Updated: 4/20/2010 - 3:10 PM

Long Island Wine Goes to Florida

By Jane Starwood

COURTESY PHOTO Long Island wines from Pindar Vineyards, distributed in Florida by TAG Wine Group.

Great news for snowbirds and year-round denizens of Florida: TAG Wine Group has arrived.
The brain child of co-founder Larry Tirrell, a “proud Long Island native” and “passionate oenophile,” TAG is Florida's only specialty wholesale distributor of fine wines produced exclusively on Long Island. Noting the natural synergy between TAG's business model and the Sunshine State, Mr. Tirrell says, “Florida is statistically one of the highest wine-consuming states in the U.S. and had a significant number of residents who have been transplanted from Long Island or who annually seek refuge in Florida from the cooler Long Island autumn and winter seasons.” In other words, snowbirds.

With the stated purpose of creating a bigger market in Florida for Long Island wines, TAG promotes those wines with tastings held throughout the state (see schedule at TasteLIwine.com), media contacts, two Web sites, social media networking, winery partnership programs, point-of-sale displays and more.
In addition to the traditional store-shelf distribution model, the company offers “on demand” distribution, whereby individual consumers can special-order wine from many Long Island producers through TasteLIwine.com. The wine will then be delivered to a nearby liquor store for purchase and pickup. This is a great boon to you snowbirds who love L.I. wine: You can order from all your favorite wineries through one central Web site, and no more long-distance schlepping!
For the wineries, TAG offers “buzz” and sales in a huge new market, including free advertising and attractive portfolio pages on its Web site. So far, three of the largest wineries — Pindar, Duck Walk and Martha Clara — are already in TAG's regular distribution pipeline, and Mr. Tirrell is currently in touch with a number of others who have expressed interest.
Find out more at TAGwinegroup.com and TasteLIwine.com. Interested wine producers can e-mail Larry Tirrell at lt@tagwinegroup.com or call this toll-free number: 1-888-946-3824.