RGNY

Martha Clara planted its first vines on this farm in 1995 and poured its last glass under that name in early May 2019. A week later the same property reopened as RGNY. If a friend got married here a decade ago and told you it was wonderful, she got married somewhere else: different owners, different tasting room, different rules. Worth knowing before you tour on a recommendation.

The sale, and why the name changed

José Antonio Rivero Larrea and his family bought Martha Clara together with the neighboring Big E Farm for $15 million, finalized on April 20, 2018, according to Northforker’s reporting. The deal covered a 205-acre farm including 113 acres of vineyard and fifteen buildings: nine barns, a wine club gallery, an event gallery, the tasting room, a culinary education center, three cottages and the manor house. Robert Entenmann had planted the first 18 acres of vinifera in 1995 and named the place for his mother. He died in September 2016.

RGNY’s own timeline dates the acquisition to 2018 and the brand launch to 2019. The family has been farming wine in Parras, Coahuila since 1998. That is the unusual thing about this property on the North Fork, not the acreage, which is old news out here, but that the acreage is now run by people who learned the trade in northern Mexico.

Seven rooms, and only one of them is your reception

RGNY publishes capacities space by space, which is more than most vineyards manage. Northville Barn, dinner and dancing up to 200. Las Vides, 250 and up. Scielo Lounge, 100 seated or 200 standing. The Pavillion, the same 100 and 200. La Pergola, lounge seating for 60. The C.E.C Loft, 50 maximum. El Sótano, 24 for a seated dinner or 50 standing.

For a full wedding you are in the barn. The barn is the one with the bridal suite, a private loft, air conditioning and modern bathrooms, which is not something you can say about most farm buildings people get married in out here. Everything else on that list is a rehearsal dinner, a welcome party or a next-morning thing.

The rules they print, and the number they don’t

From their weddings page: up to 200 guests, year round, events start after 3pm and must end by midnight, with the wedding itself running five to five and a half hours. The ceremony is on site at no additional charge. Tables, chairs and farmhouse tables are furnished. The floored sperry tent with bistro lighting is peak season only. Catering runs off their preferred vendor list. Valet, lounge furniture and fire pits, a mobile bar and a day-after brunch are offered as add-ons.

No site fee, no minimum, no per-head figure appears anywhere on the site. Nor does it say whether the preferred vendor list is a recommendation or a requirement, or whether there is a wine purchase minimum, which at a working winery there usually is. Those are your three questions. There is also lodging: Red House on the Vines, three bedrooms and three bathrooms, sleeping up to eight, booked through StayMarquis and not described as included in anything.