I Straugle with the Name Maugle Maugle Sierra Vineyards, Ledyard July 11, 2009 "Maugle." I've tried and tried to find the derivation of the word and have come up with nothing. Perhaps it's a family name? A rather non-Spanish sounding Spanish word of some sort? I don't know. All I could find was this … [Read more...]
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Holmberg Orchards
What's Up, Holms Holmberg Orchards, Gales Ferry July 11, 2009 This place is in Gales Ferry. Gales Ferry? Ah yes, another of Connecticut's weird naming conventions; Gales Ferry refers both to a village within the town of Ledyard, Connecticut, and to a complex of buildings within that village at the site of the … [Read more...]
Cassidy Hill Vineyard
...NOT Cassidy Swill Cassidy Hill Vineyard, Coventry May 24, 2009 There we were, driving up Route 44 out to the Quiet Corner and the Pomfret Audubon Society. We also made a side trip down to Sharpe Hill Vineyard (Old visit here) to begin our 2009 Wine Tour - hitting 14 vineyards and getting our passport stamped … [Read more...]
Haight-Brown Vineyard
Haight-Asbury had LSD, Haight-Brown has Wine Haight-Brown Vineyards, Litchfield November 2, 2008 Our fourth wine tour stop in one day - not a particularly impressive feat, if not for the fact that we had our little Damian with us. This would be our last stop of the day - and more importantly, our last winery … [Read more...]
Hopkins Vineyard
Just a Hopkins, Skipkins, and a Jumpkins Hopkins Vineyard, Warren November 2, 2008 A funny thing about these Connecticut vineyards... they just keep getting prettier and prettier. Hopkins Vineyard is, perhaps, set in the most attractive setting of them all - just north of Lake Waramaug in Warren. Since you don't … [Read more...]
DiGrazia Vineyards (Closed)
Grazie mille! DiGrazia Vineyards, Brookfield November 2008 DiGrazia closed in March of 2022. Our day of visiting four western wineries was still going along swimmingly. We had to knock out four of them on this day, as we “had” to visit the required 14 to fulfill the Passport Program to be prize-eligible. … [Read more...]
McLaughlin Vineyards (Closed)
"Next issue... Wine! Mort! Pat! Eleanor!" McLaughlin Vineyards, Newtown November 2, 2008 While editing my winery pages, it came to my attention that this place closed in 2016. Yelp reviews towards the end were not kind. Our 2008 visit wasn't too bad, but we were young and naive. I'm writing this on the … [Read more...]
Heritage Trail Vineyards (RIP)
Not Quite the Lisbon, But Close Enough Heritage Trail Vineyards, Lisbon November 1, 2008 March 2013 Update: Closed! Which isn't surprising to me... If you read this page all the way through, you'll see how it really fell apart. Interestingly, I think our first visit with Diane Powell owning it was great. Then … [Read more...]
Connecticut Valley Winery
"Like, Wine? Fer Shure, dude" Connecticut Valley Winery, New Hartford October 5, 2008 That horrid title is my Valley Girl lingo attempt. But thankfully, like you, I've forgotten how they talked. I have not, however, forgotten about our 2008 CT Wine Tour goal of hitting 14 of these joints before November 7th. … [Read more...]
Priam Vineyards
Priam and Proper Priam Vineyards, Colchester October 18, 2008 After two stops at South Glastonbury sites, Damian was being so good we decided to continue down Route 2 and press our luck. (As you can imagine, I always have a contingency and/or extra side trip plan in my back pocket on all of our adventures.) … [Read more...]