Alie Shaper

 

Alie Shaper is the founder and winemaker of Brooklyn Oenology, the first urban winery concept in New York City. A third generation entrepreneur, Shaper’s first formal exposure to wine came at Cornell University’s intensive Friday afternoon wine course. After receiving her engineering degree, Shaper was recruited to a San Jose military contractor where, in between central coast wine tastings, she worked on a number of projects, including the helmet displays for F-22 fighter pilots.

Seeking to apply her talents in a more creative direction Shaper returned to New York and began her wine career in earnest, working first in a winery tasting room in New York’s Hudson Valley, and then at the groundbreaking Vintage New York retail wine shop in Manhattan. Here she developed a passion for the wines of New York State while obtaining her Advanced Certificate from the Wine and Spirits Education Trust of London. Shaper applied this knowledge first as the beverage director at a multi-location restaurant group, and then as director of the New York City in-store tasting program for a major wine distributor.

Wanting to develop more completely, Shaper took a role as a harvest worker at Premium Wine Group in the heart of Long Island’s North Fork growing region, where she trained in all aspects of winery work and began to develop her own winemaking ideas. After moving to Brooklyn for its burgeoning creative scene, Shaper became inspired to celebrate the creativity of our region, and founded Brooklyn Oenology to bridge New York’s famous agricultural, artistic and culinary worlds, while bringing the quality wines of our region directly to the New York City market. The Brooklyn Oenology Tasting Room is located in the heart of Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Now in its ninth year, Brooklyn Oenology wines have won multiple awards, are featured on many of New York’s most coveted lists and are distributed in 7 states. Brooklyn Oenology has been selected by the New York State Department of Agriculture to operate the first Taste NY stores located in John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia Airports, both of which opened in late 2013. In January 2014, Shaper was elected to the Board of Directors of the Long Island Wine Council.

Learn more about Brooklyn Oenology Winery