As residents and lovers of Long Island’s North Fork, Tom and Cynthia Rosicki witnessed the birth and growth of North Fork wine development, and they wanted to be part of it. In 2001 they paid a visit to Steve Mudd, the pre-eminent vineyard developer and manager, but the time was not yet right for them. A year later while Tom and Cynthia were having breakfast in a Southold Diner, Steve walked in, and persuaded them to acquire land for a vineyard. Steve drew a map on the k of a napkin, showing the relative scarcity of North Fork land, and told them to get moving if they wanted to have a vineyard.
A year later, after they had purchased land and had it prepared by Steve, he asked Tom and Cynthia what kind of wine they wanted to produce. They looked at each other with sparkles in their eyes. They both answered at the same time, “Champagne!” Steve replied that there was only one winemaker for this project, Gilles Martin, a talented and international winemaker, who had previously worked with a major French Champagne House.
Today, Sparkling Pointe wines are sustainably grown on three vineyard sites comprising 40 acres within the North Fork of Long Island American viticultural area. A maritime climate tempered by two bodies of water, the Long Island Sound and the Atlantic Ocean, provides long, warm summers with cooling breezes and moderate rainfall. Unique glacial soils of sandy loam provide excellent drainage. Carefully selected clones of Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, and Chardonnay comprise all three vineyard sites. Grapes are hand tended and hand harvested by a vineyard crew overseen by North Fork Veteran Steve Mudd.
Sparkling Pointe’s state of the art winemaking facility was completed in the Summer of 2010. Dedicated to the exclusive production of Méthode Champenoise Sparkling Wines, the winery features a bladder press for gentle whole cluster pressing of the grapes, a tank room of 30,000 gallons for temperature controlled fermentations, 3,000 bottle-per-hour bottling line, 2,000 bottle gyro pallet riddling machine, fully automated disgorging line, and a well-equipped laboratory delivering daily wine analysis. A reserve room holds 1,700 gallons of base wines aged in French oak and stored in stainless steel drums. The winery is the heart of the whole facility and allows visitors views of all steps of production with vistas overlooking the tank room and cellars.
Steve and Cynthia also bought on board their dream winemaker. With 20 years of national and international experience, an accomplished scientific kground and a distinctive artistic talent, award winning winemaker Gilles Martin blends in his wine creations the classic refinements of old world tradition with the adventurous passion of new world innovation.