Southold's Croteaux Vineyards Making Long Island's First Nouveau Rosé

Completely out of wine to sell and its harvest completed, rosé wine specialist Croteaux Vineyards of Southold is trying something new this year: producing the first-ever nouveau rosé wine made on Long Island.

The wine, produced from merlot grapes, will be among the first wines to hit the market from what many describe as the outstanding 2010 harvest. The wine will be released in early November. There won't be a big supply, however. Croteaux only made about 100 cases, each of 12 bottles. (The winery also had a bottle surplus of about 100 cases.) The wine is expected to retail for about $16 a bottle.

Croteaux Vineyards co-owner Michael Croteaux said the fact that his small winery completely sold out in August, combined with an early harvest, provided the notion to make a nouveau rosé. He said the wine will be fruity and crisp, but that it's too early to tell how it ultimately will taste.

"Rosé is probably better suited to nouveau," Croteaux said.

Red Beaujolais nouveau is a French tradition with the wines generally being released just before Thanksgiving, often with great fanfare. 

Beaujolais rosé, though, has been sold for the last several years by producers of Beaujolais in France, largely in response to demand from consumers in Japan.

Red nouveau or novello wines have been made on Long Island and in other winemaking regions in the past, largely due to popular interest in the wines.

Macari Vineyards in Mattituck produces an Early Wine from chardonnay grapes and plans to release its 2010 vintage in just a few weeks.  "It's getting bottled next week," said Alexandra Macari, co-owner, noting that the white varietal grapes were harvested a month earlier than usual. She said the wine will be sold for $17 a bottle, the same price as in 2009.

Nouveau wine is just a step or two removed from grape juice, tends to be fruitier and lower in alcohol that ordinary table wines and is made for immediate consumption rather than aging beyond a few months.

Unlike other East End producers, Croteaux makes only pink wines styled after those made in the south of France, growing and harvesting its fruit specifically for making rosés. After pressing in a basket press, the juice is immediately separated from the skins, giving the wine a pale pink color.  

Some rosés are made as a byproduct of the red winemaking process, with the first pressings not desirable for full-bodied red wines are bled off.