LI wineries to jazz up sales with Winterfest

Wineries on the East End have found a formula to help them weather the cold winter months when few people are tempted to drive out and look at leafless rows of grape vines -- hot jazz.

The Long Island Winterfest's Jazz on the Vine program -- entering its fifth year -- will have about 70 groups performing at nearly 20 vineyards for six weekends between Feb. 11 and March 18. The event has grown every year and the East End Arts Council, which helps organize and run it, expects sales to exceed last year's record 9,000 tickets.

Revenue from the jazz concerts is becoming an important part of the East End economy, where farm stands close for the winter, marinas shut down and tourism seems to drop in pace with the thermometer.

Tickets to the performances are $15 and include a glass of wine, and winery sales also increase substantially. East End Arts estimates the total impact of its jazz concerts at $750,000, with $350,000 going to the wineries, $200,000 to hotels and bed-and-breakfast inns, and another $200,000 to local restaurants and other businesses.

"It's tremendously important. It's really transformed the region into a winter destination," said Steve Bate, executive director of the Long Island Wine Council.

Over the past five years, as the program has grown, wineries have adapted by increasing their winter hours. Some have expanded their indoor tasting rooms as well, Bate said.

He said wineries seem to be a natural fit for jazz concerts for many reasons, including the varied atmosphere of tasting rooms -- some big enough for a large band, others small enough for a duet. "Jazz lovers like to drink wine, and wine lovers like to listen to jazz," he added.

With so many musicians performing sets at different times, Bates said it is not unusual to find some performers in the audience at another performance later that day. In analyzing their jazz audiences, Bate said wineries are finding that half of the people are new to the region and tend to come back in the summer. Typical jazz fans range in age from their late 20s to their mid-50s, Bate said.

A full schedule is available at liwinterfest.com.