Seasons · 5 min read
What's Happening on the Long Island Wine Trail in January
January on the East End is a winemaker's month. The crowds are gone, the tasting rooms are quiet, and the people pouring are often the people who made the wine. Here's what's actually worth driving out for.
What's happening on the wine trail in January
_By Hollis Cooper — updated for the January 2026 season._
January on the East End is a winemaker's month. The crowds are gone, the tasting rooms are quiet, and the people pouring are often the people who made the wine. Here's what's actually worth driving out for.
Below are the 2–3 things actually worth driving out for this January, 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 January around.
North Fork
- Library tastings — January is when North Fork winemakers pull older library bottles for slow weekend pours; Lenz, Bedell and Paumanok typically have verticals open by appointment.
- Quiet barrel-room visits — call Macari, Sparkling Pointe or Raphael midweek and you can often book a one-on-one tasting with the cellar team that's impossible to get in October.
- Winter restaurant week pairings — Long Island Restaurant Week usually runs the last week of the month; pair a North Fork Cabernet Franc with the prix-fixe at The Frisky Oyster or North Fork Table & Inn.
For January 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
- Off-season Wölffer visits — the Sagaponack tasting room is open year-round with a full fireplace lounge in winter; the just-disgorged sparkling is the move.
- Channing Daughters skin-contact whites — January is the right time to taste through the orange-wine lineup without the August crowds.
- Sag Harbor restaurant week — The American Hotel and The Beacon both participate most years; bring a Hamptons Chardonnay to either.
For January Hamptons planning, see the Hamptons wineries overview and the hotels & stays guide for nearby rooms.
How I'd plan a January weekend
If you're putting together a single weekend on the East End this January, 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.