Merlot Lagrein Petillant Naturel
⏳ Drinking Window
Best enjoyed fresh, typically within 1–2 years of the vintage release to appreciate its vibrant carbonation and youthful fruit profile.
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
charcuterie boards, soft goat cheese, fried chicken
✨ Technical Specifications
Channing Daughters' Merlot Lagrein Pétillant Naturel is a vibrant testament to the winery's spirit of experimentation on Long Island's South Fork. Combining Merlot, a variety that has thrived in the maritime soils of the East End for decades, with Lagrein, a dark-skinned grape native to Italy's Trentino-Alto Adige region, this sparkling rosé is crafted using the ancient méthode ancestrale. The wine is bottled before primary fermentation completes, trapping the natural carbon dioxide to create a gentle, playful effervescence. Unfiltered and unfined, it captures the raw, energetic essence of the vineyard, showcasing yeasty complexity alongside bright red berry fruit and a refreshing, salty maritime breeze finish. This bottling highlights the estate's pioneering work in bringing alpine Italian varieties to the coastal terroir of New York.
🍾 About the Producer
Founded by Walter Channing with initial vineyard plantings dating back to 1982 in Bridgehampton on Long Island's South Fork, Channing Daughters Winery stands as one of New York's most inventive and boundary-pushing artisanal producers. Guided by partner and winemaker Christopher Tracy alongside partner Larry Perrine, the estate champions low-intervention, sustainable viticulture across its distinctive maritime terroir. The winery is celebrated for its remarkably diverse and adventurous portfolio encompassing more than two dozen grape varieties, ranging from skin-contact orange wines like Meditazione and complex field blends like Mosaico to expressive single-vineyard expressions such as L'Enfant Sauvage Chardonnay and Scuttlehole Chardonnay. Through experimental fermentations, pet-nats, and traditional method sparklers, Channing Daughters continues to showcase the dynamic potential and saline elegance of East End winemaking.
🍇 Grape Varieties
Merlot, Lagrein