30th Anniversary Season Bay Street Wine Event

Bay Street Theater will host its 30th anniversary Season Kick-Off Benefit on Wednesday, February 24, at 6 p.m. The evening will be presented live, online via Zoom, and will begin with an introduction from Bay Street Artistic Director Scott Schwartz, who will introduce exciting new plans for the upcoming season. Schwartz will then hand it over to Wölffer Estate Vineyard’s master winemaker, Roman Roth, who will lead a wine tasting of three Wölffer wines, all included and sent directly to attendees’ homes.

Tickets for the benefit are $179, including wine (suggested for a party of four), and must be reserved in advance. The event is free for Bay Street Patrons and available at a discounted rate for donors at other levels as listed on Bay Street’s website. A private link to join the tasting will then be sent the day of the event. Space is limited. For more information or to reserve, contact Kim Fink, director of development, at 631-718-0818 or email her at kim@baystreet.org.

Roth will walk participants through three Wölffer Estate wines — Grapes of Roth merlot, Descensia (a Riesling/chardonnay blend) and the Estate Rosé, which will all be delivered directly to each household upon reservation. Each order will include these three wines and reservations are on a first come, first served basis.

A gifted winemaker, Roth gives “voice” to his wines, produced by experience that covers three continents and stems from the dream of a 16-year-old boy in Rottweil, in Germany’s Black Forest. Roth began a three-year apprenticeship at the Kaiserstuhl Wine Cooperative, Oberrotweil, while attending technical school as a teenager. Following that, he traveled to the United States, working at the Saintsbury Estate in California, then to New South Wales, Australia, at Rosemount Estate. Returning to Germany, he became a winemaker at Winzerkeller Wiesloch near Heidelberg and earned his Master Winemaker and Cellar Master degree from the College for Oenology and Viticulture in Weinsberg. In 1992, Roth became the first winemaker at Wölffer Estate Vineyard and established the estate’s distinctive character — European elegance combined with the typicity of Long Island terroir. He has dedicated himself to promoting not only the wines of Wölffer Estate but of Long Island, where he has consulted with numerous vineyards and is currently the president of the Long Island Wine Council. Roth’s contribution to quality winemaking on Long Island was recognized at the 2003 East End Food & Wine Awards (judged by the American Sommelier Society), where he was named Winemaker of the Year.

Founded in 1988 by the late Christian Wölffer, Wölffer Estate Vineyard is now owned and operated by his children, Marc and Joey Wölffer and partner Roth. The estate spans approximately 470 acres, including the 55-acre, sustainably farmed estate vineyard located in Sagaponack and 52 acres on the North Fork, in addition to 200 acres in Mendoza, Argentina, 2.5 acres in Mallorca, Spain, and 160 acres managed in collaboration with North Fork growers.