York and New Jersey areas.

Seymour has been involved in the wine business for the past 30 years, but it is not something that was in his family history. "It is just something I fell into," said Seymour.

"I needed a job when I graduated from Syracuse (University), and I just happened to know somebody who owned a busy restaurant there. I became a bartender, got really interested in food and wine ... became a wine buyer for a few years. It just stayed with me," Seymour said. "And the rest is history."