East End WineriesLong Island Winery Guide
Sunrise mist over vineyard rows on Long Island

Curated Collection · 20 estates

Best Long Island Wineries
the quality cut

20 estates judged on the wine and the farming rather than the lawn: 9 benchmark houses, 4 holding the newest awards, 3 specialists, and 4 rooms worth the drive on their own. 18 on the North Fork, 2 in the Hamptons.

What earns a place on this list

Two arguments carry this list. The first is the record: Harbes holds Best Merlot in New York from the 2025 New York Wine Classic, Rose Hill a Governor’s Cup from the same judging, Sannino 94 points, and Coffee Pot a Wine Enthusiast Top 100 — four small houses that most best-of lists drive straight past. The second is the visit itself: estate-grown fruit, a house style you can taste across the flight, and a room that holds your attention for two hours, which is what earns the benchmark estates their place even in a year without hardware. Merlot and Cabernet Franc are what this coast does best, usually blended Bordeaux-style, with a quieter run of aromatic whites underneath — Albariño, Chenin Blanc, Grüner Veltliner, Pinot Blanc. Venues built for hospitality rather than the cellar are not failures, they are simply answering a different question, and they are on the trip-intent collections instead. For all 34 open wineries in driving order, use the North Fork list.

The benchmark estates

The houses other Long Island winemakers measure themselves against. Most have farmed the same ground for thirty or forty years, all of them grow their own fruit, and none of them need a lawn party to fill a Saturday.

Vine rows at Palmer Vineyards on Sound Avenue

01 · North Fork · Riverhead

Palmer Vineyards

Planted in 1983 and now farmed by the Paumanok family, Palmer is the aromatic-white answer on a coast that defaults to Merlot and Chardonnay: the first Albariño planted in New York, a sharp Sauvignon Blanc, and Old Roots Merlot off the original blocks.

The rare estate that is both serious and easy to walk into — the $25 mystery flight is the best-value introduction on the trail.

Walk in under six; six or more must reserve, and buses come by appointment only. Wood-fired pizza truck Friday through Sunday in season. No outside food, and the hours change month to month.

5120 Sound Ave, Riverhead, NY 11901
Winery pageWebsiteOpen in Maps
Barn tasting room and vines at Paumanok Vineyards

02 · North Fork · Aquebogue

Paumanok Vineyards

The Massoud family has worked this Aquebogue ground since 1983 and still makes what almost nobody else in the state does — a dry Chenin Blanc — alongside Cabernet Franc and Bordeaux blends built to be kept.

A quality-first estate that never let itself become a venue. The Chenin alone justifies the stop.

Daily 11 to 5, Friday through Sunday to 6. Walk in with seven or fewer; eight or more email res@paumanok.com, and weekends are best booked on Tock. No outside food. Dogs on weekdays only.

1074 Main Rd, Aquebogue, NY 11931
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Barrel cellar tasting table at Macari Vineyards

03 · North Fork · Mattituck

Macari Vineyards

A Sound-side farm the family has held since the 1960s, worked regeneratively and poured by someone whose job is to explain it: the Bergen Road Bordeaux blend, the Lifeforce Sauvignon Blanc, and a sparkling Cabernet Franc called Horses.

The most complete estate visit on the North Fork — real farming, an educator at the table, and a barrel cellar for the longer version.

Reservations required, up to six a table: $40 for five wines or $75 in the cellar. Lawn tables cannot be booked. Five-day cancellation window, and harvest traffic runs August through October.

150 Bergen Ave, Mattituck, NY 11952
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Aerial view of the Bedell Cellars tasting house and vineyard

04 · North Fork · Cutchogue

Bedell Cellars

The 1980 estate that set the standard for maritime Bordeaux on this coast: Musée as the flagship red, a saline Viognier, and a cellar that ferments on indigenous yeast.

Prestige without the hush — artist-designed labels, a porch over the vines, and a walk-in policy that still holds for a party of 15.

