Private Wine Tastings in the Hamptons
Private wine tastings in the Hamptons happen at the house you are staying in, from Southampton to Montauk, and I host them personally as a wine expert with fifteen years in the trade. A Saturday night in a pool house calls for a different pace than a full weekend with guests rotating in and out, and I build the tasting around whichever one you are actually running. You buy the wine yourself from a list I hand you before I arrive; I do not source, sell, or deliver any of it.
Where tastings happen
Most Hamptons tastings happen in the kitchen or dining room of a summer rental, the kind of house a group splits for the season and fills with a rotating guest list from Memorial Day through Labor Day. Just as often I am setting up on a deck overlooking the water, in a pool house between the main house and the pool, or in a garden if the weather holds and the host wants everyone outside. Estates with a proper wine room or a dedicated bar area make service easy, but I have poured tastings just as often off a kitchen island with borrowed stemware and a folding table pressed into service. Wherever the group is actually gathered for the weekend, that is where I set up.
- Southampton
- Bridgehampton
- Water Mill
- Sag Harbor
- East Hampton
- Amagansett
- Wainscott
- Montauk
Can you host a wine tasting at a Hamptons rental?
A Hamptons summer rental works well for a private wine tasting, and it is one of the most common settings I work in from June through Labor Day. I set up wherever there is space, a kitchen island, a dining table, or a deck, and build the wine list around whoever is staying there that weekend, six people or twenty.
Rental groups often split the cost and the wine list by house, so I coordinate with whoever is organizing rather than trying to reach every guest individually.
Do you work alongside a private chef or an event planner?
Private chefs and event planners are common partners on Hamptons weekends, and I coordinate with them rather than working around them. The chef usually sends the menu ahead of time so I can build the wine list to match each course, and a planner typically handles timing, arrival, and setup while I focus on the wine and the teaching.
When a planner is running the full weekend, I get looped in during the week beforehand: I confirm guest count and timing with them directly, and I confirm the menu with the chef so the pairings actually land course by course.
How far ahead should I book a summer weekend?
July and August weekends book up early in the Hamptons, sometimes six to eight weeks ahead once a house fills its calendar with parties, tastings, and dinners. I recommend reaching out as soon as a date is in mind, even before the guest list is finalized. Spring, fall, and weeknight tastings generally need far less lead time to book.
A free fifteen-minute planning call is the easiest way to hold a summer date early. We talk through guest count, format, and general wine direction, and I confirm the booking from there.
What formats work for a Hamptons house party?
Formats for a Hamptons house party range from a guided tasting through five or six wines, to a paired dinner with a private chef's menu, to something looser poured over a few hours while guests circulate between the kitchen and the pool. Group size does not change the rate: $350 per hour, three-hour minimum, four or forty.
For a rotating weekend crowd, a looser format often works best: I set up a station and guests come through in smaller groups across the evening instead of everyone sitting for one seated tasting.
Which villages do you cover?
I cover the full East End from Southampton through Montauk, including Bridgehampton, Water Mill, Sag Harbor, East Hampton, Amagansett, and Wainscott. Every one of these villages sits well inside my standard travel range out of Riverhead, so there is no added travel charge for a Hamptons booking anywhere along that stretch.
Wine, locally
Hamptons summers run in three-day increments. A house fills on Friday night, empties out Monday morning, and refills with a different set of friends the following weekend, so I rarely pour for the same group twice in a season unless someone specifically brings me back. That rhythm shapes the tasting itself: I lean on wines that pair naturally with what people are already eating, local seafood off the docks in Montauk and Sag Harbor, corn and tomatoes from farm stands along Route 27, and the grilled, herb-heavy summer food that shows up at almost every house party out here.
Rosé gets poured all summer out here, and there is a real place for it, but I do not build a tasting around rosé alone. Once a host tells me who is coming and what they already like to drink, I usually build toward something with more range: a crisp white next to a fuller-bodied red, maybe a sparkling wine or an orange wine to open the night. The goal is for a Hamptons crowd that already drinks plenty of rosé in July and August to leave having tried three or four wines they would not have picked up on their own.
Not in the Hamptons on tasting day, or want a wine expert year-round? The Wine Line is a wine expert on call by text, and it works anywhere in the United States.
Plan your tasting in the Hamptons.
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