Veritas

There's slow food, and there's the "eat local" movement. Why not extend that to drinks as well?

I was very surprised to discover that Long Island has a rich farming tradition, including a great many vineyards. Most of the wine is grown on the North Fork, the far east section of the Island that is north of the Peconic Bay, but there are several here in my little corner of Hampton-ness.

My favorite is Channing Daughters just down the road in Bridgehampton. I love this place. And I love the marketing brilliance that created the the Wine Club.

The way tastings work here at most places, you pay a nominal fee either per wine or for a flight of wines. So after you've been standing around in the tasting room for a while, when everyone is getting a little chatty and everything that's getting poured starts tasting pretty darn good, well, someone in the group is bound to ask "So what's this wine club anyway?" And your friendly wine guide will happily tell you about how you can sign up to buy the two bottles of wine that they select for you every two months, and you'll get a discount on that wine and all the other wine you buy there, and - here's the kicker - that wine tastings are free for you and your guests. Not only that, rather than just the ordinary 6 wines that the uninitiated are permitted to sample, you get to taste pretty much anything they have.

All I can say is that after even a mere 6 wine flight, this sounds like the best deal anyone ever offered you.

3 shipments of wine later, I can tell you that this is one of those rare decisions made while slightly tipsy that turn out to be very good. The wine is consistently wonderful, and the staff there is an amazingly friendly bunch, and I'm learning a lot about wine - most importantly, that Chardonnay is way tastier than I ever would have dreamed (move over, Napa Valley). And, I have to admit, I get a secret little snobby Hamptons thrill from being part of the "in" crowd and being recognized by the winery people.

Best of all, as I now always have a chilled and lovely bottle of white wine waiting, I've discovered one of the simplest pleasures to be had here - spending late Sunday afternoons on the front porch of the house with a book and a glass, watching the joggers and dog walkers pass by, as the sun sinks behind the tree line. These quiet times are some of the moments that I will always treasure from my time here.

Drink local!