Passport to Connecticut Farm Wineries

May 22, 2009 by MTB

Marguerite Barrett passport2
Contributing Writer

Each year the Connecticut Farm Wine Development Council sponsors the Passport program, a contest designed to encourage Nutmeggers and visitors to check out the state’s wineries.

The contest is simple: pick up a Passport booklet at anyone of Connecticut’s wineries and carry it with you as you explore the wine trail. At each winery you visit, you collect a “stamp” on that winery’s page in the Passport. Once you’ve collected a minimum of 14 stamps you can drop your Passport off at any winery to be entered into a drawing for one of 17 great prizes.

This year there are 26 participating wineries, and the contest runs from May 1 to November 8, 2009, plenty of time to collect 14 stamps!. Prizes include:

First Prize
Trip for two to Spain! January 31-February 13, 2010
Prize includes:
Roundtrip Airfare for two to Spain and
a 13-night stay at the Benalmadena Palace with great views of the Meditteraneanirst Prize

Second Prize
Also a trip for two to Spain! February 14-27, 2010
Prize includes:
Roundtrip Airfare for two to Spain and
a 13-night stay at the Benalmadena Palace

There are also 15 Weekend Getaway Prizes which include a two-night stay at the Courtyard by Marriott, Norwich, Connecticut.

The wineries of the Connecticut Wine Trail are easily accessible from most points within Southern New England (MA, RI, CT), and are also within easy distance of eastern New York, Manhattan, Northeastern New Jersey and Long Island. If you’re visiting the area and are interested in planning a long wine weekend, there is a ferry that runs between New London, Connecticut (Eastern CT Wine Trail) and the North Fork of Long Island. It’s a beautiful 90 minute trip across Long Island Sound, and allows you to plan a do-able two-day, two-state wine trip.

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