Long Island - wineries recommended for a visit

Hi to all,

Arriving to New York in May I'll have some time to spend visiting wineries in Long Island.
I will appreciate every piece of information/recommendation from you, besides the info I get directly from the Internet.

Thanks,

Hopefully Diane K will post. I've had good visits at Lenz and Old Field (disclaimer the owners of OF are old casual friends). I've had very good wines from Paumanok, Macari, and Shinn, Beautiful scenery out on North Fork. In general I find the wines struggle from a QPR standpoint (expensive land), but some I'm happy to drink.

I went on a little tour of Long Island this summer - would love to give you some recommendations!

My favorite: Pellegrini Vineyards. Lovely place with great wine. The wine tasting flights are not too expensive at all and allow you a broad choice of many of their wines. If you're going with a couple people I would definitely advise that one of you gets the more expensive flight that allows you to try some of their more expensive stuff - a lovely signature red blend with more age on it that you can compare with the younger vintage and their ice wine. If you're a fan of gewurztraminer I'd recommend that as well. In the tasting room you can fill up your flight tray (which has labeled spots for each wine) and bring it outside to sit overlooking the vineyard (although it may be a bit colder than when I went over the summer).

2nd place: Lenz winery. The people there are super nice and the wine is great - we took our glasses outside each round of the flight and sat in the garden to drink. Also fairly reasonably priced. We got there like right as they were supposed to be closing but they welcomed us anyway. I believe I really enjoyed their merlot - and I would recommend getting a merlot pretty much everywhere you go as I think long island does a great take on it, though lighter bodied than you'd find elsewhere it tends to have a little touch of barnyard/horse blanket that I personally really enjoy.

Macari Vineyards: The wine was nice, as was the view. Nothing super notable and the tasting is fairly rigid without much choice, but a fine stop along the way. I visited there because they bought out Galluccio Family winery a number of years back which used to be Gristina Vineyard (sold for the record high price for a LI vineyard at the time). Gristina had gotten many accolades and great scores before being bought and were especially renowned for the parcel of land they deemed "Andy's Field," which even got some mentions in the NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/1999/04/18/nyreg ... -andy.html http://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/01/nyreg ... vines.html . Unfortunately, when I asked the woman serving the wine about it (who honestly didn't seem to have much of a clue about wine) she conveyed that they don't do any wines from particular plots, which I found kind of sad, given the reputation of Andy's Field under Gristina.

Osprey's Dominion: The wines here were pretty good and the place is lovely - they're got picnic tables and a giant turbine and it's quite picturesque out in the vines. The guy serving the flight, on the other hand, was kind of a dick. He was clearly not very happy with what he was doing and sullied the mood a bit for us. When we asked for our last wine to be the cellar selection of the month or whatever they call it he was kind of like "yeah I don't know if we're really doing that this month" or "I think we're out of the one we were doing this month" or something. Though then the young guy working with him jumped in, pulled a bottle of their reserve cab franc off the shelves and said "well let's just say this is it, then." He started up a conversation with us and really saved it for them after the mood of the other guy. The flights, as I recall, were also not the cheapest, although they've got little cracker pillows there at the bar which make for great palate cleansers between wines. The cab francs are good - the reserve was quite nice and elegant - and the cab sauv (which they advertise as high scoring) was pretty good, too.

Bedell Cellars: Disappointing and doesn't live up to the hype I've read. Flights a little too pricey as well, and they don't give you any flexibility whatsoever - both flights we tried force the rose on you. The gewurz is quite disappointing, even though it's supposedly award winning or something. The flights don't allow you to even try their best wines - you'd have to buy a glass or bottle for that, which they even mark up over retail a fair bit. Would not recommend going here - if you want to try their best wines (i.e. the Musee) it'd be better to just pick up a bottle at a local wine store.

Not wine, but food! North Fork Table and Inn: Incredible place, right near all five wineries listed above (they're all within like 8 mins of each other by car and this is like 5 or so from the one farthest east). Small place with a great menu, very fresh local ingredients and you can do a wine pairing with the meal (if you haven't had enough already ). Reservations are hard to get, but you can make them up to a month in advance online: http://www.nofoti.com/

Let me know where you end up tasting and how it goes (especially if you visit somewhere else that's not listed above)!

Hope you enjoy!

