48 Hours: Hooligans Are Trashing the North Fork

My recent forays to the wine country of Long Island’s North Fork have been marred by bad behavior. And in a refreshing change, none of it was my own. The tasting rooms have been overrun by drunks with sharp elbows, throwing back wine like shots of jagermeister.

The latest additions to local lore include a story about members of an inebriated group at the Palmer Vineyards here who hopped off a hayride and began gallivanting naked through the vines. Then there were the drunken customers at the Pugliese Vineyards in Cutchogue who jumped into the shimmering lake next to the elegant outdoor tasting area. And the bachelorette parties that often culminate in tabletop dances, to the horror of nearby oenophiles sniffing or sipping the local chardonnays.

Perhaps I am being to harsh on these folks, but they are just looking for a cheap buzz without any clue or desire to get a sense of the places they are visiting. Although I think some of the wineries have themselves to blame. What do you expect when you court bachelorette parties?

In response to the raucous behavior, more associated with that South Fork bastion known as the Hamptons, almost all of the wineries have ended free tastings and now generally charge $5 for a flight of carefully measured samples. (Palmer is one of the few still pouring without charge, if only for selected wines.) Many tasting rooms have banned bachelorette parties and tightened cutoff policies on serving the inebriated. Raphael vineyards in Peconic has closed its tasting room on Saturdays except by appointment.

For those of you who are skeptical over the quality of Long Island wines, we will soon profile the 2005 Bedell Cellers lineup, which might be the best Bordeaux-style blends to come out of the North Fork yet.

New York Wineries Face Tastings Gone Wild
New York Times

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