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Eileen Duffy's new book "Behind the Bottle"[/caption]
By Annette Hinkle
As the editor and digital editor of both Edible East End and Edible Long Island, Quogue resident Eileen Duffy has gotten to know a great deal about local food since she began writing about it back in 2003.
But if you ask her, she’ll tell you that wine is her real passion. Which is why it’s probably no accident that Ms. Duffy’s new book is all about wine — East End wine, in particular.
“Behind the Bottle: The Rise of Wine on Long Island” covers the history of wine making on the East End and in it, Ms. Duffy profiles some of the region’s most successful vintages of the past 40 years as defined by the winemakers who created them. This Saturday at 2 p.m., she will be at the Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill to talk about her new book followed, of course, by a wine tasting and book signing.
“Behind the Bottle” starts at the beginning, with the story of Louisa and Alex Hargrave, the young couple who were the trailblazers of Long Island’s wine growing industry. Back in 1973, when the Hargraves moved to the North Fork from upstate New York, they had the audacity (and the naiveté) to do something totally unexpected — plant Vitis vinifera (European wine grapes) in their fields as opposed to Vitas riparia or Vitis labrusca, the American grape varieties which grow well in this country, but don’t always make the best wines.
Through a combination of sheer determination and considerable trial and error, the Hargraves came to realize that grape varieties such as chardonnay, merlot, sauvignon blanc, pinot noir, riesling and cabernet sauvignon can do fairly well on the East End, which has a climate more akin to France’s Loire Valley than the cold Finger Lakes. Soon, other grape famers started following their lead and before long, an industry was born.
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Eileen Duffy (Doug Young photo)[/caption]
“Most people who were of drinking age when Long Island wines came out had their first taste and thought it was bad and expensive and that’s it,” says Ms. Duffy who notes that because of those early experiences, many people have unwisely written off Long Island wines altogether.
“Now there are Long Island wines in every price range,” she adds. “You can get a good bottle of Chardonnay for $10 or $60 — now they have a range.”
When asked why those early vintages were so unpalatable to so many people, Ms. Duffy responds, “They didn’t know what they were doing. They were not using the right equipment, they were not planting the right clones. No one knew what was going to grow here. They bought vines that were growing up in the Finger Lakes region where it’s a cooler climate.”
But over the years, she notes, the East End farmers learned, took notes and took chances. In the end, they were able to find European wine grapes that not only grew well in this coastal climate with it’s ocean breezes and hot sunny days, but also figured out how to make some pretty fabulous wines along the way.
“They’ve gradually been replanting, updating the vineyards and learning how to grow things,” she says. “Now they can just focus on quality."
These days, Long Island vintages can (and often do) hold their own against the toughest competition — wines made in California, France and Italy. To that end, in her book Ms. Duffy also offers an in depth look at the region’s greatest individual successes as defined by the winemakers themselves who shared with her the stories behind what they consider to be their best vintage ever on the East End.
“I picked 17 different winemakers and asked them to choose a bottle of Long Island wine they made which they felt had been a milestone for them or the region,” explains Ms. Duffy. “I also tell their story — how they ended up here and their wine philosophy.
“Each person picked a wine and they ended up offering a full spectrum,” she adds. “We had wines from the ‘90s and from 2013, sparkling wines, reds, whites, dessert wines and a rose.”
“Everyone approaches it a different way, she says. “Some have been here 20 years and some have just arrived.”
And now, more than 40 years after the Hargraves planted those first grape vines, it looks like winemaking on the East End is here to stay. While wine grapes are now grown in all 50 states, Ms. Duffy notes the East End’s proximity to New York City, one of the best wine markets in the world, has helped solidify the area’s reputation as a serious wine growing region — despite what some of those early detractors might tell you.
“A lot of people who came of age drinking East End wine still suffer from those early days,” she notes. “But it’s changing. There’s a younger group in their 20s now and there’s such a locavore movement. They live in Brooklyn, take a bus out and get a Zip Car and do a Saturday tour of the vineyards.”
“Behind the Bottle: The Rise of Wine on Long Island” a conversation with Eileen Duffy is Saturday, May 9, 2015 at 2 p.m. at the Parrish Art Museum (279 Montauk Highway, Water Mill). Admission is $10 (free with book purchase or for members). The talk will be followed by a book signing and wine tasting with Susan Hearn of Suhru Wines. Call (631) 283-2118 for details or visit parrishart.org.
