Pioneers of the Southeastern New England American Viticultural Area (AVA)

In one of my first blogpots in 2011, I wrote about the Southeastern New England AVA. This blogpost was quite sparse in details and it wasn't until this year, when my husband and I were looking into the early vineyards in Stonington, that he located two articles that fleshed out when the AVA was formed and who the pioneers were that persevered to see that the AVA came to fruition.
An AVA is important because it allows both vintners and consumers to attribute characteristics such as quality and reputation to wine made from grapes grown in a particular area of geographic origin. According to the TTB regulations, an AVA is “a defined grape-growing region having distinguishing features” which are described in 27 CFR part 9.
In order to petition for a new AVA, a petitioner must meet the following regulatory requirements:

• Name Evidence
Name Usage
Source of Name and Name Evidence

• Boundary Evidence
• Distinguishing Features
Climate
Geology
Soils
Physical Features
Elevation

• Maps and Boundaries Description
Maps
Boundary Description

The initial petitioner of the Southeastern New England AVA was Mr. James Mitchell, of Sakonnet Vineyards, Little Compton, Rhode Island. In 1983, Professor Everett R. Emino of the University of Connecticut College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and Mrs. Hugh P. Connell, co-owner of Crosswoods Vineyards Winery also provided additional information and justification for the extension of the boundaries of the initially proposed Southeastern New England AVA based on the similarity of the Connecticut coastal region's terrain and climate.

• Name Evidence
→Name Usage - The name "Southeastern New England" is descriptive of the land adjoining the coastal bodies of water in eastern Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts south of the Boston area.
→Source of Name and Name Evidence - considerable precedence exists for applying the name "Southeastern New England" to this area, and it has been used by the New England River Basins Commission to describe the proposed area.

• Boundary Evidence
• Distinguishing Features
→Climate - proposed area is part of that area shown on U.S. Weather Service climatic division maps as the coastal climatic divisions of Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts.
→Geology
→Soils
→Physical Features
→Elevation

• Maps and Boundaries Description
→Maps
→Boundary Description - the area includes New London County, Connecticut east of the Mystic River; all of Rhode Island except- most of Kent and Providence Counties; and all of southeastern Massachusetts east and south of the Norfold-Bristol County Boundary, the Amtrak (ex New Haven) mainline, and the Neponset River. All offshore islands between Boston and the Mystic River, including Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, are included as part of this viticultural area.

Here is what the map of the Southeastern New England AVA looks like:²

I am just reminded that our foray into grape growing and wine making owes much to the early pioneers who had a vision of what our area could become.
Update: This year makes 40 years since the Southeastern New England AVA was established!
References:
1. Federal Register, Vol.48, No. 151, Thursday, August 4, 1983.
2. Wine Regions of the World, Map of Southeastern - New England AVA.

2020 Kamoshibito Kuheiji Eau du Desir Junmai Daiginjo

The first sake that we thought we would try from our Hawaii stash was this 2020 Kamoshibito Kuheiji Eau du Desir Junmai Daiginjo. Nadine suggested this sake which is made like a wine and has a vintage date of 2020. We paired the sake with a selection of sushi that we bought from a local supermarket. I know, real travesty. But it was better than nothing. Since we decided on the spur of the moment to have sushi and sake, we didn't chill the sake to the right temperature and it was about 54 ^oF when we tried it. The aroma was of green apples with a nice smooth finish and it did go very well with the sushi. We decided to leave a good bit of the sake so that we could chill it in the frig and have it at another time.
The next time we had the sushi, we made local food. Teriyaki chicken and our take on gon lo mein with lots of vegetables and char siu. The sake was at the correct temperature, around 42 ^oF. At this temperature, the sake tasted crisp, again with a green apple nose and flavor and it was smooth. It did go very well with the Hawaiian food!
I had to look online for information on this sake and learn more about it. I found a really good write up at Sake Lovers What’s the secrets of great Premium Sake Kuheiji? First of all, the sake brewery, Banjou Jouzou, has been in operation since 1647 in Nagoya city, Aichi Prefecture. During post-war Japan, Banjou Jouzou was mass producing sake but since 1996 switched their production to focus on quality and now only produce the premium sake, Junmai Dai Ginjo.

