Long Island Wine Council Announces Second Annual "Taste North Fork" On Veterans Day Weekend

The Long Island Wine Council is announced they will be hosting their second annual Taste North Fork promotion over Veterans Day Weekend from Sunday, Nov. 9 to Tuesday, Nov. 11.

The program will include special tastings and events at wineries and other local craft beverage producers, as well as a range of activities and offers at local restaurants, shops and historical sites from Wading River to Greenport. There are 114 businesses participating this year, including 29 wineries and other craft beverage producers, 19 hotels and Bed and Breakfasts, and 17 restaurants.

Similar to last year, the 2014 program will feature a free ”hop on-hop off” shuttle service connecting North Fork hamlets, wineries and other businesses participating in the festival. There will be a “Riverhead Loop”, for stops between Riverhead and Aquebogue, a “Peconic Loop” between Aquebogue and Peconic, and a “Greenport Loop” with stops between Peconic and Greenport.

The shuttles will circulate every 30 minutes from noon to 5:30 p.m. with passenger access from the Long Island Rail Road station in Mattituck, the Cross Sound Ferry terminal in Orient Point, and Tanger Outlets in Riverhead. Access to the shuttle loops will also be provided by a new Hampton Jitney I Love NY bus tour. The full program with all offers will be available and updated on www.liwines.com and www.eastendgetaway.com.

Steve Bate, executive director of the Long Island Wine Council, said, “We were very pleased that over 1000 people used the shuttle service last year. Hopefully ridership will continue to grow this year. If it continues to be successful, the shuttle could eventually become a permanent feature with major benefits for our environment while opening up our region to one of the world’s largest population centers with among the lowest levels of private car ownership.”

This year’s program is supported by a grant awarded to the Long Island Wine Council by New York State’s Empire State Development and the I LOVE NY Division of Tourism under Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Regional Economic Development Council initiative.