Newport Vineyards ~ Middletown, Rhode Island

Marguerite Barrett
Contributing Writer

Newport was an impulse.

The first week in August had been extremely difficult at work, and by Saturday morning all I wanted to do was run away.  So, at noon, while sitting in the Wethersfield Diner scarfing down omelets with Christy, I looked across the table and announced, “we’re going to Newport.”

For some time, Newport had been on my list of places to visit, and that day it just seemed like a great place to escape to.   That there are three wineries within 45-minutes of downtown Newport made the destination even more appealing.  Of course that presupposed we would arrive in time to visit the wineries; Newport is just under 3 hours driving time from Hartford, and we didn’t even hit the road until almost 1pm.  But Bacchus was smiling on us that day – traffic was light as we sailed southeast down Route 2 through Connecticut, crossing over onto Aquidneck Island (Newport County) around 3:40 and arriving at our first stop, Newport Vineyards, just after 4:00.  We later made it to Sakonnet Vineyards just in time to catch the 5:30 last call for tastings, but that’s a story for another day.

Newport Vineyards was founded by Captain Richard Alexander, who planted the winery’s first vines in 1977 on the Hopelands Farms estate.  In 1988, Alexander began a partnership with John and Paul Nunes, and together they opened the Vinland Wine Cellars on recently acquired farmland in Middletown just north of Newport.   George Cheif, Newport’s winemaker, also joined the team at this time, pressing his first grapes in 1988.   In 1995, Alexander retired, and John and Paul Nunes, now the sole owners, changed the name to Newport Vineyards.  The team won their first Gold Medal in 1998 for Newport Vineyards’ “Great White,” which to this day remains Newport’s most popular wine, and in 1999, Newport’s Vidal Ice Wine was named one of the United States’ 50 Best.

Newport Vineyards is the largest wine-grape grower in the Northeast with 60 acres spread across three farms: Hopelands Vineyards, the original vineyards, situated on the banks of the Sakonnet River and site of the oldest vines; the Perry Farm Vineyards, acquired in 1988 and site of the winery buildings and tasting room; and Nunes Farm Vineyards, acquired in 2002.  The Nunes Farm, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, has been in the Nunes family since 1917.  The farm itself dates back to the early 18th century, and the original 1701 farmhouse still stands on the property.

The majority of Newport’s vineyards are located near the center of Aquidneck Island (Newport County), within a few miles of the Atlantic Ocean.  The soil is a silty loam with moderate drainage which retains enough water to help with irrigation in the summer months.  The proximity to the ocean helps mitigate the dangers of fall frosts while being far enough inland to avoid “fog and benefit from the thermal heat off the land.”

The winery buildings are located in a long, single-story building  and share space with several specialty shops including a gourmet bakery, a restaurant, and a toy shop.   The vineyards of the Perry Farm, which were first planted in 1988, surround the back and side of the property extending back to the horizon.  The tasting room is a very large space divided evenly between a gift shop in the front and the tasting room/bar in the back.  In addition to selling wine and the usual assortment of wine coolers, gadgets and t-shirts, Newport Vineyards offers gift baskets and custom wine labels for their wines.

The tasting area is dominated by a very large u-shaped bar which looked as if it could easily hold 40 people comfortably.  Wine coolers range along the back wall keeping all the wines at optimum temperature and the staff moves easily back and forth in a practiced dance pouring the various tastings.  There is also an outdoor tasting area with a second bar set up just outside the main tasting room; this may serve to hold overflow and also be used for special events.

The winery is open seven days a week, Monday thru Saturday 10-5, and Sundays 12-5.  Winery tours are hosted each afternoon at 1:00 and 3:00.

This entry was posted on September 8, 2009 at 12:01 am and is filed under Christy Mangle, local wines, Marguerite Barrett, New England, Newport, Newport Vineyards, Rhode Island, Win(e)ding Roads, Wine Trail Buddies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.