I then used Google translate to go to the Kuheiji Site itself. Kuno Kuheiji is the 15th generation sake maker. On the Kuheiji Site, he says that sake is all about the rice. He wanted to marry the farming of rice to the making of sake and in 2010, he accomplished his goal of growing rice for the production of sake. Much like vineyards and terroir, Kuno is all about rice fields and location. His three rice fields in Kurodasho (Hyogo Prefecture) include Kadoyanagi, Tadaka and Fukuchi. There follows lengthy explanations of the soil types in the three rice fields. I spent some time clicking through all of the information that was on the website. The photos of the rice fields were beautiful and it even showed photos of grape vines in Morey Saint Denis. Kuno's philosophy can be encapsulated in the line on their website: "Ripe fruit flavor, elegance, kindness and nostalgia".
Yup, I can relate.
References:
1. Sake Lovers What’s the secrets of great Premium Sake Kuheiji?, Leo, January 19, 2017.
2. Kuheiji Website.
3. Kuheiji, Kuno, Japan Stories, KUHEIJI-Elegance mixed with depression and humility-, August 18, 2022.

The Book of Sake A Connoisseur's Guide

This is a follow up to the blog I wrote about The Sake Shope in Honolulu. It's really time for me to learn more about sake because it is part of my cultural heritage and it is the perfect pairing with Asian foods.
My husband was ahead of the curve, having purchased this book some time ago and I have neglected reading it until now. The Book of Sake A Connoisseur's Guide was written by Philip Harper and published in 2006.
The book is excellently written and illustrated. For sake, it is all about the rice polishing ratio and I found a beautiful illustration that shows just that.¹

The illustration shows from left to right unpolished rice to the most polished rice with the percentages referring to the amount of rice that is left after polishing.
When I went to The Sake Store, I had a question for Nadine which was "What is Junmai?" because I had been seeing sake labels like Junmai Dai Ginjo and just Junmai so that was very confusing for me. Nadine answered that, "Junmai means that the sake was made with rice, water and koji. If the label doesn't say 'Junmai' and has only something like 'Dai Ginjo', then the sake can have added alcohol." Wow! who knew!
Speaking of labels, just as in a wine label, a sake label must contain the following information.¹

I think it's time to taste some sake! Stay tuned!
References:
1. Harper, Philip, The Book of Sake A Connoisseur's Guide, Kodansha International, 2006. Rice polishing illustration from page 34. Sake label illustation page 30.

The Sake Shop in Honolulu

Recently, we went "home" to celebrate my mother's 94th birthday. On the first day of our arrival, the flight was such that we were just in time for dinner. My brother and sister-in-law treated us to two beautiful platters of sushi and my brother shared with us a Kubota Junmai Daiginjo sake which he received for Christmas from our cousin. Nothing goes better with sushi than sake and it was such a nice way to spend the first evening with family.
My husband spent a few days researching where we could purchase sake to bring back with us. He located two highly recommended sake shops and on one of our last days in Hawaii, we went to a highly recommended sake purveyor called The Sake Shop on Oahu. After a bit of meandering due to construction, we were able to find The Sake Shop from the mauka entrance to Cooke Street. There we found Nadine who was so knowledgeable and helpful in navigating the immense inventory of sake that was in the store. We were a little familiar with the level of polishing of rice and how sake is made, but ignorant of the variety of sake styles that are available. As Nadine explained to us how the various sakes are classified, we found that it was as complicated as wine and she agreed.
Sake is such a complex topic that I want to dedicate at least one blog to it. There was a laminated card, Sake 101 that summarized the various types of sake which I reproduce here:

