Are you planning on heading to the North Fork of Long Island, New York this summer? The opportunity presented itself this summer to venture out for a weekend away together, so we took full advantage! Long Island is located a 1/2 km (1/3 mile) east of Manhattan Island and reaches 190 km (118 miles) out into the Atlantic Ocean. The first third of the island comprises Brooklyn and Queens, followed by Nassau County then Suffolk County, and depending on what direction you are coming from, can be reached by car, plane, train or ferry. While this was neither of our first times in Suffolk County, it’s our first time there together so we made the most of it! Read on as we share our top experiences with you right here!
Fun Long Island Facts: Longest and largest island in the contiguous US; houses 40% of NY state population; demonym (word of the day!)=Long Islander; nationally recognized for duck farming; [Montauk] is home to the record for largest great white shark ever caught on rod and reel (3,427lbs)!
Getting to Long Island from the Northeast
Another (not so fun) fact about Long Island is that it is generally expensive! So, if you’re on a budget, it’s worth putting in a little planning and it starts before you even get there. We took the Cross Sound Ferry over to the island from New London, CT. If your travel times are flexible, sign up for their rewards program (it’s FREE!) you can save $3-10 per walk-on ticket and $18-29 per vehicle + driver ticket (look for the blue starred reservations). We should mention, you will most definitely need some form of personal transportation on this trip. Many visitors go the pedal bike route and motorcycles are not uncommon.
The ferry ride is a beautiful 1 hour 20 minutes ride, with cell reception most of the time. Most of the boats have food and beverages available on board, as well as indoor and outdoor seating options. Oh, and hang on to that ferry ticket stub, it’ll grant you some perks once you land on the other side 😉 Keep reading for a glimpse at our favourite stops, tips on getting the most out of your trip and a map for your reference at the end.
Here are our top 7 North Fork stops (in order of encounter once you disembark from the ferry):
- Lavender By the Bay
- Hellenic Snack Bar
- Kontokosta Winery
- One Woman Wines & Vineyard
- Local Farm Stands
- Twin Stills Distillery
- Riverhead Cider House
Once you arrive on the island your direction is pretty much a no brainer as the North Fork’s main vain dead ends at the ferry. Disembark, and begin your scenic, winding ride along Rt 25 towards Rt 48! Our first stop is about 10 minutes down the road:
Lavender By the Bay
The overwhelming aroma will greet you as you travel down the road, and you’ll know you are near the 17-acre farm before you even see the sign – it is absolutely worth the stop just to take it all in. I’ll admit, we didn’t pay the entrance fee to wander the glorious alleys of lavender but there is plenty of opportunities to walk the perimeter and reap similar benefits. There is a quaint little giftshop which offers up plenty of lavender products to take that pleasant smell home with you, in addition to some local artisan items. Lavender soaps, lotions, sachets, oils and honey line the tables here, they even have lavender scones!
TRAVEL TIP: It can get very busy around bloom season (there were police officers directing traffic the day we went) and the lineups can get long. We grabbed a fragrant nosegay of fresh stems to dry and headed back down the road in search of brunch. (Tip: if you plan your trip around the busy/blooming season they have FREE entry)
Hellenic snack Bar
A hop, skip and a jump down the road you’ll find Hellenic Snack Bar. A very reasonably priced Greek restaurant with lots of parking and seating, both inside and out. Their stunning brunch menu includes many delectable sounding dishes as well as Bloody Marys and Mimosas. For our beverage order, we decided to try the iced Greek coffee (delish!). For the main course, I ordered the Trio Bel Canto (a dolmades omelet-mind blown!) and Phil ordered the Wagyu Hash complete with Kobe corned beef (also very tasty). The wait staff were great and the overall atmosphere admirable. We were both thoroughly impressed and highly recommend stopping in, be it for brunch, lunch, dinner, drinks or just dessert. Bellies full! Next stop? A winery of course, and the first of several (note: most vineyards tend to hold 11am to 5/6pm hours, so plan accordingly).
Kontokosta Winery
As you take a right off the main drag and make your way down the graveled road, you are surrounded by vines and a weathered looking barn awaits you in the distance, backed by Long Island Sound – this is Kontokosta. This 62-acre property is home to a wind-powered winery. As you enter the tasting room, you realize it is far from weathered. Their modern interior, high ceilings and beautiful windows frame this stunning property. Straight ahead is the tasting bar where your weekend of wine intake begins! We were warmly greeted by the bar staff and a menu of what they had on hand for tastings. Our favourites were the Viognier and the Anemometer White.
