https://www.channingdaughters.com/
As the NoFo Wineaux, I hate to admit this, but my favorite winery is actually on the South Fork: Channing Daughters. Why? They have the widest—and wildest—variety of wines, and they are constantly experimenting with new combinations and flavors. As a result, we are always excited to open the box when our wine club shipments arrive. BUT…UPS requires the signature of an adult in order to deliver alcohol. And if you’re not home three days in a row, you need to either pick up your shipment in Farmingdale (not happening) or have it returned to sender and re-shipped—and hope you’re home for it. What to do?
A view from the ferry.
We headed to the Shelter Island ferries to make the trek to the South Fork, planning to tell Channing we were resigning from the club and then do one last tasting. It takes a good hour and a half to travel to Scuttlehole Road this way, plus about $40 for the ferries, and even longer in the summer if you come around by land and cope with Hamptons summer traffic. Then we made a wonderful discovery. We could opt for pick-ups rather than mailed selections, but—and here comes the important revelation—we could come at our convenience and pick up several different releases. Game changer, as they say. It’s easy to travel to Sag Harbor in November!
Wine Club news about new releases is posted on a chalkboard. Note the impressive array of wine types.
So we tried a few recent releases, bought two bottles of Scuttlehole Chardonnay and two of Pinot Grigio, and headed home, happy to remain in the wine club.
If you are on the South Fork, I recommend you make a visit to Channing Daughters’ cozy tasting room (no dogs or food allowed) and check out their delicious wines. A flight of six wines will set you back $20, but it is well worth it. The flight includes one of their interesting vermouths, as well. We did not do a standard flight, so this is what we had.
The standard tasting, which we did not have.
- 2017 Bianco Petillant Naturel $28
As soon as we identified ourselves as wine club members, our server poured us a taste of the newest release, their sparkling white wine. It is crisp and dry, with lovely little bubbles.
- 2017 Rosato Petillant Naturel $28
This is a rosé sparkler, made from merlot, and equally crisp and dry, with a lovely strawberry taste. We got into a discussion with another wine club member—who noted that she also does her pick-ups on her own schedule, avoiding Route 27 in the summer—about how Channing really doesn’t do sweet wines. So if you like your wines tasty but not sweet, this is the place to come.
- Cuvee Tropical
Alas, this taste proved how important vintage is. In the past, this has been a very flavorful wine, with tastes of guava and lychee, but this iteration was quite plain, with not much flavor.
Note the tree sculpture on the label. Walter Channing was a talented sculptor, and some of his work can be seen on the grounds.
- 2017 Pinot Grigio $20
Fortunately, we liked the pinot grigio, nicely lemony, and very easy to drink. Buyable.
- 2017 Scuttlehole Chardonnay $18
This remains our favorite steel-fermented chard, dry, very tasty. I think of it as our “house” white!
This price list doesn’t even include all of their wines.
Reasons to visit: you’re on the South Fork (where the only other options are Wölffer—lovely, but more formal—and Duck Walk—not so lovely); all the wines they have on offer for a tasting; the petillant naturals; an intimate setting where you can discuss the wines with well-informed servers; a wine club well worth joining (if you can do pick-ups!).
There’s a small selection of wine-related gifts.
NoFo Wineaux 