Style	Description
Daiginjo	Daiginjo ranks as the highest grade of sake. This style of sake is made with rice where 50% or more of the outer layer of rice kernel is polished away and fermented at low temperature. Daiginjo has a pleasant fruity aroma and still retains its fragrant aroma in your mouth.
Ginjo	Ginjo ranks high among Junmai. This style of sake is made with rice where 40% or more of the outer layer of rice kernel is polished away and fermented at low temperature. It's aroma is of fruits or flowers and is slightly rich and robust with a smooth, light, and fruity taste.
Junmai	This style of sake is made from ONLY rice, koji (rice mold) and water. This sake is made with polished outer layer of rice kernel. (Not Specified Polishing Rate Regulation) Junmai has its own unique character and it can be served with a variety of foods.
Honjozo	Honjozo is sake made from rice, koji (rice mold), brewing alcohol and water. This style of sake is made with rice where 30% or more of the outer layer of rice kernel is polished away. It is known for its mild, unobstrusive bouquet and crisp flavor.
Nigori	Nigori is sake that is milky white since the mash is only lightly filtered using a coarse-texted cloth or is left unfiltered.

The Sake Shop also had this concise and beautifully illustrated pictoral representation of sake:

We left The Sake Shop with 4 different styles of sake which we brought home with us. I will share our tasting notes with you in upcoming blogs. Come on a journey of sake discovery!

Vintage 2023: February's Weird and Wacky Winter Weather

Punxsutawney Phil did predict that we would have 6 more weeks of winter, but he was a little off with his prediction. January was a very warm month, with 35 consecutive days of temperatures that were above average. However, on February 3rd and 4th, we were in for gusty winds and negative Fahrenheit temperatures. After that cold day, we went to the vineyard to download the data from our temperature logger. We learned that temperatures at the vineyard were below zero in the early morning hours on February 4. At 1:30 a.m. the temperature went to -5 ^oF and steadily declined until it reached a low temperature of -9.5 ^oF at 7:00 a.m.!

Then, just this past Thursday, on February 16th, we had temperatures that hit 70 ^oF that felt very much like May!
What do these temperatures do to the dormant vine? The warm weather in January meant that cold acclimation was lagging behind in the vine and when the temperature hit -5 ^oF, this was lethal to some of the buds. In addition, the extremely windy conditions we had during February 3-4 lead to dessiation of some of the buds.
On February 15, my husband and I went to the vineyard to get some canes to sample from all of our varieties.
Here is what we found:

Variety	Cane Number	Bud #1	Bud #2	Bud #3	Bud #4	Bud #5
Auxerrois	Cane #1	+++	++-	-++	+++	-++
	Cane #2	-++	---	-++	+++	-++
	Cane #3	-++	+++	?++
	Cane #4	-++	+++	-++	--+
Chenin Blanc	Cane #1	-++	-++	-++	--+	-++
	Cane #2	---	--+	---	---	-++
	Cane #3	---	---	+++	-++	-++
	Cane #4	-++	-++	-++	-++	---
	Cane #5	-++	-++	-++	-++	-++
Chardonnay	Cane #1	-++	-++	-??	-++	-++
	Cane #2	+	?	---	-++	-++
	Cane #3	-++	--+	-++	--+	---
	Cane #4	-++	-++	?	+++	--+
	Cane #5	+++	-++	-++	-++	-++
	Cane #6	--+	+++	-++	-++	-++
Cabernet Sauvignon	Cane #1	---	+++	+++	+++	+++
	Cane #2	+++	-++	-++	-++
	Cane #3	-++	+++	-++	-++	-++
Cabernet Franc	Cane #1	-++	-++	-++	-++	?++
	Cane #2	-++	-++	-++	+++
	Cane #3	+++	-++	-++	+++	-++
Barbera	Cane #1	-++	+++	-++	-++	+++
	Cane #2	-++	---	-++	+++
	Cane #3	-++	+++	--+	-++
	Cane #4	+++	+++	+++	+++

Key: For each cane, we sampled the number of buds indicated on the horizontal axis. Each bud is a compound bud comprised of the primary, secondary and tertiary buds. + stands for green bud, - stands for dead/brown bud, ? stands for unknown. If a cell is empty, there was no bud for that number on that cane.
Here is an example of what we were seeing when my husband dissected the buds:

There are still a few months to go until we will be seeing budbreak in the vineyard but the above exercise should prepare us for what to expect from this season of weird and wacky winter weather.

