As the members of the Long Island wine community kicked off their year-long celebration of the region’s 40th anniversary, changes to the year’s biggest fundraiser were announced. HARVEST East End has been taken over by the Long Island Wine Council, which has hired an event planner, Agency 21, to organize and execute the fundraiser. HARVEST is now a nonprofit entity in its own right.

Donnell Brown Stires, executive director of Merliance, which started the event three years ago, will still work as a liaison, on behalf of Merliance, among Agency 21, the charities and the wine council. HARVEST has a new chair, Ron Georler Jr., who is also the president of the wine council. The event will be very similiar to last year’s walk around tasting with 40 wineries and 30 restaurants, a VIP area and/or auctions and raffles. Agency 21 also organizes the Dan’s Taste of the Two Forks and the South Beach Food & Wine festival.

The biggest change is that the event, on August 24, will be held on the North Fork at a location that is being finalized.

The year long celebration of the anniversary was kicked off at a cocktail party at Raphael last week, where everyone bought bottles of their own wine. (Photos above.)

Other events are Jazz on the Vine, which starts February 9, with a kick off party on Jan. 25 at Hotel Indigo in Riverhead. And a new East End tasting in conjunction with Edible, called East End Uncorked to be held at the Parrish Art Museum. Details to come!