Long Island wineries becoming destination for tourists

Local wine culture is catching on.

According to Steve Bate, executive director of the Long Island Wine Council, an industry association that promotes the region's wineries, East End vineyards generate up to $100 million in sales each year. And the numbers, he said, probably aren't going down anytime soon.

Contrary to some stereotypes that pigeonhole wine-lovers as snobbish, high-income folk, the East End vineyards draw a rainbow of visitors - from twenty-something sippers to middle-aged vino connoisseurs.

We tend to see somewhat older people during the week, when the vineyards are less crowded, said Bate. Then there's a large group of young people who see this as a fun thing to do. Sometimes, at a winery, you'll see a young crowd on one side of the terrace and families on the other. And we recently saw a vineyard parking lot with about 100 motorcycles in it.

As it turns out, the 50-or-so vineyards on the East End of the Island are as varied as the people who visit them.