Seasons · 5 min read
What's Happening on the Long Island Wine Trail in February
February is the year's most underrated tasting month — short, cold, and almost entirely yours. The bottles you taste this month are the ones the staff actually wants to talk about.
What's happening on the wine trail in February
_By Hollis Cooper — updated for the February 2026 season._
February is the year's most underrated tasting month — short, cold, and almost entirely yours. The bottles you taste this month are the ones the staff actually wants to talk about.
Below are the 2–3 things actually worth driving out for this February, 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 February around.
North Fork
- Valentine's weekend tastings — most North Fork wineries (Pindar, Pellegrini, Raphael) run a paired chocolate-and-red flight; reserve at least two weeks ahead.
- Sparkling Pointe library pours — February is prime time to taste through the older Brut Séduction releases by the fire.
- Winter Wine Trail passport weekends — the Long Island Wine Country trail typically runs a passport program with paired bites at participating wineries one February weekend; check the LIWC site for dates.
For February 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 Twilight winter sessions — when scheduled, the tasting room runs intimate Friday-evening pours through the cold months.
- Channing Daughters small-lot Friulano — late winter is when the previous vintage's experimental whites land in the tasting room.
- Sag Harbor's American Hotel cellar dinners — the wine list runs deep on Long Island reds; February is when reservations are actually possible.
For February Hamptons planning, see the Hamptons wineries overview and the hotels & stays guide for nearby rooms.
How I'd plan a February weekend
If you're putting together a single weekend on the East End this February, 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.