Harvest East End to Switch Forks in 2013

For three years in a row, Harvest East End has been held at various South Fork locations to bring locally produced food and wine to locals that don’t necessarily realize that they are in the midst of one of the most respected wine regions in the world, according to Donnell Stires, the executive director of Merliance.

But this coming August, Stires and members of the Long Island Wine Council plan to hold Harvest East End at a North Fork location, which has yet to be determined, to celebrate 40 years of wine country.

“We just want to celebrate where we started,” she told Patch on Thursday. “Where our oldest roots are, literally.”

Stires added that events after Harvest East End are also in the works for the South Fork and New York City to spread the word and the wealth of the region. Harvest East End has become a nonprofit organization, and the Long Island Wine Council is the primary entity in charge of putting everything together this year.

The event, scheduled for Aug. 24 this year, is a tour of dozens of wineries and restaurants featuring plenty of auctions and raffles. It’s part of a year-long 40th anniversary celebration, which kicked off last Thursday with a laidback wine tasting at Raphael Vineyards and will continue through the winter with Jazz on the Vine performances during Winterfest.

Click here for photos from last year's Harvest East End.