Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/197178
Once a nondescript whaling port, the town of Greenport has become a tourist destination, with chic boutiques, restaurants and inns. Photo: Katharine Schroeder The EscalationTourism of Long Island Wine North Fork transformed by winery ow Greenport has changed! This small former whaling port on the North Fork of Long Island, N.Y., is now a bustling waterfront village filled with chic shops, inns and community partnership and bed and breakfasts ranging from quaint to classy, and scores of trendy eateries. According to Wikipedia, Greenport is "the hub of the North Fork foodie culture." BY MARGUERITE THOMAS Less than a dozen years ago I spent a night at the Greenporter Hotel, at that time the only decent option in town (and still a stylish hotel). But other than the Greenporter and its very good restaurant, the little village seemed, all in all, a fairly nondescript place. Or as Paumanok Vineyards founder and owner Charles Massoud put it when I spoke with him recently: "Greenport was a dump." What's happened in the intervening years to make Greenport, and for that matter, the entire North Fork of Long Island, the magnet for tourism that it is today, with an estimated 1.3 million annual visi+ Since the North Fork's first commercial winery was founded 40 tors, more than 61 wineries and 44 winery years ago, the region has grown to include more than 61 wineries. tasting rooms? While it's tempting to attri+ Tourism is the region's lifeblood, drawing an estimated 1.3 million bute the North Fork's success to the boom visitors annually. in number of wineries and concomitant + The strongest driver of wine tourism is the high quality of the wine. upsurge in wine quality, this is too simplistic an explanation. + Alliances between wineries and the local community contribute to Wineries alone do not bring hordes of the North Fork's success. visitors to a region no matter how mouth+ The sustainable practices of local wineries are also a draw. watering the merlot or savory the Seyval. A truly successful wine destination attracts not only day-trippers but also visitors who AT A GLANCE 112 V I N EYA R D & WINE RY M ANAGEM ENT | Nov - Dec 2013 w w w. v wm m e d i a . c o m