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Samba dancers perform at the 2015 Sparkling Pointe Carnaval celebration. (Credit: Vera Chinese photos)
The samba dancers swayed their bead-clad hips to the rhythm of a bass drum as Sparkling Pointe celebrated its sixth annual Carnaval festivities at the Southold winery on Saturday, July 25.
Wine Country’s all-sparkling wine vineyard feted the release of its Cuvée Carnaval Rouge with live music by Samba Nova Band, Brazilian drummers, dancers and “samba queens.”
“It’s a lovely, fruity wine with a lot of cherry flavor,” said Sparkling Pointe winemaker Gilles Martin. “It doesn’t have a lot of tannin. It’s an easy drinking summer sparkling wine. Enjoy with a picnic or barbecue.”
Sparkling Pointe owners Cynthia and Tom Rosicki often visit Brazil and pay tribute to the country’s largest festival, Carnaval, each year at the vineyard.
Check out photos from the event below.
Top: David Jaffe and Amie Kennedy of Riverhead, Claire Landsbaum of Manhattan, Sara Balagopal of Houston, Texas and Laura Venugopalan of Riverhead. Bottom: Sadie Kennedy Jaffe and Anjali Venugopalan, both of Riverhead.A bottle of Sparkling Pointe Carnaval Rouge. The wine was released during Saturday’s celebration.Sparkling Pointe winemaker Gilles Martin and Sparkling Pointe staffer Kelsey Cheslock.A samba dancer performs at the 2015 Sparkling Pointe Carnaval celebration.Ted and Eriko Suda of Sunyside, Queens.Anthony and Danielle Rivera of Holbrook.Max Riberger of indianapolid, Indianna, Janeve McCloghry of Sydney, Australia and Hailey Brosnan of Dix Hills.Frank Profera of Patchogue and Rachel Kernisant of Selden.A dancer performs at the 2015 Sparkling Pointe Carnaval celebration.Samba dancers perform at the 2015 Sparkling Pointe Carnaval celebration.A samba dancer performs at the 2015 Sparkling Pointe Carnaval celebration.A samba dancer performs at the 2015 Sparkling Pointe Carnaval celebration.A samba dancer performs at the 2015 Sparkling Pointe Carnaval celebration.Tom and Cynthia Rosicki, owners of Sparkling Pointe, during the winery’s 2015 Carnaval celebration.Members of the Samba Novo drum band.Samba dancers perform at the 2015 Sparkling Pointe Carnaval celebration.
Vera Chinese has been the editor of northforker.com and northforker magazines since May 2014.
Prior to that she spent two and a half years as a staff reporter for the New York Daily News.
She joined the Riverhead News-Review as a staff writer in January 2010 and was named Associate Web Editor nine months later.
She previously worked for the Southampton Press Western Edition and was named the third place 2008 Rookie Reporter of the Year by the New York Press Association. She graduated from Wagner College in 2006 where she received a bachelor's degree in English. She earned a master's degree in English education from New York University in 2007.
She is a 2002 graduate of Eastport High School and has lived on the East End for more than 20 years.