This Memorial Day weekend, local sibling superstars Joey and Mark Wölffer unveil a new rosé just in time to toast the 2014 summer season. Great news for Hamptons oenophiles — you can now forego the usual mad panic to score cases of Domaine Ott for your upcoming dinner parties.  Wölffer Estate Vineyard’s new Summer in a Bottle, will not only delight your discerning guests with its fruity character, but also its whimsical bottle design will become a mainstay of your tabletop decor . “We waited as long as possible to harvest the fruit for Summer in a Bottle. Choosing the perfect moment to pick was crucial to make this highly anticipated wine, bursting with the aromas and flavors of the seasonal fruits that reach their peak ripeness at the height of summer,” says Wölffer Winemaker/ Partner Roman Roth.

Only 1,530 cases of Summer in a Bottle were produced. Last year [2013] will be remembered as an epic vintage for Long Island, comparable to the greatest vintages of the world’s greatest wine regions. With a hot, dry summer—one of the driest on record—the vines produced amazingly robust, healthy fruit, perfect for a lush, fruity wine like Summer in a Bottle, which is a blend of 71% Merlot, 8% Chardonnay, 20% Gewürztraminer and 1% Petit Verdot. The wine rests sur lie for two months before it’s blended and bottled.

The newest addition to the vineyard’s portfolio of rosé wines, inspired by the epic 2013 vintage, Summer in a Bottle ($24) joins the iconic gold-label Wölffer Rosé ($17) and the white-horse-label Grandioso Rosé ($29), becoming Wölffer’s third still dry rosé. The vineyard also boasts a sparkling rosé, Noblesse Oblige, and rosé dessert wine, Fabiana Late Harvest Rosé, and a dry rosé cider, called Wölffer No. 139 ($16/four-pack, below).

Also, be sure to check out the The Wölffer Wine Bar, the newest space within the Wölffer tasting room. Located at the northwest end of the building, it offers vineyard views and stunning sunsets. It is furnished with richly colored, upholstered banquette seating and rustic high-top cocktail tables. The centerpiece of this sumptuous space is a beautiful wood-and-steel, half-moon shaped bar. The new bar offers an alternative experience within our tasting room, with Wölffer wines served by an experienced pourer in a relaxed, bohemian lounge setting.

The bar will most commonly be the anchor piece of The Wine Bar space, serving as a great gathering place for events, including their weekly Wine Education Wednesdays. But it was built to be moveable for special events. Joey brings her eclectic design sensibility and style to every aspect of Wölffer Estate Vineyard, curating elements from around the world, including commissioning Carpen House to make, by hand, the central bar, under the direction of owner Alex Stivala, a third-generation cabinet-maker from Argentina. The space is expected to be fully outfitted by June 1.

Here Comes the Sun(set)

Memorial Day weekend is the start of Wölffer’s popular Sunset Fridays and Saturdays at The Wine Stand. Both events start at 5 p.m. and go till sundown. To get the schedule for Sunset Fridays and Saturdays, or find out who’s playing at Twilight Thursdays, please go to:  http://wolffer.com/sunset-fridays-and-saturdays-start-may-23-and-24

Address: 139 Sagg Road, Sagaponack