Winery Review - Vermont

One of my favorite weekend trips from my home in Massachusetts is to drive north into the mountains, and just spend the day cruising on curving country roads. With three Vermont wineries making a perfect day drive, I decided to plot out a course that would take me there and back with fun scenery.

All three wineries are north of Montpelier, the capital of Vermont, which from my home is quite a haul! I had to get up pretty early in the morning, which is a rarity for me. I'm quite the night owl. This shows you the depth of my desire to get to taste these wines!

This part of the trip was pretty, but mostly highway driving. Across 2 in Massachusetts, up 91 through Vermont to Route 89. Lovely rolling hills from the highway, with fields of flowers and a shining sun. The day was gorgeous.

My first stop was supposed to be the Grand View Winery outlet, but as I pulled into the Waterbury area I saw a sign for 'winery' and followed it. It turns out Snow Farm also has an outlet at a Cabot Cheese shop in the area, so I stopped to taste a wine or two. I did end up at their winery later in the day, so that is where I took most of my notes.

I had somehow forgotten my digital camera (which I love) back many hours ago at the house, so when I pulled up to the Grand View Winery outlet, I had to go across the street and get a *gasp* disposable camera. I had to actually wait for the film to get developed, and then wait until we got a new scanner to replace the broken one, and scan and edit the images before I could get this article together. The whole experience was a HUGE reminder of why I love digital cameras so much!!

Grand View Winery

The actual winery in East Calais was not yet open for the season, but the winery outlet is conveniently located next to the Cold Hollow Cider Mill. This makes it a perfect double-visit for tourists and groups in the area. Laura Gallitano guided me through their flavorful wines, and we talked about the Dandelion Festival they hold each year. Read more about the Grand View tasting.

My next stop was up in Cambridge, Vermont. This drive was one of THE most fun parts of the journey. You head up 100 to 108, a TWISTY little road near Smuggler's Notch. I tried to take some pictures of how squiggly this road was, but the pictures simply don't do the view justice.

You literally were doing hairpin turns around huge boulders at 5 mph, watching for a car creeping in the other direction since there was NO way two cars could make the turn at the same time. If you missed, your car scraped the rocks. Beautiful scenery!

Boyden Valley Winery

Located in beautiful farmland, Boyden Valley creates 40,000 bottles of fresh wine each year. Most are from a variety of fruit - apple, cranberry, blueberry, rhubarb, pear, and much more.

"Cranberry Bob" Lesnikoski was great to talk with as I sampled the flavorful selections and learned more about winemaking in these climates. Read more about the Boyden Valley Winery tasting.

Now for the race. I had managed to hit Waterbury right when the winery outlets opened - 1pm - but now I had to get up to the northernmost winery in the Lake Champlain Islands before they closed at 5. I hopped in the Mustang and headed out. The roads became even more beautiful as I headed towards Lake Champlain, but I was saving my remaining camera film for the winery. If only I'd have brought my digital ...

After a few false turns and a series of dirt roads, I pulled up outside the Snow Farm Winery with a half hour to spare!

Snow Farm Winery

As I'd already gotten to sample a few of Snow Farm's wines down at the Cabot shop, it was nice to be able to chat now with Marlyn at the wine shop about the wines and the winery. They have 11 acres of vineyards up here in South Hero, and because of the lake they get 3 weeks more growing season than other nearby farms. They create mostly grape wines as well as an icewine-style apple wine which sells out immediately when it's released on October. Read more about the Snow Farm Winery tasting.

At this point it was time to had on home! With a trunk full of delicious wines and other winery-related items, I took a leisurely drive back through a variety of gorgeous scenery to return to Massachusetts. If you've ever got a weekend you can spend in Vermont, be sure to swing by these wineries! The wines are delicious, and the views you get are worth the trip on their own.

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