Touring Long Island's Wine Country
Simple tips for increasing your enjoyment!
Long Island's Wine Region is celebrating it's 38th season.
A lot has changed over the years.
Since the economy turned sour in 2008, it's a known fact that folks are abandoning expensive two week vacations for less expensive staycations. This has brought a record amount of visitors to the North and South Forks.
Weekends are so busy that some winery tasting rooms have hired security guards to regulate the amount of tour groups that can enter their tasting rooms at a single time.
Traffic is also becoming increasingly more congested on the weekends. And to exit a winery parking lot, it is almost impossible to make a left turn!
PRACTICAL TIPS:
•Plan your itinerary in advance.
• If you are planning to visit by car, pick a weekday instead of weekend. The best times to visit are Wednesday or Thursday. If you can do that, you will be greeted by a happy winery staffer who is less stressed than on the busy weekends. Benefit is they will spend more attention to you and may even break out some special limited wine releases.
•Negotiate your tasting fees up front. All wineries will charge a fee to taste. On Long Island it varies from $4 to $15 per person. Some will refund your tasting fee if you purchase wine. Find that out in advance.
•Take a professional tour for special access. Not all tour companies are equal. You will get what you pay for. But just like the Vatican Museum makes the public stand in long lines waiting to gain entry, a professional tour company can get you in for your your tasting quickly.
Full Disclosure: The author is co-founder of LongIslandWineCountry.Com a premium level tour provider.
•Purchase a bottle. If your group is larger than 4 guests, you might consider purchasing a bottle of everybody's favorite varietal. This usual comes out better than pay a per head fee to taste, plus a bottle contains 4.2 glasses of wine!
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