I related to your project closely. Many more than myself are self-sufficient when it comes to visiting wineries. The vast majority of my visits have been independent rather than organized through a service or the like. The chances of visiting a winery that did not respond to my inquiry is very low, and I think your questions were on point. I do call sometimes, but e-mail is my preferred means of communication. What bothers me about those that didn't respond at all is that there are plenty of "auto-reply" services available that, while impersonal, could be utilized with little effort to give a person minimal information (season, hours, etc.) while requesting a preferred means of communication, perhaps by telephone. I have a hunch there's a correlation between the less informative responses and face to face customer experience as well, which is also unfortunate. Those that do respond and interact, thank you. Seeing as I want to give you my money to taste your delicious wine, learn a little, and have a nice afternoon, I appreciate you very much, and thank you, Lenn and NYCR.

I brought 2 shopping bags filled with Long Island bottles yesterday. They were very friendly, knowledgeable, and took great care of us.