Stonington Vineyards ~ Stonington, Connecticut

Marguerite Barrett
Vinoverve.com

A scant 10 minutes down the road from Mystic sits the 58-acre Stonington Vineyards.  Established in 1987, the winery was constructed a few years later, “incorporating the latest in winemaking technology and the traditional methods of barrel fermentation.”

Turning into the long gravel driveway, we were struck by the charm of the setting.  The winery buildings face a large lawn surrounded by the vineyeards and lush green fields.  A large patio area extends out from the left side of the main building and leads to slightly raised deck with great views of the vineyards and plenty of seating for guests who want to enjoy the beautiful weather and views.

Inside, the Tasting Room was one of the best organized I’ve seen to date.  The entrance leads into a small room which houses the gift shop.  On your left, you’ll find a queue of people picking up glasses and paying for their tastings and purchases.  From there you proceed through an archway into the main Tasting Room, which is a large open space with an L-shaped bar dominating the back right corner.  A few tables and chairs line the outer walls, and on the day we stopped by, there was an exhibit of watercolors done by a local artist lining the walls. 

The bar can accomodate 15 people comfortably, and the staff manages the crowds extremely well.  We arrived just after the daily 2:00 tour had concluded so there were quite a few people already at the bar.  After we got our glasses, we were encouraged to take a seat or browse the artwork, but otherwise stay back from the bar until the current group had concluded their tasting.  Once the group finished, the staff tactfully, but firmly, discouraged them from lingering to “chat,” wiped down the bar and invited those of us waiting to step up.  We filled up the available space around the bar quickly, and once we started newcomers were invited to sit and relax until we finished and they would start the next tasting.  

The two-room setup and the rhythm and flow of the the tasting organization reduced the bottlenecks and jockeying for position you often find at other wineries that manage sales directly at the bar.  It was a sharp contrast to the more chaotic setting we found at Jonathan Edwards, and a really good way to do it – if you have the room.

Stonington currently produces six wines, all of which are available for tasting.  They organize the wines into two flights: Flight One, all whites, is $5 per person; Flight Two, one white, one rosé, and one red, is $8 per person, or you can taste all six wines for $10 per person.  If you purchase a case of wine, you’ll become a member of their Cellar Society, which entitles you to extra discounts on future cases and all future tastings will be free.

Not surprisingly, we opted for the full tasting for $10, which began with the 2006 Sheer Chardonnay…

This entry was posted on June 16, 2009 at 12:01 am and is filed under Christy Mangle, Connecticut, Connecticut Wine Trail, Eastern Connecticut Wine Trail, local wines, Marguerite Barrett, Win(e)ding Roads, Wine Tastings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.