Dialing in Precision: Long Island Winemakers Take a Qualitative Leap

Long Island Wine Country in New York got its start in 1973 with the first commercial vineyard and became an official AVA in 2001, but it has taken decades for winemakers and producers to fully realize the region’s potential, moving beyond novelty wines to viticulture and varieties best suited to its climate and terroir. Today, Long Island has finally locked into making classic and experimental wines that are gaining more widespread attention.

From the 186 wines we tasted at the dozen wineries we visited in Long Island, which is just 100 miles from New York City, as well as at our various tasting offices, 159 earned scores of 90 and above, with three crossing the 94-point threshold. The 2022 vintage was especially impressive, led by the flinty, Burgundian-style Wölffer Estate Chardonnay Long Island Perle 2022. Alongside other standouts like the savory and integrated Lenz Cabernet Sauvignon North Fork of Long Island Old Vines 2015 and juicy, finely wrought RGNY Wines Malbec North Fork of Long Island Día de los Muertos 2024, the wines show how well-suited the region can be to the classic and refined varieties of Bordeaux, Burgundy and more.

The region’s quality expressions of cabernet franc and merlot aren’t the only wines to watch, with experiments in varieties like melon de bourgogne, ribolla gialla and gewurztraminer reflecting the kind of creativity and expertise pushing the region to new levels of quality.

Long Island itself is most easily pictured as a two-pronged fork. As Kareem Massoud, the winemaker and second-generation proprietor of Paumanok Vineyards, explained, if you hold out your left index and middle fingers, that’s an approximate representation of the geography of Long Island, with the South Fork jutting out a bit further than the North Fork.

His winery, in the North Fork town of Aquebogue, is responsible for some of the highest-scoring wines of this report, including the haunting Paumanok Sauvignon Blanc North Fork of Long Island Late Harvest 2009, which balances honeyed almonds and apple fritters with salted papaya and blossoms. And the Paumanok Cabernet Sauvignon North Fork of Long Island Grand Vintage 1995 shows just how ageworthy the best wines here can be.

Of course, the wines produced in the North and South Fork are distinct thanks to the differences in terroir, water influence and climate.

“The biggest differences, and what truly does separate the South Fork from the North Fork, is we're obviously a moderate maritime district in general, defined by the Atlantic Ocean, the Great Peconic Bay and the Long Island Sound,” explained James Christopher Tracy, the winemaker at Channing Daughters, in the South Fork hamlet of Bridgehampton. “We're much more Atlantic- and ocean-influenced; the ocean's not even three miles from the winery here.”

A consequence of that proximity to the water, he says, is that parts of the South Fork are often one to three degrees Fahrenheit cooler than in the North Fork, which means that bud-break and harvest are typically a bit later. That doesn’t only affect the flavors and textures of the wines, but also how the fruit is impacted by the effects of climate change and the vagaries of vintage variation.

“For instance, when we got hammered with the frost in 2024, which in April is a super-rare occurrence  – that was the first time in 30-plus years, really – the North Fork was further out [in terms of development in the vineyard] and got toasted more than we did on our particular site,” in the South Fork, Tracy recalled.

That generally cooler climate can be felt and tasted in the wines of Channing Daughters. Their Tocai Friulano The Hamptons Long Island Sylvanus Vineyard 2024, for example, is nervy and lifted, with pineapple, apple cider and honeysuckle, all of it perky with acidity. And their Blaufränkisch The Hamptons Long Island Sylvanus Vineyard 2019 is pure, energetic and transparent, boasting blood orange, Rainier cherries and briary notes.

It’s important to note that significant variations also exist within both the North Fork and the South Fork, as well as between vineyards and even individual blocks. That diversity, and the ways in which it’s being understood and leveraged, is largely responsible for the consistently improving quality of Long Island’s wines.

Producers throughout Long Island are dialing in with increasing precision not just what to grow on which site, but also how to maximize the terroir expressiveness through a wide range of grape varieties.

