Vineyards in Stonington in the 1980's

There is more snow falling this morning and if I was Punxsutawney Phil, I would protest! "Do I really need to come out from my underground sanctuary to tell you weather forecasters whether I can see my shadow or not?"
My husband and I have been using this time of inclement weather to do some research about grape growing in our neck of the woods in the 1980's. My husband is much better at searching the internet and he found some news articles that shed some light on a vineyard called Stonecrop Farm Vineyards that existed in 1984, owned and operated by Thomas and Charlotte Young. This information appears in an article published by The New London Day on Tuesday, June 19, 1984, titled New rural wineries give tastes and tours. The article states that the Youngs planted their first vines in 1977 and was the ground breaker for wine-making in the area. What is interesting is that Stonecrop Farm Vineyards existed on Taugwonk Road in Stoningon, half a mile down the road from the Stonington Vineyards. In the 1980's Stonington Vineyards was owned by Thomas and Barbara Clark. Now Stonington Vineyards is owned by Nick and Happy Smith. The third vineyard listed in this article was called Crosswood Vineyards located on Chester Main Road in North Stonington and owned by Susan and Hugh Connell. Currently, Crosswood Vineyards is called Jonathan Edwards Winery.
We live very near Taugwonk and have lived here since 1984 and had not heard of Stonecrop Farm Vineyard, although we are familiar with both Crosswoods and Stonington Vineyards. The article mentions that the Youngs made 4 types of wine: Aurore, Seyval Blanc, a blend called Stonecrop White and Marechal Foch. In another article that we found on the Internet from the Lakeland Ledger written on December 26, 1982, there is a map that shows where the wineries in Connecticut were located, indicating the location of Stonecrop Vineyard.

The mystery is that there is no more information regarding Stonecrop Farm Vineyards after that. I love history and I love mysteries involving history so I may have to get my boots on the ground and follow up with either or both our Town Hall or Stonington Historical Society. If you are reading this blog and know what happened to Susan and Thomas Young and Stonecrop Farm Vineyards, please drop me a line!