Dave Breeden is the head winemaker at Sheldrake Point Winery, located on the western shore of Cayuga Lake in New York’s Finger Lakes region. With a unique blend of academic and practical experience, Breeden has been instrumental in shaping the winery’s reputation for producing expressive, terroir-driven wines.
Breeden’s academic background includes master’s degrees in both chemistry and philosophy from the University of Illinois. Initially pursuing a Ph.D. in philosophy, he relocated to Ithaca, New York, in the late 1990s. It was there that he transitioned into winemaking, beginning as a part-time cellar worker at King Ferry Winery (Treleaven Wines) in 1998. His passion and aptitude for the craft led him to Sheldrake Point in 2002, where he was appointed head winemaker the following year.
Breeden is renowned for his minimalist approach to winemaking, emphasizing the concept of “wines of place” over “wines of work.” He strives to allow the natural characteristics of the vineyard and vintage to shine through, using minimal intervention techniques. This philosophy is evident in Sheldrake Point’s acclaimed Dry Rosé, crafted from Cabernet Franc, as well as their Rieslings and Gewürztraminers. Beyond winemaking, Breeden is recognized for his mentorship within the Finger Lakes wine community, commitment to sustainable practices and his dedication to expressing the unique terroir of the Finger Lakes. Media Inquiries: breeden@sheldrakepoint.com | https://sheldrakepoint.com/
What’s the ONE THING most unique, authentic, & memorable about your brand?
The whole point of what I do, for me, here, is that the winemaker doesn’t matter. It’s ALL about the vineyard. To the extent that I matter, then I’ve failed. So, nothing about me should be part of the brand. My story would be markedly, wildly, unimportant. It’s JUST the vineyard. My journey to this position took some time, as you might imagine. Early in my winemaking career, I was working on our Riesling wines, and realized that if I had gotten it do to do what *I* wanted, rather than what *it* wanted, the wines wouldn’t have turned out as well. That experience, in combination with reading Randall Grahms’s writing about vins de terroir vs. vins d’effort, convinced me that the vineyard knew better what the wines should be than I did, so I moved away from intervention and toward letting the vineyard dictate what the wines should be. Our vineyard site is very special and our vineyard team is very skilled, so I see my job as representing what the wine can be, how it can represent what the site is, in any given year.
Describe how and what you’d do with your winemaking career or winery business if you were not constrained.
I’ve been in the incredibly fortunate position to have been largely unconstrained in my winemaking. I’ve been able to add to or subtract from our portfolio as I’ve seen fit and been provided an incredibly well-outfitted physical plant and talented staff. The one area in which I haven’t been able to just absolutely do what I wanted is in our plantings. In the beginning I would have ripped out a large number of the plantings that I now really value, so I’m glad that they didn’t listen to me on that. More recently I’ve been inclined to add to list of varietals we have planted but given how small a winery we are and that we already have 10 varietals planted, that may not be a good idea either. In sum, I wouldn’t do anything differently.
What is the One Wine most emblematic of your brand and/or winemaking style? Tell us its story.
Our emblematic wine, and one WAY better suited for a “Desert Island” wine, is our Dry Rosé, which is 100% Cabernet Franc. It’s certainly our biggest seller, representing anywhere between a half and a third of our total production, depending on the year. And it’s one of the wines we’ve been making the longest. We made our first Dry Rosé in our first year, 1997 and have made it almost every year since. I’ve increased the production from around 60 cases a year to almost 3000 cases (again, depending on the year). That category of wine, dry rosé, is a category that the Finger Lakes AVA should really own—rosé is all about being light and bright and refreshing, and our cool climate viticulture lends itself very much to that. Here’s my review of the 2024 Dry Rosé.