Oh and I forgot! I didn't go here on the tour because I'd been there a couple times before and tried and tried a number of their wines, but Paumanok is a great place run by fantastic people that make good wine. They have some dinners there outside next to the vines over the summer, sometimes with local places, sometimes with Ilili, a great mediterranean place in New York run by the owners brother or something (and of course they have Paumanok wines on the list at Ilili). They recently released their first bubbly, which I haven't gotten a chance to try but I'd be curious as to how it is. I've gone by the vineyard when they were closed before (by accident) and the owner came out to greet us when we got there and welcomed us in to try some wines and buy a bottle anyway. If you go to Paumanok I would definitely try their Chenin Blanc, which is quite lovely and according to them the only chenin grown in New York (gotten a couple of good reviews by the NY Times as well). When I was at a dinner there over the summer - open wine bar all dinner and waiters just kept coming and pouring more - I asked about the chenin and the waitress said they weren't pouring it tonight because they didn't have that much, but she proceeded to go inside to get a bottle and pop it open just for me and my sister. Like i said, great people. Also if you're there ask about the Petit Verdot. They don't list it anywhere on the menus there I don't think and don't offer it for the flights because they have very little of it (and it sells for like $75/bottle) but if you're looking to drop some cash I would love to hear your opinion on it. It's grown on a single block (not the same petit verdot grapes they use for blends) and is apparently really quite good.

Good suggestions from Dale and Alex, but I would also add-
The Winemakers Studio, where Anthony Nappa wines are featured (the studio is a cooperative tasting room where other winemakers from the region also feature their wines and current releases).
Just down the road from the Winemakers Studio is Sannino Bella Vita Vineyard; they bill themselves as the regions first “winemakers custom crush facility”. But to me it’s more of a cooperative winemaking facility with a very talented winemaker, Anthony Sannino at the head of the realm.
Another place of interest might be Waters Crest, home winemaker gone pro. The winery has no vineyards, its located on Rt 48 (Sound Ave- off Cox La) in a “strip” commercial center.
Let’s not forget about the South Fork, Channing Daughters and Wolffer.
(Once you see a map of the region, you will notice navigating the North Fork isn’t too difficult, except maybe for the traffic. The month of May (before Memorial Day weekend) shouldn’t be much of a problem traffic-wise).
On the very rural East End of Long Island (with its quaint towns and villages), there are over fifty wineries (all within a small area to choice from and I could understand why Wine Enthusiast Magazine labeled it as one of 2013 best wine designations.

This website might be helpful;
http://www.liwines.com/

Salute

You might also like to check out Lieb Family Cellars, Ehud. They have 2 tasting rooms but the recently opened one at 13050 Oregon Road in Cutchogue is the nicer of the two and definitely the one to visit. We belonged to their wine club for about 5 years until they recently started requiring 4 cases a year for the club we were in. They make some excellent wines including especially their Reserve bottlings of Merlot, Cab Franc, Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc and Petit Verdot. Their sparklers are also excellent and the Rose which I believe is usually 100% from Cab Franc can be very nice depending on the vintage. They also have events, so if you're lucky you might catch a musical event, we saw a Jazz group last summer, went very nice with a bottle of the 2008 Blanc de Blancs made in collaboration with the beverage director for the Craft Restaurant in Manhattan and served there.

Duck Walk Vineyards has two locations one on the North Shore and the original location in Southampton which is a very attractive space. Haven't had their wines recently but it's a worthwhile stop if you're on the South Shore, and they also have events which are very well put together.

Have Fun!

Haven't been to Duck Walk or Wolffer myself, but I hear they are both simply gorgeous (especially Wolffer) and offer a fantastic visiting/tasting experience

Although it has recently sold, I've always enjoyed stopping at Palmer after getting off the ferry from CT. They have had a wonderful Cab Franc and some reasonably priced (for Long Island) proprietary wines. There is a lovely patio on which to sip and chat.

Peconic Bay stands out as from several of the wineries that we visited a few years ago. I remember buying a bottle of their Chardonnay. It was even better when we drank it several months later. But just as impressive as the wines were the oysters. There are several different sources, but we remember the Oyster Bay Point as being particularly tasty. All of the wines are good, reminding me of Loire valley, but as others have pointed out, they are hit with same stick as CA wines. They are not cheap. But could be some of best wines. We'll see where it goes, but the quantities will always purport a dear price.

Alex: where ya been hiding? been onboard for > 2 years and ony 12 posts..In any event, really good stuff, keep em coming..I remember Gristina and their Andy's Field wines quite fondly..Gristina was often our first stop before the sale...Nowadays, first stop is Paumonock..Love their Chenin Blanc, recommended to me by posters on another board..Charles poured some Petit Verdot for me on one visit, i forget the vintage..Was inpenetrable, hard as brick..No clue re when or whether it wd ever open up.

The month of May (before Memorial Day weekend) shouldn’t be much of a problem traffic-wise).

Well, I'll be there right after Memorial Day, so I hope the roads will be fast to move around.

Look, guys, you are all full of precise information - exactly what I need! Thank you all.

A question, derived from my experience with European wineries, should I make a contact (e-mail, phone...) before I arrive to any of the wineries or just pop up and hope for the best?
BTW, we are going to be a group of about ten people, should that be a factor in contacting any of the wineries and are there wineries that are not prepared for sized groups?

