Long Island Wine Country Turns 40!

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1973-2013

Long Island Wine Country just turned 40!

In 1973, Alex and Louisa Hargrave founded Hargrave Vineyards in Cutchogue.

America’s most Bordeaux-like wine region has evolved into a world-class growing area for premium wines.

The region has grown to more 3,000 acres of planted grape vines, with more than 60 wine producers.  Three  AVA’s (American Viticulture Regions) protect wines that are produced from grapes that are grown on The North Fork Of Long Island, The Hamptons and Long Island.

Long Island Wines have scored highly in blind tastings and International wine competitions. Most recently, a Long Island Wine, BedellCellars 2007 Merlot ($30) has been selected for President Barack Obama’s Inaugural lunch on January 21, 2013. That wine will be paired with smoked Bison!

Cheers to the first forty years! 

CJD

Top Tips Touring Long Island's Wine Country

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!

Confessions of a Wine Tour Guide

Tour group learns about fermentation

Top Questions My Customers Ask Me!
1) If Merlot has tones of chocolate, do they actually add it to the barrel?
A) NOPE

2) My wife does not drink wine, should I bring her?
A) NOPE

3) What's YOUR favorite wine?
A) All of Them! But it depends on what you are eating with your wine.


We strive to produce the best quality wine tours on the East Coast. After 9, years it was bittersweet to be acknowledged in Travel & Leisure Magazine as One Of The World's Top Ten Wine Tours. We set the bar, and now we have to find a way to raise quality even higher!

Our focus from day one has been quality, not quantity. We appreciate fine wine and delicious food. As a wine & travel journalist, I have been very fortunate to attend wine festivals and visit wineries around the world. So my experience gives me a perspective on what makes for an exceptional experience.
With that said, we do not visit every winery on Long Island.
Some are too small, some too busy that they can't provide special treatment for our groups. Other mainly produce sweet wines, that appeal to a Coca Cola crowd.

While we do what we do very well, we are not for everyone. Some people are willing to sacrifice a premium experience, while saving a few dollars.

What we do best:
-Teach our clients about how to increase their pleasure with wine
-Provide clients with an interesting and historical background about Long Island's world-class wine region
-Create Private Experiences at Premium Level Producers
-Create Corporate Tours and Wine Events for 30 to 200 guests
-Provide the best friendly service on the planet

What we don't do:
-Bachelorette Tours
-Wine Tours or Events without food
-Limo Tours or *Small Groups

*For groups under 30 persons, we offer monthly VIP Public Tours, that have no minimum order requirement.

Check out our list of 2011 VIP Public Tours:
www.longislandwinecountry.com/havbustickets.html

For Groups of 30 guests or more, check out our group tours page:
http://www.longislandwinecountry.com/bus.html


Thinking about taking a limo tour to Long Island Wine Country? Caveat Emptor!

Read This Article First!:

July 9, 2007
The New York Times
New York Wineries Face Tastings Gone Wild
By COREY KILGANNON

www.nytimes.com/2007/07/09/nyregion/09winery.html?_r=1&ref=coreykilgannon


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Check out my weekly National Wine Country Column on Examiner.COM
www.examiner.com/wine-country-travel-in-national/christopher-j-davies

Long Island Wine Veteran On The Move

Long Island Wine Veteran On The Move
Photo and Story by Christopher J. Davies

Richard Olsen-Harbich has been making wine on Long Island for more than 25 years. Just like other LI wine pioneers in the early days he paid his dues over time learning about the terroir of Long Island's East End. And which grapes were best suited for growing in the region.

While some of the industry's early pioneers made strides as well as painful mistakes, Mr.Olsen-Harbich was able to use all of his knowledge and experience to execute one of Long Island's most ambitious projects, Raphael.