Sunday through Thursday 11 to 6, Friday and Saturday to 7, though private events close it often enough to check first. Flights $28 to $32, with a cellar tour bookable. Cheese and charcuterie on site, no outside food.

36225 Main Rd, Cutchogue, NY 11935
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Vineyard rows at Suhru & Lieb on Oregon Road

05 · North Fork · Cutchogue

Lieb Cellars

Pouring as Suhru & Lieb since the two labels merged, this is the Pinot Blanc house — a still version almost nobody else here grows, and an estate sparkling made from the same fruit under winemaker Russell Hearn.

A design-forward Oregon Road room with a 90-minute table and a flat no to buses: the North Fork at its quietest and most precise.

Reservations highly recommended on Tock, groups capped at eight, flights at $26, $28, and $36. Daily 12 to 6, Friday to 7. The library room is 21+. No outside food or drink.

13050 Oregon Rd, Cutchogue, NY 11935
Winery pageWebsiteOpen in Maps
Patio and tasting barn at McCall Wines in Cutchogue

06 · North Fork · Cutchogue

McCall Wines

A working Charolais cattle farm that also grows the most convincing Pinot Noir on Long Island, with a Reserve Cabernet Franc, Marjorie’s Rosé, and picnic tables looking over the Merlot rows and the herd.

Cool-climate Pinot is the hardest thing to get right out here, and this is the address where it works.

Book on Tock or take a first-come table — 90 minutes either way, six to a general reservation. Closed January and February. No limos or tour buses. Seasonal burger nights Thursday and Friday 4 to 8, cooked from the estate’s own beef.

22600 NY-25, Cutchogue, NY 11935
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Barrel room at Pellegrini Vineyards

07 · North Fork · Cutchogue

Pellegrini Vineyards

A 1991 showpiece built around a courtyard, where the reds carry the visit: Vintner’s Pride Encore, a Cabernet Franc, and a reserve Chardonnay, all fruit-driven and low-intervention.

The calmest serious room on Main Road — wedding-quality grounds with no wedding-sized crowd attached.

Open seven days, usually 11 to 5, with a walk-in bar for small parties. Five or more, or any limo, bus, or van, needs a reservation. The walk-in fee is not posted. Closed on major holidays, Mother’s Day included.

23005 Main Rd, Cutchogue, NY 11935
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Barn-style tasting house at Lenz Winery in Peconic

08 · North Fork · Peconic

Lenz Winery

Farming since 1978, and the only house here whose identity is age: Old Vines Chardonnay and Merlot off some of the oldest plantings on the East End, a Gewürztraminer, and a traditional-method Cuvée.

If you want to taste what this region does with time rather than polish, the rustic courtyard is where to sit.

Reservations preferred for one to six and required from seven to 16; buses and limos by appointment. Five wines run about $25 to $35, with a $75 VIP flight. No outside food, whatever older listings claim.

38355 NY-25, Peconic, NY 11958
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Italianate villa and lawn at Raphael in Peconic

09 · North Fork · Peconic

Raphael

An Italianate villa on Main Road with a gravity-flow cellar that Château Margaux’s Paul Pontallier consulted on at the start: La Fontana as the Bordeaux blend, plus First Label Merlot and Sauvignon Blanc.

Merlot-first and Bordeaux-minded in the grandest room on the trail — and 21+, so it stays an adult afternoon.

Open seven days from noon; walk in with a small party, while eight or more need a reservation and a tasting package. Weddings close the tasting room, so check the calendar. Pizza and sliders on site, no outside food. Not the same place as Osprey’s next door.

39390 NY-25, Peconic, NY 11958
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The recent award winners

Four smaller houses holding the most recent hardware on the East End — a Governor’s Cup, Best Merlot in New York, 94 points, and a Wine Enthusiast Top 100. None of them is a grand campus, and three are easy to drive past.

