Tales From the East End: W(h)ine Country ?

You're Not In France .... This Is Yankeeville !

Onto the next leg of our day trip up the North Fork of Long Island.... There is that assumption of what Long Island is like: traffic, urban sprawl, rude people in a hurry and too much going on. Well, this post will kill every assumption you have. Welcome to Long Island Wine Country !!!

After visiting Riverhead, we hopped in the Avalon and made a beeline straight up Rt 25, with Orient Point as the goal. As soon as you leave Riverhead, it's like you hit a time warp to 1940.... If you've never been there, you need to take a day, and ride up the stretch from Riverhead to Greenport. It's known as Wine Country, but actually it's farm country. Miles and miles of Strawberry farms, Plant and flower stores, Christmas tree farms, potato farms, and of course - wineries. The area is totally agricultural, making some of the finest wines in the world...

(not actual size)

So, how did Wine become such a hot commodity here? About 30 years ago, people realized that the North Fork of Long Island had the exact same climate as France: Warm days, cool nights, breezy conditions, and even a northward facing topography into the Long Island Sound. It was perfect for wine grapes. Not all wines grapes flourish here, as I found out trying to find a nice Pinot Grigio for Carol. After some trial and error, wine grapes have become a huge business here, and there are now dozens and dozens of wineries lining the sides of Rt 25 and Rt 105.

The names of the towns are odd, and reflect the old Indian tribes that once lived here: Mattituck, Aquebogue, Cutchogue, Peconic... The wineries are open three seasons, and each has a tasting room and retail store for you to try before you buy. Yeah, the ability to taste test you way to a DWI is certainly there, but the roads are actually pretty straight, and you can't go over 40 MPH anyway - but who'd want to speed through such beautiful country anyway. Here's a few pics of where we stopped and got 6 bottles of Vino....

First, we went to Paumanok Winery in Aquebogue, where we picked up a nice Chenin Blanc for $28 (pricey stuff). Too bad Carol's sister in law stopped by and drank it all. They always take the good stuff!

Next, it was Peconic Bay, where we bought a Hybrid of Cali Pinot, and two other native blends at $16. The top picture is also here, and they have an outdoor reception area for parties and weddings..

Then, we stopped at the famous Pindar Vineyards, Long Island's first and biggest (not necessarily best) winery. We got 2 bottles here at $10 - then found them at the liquor store for $7.

We also stopped at Duck Walk, which seems like a more aggressive winery (lots of fruit flavored stuff), although they were the only ones offering a Pinot Grigio at $13. How good is it? It's still chillin' in the fridge, but it's a long Summer - we'll see. For those of you who are for the more conventional vacation, a trip to Wine Country needs to be on your schedule. Go to Manhattan, visit the Hamptons, so you can say you saw P-Diddy's house - then turn right on the way back and see something really cool, and a bit different...

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