The North Fork of Long Island, once known for its potato farms, entered the wine business decades ago with high expectations. Comparisons were made to Bordeaux, the most celebrated of all wine regions. Similar climates! Similar latitude! Similarly surrounded by water! For all anybody knew, those were the secrets to viticultural triumph.
Back then, the South Fork of Long Island—better known as “the Hamptons”—was clearly the center of attention. When the swells who inhabited the mansions there were staggering home from their all-night parties, the denizens of the North Fork were plowing their potato fields. That way of life came to an end when the market dropped out of the potato business, the price of spuds briefly falling to $4 per hundredweight.