Wine barn and patio at Harbes Vineyard in Mattituck

10 · North Fork · Mattituck

Harbes Vineyard

The Proprietor’s Reserve Merlot took Best Merlot in New York at the 2025 New York Wine Classic, which is not what you expect from a hundred-year-old potato barn on a family farm — there is also a reserve Cabernet Franc, a Blanc de Blancs, and a Chardonnay ice wine.

The North Fork’s first certified sustainable vineyard, and the only place on this list where the flight comes with cider doughnuts and farm animals.

No reservations, first-come: three tastes $20 or five for $30. Seasonal, roughly April to early November, daily 11 to 6 and to 7 on July and August weekends. It shares a driveway with the farmstand and Barnyard, so autumn is crowded. No buses.

715 Sound Ave, Mattituck, NY 11952
Winery pageWebsiteOpen in Maps
Guest room at the Rose Hill Vineyards farmhouse inn

11 · North Fork · Mattituck

Rose Hill Vineyards

The old Shinn vineyard, planted in 1998 and rebranded in 2021, whose 2019 Clarity Cabernet Sauvignon won the Governor’s Cup at the 2025 New York Wine Classic — alongside the Concrete Blonde Sauvignon Blanc and the Coalescence blend.

Low-additive, certified sustainable farming on Oregon Road, in a barn quiet enough that the house bans buses and bachelorette parties outright.

First-come daily 11 to 6, with reservations only for wine-club members. Flights $20 to $34, eight to a group. The popular bottles sell out, and peak days mean a wait at the bar.

2000 Oregon Rd, Mattituck, NY 11952
Winery pageWebsiteOpen in Maps
Aerial view of the vineyard at Sannino Vineyard

12 · North Fork · Cutchogue

Sannino Vineyard

A boutique Cutchogue estate whose Francesco Reserve scored 94 points at the New York Wine Classic, poured in a 2019 tasting house with a Vivacious sparkling rosé and the Sorellina beside it.

Tastings are built to teach — comparative pours rather than a list — and there is a B&B on the property if the afternoon runs long.

Walk in with six or fewer, $30 for four wines; groups of 7 to 15 prepay $35 a head, and the Vine to Wine tour is $100. Confirm the hours, since the site and the booking system disagree. Last pour is 30 minutes before close. No pets.

15975 County Rd 48, Cutchogue, NY 11935
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Coffee Pot Cellars tasting room and garden in Cutchogue

13 · North Fork · Cutchogue

Coffee Pot Cellars

A Merlot that landed in Wine Enthusiast’s Top 100 in 2021, made in small batches by Adam Suprenant and poured in a roadside room he shares with Laura Klahre’s Blossom Meadow jams.

The least scenic address on this list and the highest-touch visit on it: the winemaker himself pours on most Sundays, at no extra charge.

Walk-ins always welcome, Friday through Monday 11 to 6, closed Tuesday through Thursday. Call for six or more. The fee is not posted — about $21 for everything as of 2023. A tiny bar rather than a campus.

31855 Main Rd, Cutchogue, NY 11935
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The specialists

Three cellars that do one thing almost nobody else here attempts — and do it well enough that the rest of the list cannot copy it.

Sparkling Pointe tasting house seen from the vineyard

14 · North Fork · Southold

Sparkling Pointe

Forty acres of Champagne grapes on Route 48 and a cellar that makes nothing else: Topaz Impérial Brut Rosé, the Blanc de Noirs Cuvée Cynthia, a Brut Nature, and a Blanc de Blancs, all traditional method.

The only sparkling specialist in the state’s wine country — flutes and table service rather than a bar with one bottle of fizz on the list.

Sit-down tasting house with reservations on Resy and walk-ins if service permits. General bookings run to six, drivers included; larger groups by arrangement. Flights have been $20 for the flagship and $30 for the Prestige. No pets, no picnics, and never an unbooked bus.

