East End: Woodside Orchards in Aquebogue is branching out

News 12's Doug Geed visited Woodside Orchards in Aquebogue.

News 12 Staff

Oct 31, 2022, 10:57 AM

Updated 787 days ago

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They grow a variety of apples on their orchard, out of which they make a very popular hard cider. Now they're doing something new -- producing their own wine.
News 12's Doug Geed visited Woodside Orchards in Aquebogue.
Kelly Koch grew up in Napa Valley, wine country, so she is comfortable around grapes. After Napa, she ended up on the exact opposite side of the country -- the North Fork -- where she became a winemaker.
Then for the past decade oversaw the hard cider produced at Woodside Orchards.
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Now she's back in the wine business, producing Woodside's new line of wines.
"The label is called Poppy and Rose, which is the California state flower, and the New York State flower," Koch says. "For sale now we have three wines from 2021. We have a chardonnay, we have a sauvignon blanc and a rose of cab franc."
While the orchard branched out, and is now producing wine, you'll still find their very popular hard ciders.
"Right now we have six ciders on tap. The traditional, the traditional sweet are always the same. We have a pumpkin, a lemon and a blackberry mango that are seasonal right now. And all the ciders people love. If you like cider, you're going to love our stuff," says Bob Gammon.
There's also lots of other things to love, things you eat rather than drink. They have apple pies, chocolate chip cookies, and cider doughnuts.
Woodside is also now renting out its back area for events like small weddings, rehearsal dinners and birthday parties.