Westport Rivers Winery

Dateline: 07/25/99

I knew the visit would be fun from the moment I met winemaker Bill Russell at the Nantucket Wine Festival. Bill was friendly and knowledgeable, and when he invited me to come by for a tour sometime, I leapt at the opportunity.

I thought immediately of my friend, Michele, who loves sparkling wines. My friend who had accompanied me to the festival, Donna, also was quite interested in seeing the operations. So it was that the three of us gathered there on a gorgeous Tuesday afternoon to explore the wines of Westport Rivers.

Bill first took us out through the vine-laden trellis to the vineyards. He talked about how they prune and care for the grapes, how they remove outer leaves during the summer to let the most sun in at the growing fruit.

Sometimes, in years of bounty, they have to remove excess grapes to allow the remaining ones to grow fully. Bill can tell from the buds in the fall what type of grape harvest he should expect in the coming year, and carefully tends them towards that end.

We moved into the winery, housed in an old barn. Their stainless steel tanks are cooled to maintain a constant temperature, and at the end of the cycle they are super-cooled to condense out tartaric crystals. Bill described it as the same process involved in making sugar candy, something we all remembered with fondness. They then age many of their wines in French oak - Bill finds that 2-3 year old oak is best for a good taste balance. Some of the wines then go through malolactic fermentation, which smooths out the wine.

Their sparkling wines, for which Westport Rivers is famous, go through the methode champenoise process. The bottles are placed in riddling racks - these allow the yeasty sediment to be slid from the sides of the bottle down to the top, against the cork. The top of the bottle is quickly chilled, the frozen yeast plug removed, and a dosage of wine replaces the empty space. The bottle is then corked with the typical large cork.

We went into the back, wood-lined aging room, which held even more bottles of sparkling wine. This would be a good place to be stuck for a while! We then went out into the main barrel area again. We met with the president of a New Hampshire wine club, who was at Westport to check up on his wines. The club has been making wine since 1982, and has won a few awards for them. They are about to release a Chardonnay and Cabernet.

Bill next gave us three tastings direct from the source. We first tried a RJR Pinot Noir from a stainless steel tank. Next, we tried a Chardonnay from a barrel, and third a Cabernet from another barrel.

It was intriguing to see what stage each wine was at - how much of the flavor had developed, and to guess what each would taste like when the final product was bottled. By now, we were primed for the main tasting.

We said goodbye to Bill at this point, took a final look around, and headed back into the tasting room. We went through the full suite of wines at this point, sharing the glasses amongst the three of us, enjoying each fully.

We bought two cases, along with a few t-shirts and other items, and asked where we might find some dinner nearby.

We were pointed at the Back Eddy restaurant, located on the water, and started by a famous Boston restaurant owner. We went down and had a delicious dinner and dessert, accompanied of course by Westport Rivers Chardonnay. I would have to say this is easily the most fun I have had in a long time, and would enthusiastically recommend the tour and tasting to anyone who is within driving distance of this fantastic winery!

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