Last Sunday, Jaime and I got really Type-A and determined to do three vineyards in one day.
McLaughlin Winery in Sandy Hook, CTAn easy commute, it's a straight shot down I-84 to exit 10. That was the easy part. For some reason, my directional dyslexia came into play and I got amazingly lost and therefore was amazingly late.
The one caution I have for you, my dear readers, is the winery's driveway of death. It's a long, gravelly ordeal with potholes and built to accomodate only one car. You have to ask yourself why? Add in that this is the entrance AND exit to the place. Throw in the multiple blind curves, some of which you crawl through at 3 mph because you might sustain a head-on collision with someone coming the other direction. Guess what: they won't see you, either.
When I finally got to the tasting room, the layout of the place reminded me of a movie scene of an old New England Village. They had a huge mown lawn that resembles an old town green, stone walls, and a quaint and rustic tasting room.
They had a tent set up outside with live musician warming up. We did a tasting of the four wines (two were unavailable, missed out on their popular Merlot):
Farmer's Daughter - $16.00A semi-dry Vidal Blanc.
Vista Reposa 2000 - $14.00A definate taste of Hazelnut in this semi-dry red. A bit on the thin side.
Vista Reposa 2001 - $15.00The more robust and complex sibling to it's anemic elder. My pick in the lineup.
Blue Coyote - $14.00A semi-sweet white make from Aurora grapes. A demure little wine, it should have been second in the line up for this wine tasting. It was a bit milque-toast for me after the bigness of the Vista Reposa 2001. This wine suffered due to my palatte fatique after two reds.
The only one of note was the Vista Reposa 2001. I almost bought a bottle, but Jaime was lessed than impressed. The wines in general would be fine, but not outstanding. As we were leaving, people were arriving with picnic baskets and blankets. Looked like if we didn't have any other plans, it might have been a fun place to come out for the day.
DiGrazia Winery in Brookfield, CT ***Our next stop was
DiGrazia Winery in Brookfield, CT. This one was easy to get to, exit 9 off of I-84, Route 25 to Route 133 to Tower Road. Then turn into their short paved driveway. That I can recall the way there and back is an attestment to how easy they are to find.
At DiGrazia, you have 16 (
yes 16!) wines available for tasting. They limit you to six per person. That is why I advise you to go there with one if not two other friends. Luckily, Jaime and I going together allowed us to taste twelve of their wines.
We chose the wines we would not be tasting and away we went:
Winner's Cup - $15.99A Vidal Blanc in American Oak. I found it too acidic.
Wind Ridge - $15.99A semi-dry Seyval blanc. A beautiful wine from nose to finish. It has crisp apple overtones. Well done.
Meadowbrook - $15.99A medium-dry Vidal Blanc. I've become a great lover of Vidal Blanc. Full-bodied, big and excellent from nose to finish. A bit on the sweet side, this bottle came home with me and was appreciated that same night for a Thai dinner at my parents' house.
Honey Blush $15.99I opted out of this because I had bought this bottle before. I have a huge sensitivity to sulfites, and this wine, fermented with honey, has no added sulfites. I enjoyed this wine when I had it, but most of my friends found it too sweet. This is a wine my mother would love, though.
Anastasia's Blush - $15.99You definately tasted the grape flavor in this wine. Sweet, simplistic. I don't have anything bad to say about it.
William's Sonnet - $15.99A white grape with raspberry thrown in for taste and color. I really liked this wine, but I have to argue that the finish was more blackberry than raspberry.
Fieldstone Reserve - $15.99A dry, medium-bodied table wine. I definately tasted a bit of chocolate and a bit of peppery finish. It gives a nice little kick on the end. It's playful and hardy enough to stand up to steak or Italian dishes.
Autumn Spice - $15.99This is what fall in New England is all about. This is the bottle to bring to Thanksgiving dinner, or for a fall picnic with friends. White grapes fermented with sugar pumpkins. Spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Absolutely lovely, I'm sure this would be very good warmed up for an after dinner apperatif.
Harvest Spice - $15.99I thought Autumn Spice was good, but this one was a purchase for both Jaime and me. Apple pie in a bottle. It's absolutely lovely. I cannot wait to open this bottle.
Yankee Frost - $24.99A sweet Vidal Blanc. You need not say more for me, but really, it's a desert wine. Grapefruitty, clear and sweet. Some would think it's a bit too bitter on the grapefruit side, but I absolutely loved the fact that it was sweet and sour. Lovely.
The Birches - $24.99Deep golden brandy, flavored with pears and walnuts. I definately tasted the nutty undertone. It was good, just not my preference. I envision Yale professors with Cuban cigars sipping this while reading their NY Times.
White Magnolia-Light Port - $24.99This was so big, so complex, so .... well, I ordered a glass of this to sip in the garden. The thing I soon learned is port should be sipped in smaller quantities, it is heavy, and it sits in your empty stomach. Now I know why port is served after a big meal. It is a digestif, something to help coat the stomach. High alcohol content, but I absolutely loved it. Such an excellent light port.
Winterberry - $18.99Very fruity, very complex. You could sip the entire bottle over the course of a leisurely afternoon and still be picking out different fruit flavors. Another winner.
Wild Blue Too - $24.99A blend of blueberries and apples. We opted out of this one. But it sounds really good. I'd go back to DiGrazia again to taste the wines I missed out on.
Blacksmith Port - $24.99This port makes out with your tongue. I wrote this down and Jaime laughed at me, but it's true. This Port is like one of those slow, deep, sensuous kisses that knock your socks off. You know exactly what I mean, and if you don't, well, you've been missing out. Blackberry finish. I think I must love ports after my experience at DiGrazia.
After purchasing our wine, they poured us two glasses of our choice and we then sat outside in their garden. They have a great space. One area has a great gurgling fountain. I did introduce myself to Mr. DiGrazia, a spry, cute-as-a-button older gentleman. I imparted that I was impressed by all his wines. He smiles placidly, and shook my hand. It's actually Dr. DiGrazia. He's a practicing gynecologist. He handed his cards to both me and Jaime. I didn't get a chance to meet his wife, she was busy bustling around, but she seemed nice.
White Silo in Sherman, CTWe then went on to
White Silo. They have dry and sweet wines made from fruit, no grapes involved. We walked into an Art Show and this provided us with good people watching. One noteworthy chap had the big lambchops and the biggest Donald Trump comb-over I'd ever seen. Many were dressed in sartorial splendor here. It was interesting to see all these people dressed in their Brooks Brothers country-estate finest while hanging out in a very barnesque tasting room.
Their was a nice table spread with cheeses, baklava, and fresh veggies. I found myself crunching on my fair share of baby carrots and baklava squares. There was a photographer, first name Cynthia, whose work was quite good.
The wines were the like an aside. Anticlimactic to the chattering Art Show attendees and their kiddies running around picking fruit off the vines. The winery staff appeared a bit frazzled by the loud music for the art show. It was hard to conduct a wine-tasting when you had to yell at each other across the wine bar.
I had to keep reminding the pourer of what our next wine was. It just didn't seem fair that this winery followed the amazing DiGrazia experience. They had sold out of the Sour Cherry dry wine. The only wine I tasted that I did like was the Sour Cherry sweet wine. The pourer told us that both the Sour Cherry dry and sweet wines came into their prime after aging for four years, and now it was selling out quickly.
We left White Silo with hopes of getting to Hopkins just up the street. But we really didn't think we would have made it before their 5pm closing time. We are, however, looking forward to next weekend when they have their Harvest Celebration. Stayed tuned, my little viticulturalists, to hear more about my adventures on the CT wine trail.