Vineyards in Stonington in the 1980's --- Crosswoods Vineyard

This is the third and last post on the topic of Vineyards in Stonington in the 1980's and it is about Crosswoods Vineyard featured in the 1984 article in The Day. Crosswoods Vineyard was located on Chester Main in North Stonington. Hugh Connell, a former New York advertising agency executive and his wife Susan, purchased the 432 acre former 19th century dairy and land in 1981 and named it Crosswoods Vineyard. They planted primarily vinifera on the 27-acre farm. They also hired an expert winemaker from California with the aspiration of making some of the finest Chardonnays and Rieslings in the area.
In 1984, they were hoping to produce some 3,000 bottles of their first wines in the fall that included Gamay noir, Gewurztraminer, Riesling and Chardonnay. At that time, Crosswoods was open only by appointment and sales were to retailers rather than to customers at the vineyard.
Four years later, in the 1988, The New York Times documented their harvest which started in late September and ran into October. Coordinating the harvest was Russell Valvo, the vineyard manager.

In 1988, the Connells hired between 15-20 people and paid them $4.75 an hour to harvest 25 acres of grapes. A full time crew working from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. harvested six tons of grapes a day, or approximately 3 acres!
One of the harvesters, Dr. Filderman, an assistant professor of pulmonary medicine at Yale University School of Medicine said after an entire day of picking grapes, he felt like a "big thing of grape jelly."
The last mention that I could find of Crosswoods Vineyard was in The New York Times. In 1991, John Pettine was the president of Crosswoods Vineyard.⁴
What Stonecrop Vineyard, Clarke Vineyard, and Crosswoods Vineyard have in common are that they were the first vineyards planted in the Southeastern corner of Connecticut. I hope that people reading this blog can fill in more details about these pioneers in the wine industry in our area. I would love to hear from you!
References:
1. Clare Collins, New rural wineries give tastes and tours, The Day, June 19, 1984.
2. Bess Liebenson, Vineyards Beckon to Wine Lovers, The New York Times, Sunday July 27, 1986.
3. Clare Collins, Workers Heed the Call of the Vine, The New Hork Times, Sunday October 9, 1988.
4. Jackie Fitzpatrick, Pride and Reputations are Growing in the State's Vineyards, The New York Times, October 20, 1991.

Benoît Déhu Initiation Champagne

We were invited by our friends to join them for an early Valentine's Day dinner at Lake of Isles. My husband brought along this Benoît Déhu Initiation Champagne to begin the festivities.
First of all, just look at this label! It is minimalist to the max. I did see a raised imprint of Benoît Déhu on the label that my husband missed. Upon first opening this bottle, an aroma eminated from the champagne that was like the genie coming out of the lamp, very floral and enticing. This champagne is a Vintage 2019 which was disgorged in 2022 and no dosage was added. It is an extra brut style with 77% Pinot Meunier and 23% Pinot Noir. The champagne had a depth and complexity and roundness to it that was very appealing. It had notes of orange rind and toasted hazelnuts. Oh, did we like this champagne!
I had to find out more about this champagne and went to the Polaner Selections site where I learned more information about Benoît Déhu and his champagne. The Champagne house of Déhu Père et Fils was founded in 1787 and Benoît Déhu is the eighth generation vigneron.

Déhu spent some time at Bollinger and came back to the family estate located on the far western edge of the Vallée de la Marne. In order to realize his passion, Benoît purchased 1.70 hectares of vines from his family. These vines are densely planted at 8,000 plants per hectare, plowed by horse and biodynamically farmed. These champagnes are made under his own label, Champagne Benoît. The results are champagnes that are naturally farmed, handmade, artisanal, and of a very limited production.
Initiation is a blend of Meunier from La Rue des Noyers and Pinot Noir from a small parcel dominated by clay and sand at the bottom of the hill, which Benoit planted using massale selection Pommard clone from Burgundy.
Only indigenous yeasts are used and Benoît prefers all fermentation and aging to occur in oak barrels. The barrels themselves are made from trees Benoît owns, grown 30 minutes away in Meilleray and fabricated by a barrel maker in Champagne. Benoît released the first Cuvee Initiation in 2018.
Kudos to my husband for introducing us to Initiation!
References:
1. Polaner Selections site, Benoît Déhu Champagne.
2. Benoît Déhu, McCarus Beverage Company.