John and Joan Petrocelli launched their family owned wine estate that was named after Mr. Petrocelli's father Raphael. After consulting with Paul Pontallier Chateau Margaux, Bordeaux winemaker, Olsen-Harbich and the Petrocelli's announced that Raphael would devote its efforts into exclusively producing Merlot. During recent times they changed their minds after experimenting with Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Franc. Winemaking is about learning from the land and grapes. And this is what Mr.Olsen-Harbich knows best.















Raphael Estate, Photo (C) C J Davies


To his credit, Richard Olsen-Harbich was the man who authored the applications for Long Island's three wine appellations; Hamptons, North Fork Of Long Island and Long Island. All Long Island wine producers have benefited from his work that ensures that the grapes that are used to make wine on Long Island are authentic. He was also one of the founders of the Long Island Merlot Alliance.

After fourteen years he has now made a calculated career decision to move to Bedell Cellars, another well-respect wine producer that is owned by former movie-mogul Michael Lynn. I have no doubt that he will have a major impact on the future of Bedell Cellars wine.

Filing Richards shoes at Raphael will not be easy. But knowing the commitment that the Petrocelli's have made to their winery, I am confident that they will find a distinguished and well-experienced winemaker to continue what Richard set out to do.

For those who are fans of Richard's wines at Raphael, there is winemakers dinner being held on Tuesday June 8th at the Woodland's in Woodbury. Richard will be hosting the dinner that benefits the Foundation for Sight and Sound. Tickets are available.

RSVP: The Foundation For Sight & Sound
Tel. 631-366-3461 or 631-366-3462
Email: info@foundationforsightandsound.org
www.foundationforsightandsound.org

LI Wines Shine Big in Wine Report 2009

I was excited to receive the newest copy of Tom Stevenson’s Wine Report. In reviewing this book below, I was elated that Long Island wines received notable praise! Considering that the North Atlantic region consists of New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania, Long Island wines rated extremely high.

The 100 Most Exciting Wines-Global
This is a list of the author’s favorite wines all over the world. Two LI wines made the list.

•Bedell 2005 Reserve Merlot, North Fork Long Island $48
•Channing Daughters 2006 Sauvignon, Hamptons $24

Atlantic Northeast Region Best Vintages
Keep this in mind when ordering wine at a restaurant.
•2005 Vintage Rating: Red 92, White 90
•2002 Vintage Rating: Red 90, White 94

Greatest Wine Producers Top Ten List-North East (40% LI)
•Wolffer #2
•Bedell #3
•Lenz #4
•Paumanok #5

Greatest-Quality Wines Top Ten List For North East (50%)
#1-Grapes of Roth, 2002 Merlot (Roman Roth, winemaker at Wolffer)
#2-Bedell, 2005 Reserve Merlot
#3-Wolffer, 2003 Estate Selection Merlot
#4-Lenz, 2001 “Old Vines” Cabernet Sauvignon
#5-Paumanok, 2005 “Assemblage” Bordeaux-Style Blend

Long Island wines did not make the Best-Value Producers List. That was not surprising, as the region does not produce enough volume of wine to compete on price.


Wine Report 2009
Author: Tom Stevenson
Rating: Excellent
Publisher: DK Books
Format: Soft Cover, 432 pages
Price: $15.00
Web Page: http://us.dk.com
ISBN 9780756639839

Tom Stevenson is one of the world’s most respected wine authors. He is best known for overseeing the Sotheby’s Wine Encyclopedia. His latest version of the Wine Report provides aficionados with valuable inside information about all of the world’s significant wine regions. Stevenson has assembled an impressive group of regional experts who feed him updates on vintage quality, best value producers, up and comers, most exciting or unusual finds.

Each addition of the Wine Report is reborn with fresh information, regional news and developments through its “grapevine” category. Stevenson provides the reader with just enough information to high spot through a tasting of unfamiliar wines. Are you planning to travel to Israel for the first time? Here’s your solution to prevent looking like a neophyte when the waiter hands you the wine list. This book is small enough to fit in your jacket. You can secretly look up top producers, indigenous grape varietals and best vintages. Then order a bottle of Golan Heights 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon, without looking stupid!