Kontokosta Winery — Attraction in Town of Southold

TL;DR: Beautiful, well-maintained vineyard with nice grounds and decent service, but disappointing, overly strict policies — cannot purchase bottles for on-site consumption, no outside food, pricey wine by the glass, and no flexibility with minor activities like kids playing catch, even when it’s empty.

Was on Long Island for a baseball tournament over Memorial Day weekend, and before catching the ferry home, we decided to stop here with another couple from our team. The property itself is lovely — the main building is beautiful, spacious, and would be perfect if the weather turned bad or you just needed a break from the sun. The grounds are large, meticulously manicured, with plenty of picnic tables, umbrella-covered patio seating, and cozy double chairs with a built-in table between them. Service was quick and friendly, though not many patrons while we were there.

That said, I wasn’t impressed with some of the vineyard’s policies. Most notably, you’re not allowed to purchase a bottle to enjoy on-site — bottles are for take-home only, and you’re required to buy wine by the glass if you want to drink there. For frequent vineyard visitors like us, this was a first and quite disappointing. On top of that, glasses were $15–$16 each, the pours were small, and frankly, the wine didn’t live up to the price.

You also can’t bring in outside food, which isn’t a dealbreaker for us since we weren’t planning to, but it still felt a bit restrictive. Most other vineyards we’ve visited welcome guests bringing their own cheeses, crackers, and snacks to enjoy with the scenery. They do offer their own cheese and cracker boards, which were good, but it would be nice to have the option.

Lastly — and more minor, but still worth mentioning — they have a no sports equipment policy. I understand this when it’s busy, but the place was nearly empty, and our kids brought gloves and a ball to play catch well away from anyone else. A staff member came by on a cart to shut them down. While I appreciate having rules to keep things orderly, it would be nice if there were a little flexibility based on how crowded the place is. They don’t have anything else like cornhole boards or small games to occupy guests either to help offset this policy.

In short: gorgeous spot, but some needlessly rigid rules took away from what could’ve been a much more relaxed,...

7/18 Wow. My first visit to this winery and I leave a member. That wasn't my intention but the wine, the staff and the setting just had me wanting to come and be a part of it. I think its biggest lure on a summer day is being able to wander the grounds or just sit at the many outdoor chairs and tables and take in the scenery while sipping a glass of their wine.

1/24/21 ln November Amanda had called me to tell me that my winter shipment couldn't be released because the delivery company couldn't confirm the delivery address, and that is after three years, and l need to confirm my address now. I believe due to Bluetooth and my car many of my messages go marked as 'read' and l never found the voice mail till sometime later. I figured during the pandemic there would some relaxation of policy and l would take a trip out to the north fork and pick up the wine and straighten out the mailing. So today I visited another vineyard that I've been a wine club member for over ten years that had two seasonal portfolios waiting for me. After receiving my wine l figured I'd call ahead before driving out to the near end of the north fork. I was greeted pleasantly by a women who asked my name and after searching she said she had no record of me. After further search she found that Amanda hadn't heard back from me so she cancelled the delivery attempt, and terminated my membership on 1/23. Now I'm not faulting Amanda at all, she's just adhering to policy, but 1/23 was yesterday. Wouldn't one think in this time so deep in a pandemic that businesses would strive to keep a consumer base? I was in my car, and after the girl on the phone had told me that I'll admit I was a bit flummoxed and l responded "okay? it was nice doing business with you". My point is do you not need the business, yesterday, 1/23, was the date you told me, I'm less than 15 minutes away. Why wouldn't you offer to put the three bottles back in the box, I'll drive out there, we get my address straightened out, and l leave with my wine and my...

Stuffy awful place. Every time we’ve visited over the years we’ve wanted to give it another chance because the grounds are so beautiful. Unfortunately, there is a toxic culture to this winery that seems pervasive. Staff are consistently rude, including to my wife and I as previous wine club members. We were disallowed from tasting in the members area as members because we visited once with our child, who was fast asleep. Why are there bouncers policing the doors of the winery and why on earth do they charge a cover fee to simply enter the tasting room to taste!? Is this an ‘exclusive’, bopping nightclub? Why do the bartenders begin the tasting experience by announcing that they will grant only one free tasting and that anything additional must be purchased. Why bring up money at the very first touchpoint with visitors, especially after they have been obliged to pay a cover fee? The assumptions underlying this type of financial barter interaction are peculiar and yes, offensive. Everyone knows the North Fork is combatting the issue of limousine tourism and most of us wine enthusiasts are 100% behind the maintaining of decorum in this special region, but that doesn’t mean that wineries must lose all civility towards regular non-sorority visitors. It seems that perhaps in its reaction to large party visits, Kontakosta has become inelegant towards its regular paying visitors, but increasingly, what I suspect may actually be the case is that Kontakosta’s toxic culture is purposefully pervasive because that’s how it is managed. Either way, it no longer matters because this winery has left a sour taste for my family once too many times. No need for us to visit any longer… there are 52 other perfectly pleasant vineyards on the North Fork from...