Vineyards in Stonington in the 1980's --- Clarke Vineyard

After writing the blog Vineyards in Stonington in the 1980's --- Stonecrop Vineyard, my husband and I became curious about the two other vineyards, Clarke Vineyard and Crosswoods that was mentioned as having been in existence in the 1980s.
I looked at a publication called A History of Connecticut Wine and I went to consult that book wanting to know a little more about vineyards and wineries in Stonington. I did find one mention on page 14 which stated:¹
"A small family in Stonington called Stonecrop also anticipated the change, setting up shop in 1977. Once the act was passed, the Kerenskys officially opened their small St. Hilary's winery to the public in 1979, selling fruit wines out of a converted carriage house. McLaughlin Vineyard and Clarke Vineyard opened that same year, followed by Crosswoods, then Hopkins then Hamlet Hill. By 1984, Connecticut was the leading wine producing state in New England."
Basically, that one paragraph mention was what I could come up with but my husband who has his secret ways to search the internet was more successful and came up with two articles that shed a little more light on Clarke Vineyard.
Just a half a mile from Stonecrop, Barbara and Thomas Clarke realized their retirement dream of planting a vineyard. They began with 6 acres of grape vines planted in 1979 and by 1984 they had 12 acres planted in vines.
The Clarkes planted Chardonnay, Riesling and Pinot noir, all European Vitis vinifera varieties. Mrs. Clarke managed the vineyard and Mr. Clarke was the winemaker. Their daughter Monique helped them as well as Eric Hoxie, who was the vineyard's technical manager.²
A 1984 article in our local newspaper, The Day focussed on the three wineries in the Stonington area, Stonecrop, Clarke Vineyard and Crosswoods. In 1984, the Clarkes had just bottled their first vintage and were offering tours, tastings and retail sales. Their tasting room was open from Tuesday to Sunday and their hours were from 10 am to 5 pm. At that time, the Clarkes were offering Chardonnay, Seaport Red, Holiday Rose, Seyval Blanc, Vidal Blanc, Riesling and Pinot noir.³
Two years later in 1986, this is a map of the area vineyards that appeared in "Vineyards Beckon Wine Lovers" in The New York Times.²

The map shows that by this time, Stonecrop was no longer in existence. Stonecrop and Clarke Vineyard did overlap during the years from 1979 to 1985.
In an interview with Bess Liebenson of The New York Times in 1986, Mrs. Barbara Clarke likened the flavors of Connecticut wine to those of France rather than California and opined:
"We do not have any oak barrels here. We have stainless steel and fiberglass tanks. We make our wines in the European tradition. But each locale should have its own qualities. Our flavor is dry, our climate similar to Europe but a little cooler."
Sadly, for reasons that neither my husband nor I can unearth, we don't know what happened to Clarke Vineyard. By 1987, the owners of that property was Nick and Happy Smith who changed the name of the vineyard to Stonington Vineyards.
On a personal note, we remember visiting Clarke Vineyard in 1984, tasting their wines and being shown the winery by Tom Clarke.
References:
1. Lehman, Eric D, and Amy Nawrocki. A History of Connecticut Wine: Vineyard in Your Backyard. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2011, pg. 14.
2. Bess Liebenson, Vineyards Beckon to Wine Lovers, The New York Times, Sunday July 27, 1986.
3. Clare Collins, New rural wineries give tastes and tours, The Day, June 19, 1984.