There were plenty of impressive wines produced from unexpected varieties. That Channing Daughters Blaufränkisch is one example. So, too, is the chiseled, saline Bedell Melon de Bourgogne North Fork of Long Island 2024, whose tart green apples and seashells are notably tactile, thanks to aging on the lees. The charming and energetic One Woman Grüner Veltliner North Fork of Long Island Méthode Champenoise 2020 showed how well the great grape variety of Austria can do here (and sparkling, no less), with plenty of lemon-lime acidity rounded with a sense of yeasty creaminess.

Sparkling wines in general showed real promise and accomplishment, particularly from the standout producer Sparkling Pointe, which makes wines of definition, complexity and energy. Their North Fork of Long Island Blanc de Blancs Boisseau 2018 embodies this well, with brown butter bringing an embracing comfort to the nose and turning to a palate that threads a round mousse and vivacious acidity to carry pineapple upside-down cake and apple fritters with tension and harmony.

Much of this potential for success with a range of varieties and styles is baked into the land itself: Long Island’s geological history has made for a rich range of soil types and terroirs, which growers and producers are increasingly taking advantage of.

“Long Island is basically a giant sandbar,” Macari winemaker Byron Elmendorf explained during a drive through their vineyards. “Long Island was formed during the end of the last ice age. Basically, this is the southern extent of the Wisconsinite Glacier that came down over large swaths of North America. That giant pile of terminal moraine basically formed what would become Long Island.”

Elmendorf is taking full advantage of that range of terroirs with standout wines like the Macari Vineyards North Fork of Long Island Bergen Road 2022, a blend of merlot, cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon and petit verdot whose sticky tannins carry plums, cocoa powder and cherry liqueur alongside tobacco and ancho chili. So, too, is Luca Messana, the winemaker at Wölffer Estate, whose Chenin Blanc Long Island Cellar Series 2024 shows Thai basil, grapefruit and its pith, all of it gliding on a gently creamy texture.

Vintage Vagaries

As far as recent vintages on Long Island go, “2021 ended up being a strong vintage in spite of challenges in the form of intense humidity earlier in the summer and several significant rain events,” Massoud of Paumanok explained. “The rains were well-timed.”

He added: “September and October were very warm with plenty of sunshine, resulting in a full ripening of the crop. We were fortunate to conclude our harvest before the Nor’easter storms of late October.”

2022, on the other hand, “will be remembered for its hot, sunny, dry conditions, which resulted in excellent ripening across the board” and led to accelerated harvest dates, Massoud said. “While yields were down in many cases, quality was very high. Indeed, 2022 was our best vintage in recent years.”

2023 was an El Niño year, which, Massoud explained, “brought plenty of moisture, lots of humidity in June and July along with occasional rains, and then more rain in September and October.”

But there was also plenty of heat: “In the end, there was enough sun and heat to fully ripen the crop to produce the quality wines we aim for,” Massoud said.

And 2024 generally will be remembered for a smaller crop, a result of the April frost, but for generally very high quality.

Of course, no discussion of Long Island wine country is complete without acknowledging cabernet franc wines, which have long been a calling card for the state.

“I think maybe in the Finger Lakes, they tend to make fresher, maybe a little more vibrant francs, a little easy drinking,” said Messana of Wölffer. “And we have a Long Island terroir and a climate that allows us to really go for full ripeness for these full, complex, very beautiful wines.”

From the ageworthy McCall Wines Cabernet Franc North Fork of Long Island North Ridge Vineyard Reserve 2015 to the Bordeaux-like Roanoke Vineyards Cabernet Franc North Fork of Long Island Gabby’s 2019, cabernet franc is a variety that excels in Long Island and has the ability to express the unique areas where it’s grown. That’s true of so many of the best wines from Long Island.

“I think it’s a duty that we have to really represent what our terroir is,” Messana stressed. “If everybody were trying to make the same thing, then we could just talk about New York wines. But that’s really not the point. The point is to really talk about each region. What kind of wines can be made here? The Hudson Valley, the Niagara escarpment – it's completely different regions, completely different wines, completely different growing seasons. So I think that’s part of the beauty of New York as well.”

“And at least here” in Long Island, he added, “we really try to focus and make authentic wines – wines that are true to where we are.”

– Brian Freedman, Staff Writer & Taster

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