Make way for the real rosé mansion.
As the head winemaker of famed Hamptons vineyard Wolffer Estate, Roman Roth is the man behind New Yorkers’ favorite bottle of rosé. But his family home in Sag Harbor — kitted out with a pool, a tasting room and a wine cellar — is where the 53-year-old father pairs business with pleasure alongside doctor wife, Dushy, and teen daughter Indira.
“The property where our house is situated used to be a farm. Our house was the barn,” says Roth of the 2,750-square-foot, three-bedroom property, which he and Dushy purchased in 2000.
The vibe at home is low key compared with work, especially given the high demand for Wolffer’s output. But it took decades before fans started stockpiling his “Summer in a Bottle” varietal, whose oft-Instagrammed bottle is adorned with colorful flowers. “Back when we started, we had to beg people to taste our wines,” says the grape grower. “Now, we can’t make enough.”
Born in Rotteril, Germany, to winemaking parents — his father, Remigius, made both barrels and wine, while his mother, Rosa, helped distill and make cider — Roth began studying the craft at 16. “I liked the seasonality, the creative part and the social aspects,” says Roth, who went on to get a master’s degree from Germany’s College for Oenology and Viticulture in 1992.
That year, he and Dushy were packed for a move to Australia, where she grew up. “There was already a welcome party organized,” says Roth, who nevertheless took an interview with Christian Wolffer — a businessman who had purchased a vineyard off of Montauk Highway four years prior — to practice his English. Wolffer, who died in 2009, flew to Germany to meet the couple; the three drank the pinot blanc that Roth had made for his own wedding. Two months later, the Roths arrived in America with three suitcases and a guitar to help build Wolffer Estate’s reputation in the Long Island scene.
Now Wolffer’s properties total 470 acres, including parcels in Spain and Argentina, along with the original 55-acre Sagaponack vineyard, and the surname has become synonymous with well-heeled Hamptons summers. Parties, one, for example, co-sponsored by Saks and Vogue last July, local theater benefits, and the 2018 James Beard Foundation’s Chefs and Champagne Gala have been hosted on the rolling lawns in Sagaponack, while Roth’s “Summer in a Bottle” sells out every year as early as May. “We have so many young customers, and the rosé is a cult wine,” says Roth. “It’s a dream to have something that’s so sought after.”
Initially, the Roths lived on Wolffer’s property “in a beautiful garage cottage, and it was only a two-minute walk to work” but decided to look for a place of their own in 2000. Since then — as his wines have gained popularity — the Roths’ house has also grown, with a tasting room, a wine cellar, a sitting room and a pool.
Though the original barn was demolished, the Roths’ current house drew inspiration from its A-frame shape, thanks to East End architectural firm Chaleff and Rogers.
“It’s an energy-efficient home, which was ahead of its time,” says Roth. A few eco-friendly features: there’s no basement — “you have to heat it and air-condition it” — and a roof angled perfectly for the family’s collection of solar panels. Windows are concentrated on the sun-facing south side of the abode.
Roth jokes he and Dushy, who specializes in injectables like Botox, were the only buyers not scared off by the “European flair” of the house. “There’s a lot of wood,” he says. “There’s a tile floor, too — which isn’t exactly what people out here want, but we loved it.”
The couples’ international bona fides shine through in their interiors: simple, with accents both Eastern and Western. “My wife was born in Sri Lanka, so she loves colors like orange and green, and the wood makes it warm,” says Roth. (All the cushions and throws are made from Sri Lankan hand-loomed fabric.) Eclectic furnishings come from ABC Carpet & Home, Ikea and antique stores.
An ornate chandelier hangs above the long dining room table where the Roths often entertain — “when you have a house in the Hamptons, you have many friends” — while an upright piano stands in the corner. Explains Roth, who is known by coworkers as “the singing winemaker” and is part of his church’s choir, “My daughter played well, but eventually stopped practicing, but now I occasionally play.” Adds Dushy, “We usually hire a pianist when we entertain, and everyone sings after.”
Outside, a path of stepping stones, framed by Dushy’s beds of flowers and herbs — namely sage, rosemary “and nasturtiums for a pop of color,” she says — leads to a small tasting room, originally the farm’s chicken coop and rehabbed with original beams.
The couple built the tasting room along with an addition to the house in 2004. “We added a sitting room with a fireplace, and a small room under it, because what’s a winemaker without a wine cellar?”
Roth says he indulges in the fruits of his labor to the tune of a glass a night at home or out with friends. “My mother used to say that you don’t want to be the best customer in your own liquor store,” he jokes. He frequently visits his vineyard’s restaurant outpost, Wolffer Kitchen, about a 12-minute walk from home. In the winter, he and his family will strap on cross-country skis to trek over there.
In 2016, the Roths tapped David Camp and Michael Rubin of Dirtworks Landscaping to construct a pool, a patio and a pergola, which he says ties the home together. “It’s not deep, about 4½ feet, so the sun heats it up. It really blended well and added to the overall feeling.”
Sadly, the Hamptons’ idyllic atmosphere doesn’t always apply to the man responsible for summer’s trendiest wine. “Sometimes in the middle of the night I drive the 6 minutes to the vineyard to check the temperature of a tank,” he says.
Nowadays, he spends two days a week in the field. “You want the perfectly ripened grape to make great wine,” he says, adding that his fellow Sag Harbor residents share in “our worry and obsession with the weather, especially at harvest.”
In addition to a healthy supply of Wolffer vintages — “Noblesse Oblige” sparkling rosé is one of his favorites — in his cellar, Roth also collects European wines and Champagne. “Some of my most prized bottles are Rieslings from the Rheingau [region] in Germany, and three magnums of Graham’s 2000 vintage port.” As far as accessories, the he prefers Riedel’s “Vinum Extreme” glasses, the Swan Decanter from the same brand and corkscrews by Durand, which Roth calls “the best in the world.”
Of course, Roth held back a few of the 432,000 bottles of the 2019 “Summer in a Bottle” he produced — which has six varieties of grapes with notes of cantaloupe, peaches and strawberries — for his personal collection. “We ration so that we have some here that will last hopefully to the middle of August,” he says. “Our distributor has been sold out for months.” In 2014, Wolffer made headlines for running dry of the famous pink stuff. That year, it produced 1,535 cases. Now the number is closer to 36,000.
Still, his most prized bottles are cases of his personal label from 2004, “The Grapes of Roth,” which are also sold at Wolffer Estate. He plans to eventually give them to daughter Indira, who works in Wolffer’s tasting room and boutique during the summer. Quips Roth, “I hope she’ll ‘work her way down’. . . into the cellar.”