The Microbial Community of Grape Berry - Part 3

In the first blog, The Microbial Community of Grape Berry, the topic was about the four groups of microorganisms that include (1) residents, (2) adventitious, (3) invaders, and (4) opportunists that can populate the grape berry.
The second blog The Microbial Community of Grape Berry - Part 2 was about the grape berry cuticle and the important role it plays in protecting the grape berry.
In today's blog we bring both topics together and ask, when are these four groups of microorganisms on the grape berry and what impact does it have on the condition of the berry?
The answer to this question depends fundamentally on:

• the berry development stage
• the intactness of the grape skin
• the prevailing environmental conditions

The Berry Development Stage
Grape berry development consists of two distinct but successive sigmoidal growth periods separated by a lag phase.
The first, the berry formation stage, also termed herbaceous or green phase, is the first period of growth, lasting from bloom to approximately 60 days afterwards.
Veraison or the ripening stage occurs 8-14 weeks after flowering and begins the second growth phase typified by sugar accumulation, skin softening , and skin coloration in the case of red varieties. The second period of growth is to make the berry as appealing as possible to birds and mammals so that seed dispersal may occur.
The following diagram clearly shows the berry development stage and the microorganisms that are prevalent at that stage.¹

• resident microorganisms are present on healthy grape surfaces at all times during their development
• invader infections occur essentially during the berry formation stage
• opportunist infections are concentrated during the berry ripening phase

Intact Berries

• in intact berries, the residents will be most prevalent.
• the residents can be rapidly superseded by the invaders or the opportunists when they proliferate through a berry wound, either of abiotic (i.e. rainfall, wind, temperature, viticultural practices, etc.) or biotic (i.e., diseases, pests, an insect or a larger animal) origin that can affect skin integrity.
• loss of skin integrity paves the way for massive growth of opportunists adapted to the low pH (3.0 to 3.8) and high sugar concentration (ca. 200 g.L-1) of grape juice
• the wound largely influences the microbiota which subsequently colonizes the damaged grape since it will induce a rapid change in the blend of grapevine volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted.
• G. Oxydans, predominates in sound berries, but is superseded by Gluconoacetobacter and Acetobacter, namely A. aceti and A. pasteurianus, in rotten berries.
• B. cinerea, the causal agent of grey rot, responsible for intense damage when rainfall is abundant, especially towards the end of grape ripening, as a result of berry splitting
• damaged grapes possess much higher cell counts (up to 5 log cycles) and display wider species diversity than sound grapes

Prevailing Environmental Conditions

• Downy Mildew
  →when warm and wet weather conditions prevail during the vegetative growth of the vine, downy mildew caused by the oomycete, obligate biotroph Plasmopara viticola is one of the most widespread and destructive diseases of grapevine
  →spring and summer rainfall at temperatures above 50ºF releases the oospores which is the primary inoculum
  →the occurrence, development and spread of disease are mainly dependent on rainfall and temperature
  → oospore, the primary source of infection, germinates on moist soil or in the presence of free water when temperatures rise above 11 ^oC, producing sporangia
  
• Powdery Mildew
  →Erysiphe necator is also known as Uncinula necator and is commonly called oidium
  →prefers mild temperatures between 68 and 85°F, relative humidity levels above 75%, and low levels of solar radiation
  
• Botrytis cinerea
  →under cool, wet and humid conditions, Botrytis bunch rot which favour sporulation and infection occurs
  →the severity of the infection by the fungus requires at least 25 h at 15-20 °C and saturated relative humidity
  →berry wounds constitute a preferential way for B. cinerea entry since it is an opportunist
  →susceptibility of grapes to this infection has been shown to greatly increase at the onset of grape ripening (veraison)
  →high free water level, suitable temperature and the presence of nutrients on the skin surface are necessary to induce spore germination and fungal growth
  

References:
1. V. Loureiro, M. M. Ferreira1, S. Monteiro1 and R. B. Ferreira, "The Microbial Community of Grape Berry", The Biochemistry of the Grape Berry, Chapter 12, 2012, 241-268.

