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Duck Walk North Review

Duck Walk North Review

Address: 44535 Main Road Southold,New York 11971.
Phone Number: 631-765-3500
Tasting Hours: 11:00-5:30

Region: Long Island AVA, North Fork of Long Island AVA, New York
Reviewer: Joanne Dunne
Review Date: 5/1/2012
Reviewer: Joanne Dunne
Rating: 3

The Review

The Place: &nbspDuckwalk Vineyards North was founded in 1994 and is the second winery owned by the Damianos family (the other one is Pindar Vineyards). Duckwalk also has another location, Duckwalk South, which is its flagship location. Duckwalk North is another large facility, and one could tell this location was built with wedding events and large groups in mind. The wine tasting room was built here, not renovated, and it has very high ceilings, as high as a church might have. Light wood floors and a wide open space with bright white walls are found upon entering. A full rectangular tasting bar is at the far end, with that familiar cafeteria-line style of their wines on display for sale when you enter. If there was an additional tasting bar, one would think they were in Pindar’s tasting room.

The Experience: &nbspThe tasting bar had several customers but was fully staffed on this late Saturday morning of our visit. We just happened to take our place at the bar location where the pourers must have just had their take-out lunches delivered to, as they seemed to congregate and chat and eat right there in the open, in front of us. Our pourer, Kristie was very friendly and really paid proper attention to us the entire time, although the break of filling up on food in between was off-putting. For the number of staff available, one would think they could rotate so they could truly relax and enjoy a few peaceful moments of their meal without being “interrupted” with their mouths full by customers with questions. Instead, they filled up their bellies and chatted amongst themselves during most of our visit. At least it was obvious the staff gets along well!

Despite that, the experience was good, mainly due to our pourer. She enjoyed talking and answering questions, and offered an additional pour not on our flights, but complimentary. A tasting of up to 5 wines was only $6, but since Pindar raised its price of a tasting, we think it will go up to $8 here as well.

TIP: If you are planning a visit to Long Island wineries, don’t visit all three of the larger ones in the same day. They are very similar in experience and sometimes wine as well. Visit one of Duckwalk North, Pindar Vineyards, or Osprey’s Dominion. Then visit several of the other tasting rooms in order to get the best, VARIED tasting experience, from the quaint to the modern. Visit another of the three on a different day to get the most out of each location.

The Wines: &nbspFor flights at Duckwalk, there is only one set of wines to sample: the Southampton White ($12.95), 2009 Chardonnay ($10.95), 2010 Rose ($9.95), 2008 Pinot Meunier ($14.95), and the 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon ($18.95). We were also given a sample of their Gewurtztraminer, which was very good.