Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/197178
The Square in Greenport includes Prep, a walk-up window offering artisanal street food. Photo: Marguerite Thomas to Long Island raised the gastronomic bar, inspiring forward-thinking vintners to form a synergetic bond with wine's best friend: food. In addition to teaming up with local restaurants to host winemaker dinners, many vintners joined forces with local food purveyors to offer tastings and other gourmet events in the wineries' own tasting rooms. Some of these food and wine pairings reach well beyond the obvious cheese-and-wine couplings. Take Sparkling Pointe's ongoing "Sparkling Breakfast Pairing," for example, which offers breakfast pastries from Blue Duck Bakery paired with a selection of sparkling wines. (It also includes an introduction to the méthode champenoise process, a 10% discount on bottle purchases and a flute embellished with the winery logo). Several wineries (including Sparkling Pointe) have reached out to local oyster suppliers. Paumanok, one of a handful of estates collaborating with Karen Rivara, a purveyor of Peconic Bay shellfish, has been hosting popular Saturday evenings with fresh oysters shucked on the winery's deck. "Fresh oysters paired with our chenin blanc is fantastic," Massoud said. "No one can resist." Keith Luce, a James Beard Award-winning chef and favorite 114 V I N EYA R D & WINE RY M ANAGEM ENT | collaborator with many local wineries, may be the most wide-ranging food guy on Long Island, or perhaps anywhere. He makes pancetta and other charcuterie from the Mangalitsa pigs he raises on his family's farm in Jamesport (the charcuterie program was launched via Kickstarter). In May 2013, Luce opened The Square in Greenport, where he created four food-related components including Prep, a walk-up window offering artisanal street food such as wood-fired flatbread pizza topped with ingredients including house-cured meets and fresh ricotta; Nosh, an informal café; Meet, a gathering spot for friends, local Nov - Dec 2013 sommeliers, brewers and vintners as well as a place to buy cookbooks and kitchen equipment; and Main, described by Luce as "a traditional restaurant with fun, American-style comfort food." Which brings us back to oysters, via the raw bar at Main, where internationally sourced oysters as well as local bivalves are offered. "You can strengthen a region by comparing local to other parts of the world," explained Luce. Following this same philosophy, the restaurant's wine list sprinkles local labels in with selections from around the world. While this strategy seems to be working at Luce's Main, juxtaposing wine (oysters, cheese – whatever) can be successful only when the quality of the local product is high enough to stand up to the competition. It's hard to know whether North Fork wineries have set the pace or kept up with the momentum, but either way it's an impressive achievement. Whether they're offering yoga in the vineyards, star gazing with astronomers from Custer Institute, or hosting wine dinner cruises on the Sound, North Fork wineries have stepped up to the plate. MAGNETIC MUSIC Music is unquestionably a ubiquitous magnet that draws people to wine country, whether performed by local or out-of-town talent. While there is scarcely a winery on Long Island that doesn't put on regular Your label matters. winelabelportfolio.com w w w. v wm m e d i a . c o m