We had a sinking feeling as we pulled into the parking lot of 3 Brothers Vineyard and Winery. There were no other cars in the parking lot, and the sign in the small window next to the door read Closed. We had driven an hour from North Platte to the rural town of Farnam, Nebraska, and were over...
To say that Parks, Nebraska, is in the middle of nowhere might offend the middle of nowhere. Two hours south of Ogallala, within view of the borders of both Kansas and Colorado in the very southwest corner of the state, sits the tiny town of no more than twenty-five people. As we drove down the...
Ellen Burdick is a no-fuss, no-muss sort of lady. Straight forward, yet kind and gentle in her mannerisms, Ellen opened the 17 Ranch tasting room for us on a day it is not normally scheduled to be open and reminded us of our grandmothers as she smiled and ushered us inside. When we arrived, she...
Ever since we took our honeymoon in Sonoma, people have been giving us wine as gifts. This is a good thing. Sometimes, however, it comes in masses, for example at Christmas or our anniversary, and when this happens bottles often get tossed into the cellar un-catalogued and en masse for another...
New Hampshire's largest commercial vineyard is located, well, on top of a hill, and with a flag out front. Fair enough. What it (arguably) lacks in creativity in a name, however, Flag Hill Winery, and winemaker Brian Ferguson, makes up for with diversity, creativity, and charm. Upon parking,...
Google maps isn't always your friend. Upon setting out for Sweet Baby Vineyard, we found ourselves in a residential area that didn't seem like the type of place you'd find a winery. We pulled in the driveway of a large red house and had the sneaking suspicion we were in the wrong place. A call...
Legend has it that Amy LaBelle started making wine in her small, Boston apartment using berries she purchased at Whole Foods. It's a fun story, and one that the tasting room manager, Jen Pratt, enjoys telling as she pours samples of LaBelle's outstanding wines from behind a splendid bar, housed...
Al Fulchino is a straight shooter if ever there was one; he probably got that from his grandfather, Andrew Fulchino, from whom he inherited his wine press at the age of twenty one. Al welcomes visitors into his family winery with a charming smile, and on the day we visited, still wearing his...
To be the oldest winery in one of the original thirteen colonies is an impressive thing to be able to tout. It's only after you've been in the area a while that it may don on you that New Hampshire's wine industry is pretty young. Planted in 1982 and located in South Hampton, Jewell Towne...
Down a dusty country road that looks as if it came straight out of a James Taylor song sits Chatham Vineyards, where John Wehner crafts his Church Creek wines. The Chatham estate, which adorns the Bordeaux-like labels of Wehner's wine, was built in 1818 and named for the English 2nd Earl of...
Forty years ago, the name Napa Valley meant little to anyone who wasn't already living there. To those in the wine industry, it was something of a cute experiment, the residents of the area apparently harboring some vague and unrealistic notion that they could make wine that the rest of the...
It was a gloomy afternoon in Chesapeake, Virginia. Having checked into our hotel and run a few necessary errands, we decided that the rainy afternoon was better spent indoors than on the beach. Scanning various apps for suggestions and knowing in our minds that the answer had to involve wine, we...