The U.S. is known for California wines. However, New York wines are becoming very desirable. This is amazing considering the industry is relatively new. Most of the state’s wine business is on Long Island. Years ago, Long Island was home to many potato farms. However, many of these farms disappeared in the 1970’s. The Hargrave family decided to turn one of the abandoned farms into a winery. There were those who questioned the family’s sanity. They thought the weather was too cold to grow grapes. The naysayers did not realize Long Island has a maritime climate. A maritime climate has warm summers and cold winters.
Interestingly, this is similar to France’s climate. Indeed, France is one of the largest wine producers in the world. The earliest successful Long Island Wines were cabernet sauvignon and pinot noir. Geography played a major role in the vineyards’ success. Long Island soil is formed from glaciers that covered the area thousands of years ago. The soil has excellent drainage so the vines are not damaged by heavy rains. Nonetheless, vintners have to be patient. The weather can prevent grapes from ripening and destroy them altogether.
2005 is said to be the best vintage so far for Long Island Wines. Three sunny months were followed by eight days of rain. As a result, the vineyards received about twenty inches of rain. Vintners with good draining soil had a boom year. On the other hand, some vintners lost fifty percent of the expected harvest. If you want to visit this area, travel to Suffolk County, New York. The up-scale communities of East Hampton and South Hampton are located in wine country.
Many of the vineyards are set up for tourists. Groups of all sizes are welcome. A wine-tasting is a must because of the variety of grapes grown here. Some of the popular full-bodied red wines include syrah, refosco and petit verdot. Long Island’s white wines are fermented and aged up to ten years in oak barrels. Popular varieties include Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. Riesling and Gewurztraminer are examples of area dessert wines. To learn more about these wines, visit Townecellarswines.com. A true wine lover needs to sample all the wines of America. You can also connect them on Facebook for more updates.