Vineyards in Stonington in the 1980's --- Stonecrop Vineyard

In 2015, I posted this blog I called Vineyards in Stonington in the 1980's. Recently, there was a comment on that blog letting me know that Tom and Charlotte's son would help me solve the mystery of what happened to Stonecrop Vineyard. He left his name, T. Benton Young and his contact information so you can be sure that I followed up!
This past Sunday, we met Ben Young and his son, 13 year old Liam, whose school assignment led him to my blog. I am so glad he found it and let his father know.¹
Ben Young is the son of Charlotte and Thomas Young. Ben trained at the CIA (Culinary Institutes of America) and spent 15 years as chef at Lake of Isles. He is currently teaching Culinary Arts at New London High School.
Ben told us that Thomas Young graduated from Clemson in Biochemistry and worked at Squibb in New Jersey. It may be that his love of wine began when he took a trip to the Finger Lakes. In 1977, Thomas and Charlotte started their vineyard in Stonington and called it Stonecrop Vineyard. I can relate to the choice of names because when my husband and I planted our vineyard, for the longest time, the perennial spring crop were stones!
Ben and Liam brought with them beautiful photos that his mother, Charlotte, a photographer, took and developed in her darkroom.

He also brought this, a bottle with the label of Stonecrop Vineyard's Vidal Blanc!
The label was the artistic creation of his uncle, Wes McClure and depicts their home and the vineyard.
Ben mentioned that he has two bottles of unopened wine from that era, but is unsure how it would taste upon opening it. Still it is a wonderful memento to have!
The vineyard was planted in Marechal Foch, Vidal Blanc and Seyval Blanc, all hybrid varieties known for their cold-hardiness and resistance to fungal diseases. Those varieties were good choices for the area because Southeastern Connecticut is prone to mildews.

Here are some precious photos:
Harvest

Destemming Harvested Grapes

Barrel Aging and Bottling

Ben also provided this well kept article from 1981 which mentioned that the vineyard was planted on an old dairy farm.

The Lakeland Ledger of December 26, 1982 showed the existence of the following wineries:²

I located more information in a June 19, 1984 article published in The Day.³ In 1984, there were 3 working wineries within 4 miles of each other, Stonecrop Vineyard, Clark Vineyard and Crosswoods. Stonecrop Vineyard was the ground breaker for winemaking in the area!
Ben remembers the owners of Clarke Vineyard, Thomas and Barbara Clarke and their children as well as the owners of Crosswoods Susan and Hugh Connell and their children. It sounded like the three vineyards were a tight-knit community.
Another thing I learned is that one of the people who commented on this blogpost in 2015 was named Cort Moore. According to Ben, Cort was his father's good friend and would come to help in the vineyard and winery and was like an uncle to him!
Another coincidence closer to home, my eldest daughter and Ben were classmates!
Thank you Ben and Liam for spending some of your Sunday showing us your photos and sharing your memories!
References:
1. Conversation with Ben and Liam Young.
2. Mark Liff, On the Trail of the Fruit of the Vine, The Ledger, Sunday Travel Section, December 26, 1982.
3. Clare Collins, New rural wineries give tastes and tours, New London Day, Tuesday, June 19, 1984.

Vintage 2023: Ground Hog Day

It is Ground Hog Day, when Punxsutawney Phil is the weather forecaster. He is so famous he has his own Wikipedia page. Well, Punxsutawney Phil came out of his home on Gobbler's Knob and sniffed the cold air headed our way on Friday and Saturday and predicted another 6 weeks of cold weather.
This comes after an unusually warm January where temperatures have been above average for 35 days, making it a record stretch of warm weather in Connecticut.
This winter's La Niña, the third in a row, has helped fuel the milder than usual weather pattern. In Hartford, the average temperature for January was 36.7°F, nearly ten degrees above the typical January average of 27.1°F.

This warm temperature are good for people, but maybe not so good for grapevines that need to slowly acclimate to cold temperatures. A cold snap like we will have on Friday and Saturday may do damage to this year's buds.
I guess we cross our fingers and pray for the best.
References:
1. Ryan Breton, Record stretch of warmer than average weather this January, January 30, 2023.