North Fork Wine Trail

***For a list of wineries opened for tasting during the COVID-19 pandemic, please visit here.***

California has Sonoma and Napa, Canada has NOTL, and New York has Finger Lakes and North Fork.  Closer than Finger Lakes, North Fork offers great wine selections for a quick visit from NYC.

*Highly Recommended

June 29, 2020:  Having a birthday during the pandemic requires some creativity! Given that Long Island entered Phase 3 reopening on June 24, I’ve decided to take advantage of visiting North Fork on a quiet Monday.

We visited two wineries during this trip plus some oyster shucking and a seafood lunch.

12:25 pm: Sannino Bella Vita Vineyard* (new location)

• Tasting price: $3.5 for a single tasting or 6 for $20, see tasting menu; try the fortified dessert Wine + Biscotti Tasting: $5

• Pros: Beautiful outdoor seating area, low key and rustic, best rosé (“Bianca Dolce”), inexpensive tasting/wine, friendly staff

• Cons: Reds are okay

• See more pictures here

2:30 pm: Shuck oysters @ Peeko Oyster Farm*

3:18 pm: Lunch @ Braun Seafood Co.*

4:52 pm: Croteaux Vineyards

• Tasting price: Still rosé tasting (6 for $24) and sparkling rosé tasting (3 for $18)

• Pros: Charming & beautiful garden seating

• Cons: Expensive tasting, rosé only, wines were not that special

• See more pictures here

July 14, 2018:  The drive from Manhattan on a beautifully hot Summer Saturday was 2.5 hours. You can probably get there sooner if you leave before the beach/Hampton traffic kicks in.  Since we left around 10:30 am, we stopped by Red Rooster Bistro* for lunch before embarking on the journey.  

We stopped by a total of 4 wineries during this trip:

2:12pm: Mattebella Vineyeards

• Tasting price: ~$5 each tasting

• Pros: Charming & beautiful with outdoor seatings next to the vineyards, good for groups

• Cons: Expensive tasting, not a big fan of the wine

• See more pictures here

3:42pm: Bedell Cellars*

• Tasting price: 5 for $20 tasting flight

• Pros: Beautiful indoor space + a large outdoor seating area with live music, truck food, good for groups, really good sparkling rosé

• Cons: Very crowded

5:25pm: Sannino Bella Vita Vineyard* (See Above)

6:52pm: Sherwood House Vineyard*

• Tasting price: 5 for $20 tasting flights (except for reserves)

• Pros: Beautiful farm house for indoor tasting and plenty of outdoor seating area, cozy and charming, connected to an art gallery

• Cons: Lack of wine on the sweet end

July 2017: We were invited to join a wine tour in a party bus!  Given we were a large group, we only visited vineyards catered for groups.

11:47am: Bridge Lane Tasting Room*

• Tasting price: 5 for $15 tasting flight

• Pros: Inexpensive tasting/wine, cozy and charming tasting room, wine comes in bottle, box, or keg!

• Cons: Limited wine selection

1pm: Lenz Winery

• Tasting price: 5 for $15 tasting flight (2 whites, 1 rose, and 2 reds)

• Pros: Caters to large groups, you can bring your own lunch

• Cons: Commercialized, crowded

• See more pictures here

2:51pm: Jamesport Vineyards

• Tasting price: 5 for $20, see tasting menu

• Pros: Serves wood fired pizza on weekends, plenty of outdoor seating area, delicious ice wine

• Cons: Most of the wines are on the dry end

• See more pictures here

March 2016: We visited North Fork for some special occasion.

11:20am: Kontokosta Winery

• Tasting price: 3 for $18 according to TA (in 2016, it was 5 whites for $15 and 4 reds for $15)

• Pros: Very modern indoor tasting room and plenty of outdoor seating area overlooking LI coastline

• Cons: Furthest away, expensive tasting

• See more pictures here

12:30pm: Sparkling Pointe

• Tasting price: Grand Tasting 4 for $20, see Tasting menu

• Pros: Known for sparkling wines, beautiful tasting room

• Cons: Expensive tasting, commercialized, crowded

1:11pm: Lunch @ Erik's Breakfast & Lunch*

1:45pm: Sannino Bella Vita Vineyard* (see above)

2:40pm: The Old Field Vineyards*

• Tasting price: 4 for $12

• Pros: Inexpensive tasting/wine, rustic vineyards with livestocks, attentive staffs that will tell you the history of their vineyards, picnic allowed

• Cons: Wines tasted just okay

• See more pictures here

3:25pm: Lieb Cellars*

• Tasting price: White Wines (4 for $12), Red Wines (4 for $15), Reserve Wines (6 for $20)

• Pros: Inexpensive tasting, tasty reserve dessert wine, friendly staffs

• Cons: Popular spot, gets crowded quickly

There are currently 38 vineyards and we have only been to 13 of them. Which one have you visited and where is your next wine spot?

Other points of interest:

• Shuck your own oysters @ Peeko Oysters