39750 County Rd 48, Southold, NY 11971
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Red tasting barn at One Woman Wines in Southold

15 · North Fork · Southold

One Woman Wines & Vineyards

Claudia Purita farms the rarest white out here — a mineral Grüner Veltliner — with a dry Alsatian-style Gewürztraminer beside it, poured since the end of 2024 in a new barn with an Italian café counter inside.

A mother-and-daughter farm winery that quietly turned into a destination: Grüner, good coffee, tinned fish, and Friday jazz.

Usually Wednesday through Monday, roughly 11:30 to 6, closed Tuesday. Four wines $25, build-your-own $35. Call first — the property was listed for sale in early 2026, with the tasting room reported to be staying open. Historically no groups over six and no limos.

5195 Old North Rd, Southold, NY 11971
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Outdoor tasting table at Channing Daughters in Bridgehampton

16 · South Fork · Bridgehampton

Channing Daughters Winery

The most experimental cellar on Long Island, set in a Bridgehampton sculpture garden: Tocai Friulano, Blaufränkisch, field blends, vermouth, and the skin-contact whites that put it on Manhattan wine lists.

Nobody else here farms 25 varieties or ferments like this. It is the South Fork stop that is about the wine rather than the scene.

Daily 11 to 6. Walk-ins are fine but six or more must reserve, five wines run about $28, tables are held 75 to 90 minutes, and Saturdays carry a $5 per person reservation fee. Production is tiny, and this is a long drive from the North Fork.

1927 Scuttle Hole Rd, Bridgehampton, NY 11932
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Worth it for the room

Good wine in places that would be worth the drive even if the wine were ordinary: a bluff over the Sound, a garden cottage, decks over the rows, and the Hamptons original.

Vineyard rows at Ev&Em Vineyards in Laurel

17 · North Fork · Laurel

Ev&Em Vineyards

A Laurel vineyard first planted in 1984 and rebuilt from the ground up in 2021: structured French varieties, a Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon called The Everett, and two Chardonnays made in steel and in barrel.

The best new room on the trail — sustainably certified farming, and decks that sit right out over the rows.

Walk-ins are welcome but weekend reservations matter. $45 for four wines with charcuterie on the Tasting Deck, $98 in the Barrel Room, capped at 12. Both decks are 21+ and children stay on the lawn. No outside food or drink.

3165 Main Rd, Laurel, NY 11948
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Fire-pit lounge at Mattebella Vineyards

18 · North Fork · Southold

Mattebella Vineyards

A converted barn cottage among roses and fig trees, pouring old-world blends off organically minded rows: the Old World Blend, a range of Chardonnays, and a Chardonnay sparkler.

Sit-down service in a garden that holds a few dozen people — the antidote to a tasting bar, and the vineyard tour earns its $38.

Weekend reservations are essential, and the tour with tasting runs April through November. Winter is often Friday through Sunday only, and the stone driveway can close in snow. No outside food or drink.

46005 NY-25, Southold, NY 11971
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Kontokosta Winery at sunset on the Greenport bluff

19 · North Fork · Greenport

Kontokosta Winery

The only tasting room on the Long Island Sound: a modern building on a Greenport bluff above a meadow, pouring Cabernet Franc, Sauvignon Blanc, and the Anemometer blends off genuinely maritime rows.

The view is unmatched on the island, and it is walk-in — no reservation to make and no bus in the parking lot.

Daily 11 to 5, first-come, with the flight price not posted. Limousines, buses, and vans are not permitted. There is no beach access from the bluff, and summer Saturdays reach capacity. No outside food.

825 North Rd, Greenport, NY 11944
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Patio overlooking the vineyard at Wölffer Estate in Sagaponack

20 · South Fork · Sagaponack

Wölffer Estate

The Hamptons estate that turned rosé into a summer object: Summer in a Bottle, Christian’s Cuvée Merlot, and an estate cider, made by Roman Roth across 55 acres in Sagaponack since 1988.

Two entirely different visits under one name — a seated Tasting Room on Sagg Road, or the walk-up Wine Stand on Montauk Highway at sunset over the 1990 Merlot field.

