Green Point Wines may be located in Green Point, Australia, but that does not mean that the winemakers from Down Under are not interested in expanding their market to Brooklyn’s Greenpoint neighborhood.
The Australian wine company is sponsoring the McCarren Park Pool Film Series this year, which begins July 8 with the camp-classic Wet Hot American Summer and a concert benefiting the Open Space Alliance, the parks conservatory for parks in North Brooklyn, featuring the Chicago-based alt-country band Wilco on August 13, as well as several other events held at the Pool, located on Lorimer Street between Driggs Avenue and Bayard Street, throughout the summer.
It is all being done in an effort to strengthen ties between the two unofficial sister communities, after former winemaker and Green Point native James Gosper moved to Brooklyn two years ago. Gosper, who lives in Park Slope, was charmed by Greenpoint’s thriving Polish community and manufactured landscapes.
“In July of 2007, I found myself at McCarren Pool at a Sonic Youth concert,” Gosper said. “What a magic discovery! My sister namesake neighborhood was everything I had been told but so much more.”
After reading news reports about Newtown Creek and a number of refineries that have polluted the creek for decades, Gosper became interested in supporting local parks groups looking to add more green spaces north of Lorimer Street.
“The more I learned about the environmental disgraces in Greenpoint, the more I wanted to be involved in its resurrection,” Gosper said. “I have seen it work before. After generations of neglect by the previous farmers, we managed to return the land [in Green Point Australia] to its natural state. I want to help do the same in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.”
Open Space Alliance Executive Director Stephanie Thayer is pleased to be working with Gosper, praising the vintner’s dedication to environmental stewardship and interest in expanding North Brooklyn’s park space. Green Point Wines will be donating one hundred percent of all wine sales at the film series to the Open Space Alliance to improve parks in Greenpoint and Williamsburg.
“OSA is pleased to partner with them to help our Greenpoint and the rest of North Brooklyn,” Thayer said. “So on Tuesday nights, I’ll raise my bio-degradable cup of white wine to toast the generosity of Green Point Wines, and assistance of the L Mag, in helping OSA to green Greenpoint and Williamsburg.”
A number of local wine shops including Greenpoint Wine and Liquors (89 Nassau Avenue), Met Wine and Liquor (698 Manhattan Avenue), Roebling Liquor (311 Roebling Street), T&N Liquor (983 Manhattan Avenue) and Dandelion Wines (155 Franklin Avenue) have begun carrying the wines, including their summer rose, which will retail between $16 and $18.
“A couple of customers have been buying it because the company has had promos last Saturday and I think they like it,” said Jan Lorenc, manager of Greenpoint Wine and Liquors.
A bartender from Teddy’s Bar and Grill (96 Berry), which sells the wine, had not tried it but kindly cracked open a bottle to share her opinion for the purpose of an interview with Courier Life.
“It’s very mellow, smooth and medium,” she said. “It’s a good summery red, definitely.”
For more information about Green Point Wines, visit http://www.greenpointwines.com.au/.
For more on the McCarren Park Pool Film Series, which runs every Tuesday beginning July 8 through August 26, go to http://www.mccarrenpark.com. Films begin at dusk.