One Woman Wines
Located in a quaint little corner just off the beaten path – One Woman Vineyard. This winery was hands down our favourite. They have a couple small, shaded seating areas outdoors, ideal for purchasing a glass and taking in a beautiful summer’s day. We had the honor of our tasting being hosted by the wine makers daughter, Gabriella. She was most kind and knowledgeable about the wines available from this certified sustainable winery and its history.
All of One Woman’s wines are created using estate grapes and you’ll notice the varietals are unique. They stand out from any other winery along the North Fork, as they have specifically selected grapes that thrive here. The terroir offered along Long Island Sound is favourable to varietals like Gruner and Gewürztraminer. Unlike many of the wineries you may visit on NOFO, they will turn away groups of more than six people. The tasting room is quite intimate, which we found to be most desirable. So, if you’re with a group you may want to diverge your itineraries or else plan to visit another time. In our conversation, we were encouraged to check out some of the local farm stands as well.
TRAVEL TIP: If you check in on Yelp, you may be entitled to a special reserve tasting.
Local farm stands
As you continue to drive along Rt 48, you’ll pass several farm stands. They carry local fruits and vegetables, flowers, jams, jellies (horseradish too!) as well as baked goods. These side of the road shacks have al ot to offer, including some great photo opportunities (see the giant Popeye above). We stopped at a couple to take in the local fare, grabbing vegetables for dinner and snacks for the road. More specifically, the snacks comprised Bailey’s cheesecake and cider donuts to get us through the afternoon. Next stop?
twin stills moonshine
Heading West on Rt 48 you’ll come across this little blink-and-you’ll-miss-it shack on the right-hand side. (Note: it’s not on the North Fork Wine Trail map but we added it to ours for reference). Parking for Twin Stills Moonshine is pretty limited but seems to accommodate the small tasting room quite well. Combining an old Portuguese tradition of single, small batch distillation with local corn, this is one you don’t want to miss! With flavours like Apple Pie, Mixed Berry and Coffee, one (or two!) of these whiskeys that will compliment your collection. They even have drink suggestion cards you can take home with you. Though it was a struggle to pick one, we went with the Maple Pecan and have absolutely no regrets!
riverhead cider house
We randomly stumbled onto this last gem and are so glad we did! The Riverhead Cider House has over a dozen of their own ciders on tap, made from over 15 varieties of apple and the selection of flavours is impressive. They also have taps reserved for other popular Long Island brewers. This included Blue Point Brewer, which is another one of our cherished spots. As you enter through the gift shop, you are greeted by a long, open tasting room with high ceilings. It has several types of seating areas with a fireplace at the far end. They even have a space designated to live music.
There is, quite brilliantly, a café built into the tasting room, especially given the high-octane level of most of their ciders. They have some small bites, pizza, salad and even a kid’s menu. AND they have a guacamole cart rolling around! We made our way to the end and out onto the patio where there was another large seating area. Equally as packed, the patio boasted a hot dog vendor at the disposal of anyone who daren’t return indoors. We grabbed a couple flights and returned to the patio to set up on one of the (many) sofas. Spring Fling and Honey Crisp Bolt were two of our favourites.
Where to Stay
With regards to accommodations, there are plenty of little Bed and Breakfasts dotted along the main road. We stayed in a hotel located slightly further inland in Holstville. This provided a great central location for venturing along the South coast of Long Island as well. And if living vicariously is more your thing, don’t fret because most of the highlighted location have online gift shops. You can have their products delivered right to your door! There are also tours locally available if that’s your speed.
You can see from our trusty map, we didn’t discuss all of our stops, but we highlighted our top 7 great stops along the North Fork of Long Island, NY. Also notice that we barely put a dent in the list of wineries over the course of our weekend. And these are only the wineries located on the North Fork! There are also many places to discover along the South Fork and the rest of Long Island. Guess we’ll just have to come back 🙂
HAVE YOU VISITED NORTH FORK LONG ISLAND BEFORE? WHAT ARE YOUR MEMORABLE MOMENTS?
P.S.
Some of our time was spent checking out local trails, and if you love hiking and being outdoors as much as we do, we highly recommend coming prepared to deal with the rampant tick population of Long Island. We didn’t encounter any while winery hopping but it took mere seconds upon entering a trail head to find out how abundant they are. Check out this link, courtesy of Long Island State Park Headquarters for some tips on “living in harmony” with these little pests.
Disclaimer: We absolutely LOVE vineyard hopping (this wasn’t our first rodeo) and we stronglyy advise against drinking and driving. It’s always a good idea to plan these trips out ahead of time, pace yourself and know when to call it quits. Better yet, have a Designated Driver! A great way to make the most of a vineyard hopping day is to share tastings. In doing so, you can taste more and exchange notes while simultaneously sampling! PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY
