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.