ProductionWinery Operations & Cultivation Techniques We select high-quality grapes from premier growers in the Finger Lakes region and Long Island. We make multiple vineyard visits to ensure our growers employ the most stringent vineyard practices. Our wines are true to the uniqueness of the fruit we select, with a focus on quality. We strive for the ultimate balance between flavor, texture, acid and tannin structure followed by distinguishing characteristics of terroir. The Rooster Hill team believes in the old adage "the wine is made in the vineyard" and is committed to the highest quality of grapes. When fully mature, the fruit is harvested in the early mornings and then quickly moved to the winery for gentle pressing.
The red wines are de-stemmed and gently crushed as soon as the fruit arrives at the winery. The fermenting juice is then punched down by hand numerous times daily to extract color and flavor from the skins. Upon completion of fermentation, the wine is pressed to tanks for settling and then racked to French oak barrels for aging. The result is red wines that are balanced yet complex, with all components (fruit, tannins, acids and oak) proportionate and working with each other in the aging process. When the white grapes reach the winery, they are removed from the stems and crushed. The must is drained off into tanks where, after a few hours, alcoholic fermentation begins. The initial phase is tumultuous, with temperature readings of as much as 30'C. (86'F.), and it lasts for about 5 -7 days. In the course of fermentation, the must is transformed into wine and the grapes' sugar into alcohol. To extract the most valuable elements from the skins, the polyphenols, which give the wine its color and enable it to be aged at length, and the aromatic substances that are responsible for the complexity of its bouquet, the must is constantly punched down by hand so that it is broken up frequently. Racking follows, with the wine being pumped off the skins and into tanks where a second fermentation occurs with the arrival of the spring. This malolactic fermentation transforms the wine's aggressive malic acid into the much softer lactic acid. To make the wine as limpid as possible, it is repeatedly racked in February and March and the last racking is carried out, as tradition has it, at the time the flowering of the vines announces the arrival of the summer heat. Afterward, the wine that is to be sold in its youth remains in the tank or is briefly matured in oak barrels.
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