Have you picked out your
champagne for New Year's Eve yet? If not, there are plenty produced on the East
End.
Pugliese
Vineyards started when Ralph Pugliese planted two acres of grapes in
Cutchogue in 1980.
Today
his wife and children run the now 50-acre vineyard and winery. They produce
four sparkling wines.
“We
also make a sparkling merlot, which is a red champagne. That's very different
and good for any festive holiday,” says Peter Pugliese. “There's a fourth one which is
Dolce Patricia, which is sweeter with a nice pink color to it.”
Pugliese
Vineyards has also become famous for its painted bottles and glasses. Winery
co-founder Pat Pugliese has hand painted thousands of them through the years.
Another winery nearby is
Lieb
Cellars, which produces two sparkling wines, including a rose sparkler.
They're both big sellers all year round.
“There
is a little sort of casualization that's happening with sparkling wine,” says Ami
Opisso, of Lieb Cellars. “So here when they're in the tasting room, when
they're on the patio. We even have people buy sparkling wine and say they're
going to a barbecue.”
A
lot of people find the cozy tasting room on a remote farm road the perfect
place to warm up on a winter day.