Longing to visit this newly developed wine country since a while. North and south forks of Long Island are the closest US wine regions across the ocean from France, used to be just farmland full of potatoes and cauliflowers, and a few wine makers trying to copy the Bordeaux style. Today, there's about 46 wineries in North Fork area and 4 wineries in South Fork.(The famous Hamptons, with it's sandy beaches and trendy stores, land here is way more expensive.) Wine makers started to learn the local "terroir" and try to develop their own styles. With the rich resources of seafood from nearby harbours, fresh vegetables, fruits from the region, and cheeses, ducks, fois gras, etc, this area attracted lots of Manhattan famous chefs moving here, some even settled down, opening restaurants with their own farms and very stylish B&Bs. These newly developed wineries are not as big or famous as Californian ones yet, but therefore are way less commercialized (especially North fork ones), a bit rustic but homey, quiet and laid back.
Went straight without stopping from my sister's Manhasset home to Shinn Estate, Mattituck, North Fork. We were running late because we visited an aviation museum first. This museum wasn't a tourist trap, so there weren't very many people, but it was extremely educational, full of historical information, very suitable for you if you are travelling with some smart and curious kids.
Taking a look at the wine selection.
It's a very nice patio outside of the tasting room. The sign wasn't clear, I went in a wrong building which turned out to be their B & B lobby, and had to interrupt a lady who was elegantly enjoying her before dinner drink with canapes to ask her where the tasting room was.
It was around 4 O'clock, nice out but still a bit stuffy, so we started with a chilled sparkling "Brut" made from 100% Chardonnay, a Sauvighon Blanc and a very nice Riesling from Seneca lake. This Riesling is named "Luminous", with bright, clear color and layers of aromas: honeysuckle, citrus blossoms, golden apple and guava fruit. Just a bit off dry. The Sparkling and the Sauvighon Blanc were nice but simple, better to be served chilled.
Cute lady's tasting wine among the beautiful vines, the most sensuous scene.
If I were Monet, I wouldn't have been able to resist drawing this.
A great cheese shop in Mattituck.
We were going back to Taipei in several days, still couldn't resist to buy some cheese. There's of course some imported ones in Taipei, but not much choice. Also bought a big chunk of truly delicious fig cake.
Quiet Mattituck street in a late summer afternoon.
Interesting rainbow colored wood chairs behind Venus. Saw a lot of them in this area.
The street sign happened to match Apple's bag!
Horse riding is popular in this area.
Time for the harbour sunset and some good sea food.
The "5th Season", our choice for dinner.
Big crowd gathering in the patio watching sunset and enjoying their aperitif.
Hot spot indeed, good thing we made a reservation.
Crab salad
Beet salad
Lobster salad
Very fresh and juicy, generous portion as well.
Soup was pretty hearty.
Very tasty mussels, smaller than those in Taiwan or Paris(Not sure from which region though.), but tasted even better.
Steak was nice, too.
Split Chandon Rosé
First, we ordered an Ale and a dark beer freshly brewed from Long Island, a very good suggestion from our waiter who was very knowledgeable about local products. The beers matched well with almost everything we ordered.
However, with the delicious lobster, I was looking for something else. Tried one red and one white also from nearby area, not too great, so I chose the familiar Chandon Rosé from California, which was always a good value and went perfectly with the lobster. (Some good Rosés should do the job, too.)
Unfortunately, Moët's new Chandon from Australia that I tasted in a Japanese style grill in Taipei was pretty boring.
Our favorite way to explore wineries is to find a hotel with a nice outdoor swimming pool, swim and do yoga in the morning, have a nice breakfast, relax a bit by the pool while planning our day trip, pack a couple of big fat sandwiches with a bottle or two of Perrier, good with both the lunch or after tasting wines, and then head out for our destination. For the first-time visiting wine country, we'll drive around and explore as much as we can, just to get an idea of the characters of all the wineries(without wine tasting), and then go for just 2 or 3 wineries a day starting the next day. (If you prefer to stay in just one very nicely landscaped winery and enjoy your picnic, that's perfectly OK, too. Most of the wineries welcome everybody to picnic on their properties, except some of them don't like you to consume wines from other wineries. ) This way's much more relaxing and your palate won't get too tired, either.
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