The Tasting Room is seated on Tock, capped around eight to ten, and sometimes closed for weddings; the Wine Stand is walk-in daily 11 to 8. Two separate addresses. No outside food and no dogs at either.

139 Sagg Rd, Sagaponack, NY 11962
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Best Long Island wineries FAQ

What is the best winery on Long Island?

There is no single answer, which is why this page is a list of 20. If you only get one afternoon: Macari or Bedell for the benchmark North Fork experience, Harbes if you want the wine that was judged Best Merlot in New York in 2025, Rose Hill for the Governor’s Cup Cabernet Sauvignon, Kontokosta for the only tasting room on the Long Island Sound, Sparkling Pointe for traditional-method bubbles, McCall for Pinot Noir, and Wölffer if you are staying in the Hamptons.

How was this list decided?

By two tests. One is the record in the glass, which is why the four most recently decorated houses on the East End are here even though three of them are small and easy to drive past. The other is the visit: estate-grown fruit, a house style you can taste across the flight, and a room worth two hours. Venues that are mainly hospitality — party lawns, frozen wine cocktails, sweet-and-dry lists built to please everyone — are on the trip-intent collections instead, because they are genuinely better at that job.

Which Long Island wines have won recent awards?

Harbes took Best Merlot in New York at the 2025 New York Wine Classic, Rose Hill won a Governor’s Cup at the same judging for its 2019 Clarity Cabernet Sauvignon, Sannino’s Francesco Reserve scored 94 points there, and Coffee Pot’s Merlot made Wine Enthusiast’s Top 100 in 2021. All four are on this page in their own section, and all four are on the North Fork — two in Mattituck, two in Cutchogue.

What is Long Island wine actually known for?

Merlot and Cabernet Franc are the region’s real strengths, usually as Bordeaux-style blends: Bedell’s Musée, Raphael’s La Fontana, Pellegrini’s Encore, Macari’s Bergen Road, and Harbes’ Proprietor’s Reserve. Cabernet Sauvignon ripens here in the better years, which is what Rose Hill’s Clarity proved. The whites are the quiet surprise — Palmer’s Albariño, Paumanok’s Chenin Blanc, One Woman’s Grüner Veltliner, Lieb’s Pinot Blanc — and McCall makes the Pinot Noir that shouldn’t work here and does.

Do the best Long Island wineries need reservations?

Macari requires one, Mattebella requires one on weekends, and Wölffer’s Tasting Room is seated on Tock. Lieb, Ev&Em, Sparkling Pointe, Sannino, and Channing all recommend booking. Plenty are still walk-in: Kontokosta takes no reservations at all, Harbes, Rose Hill, and Coffee Pot are first-come, Bedell holds walk-ins to 15, Paumanok to seven, Palmer to under six, and Pellegrini seats small parties at the bar.

What does a tasting cost at the top estates?

Roughly $20 to $45 for a standard flight — $20 for three tastes at Harbes and for Sparkling Pointe’s flagship, $20 to $34 at Rose Hill, about $21 at Coffee Pot, $25 at Palmer and One Woman, $26 to $36 at Lieb, $28 to $32 at Bedell, $28 at Channing, $30 at Sannino, $38 for Mattebella with the tour, $40 at Macari, $45 on Ev&Em’s Tasting Deck. The longer experiences run higher: $75 for Macari’s barrel cellar and Lenz’s VIP, $100 for Sannino’s Vine to Wine tour, $98 for Ev&Em’s Barrel Room.

How many of the best are on the North Fork versus the Hamptons?

Eighteen of the 20 are on the North Fork, between Riverhead and Greenport, and they sit close enough together to pair two in an afternoon — Cutchogue alone holds six of them, and Macari, Harbes, and Rose Hill are all in Mattituck. The South Fork contributes two that are worth their own day: Channing Daughters in Bridgehampton for the experimental cellar, and Wölffer Estate in Sagaponack for rosé and the sunset Wine Stand.