A winery in the Hamptons sells drive-thru rosé that’s the perfect socially distanced way to stock up

• Wölffer Estate Vineyard in Sagaponack, New York, introduced its drive-thru in 2017 to allow its wealthy clientele to stock up on wine from their cars.
• Drive-thru rosé might be the most Hamptons thing I’ve ever heard, but amid a global pandemic, it’s actually practical.
• I recently checked it out and bought a few bottles of wine at the hands-free drive-thru to take home.
• I thought it was fun, but once is probably enough unless you live nearby.
• Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.

The drive-thru can be found at the Wölffer Estate Wine Stand in Sagaponack, New York. It’s open daily from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

A bright-pink sign on the side of the road attracts passersby who want to pick up some rosé to enjoy later at home.

Once you turn into the lot, a masked employee directs you to the drive-thru. Cones also mark the way, though they were a little hard to follow.

Signs ask customers to stay inside the car.

The first stop is a chalkboard menu that lists all the different wines, ciders, snacks, and tchotchkes, from glasses to magnets, that are for sale.

Next, there’s a cute pink cart filled with the different bottles you can buy.

Wölffer Estate is largely credited with making rosé popular in the US, having made its first batch in 1992, as a 2017 Business Insider article notes.

Source: Business Insider

After deciding on our purchases, my friends and I placed our order with a very knowledgeable (and masked) lady, who asked us whether we wanted the bottles cold or not.

When we said cold, she asked how long it would be until the bottles would be placed in a fridge, and said we should get them warm; she explained that cold wine shouldn’t heat up before it gets chilled again, as the change of temperature can ruin the wine.

We then paid using a contactless payment system. While we were able to tap our card to pay, we did have to use our fingers to add a tip and sign.

Finally, we were handed a bag of wine bottles (which they also offered to put into the trunk for us) and were on our merry way.

While this is a super convenient — and safe — way to get your booze during the pandemic, unless you live nearby and this is on your way home, visiting the drive-thru once is probably enough.

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• This is an opinion column. The thoughts expressed are those of the author(s).