At Wolffer, Summer in 432,000 Bottles

Rosé has become the quintessential wine of summer, but there was a time when no self-respecting oenophile would have sullied a spit bucket with the stuff.

“They used to be garbage wines that were too sweet,” said Roman Roth, a winemaker and partner in Wolffer Estate Vineyard in Sagaponack. “Basically sugar water.”

In 1992, during his first year at Wolffer, Mr. Roth set out to make a dry rosé, one that would prove, he said, “that if you take it seriously enough you can make a very elegant wine.” 

Since that time, rosé mania has struck wineries and consumers around the globe. Mr. Roth said production has been growing at Wolffer, and industry-wide, by 30 to 40 percent in recent years.

“It’s a wine that can be easily appreciated, its tannins are softer, it has a nice mouthfeel, it’s a little savory, and the color is extremely pretty,” he said, listing some of the reasons for rosé’s popularity. 

And because the quality of the category has improved, there is no longer a snobbish prejudice against the wine.

“It’s slowly becoming a year-round wine,” he said. “If you’re in a restaurant in New York in January, you’ll see bottles of rose on the table.”

Wolffer’s latest rosés are Summer in a Bottle 2018 and Grandioso 2017. The winery also produces a slightly carbonated non-alcoholic drink called Petite Rosé, which Mr. Roth said, “stands up well to food.”

For Summer in a Bottle, which Mr. Roth calls the winery’s flagship brand, he uses six varieties of grapes: merlot, chardonnay, gewurtztraminer, cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, and riesling. 

The gewurtztraminer is the standout of the bunch, he said. Known for being one of the more aromatic grapes, it provides strong notes of cantaloupe and honeydew.  

Before being plucked for production, all of the grapes linger on the vine about four days longer than usual, he said, which lowers their acidity level, and intensifies the flavor. 

“We’re really proud of it,” said Mr. Roth, who has produced 432,000 bottles of the wine this year. 

Grandioso is part of the White Horse series, wines that have been named after horses owned by Christian Wolffer, the winery’s founder. Grandioso is a bit more sophisticated than Summer in a Bottle, said Mr. Roth. “It’s more of a dinner wine,” he said. 

It is made from a blend of merlot, chardonnay, cabernet franc, and gewurtztraminer grapes, which are picked early in the season (when the fruit’s sugar levels are low), and fermented in old oak barrels. Older barrels are better, said Mr. Roth, because well-aged wood will not add its own tannins to the wine, and thus make it more astringent. 

During a nearly five-month fermentation process, yeast converts the grapes’ sugars into alcohol. The yeast also creates its own flavor profile, said Mr. Roth. “It adds a creamy nuttiness to the wine,” he said. That taste would be lost if the fermentation process is cut short. “You know how if you take a child away from the mother too soon, it’s a terrible thing,” he said. “It’s the same with yeast.”