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Press
Release
Rooster
Hill Vineyards Starts Pouring for the Public
Keuka Lake's Newest Winery Opens its Doors in May 2003
Penn Yan, NY, May 2003 — Rooster Hill announced this
week that is open to the general public. Keuka Lake's newest
winery opened its doors in early-May offering Merlot, Riesling,
Cayuga White, Seyval Blanc, and a special Seyval Blanc and
Vidal blend under the proprietary label "Silver Pencil",
to guests and visitors from around the country.
Transporting
the relaxed and blissful spirit of Tuscany to Keuka Lake,
owners Amy and David Hoffman offer Rooster Hill visitors an
inimitable experience tasting some of the region's finest
wines. Inspired by Amy's ancestry, the interior of Rooster
Hill's newly built country-style winery and tasting room plays
with the colors and styles of the Tuscan region of Italy.
The focal point of the tasting room is the view of Keuka Lake,
easily visible from anyplace around the oval tasting bar.
The broad porch surrounding three sides of the building offers
visitors the ideal setting to bask in Keuka Lake's immense
beauty.
"We
wanted to do something special and very different on Keuka
Lake," says Amy Hoffman, General Manager. "When
we learned we could buy several acres of long-neglected vineyards
across the road from our home, we traded our business suits
and briefcases for jeans and work boots and have never looked
back."
The
Hoffmans spent over a year interviewing Winemakers and finally
settled on Barry Tortolon. Finger Lakes born and California-trained,
Tortolon has been making wine since he was 15 years old. With
a unique mixture of practical and academic experience, Barry
heads up Rooster Hill's Winemaking team with a wealth of experience
in small and large scale fermentations, cold sterile bottling,
shipping and warehouse, product and process development, retail
wine sales, vineyard operations and tour guiding.
"I
am absolutely thrilled to be working with the Hoffmans,"
says Tortolon. "They thoroughly understand how to offset
the unknowns in this business of mixing science and art, by
investing in the right tools and equipment. The winery is
fitted with state-of-the-art equipment for both the winemaking
process and care of the wines. They are business people that
understand what it takes to operate a first-class winery."
Rooster
Hill's equipment includes superlative French and American
oak barrels for controlled aging, a DiFrechesci Press and
Milani Crusher / de-Stemmer for production. The winery contains
over 8,000 gallons in stainless steel tanks and French oak
barrels. A state of the art laboratory enables Winemaker Tortolon
to closely monitor the wines so that they can achieve their
true potential.
Before
breaking ground, the Hoffmans spent thousands of hours learning
about grape growing and the wine industry from others in all
aspects of the business.
"It
was a push to have the production space and crush area ready
for the 2002 harvest," says Amy, "But we vigilantly
managed the schedule, taking extra care to ensure that the
entire operation can be managed by a handful of people to
maintain the ideal conditions for aging and storing wines
year round."
About Rooster Hill
Located in Penn Yann on Keuka Lake, one of the several well-known
wine towns in the Finger Lakes Region, Rooster Hill vineyards
fuses sun, soil and local winemaking traditions into ultra-premium
vinifera wines. Founded in 2000, Rooster Hill is an emerging
producer of some of the region's finest wines. Rooster Hill
focuses on growing premium Cabernet Franc, Riesling, Lemberger
and Guwerztraminer and Pinot Noir grapes with an emphasis
on quality to produce award-winning wines. For more information
about Rooster Hill, please visit www.roosterhill.com or contact
Amy Hoffman at (315) 536-4773.
###
Contact:
Amy Hoffman
315-536-4773
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