Heritage Trail Vineyards ~ Lisbon, Connecticut

Marguerite Barrett
Contributing Writer

As Christy and I drove down Route 169 everything seemed vaguely familiar, and I realized that not only had I been to Heritage Trail before, it was the first winery I wrote about for Vino Verve.  I can’t remember why I started the wine trail there in the late Fall of 2007 – or why I didn’t post anything until January 2008 – or why I switched over to the Western Trail on the other side of the state shortly afterwards – but as we pulled into the winery grounds, that first visit almost two years ago came back to me.

Since that visit the winery has acquired new owners, who have expanded the offerings to include a cafe with extensive lunch and dinner menus overseen by Heritage Trail’s Owner and Creative and Culinary Director, Chef Harry Schwartz; his wife Laurie is the winery’s Vintner.

The winery grounds and buildings are largely as I remembered, with the 18th century farmhouse serving as the property’s focal point.   When I first visited, though, the tasting room was in the back of the house – a side door led you into a large sun-room that served as the winery’s tasting room.   With the turnover in ownership, the Schwartz’s have moved the tasting room out of the main house and into the old 18th century barn which they have turned into a combined cafe/tasting room.  The cafe is surprisingly large and can probably seat 20-30 inside, and a large patio and veranda overlooking the expansive lawns and vineyards could hold another 30-4o guests.   They provide full service both inside and outside, even with tastings – a nice change from other wineries that provide patio seating, but don’t serve tastings directly at the tables.

The cafe menu is both varied and extensive and features both a lunch and a dinner menu – another surprise given that this is a relatively small venue.  The food is prepared onsite in the kitchens built into the back of the cafe, and features fresh local produce wherever possible.  In addition to Heritage Trail, the Schwartz’s also own Meadowstone Cheese in Brooklyn, Connecticut, and the cafe menus feature a number of dishes with local Meadowstone cheeses.   Some of the menu highlights include Wasabi Butterflies (fresh goat cheese flavored with wasabi crisp flatbread “wings”), the Lobster BLT, Smoked Chicken Wasabi Goat Cheese Panini, thin and crispy herbed mediterranean pizza with local cheeses, and the homemade gelato.

And, of course, the wines – which is what drew us there that afternoon.  Heritage Trail produces 7 wines, four whites and three reds.  A tasting of all seven wines will run you $7, with an additional $5 if you want to bring home a signature wine glass after your tasting.  Or, if you prefer, you can select the “Grand Pairing for 2″ which includes the full tasting menu for two people plus a selection of fresh goat and cow cheeses from Meadowstone Farms.

Christy and I had already stopped for lunch earlier that afternoon, so we opted for a tasting (each) outside on the patio – first up, the Winthrop White…

Continued on November 12th with the Heritage Trail Whites.

Heritage Trail Vineyards
291 N. Burnham Highway
Jewett City, CT 06351
860-376-0659
heritagetrailcafe@gmail.com

Tags: Heritage Trail Vineyards

This entry was posted on November 10, 2009 at 12:01 am and is filed under Christy Mangle, Connecticut, Connecticut Wine Trail, Eastern Connecticut Wine Trail, Marguerite Barrett, New England, Win(e)ding Roads. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.