Let The Good Times Flow
NORTH FORK: Long Island Wine Country is, thus far, reporting a great harvest year for grapes.
“We started picking on Wednesday,” sais Kelly Urbanik, the winemaker at Macari. “It looks like 2012 will be similar to 2010, which was a good year.”
The high hopes are due to the long 2012 growing season, as the warm spring yielded an early bud break. Aided by the sunny, dry summer, the grapes were given more of an opportunity to reach their peak ripeness. Urbanik reports that, on average, the harvest is about one and a half to two weeks ahead of a typical season. In contrast to this year, a rainy season gives grapes more of an opportunity to develop mildew or rot. Drink in the local wines!