Lauren Scala visits NYC’s first rooftop winery, Rooftop Reds at The Brooklyn Navy Yards
What to Know
- Rooftop Reds plans to sell $1,000 bottles of its first batch of wine
- The business looks to lead the way for rooftop vineyards
- As it nurses its first batch, Rooftop Reds has been holding wine tastings and hosting events
New York City’s first and only rooftop vineyard will be selling an extremely limited batch of its wine for $1,000 a bottle, CNBC reported.
Rooftop Reds, located on the rooftop of a Brooklyn Navy Yard building, plans to showcase its first bottles in 2019, more than four years after its first nursery vineyard was planted.
By its very nature, the vineyard is much smaller than others located throughout the state. But Rooftop Reds Founder Devin Shomaker has been focusing not on output but on making the vineyard work. While other city wineries source their grapes from existing wine regions, he envisions growing the fruit right in Brooklyn.
“We are the first movers in the rooftop vineyard space, and we are four years ahead of anyone who tries to copycat us,” Shomaker told CNBC.
The vineyard has 168 grapevines in 42 planters on a 14,800-square-foot rooftop. It has created a popular tasting room and event space with sweeping views of the city as it continues to nurse its first wine.
Shomaker told CNBC he knows it will be a challenge convincing wine enthusiasts to spend $1,000 on a bottle of Brooklyn red, but he’s confident he’ll win them over with a premium wine. “This is a collector's item. It will be the first of its kind, and it's extremely limited,” he said.
