Long Island winemakers take sips in the right direction

Striving to gain acceptance

Hargrave said she remains perplexed that more Long Island restaurants don't carry the local wines. "It's completely insane for the restaurants not to embrace it," she said.

Manhattan restaurants, too, remain a challenge, with most opting for more widely recognized labels from France and Napa Valley in California. Steve Bate, executive director of the Long Island Wine Council, said the advocacy group will increase promotion over the next month in the vital Manhattan market through use of $250,000 in grants, mostly from the state.

Some vintners are banking on the increased value of the euro, making it more expensive to import some European wines, as a boon to local wines, which are cheap by comparison. "The euro is so high that imports are down," said Rich Pisacano, owner of Roanoke Vineyards in Riverhead.

But costs here are up, too, including a 30 percent jump for oak barrels in the past year, said Jim Waters, owner of Waters Crest Winery in Cutchogue.

Those financial concerns would not matter as much if local wines had the widespread acceptance of regions such as Santa Barbara. Clifton, who credited the 2004 movie "Sideways" for stoking global interest in the region, told local winemakers it's not so much what the critics say or the price you get. "The most important thing," he said, "is to make wines from our regions and stand behind them and realize the uniqueness of where we are."

Aging well

The Long Island wine industry has grown dramatically in the past 20 years.

Wine Producers

Then: 24

Now: 51.

Production.

Then: 100,000 cases

Now: 500,000 cases.

Visitors to region.

Then: 120,000

Now:1.2 million