Chapter 11) The Grapes Of Roth, Merlot 2001

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2001 was in my mind, the greatest vintage I’ve experienced on long island, and so the grapes of Roth came to fruition. The vines blossomed with abundant sunshine, minimal rain fall and cool nights, allowing ideal ripening with extremely long hang time. The numbers and the flavors were perfect to set the stage for the making of a special wine. We took it further by maximizing the controllable elements in the vineyard such as optimizing sun exposure and reducing the crop to a low yield. It all paid off- harvest brought in the best possible fruit we could have and at last, Grapes of Roth came to being!