Baiting Hollow Farm Vineyard — Attraction in Town of Riverhead

I don’t want to be mean here, but I’m compelled to warn fellow wine lovers. If you’re considering doing a wine tasting on Long Island and doing so because you like the flavor of grapes, read on. Hopefully this review will make you smile.

Just so's ya know who's talkin' (or writing) here: I'm a very experienced, big, fat, juicy, red wine lover. I, of course, favor California and mid/southern Italian wines. But I've had a few big Virginia reds that were delicious. So I thought Long Island might have some pretty good stuff going on. (Hey, I'm from the western US! Virginia and Long Island are right next to each other, right?)

We stopped by Baiting Hollow Farm with friends of the winery owners. Our hopes were high. The vines were at their peak (September 30) and were laden with gorgeous fruit. I popped a perfect, deep black/purple berry in my mouth and there was good sweetness there. I spit out the seeds and chewed on the skin for several seconds - waiting for the intensity of a ripe wine grape - and... some typical bitter components, but nearly nothing else. Almost no taste of, um, grape. Hmmm. That's odd, I thought.

As we headed from the parking lot to the tasting room, I snuck some peeks through the windows of a production building. The bottling equipment was immaculate and state of the art. Another good sign.

In the tasting room, there was a wall of bottles draped with all kinds of ribbons and medals. And the bottles were priced at $35-46 - quite appropriate for small production, somewhat high-quality wines. Hopes were indeed high - especially when we saw that the Cab Franc and Merlot that they were tasting had some age on them (2015).

We got a flight of reds. All four pours had a robust, deep red color. I started with the “Mirage” (non-vinted cab sauv/merlot/cab franc). I couldn't get much of a smell - as the wine was quite cold and the glass was pretty small (~4-5 ounces). So I put some in my mouth.

I regretted doing that almost instantly. Within a tiny fraction of a second my mouth was filled with very unpleasant flavors - bitter and unexpected. Oh my god. Wow. This was the worst tasting wine that had crossed my lips in even distant memory.

I almost always swallow when tasting wine - regardless of how I like it. Not now. I wanted it out of my mouth - and soon. Unfortunately, there was no place to relieve myself of it, so I did what I had to and swallowed.

My wife elbowed me and whispered "Don't make that face!" It was a bit embarrassing, but I could only apologize - as it was truly involuntary.

I waited for several long moments for the unpleasantness to subside. I assumed that the finish had to take a turn for the better. But nope. The wait was in vain. Nary a hint of actual grape was there. Just tannins, turpentine and some other unidentifiable noxious flavors. If I had tasted it blindfolded and with no context - yet knew I wasn't being either punked, or flat-out poisoned - I really don't think I could have known that it was supposed to be wine. Like, wine, made from grapes.

Holy cow.

After washing my mouth out thoroughly with water, I just had to try this again - out of incredulity and morbid curiosity. I tasted the 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon. It was almost as horrific, but it did actually taste a little bit like grapes.

My wife reported that the Cab Franc was actually even more offensive than the Mirage, so I passed on that and the Merlot.

I'm no enologist, but I gotta think the winemaster can only be partly to blame here. I'm guessing the soils and climate must be major contributors to the deeply flawed grapes.

Well, ya live and learn. I will exercise far more caution when we return to Long Island in July for a wedding. I hear the wineries farther east are a bit better. But if the proposed activity for the afternoon is to try one, I'll just have to "take care of some urgent work issue".

It's just stunning to me that little more than earnest promotion and subsequent public perception can result in a rather substantial industry based on a product that tastes so...

If your kids say NO!, tell them they have PONYS! but don't tell them you can't ride them.

This Vineyard is very beautiful, it has a huge plot dedicated to the wine, a horse stable and an incredible outdoor setup with about 20 mini tables. They have about 5 porta-potties set up, in case the inside johns are crazy stacked, which it often is. Interior of the house is about 2 floors, but you only get to stay on the first floor. There are 2 bars inside, 1 outside, and a food stand as well, so those incredible wines don't give you a tipsy right away.

Now, going back to the interior, I must say, this feels like a fancy ranch house full of people see to have an appreciation for wine. Every person inside is either drunk, or drunk-ish. You'll find not only drunk people, but beautiful art, some buy me now items like an adult sippy cup(highly recommended for those of you with an inner child and an alcoholic tooth), and your standard Baiting Hollow merchandise. It's very comfortable indoors, the noise isn't too loud and bars aren't too full.

The wine, I tried the Wine Splitter, the Rosé, the Riesling, the Red Velvet(Dessert Wine), and the Cheval Bleu. Let me say this, I'm not a wine guy, but I am a sweet guy. I personally enjoyed the Rosé (thank you kind stranger for that tip) and the Cheval Bleu. If you're looking to taste something sweet, not too sour, very hintish, and zero bitterness, the Cheval Bleu is for you. My least favorite is the Red Velvet. I had a taste, it's not for me. I can see why some people may like. It is very bitter, and I believe it to have quite an earthyness to it. Personally, I am a white wine person.

If you just want some fresh air, sit outside, there are plenty of tables, and plenty of grapes. It's quite loud outside, but if you can get past it, it really is an amazing spot to sit. The sun won't be an issue because the tent is set up to hold roughly 30+ tables, so it's actually quite spacious and not cramped in at all.

They have tours I believe either every hour or every half an hour, I don't know, but I hear it's quite nice, you get to see the smaller horses(PONYS!).

Overall, I enjoyed my experience here. Really wish the wine was free. Oh well, I finally understand why people don't go to church on...

Tl;dr summary: Great rosè for the price of casual racism...

I think one star is fair for this winery. The pie was delicious and they're frosè was among the best I've had. But that's about where the enjoyment stopped at this place. My group arrived via bus as part of a prepayed wine tour on my friend's birthday. They give three tickets for 2oz tastings, like many wineries in the area. But it was a bit more chaotic getting off of the bus than other places. For one thing they have three separate stations for tickets, ID checks, and return stamps. Tickets were handled in the parking lot, which is also perplexing.

In any case, I was rushing the birthday girl towards a much needed trip to the nearest porta potty and didn't get my tickets on first pass. Doubling back to the ticket stand, the first gentleman (holding a roll of tickets) seemed confused about how I had not gotten my three. What followed was a host of questions about who I'd come with, how I'd gotten there, who was giving out the tickets at the time of arrival (not sure how I'd know this) etc. He then leaves and grabs an older woman who proceeded to ask all the same questions and then flat out stated that I was lying. I wasn't about to argue about 6oz of cumulative wine so I went back inside to meet my group. Fast forward to my similarly dressed causcasian friend who said he'd give it a try for kicks and giggles. He is from the area and had heard rumors of racism about this winery before. I told him who I talked to and what I said so he would have a similar encounter. He came back a few minutes later shocked that he had gotten an apology for the inconvenience and a (2nd) set of tickets with next to no explanation requested by the same people I'd spoken with. I'm sure there's another possible explanation, but they were rude regardless of motives.

The bathrooms were also dirty and the pouring staff were pretty rude themselves, but that's been discussed in other reviews. And it was a busy day so I won't hold that against them too much. Regardless, I've been to more wine tours & tasting than I'd care to admit, and this is the worst experience by a long shot. At least they had good pie...