Thanks,

After Memorial Day they should be plenty staffed and ready for big groups whenever you decide to pop in provided that it's during the hours their tasting room is open (hours are usually listed online at the winery's website) - all of the ones that I've been to and mentioned above are plenty capable of handling groups of that size and I'm sure most others are, too. As long as they don't specifically mention anything about special procedures for large groups on their site, it should be fine.

The month of May (before Memorial Day weekend) shouldn’t be much of a problem traffic-wise).

Well, I'll be there right after Memorial Day, so I hope the roads will be fast to move around.

Look, guys, you are all full of precise information - exactly what I need! Thank you all.

A question, derived from my experience with European wineries, should I make a contact (e-mail, phone...) before I arrive to any of the wineries or just pop up and hope for the best?
BTW, we are going to be a group of about ten people, should that be a factor in contacting any of the wineries and are there wineries that are not prepared for sized groups?

Thanks,

I am not aware of any Long Island Winery where you'd need to make an appointment Ehud. They all have a schedule of operating hours that they adhere to. You'll be there during prime season so most of them will be open daily and close around 5 or 6pm. Many of the wineries have live music, primarily on weekends, so that's fun too. The size of your party won't be a problem at all. And of course there's lots else to do on the East End, everything from great restaurants to Party Boat Fishing! You'll have a great time!

Alex: where ya been hiding? been onboard for > 2 years and ony 12 posts..In any event, really good stuff, keep em coming...

Thanks Jon, will do! Actually just joined last month - dunno what's up with that! Is there any way I can go about changing the date there?

Alex: Wd check with Robin re the date change or there may something in the FAQ's..As my daughters wd tell ya, I am relatively clueless re all things computerwise..even tho I work on one all day..

This is practically my backyard and yet I rarely go wine tasting. I wish I could be helpful but we always pay a visit to the Massouds at Paumanok where we spend a couple of hours, and then we don't have the desire to taste elsewhere. A couple of years ago, we did visit Shinn before going to Paumanok and I liked their wine, but not their policy of not allowing us to eat the bread and cheese we brought in the tasting room. We were sent outside for that. Friends took is to Macari, and I was not impressed. A glass of Chardonnay turned out to be corked...I realize tasting room workers don't check every bottle they open, but this turned me off. The people were nice enough, so if others recommend them, disregard my comments.

For eating, I like Jedediah Hawkins. It's been a revolving door with chefs, but dinner last August was fabulous. North Fork Table has been inconsistent.

As Dale said, these wines are not qprs, but you can find some that are good and not outrageously priced. I think Paumanok's Assemblage and Chenin Blanc are well worth the tariff.

Lots of information, very useful, I must admit I didn't expect so much help.
I'll post some notes when I am back home after the visit.

Diane wrote;
A couple of years ago, we did visit Shinn before going to Paumanok and I liked their wine, but not their policy of not allowing us to eat the bread and cheese we brought in the tasting room. We were sent outside for that.

Hi Diane,
Most of the boutique wineries on Long Island are small and the tasting rooms are actually part of the “main” winery building. When I first meet Barbara and David I thought they were very eccentric. They were the first to announce openly that they integrated organic (low impact farming) with biodynamic (the work of Steiner). But over the years, reading David’s “Shinn Digs Blog” and watching Barbara’s videos I’ve come to the conclusion they are very intelligent and passionate people and really not to “far off the wall”.
Their winery and wines are alive. Barbara, who is in charge of caring for the grape vines, believes that when they first acquired the former farm the site was in “chaos”. After her hard work (and the work of her vineyard hands) the site has attain some “natural order”. In other words the soil is now “alive” capable of producing somewhat “healthy” grapes. In the winery, David, his winemaker and cellar rats take over; here the philosophy is quite different (but the so called “natural order” must be maintained to a degree in the winery area). (In the vineyard its all “hands on”. Taking care, of the “living fermenting liquid tea” and fermenting compost piles. Caring for the vines both during the dormant and growing season etc.) In the winery it’s more or less “hands off”. Let the soil and the fruit manifest themselves in the wines with no or minimum influence from the “outside”. With this in mind, I could understand their policy of not letting visitors bring in “outside” food into the winery area (the ”natural order” could possible be “disrupted”). I sure wouldn’t want to be the one to “disturb” their “natural order”. (Heck, I find it very appropriate that on certain nights, Shinn has a mystic present to tell your future).

Salute

I met Barbara when I visited the winery. She was outside taking care of the garden that provides the fresh herbs, vegetables, and fruit for their guests at the B&B which is on the winery grounds, and she is lovely. I enjoyed their restaurant, Home, in NYC when they owned it prior to buying the vineyard. I didn't appreciate being asked to have our bread and cheese with the flight of wines outside on this particular drizzly morning, when we were, at times, the only one there. I believe the woman in the tasting room mentioned something about customers leaving a mess, so it was no longer allowed.