LONG ISLAND VINES
Here’s to the 4th
Sparkling Pointe, a new North Fork producer dedicated to sparkling wines, has released its first bottles in time for Fourth of July toasts. The wines are a 2004 brut ($29) and a 2004 rosé named Topaz Impérial ($33).
Both were made by Gilles Martin for the owners of Sparkling Pointe, Cynthia and Thomas Rosicki, at the Premium Wine Group, a for-hire winery in Mattituck.
The pinot noir and chardonnay grapes used for both were bought from local vineyards. The Rosickis, who often visit Brazil, named their salmon-pink rosé for the similar tint of imperial topaz, a Brazilian gem.
Mr. Martin, who was born in France and was formerly the winemaker at Martha Clara Vineyards, spent six years as assistant winemaker at Champagne Louis Roederer’s Roederer Estate in Mendocino County, Calif.
The Rosickis, lawyers who live in Muttontown, bought a 12-acre property occupied by Akscin’s Nursery on Route 48 in Southold in 2002. In 2004, Steve Mudd of Mudd’s Vineyard nearby planted 10 of those acres in chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot meunier vines. The first Rosicki grapes intended for sparkling wines were harvested in 2007.
The East End is good sparkling-wine country, Mr. Martin says, because “we are able to get a lot of fruitiness in the grapes and a nice balance of acidity on a regular basis.”
The aromatic brut, enlivened by fine bubbles, is tangy and refreshing, with an apple-pie scent and flavor. The simple, brisk, sweet-scented dry rosé would meld nicely with shrimp and lobster dishes.
Nancy Steelman, a Cutchogue architect, has designed a winery and tasting room that evokes a French country manor house. The Rosickis hope to start construction this summer.
Sparkling Pointe’s brut and rosé can be found at the Tasting Room, in Peconic, and at a few retail shops. Information: www.sparklingpointe.com.
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