Seasons · 5 min read
What's Happening on the Long Island Wine Trail in December
December on the East End is sparkling-wine season and library-bottle season. Greenport carries the North Fork holiday energy; Sag Harbor carries the Hamptons. Plan around both.
What's happening on the wine trail in December
_By Hollis Cooper — updated for the December 2025 season._
December on the East End is sparkling-wine season and library-bottle season. Greenport carries the North Fork holiday energy; Sag Harbor carries the Hamptons. Plan around both.
Below are the 2–3 things actually worth driving out for this December, broken out by region. Dates and lineups change year to year — confirm on each winery's site before you book — but these are the recurring events and seasonal pours I plan my own December around.
North Fork
- Holiday-market weekends — Greenport's holiday season anchors most North Fork day trips; pair tastings at Kontokosta or Sparkling Pointe with dinner at Noah's or The Frisky Oyster.
- Sparkling Pointe holiday pours — December is when the Brut Séduction and Topaz Impérial lineup shines; book the fireplace lounge.
- Wine-club pickup parties — most North Fork wineries run member events the first two weekends; non-members can often book reserve flights the same day.
For December North Fork itineraries, see the North Fork day trip guide and the first-time visitor's guide. Browse the wineries directory to build your own route.
The Hamptons
- Wölffer Estate holiday tasting room — the Sagaponack lounge runs a full holiday lineup with paired bites through the month.
- Channing Daughters end-of-year library pours — December is when the team opens the rare back-vintage skin-contact wines.
- Sag Harbor holiday dinners — The American Hotel runs its annual Christmas Eve service; reservations open in October and go fast.
For December Hamptons planning, see the Hamptons wineries overview and the hotels & stays guide for nearby rooms.
How I'd plan a December weekend
If you're putting together a single weekend on the East End this December, the move is to anchor Saturday on one fork and Sunday on the other. North Fork Saturday lets you string together three winery visits at a comfortable pace — start at one of the producers listed above, break for lunch in Greenport or on Love Lane, and finish at a Sound-side tasting room for the late-afternoon light. Sunday in the Hamptons is best built around one major Wölffer or Channing Daughters visit plus a long lunch in Sag Harbor before the drive home.
Reserve every tasting in advance. Even in the shoulder months the better seated experiences fill up by Thursday. And if you're staying over, book the room before the tasting — the hotels guide has the full lineup by town.
What's next
Next month's edition will cover the events and seasonal pours worth planning around in the following weeks. In the meantime, the Long Island wine events calendar tracks the bigger dated happenings, and the seasonal guide collects every month-by-month edition in one place.