Over the holidays, we visited E's sister in Rhode Island. Her sister had the great idea that while we were in town we should visit some of the local wineries. Back in June, she and her husband sent M two bottles of wine for his birthday, both of which came from Sakonnet Vineyards in Little Compton, Rhode Island. Naturally, this became our first stop on our afternoon of winery hopping.
E's parents both decided that they wanted to come along, and so we left E's brother watching the kids while the five of us piled into the car. After driving around the bay, we arrived at Sakonnet Vineyards just before 1:00 on Sunday, December 27. The daily tour was supposed to begin at one, and so we were worried that we might miss it. This was completely unfounded, as we were the only visitors to the winery so far that day. The staff was bare-bones since it was a post-holiday weekend, but the woman working that day was very friendly. She couldn't offer us the full tour, but we still got to watch a 15-minute video about the history of and production at the winery. After this, the five of us went to the big slate bar to do a tasting. Rather than have us pick six wines each (as is customary with tastings at Sakonnet), she instead let us alternate down the entire wine list so that we could try a little of everything.
Of the two bottles that were sent to M for his birthday, we had only tried the Winterwine. We were glad to try their different vintages, especially since we still have a bottle of Rhode Island Red at home. Overall, Sakonnet had very good varieties of wine all around. We ended up buying several bottles, including the 2007 Vidal Blanc, the Petit Red, the 2006 Port, and the Sirius NV. We also enjoyed the 2005 Blanc de Blanc, the Cabernet Franc, and the current vintage of the Rhode Island Red, which the woman at the winery said is the best they've ever made. (That said, since we have a bottle at home we passed on buying a second.) Their Holiday Spice wine was unlike what either of us were expecting, as it was so full of ginger that it was a bit like eating pickled ginger at a sushi bar rather than drinking a typical spiced wine. Oddly enough, it was the Gewürztraminer which was the weakest of all the selections at Sakonnet, which we found strange because usually that's a safe bet when it comes to wine. Overall, the wines were very good, and between the five of us we went home with more than a dozen bottles.
Our plan was originally to leave Little Compton and head south to Newport Vineyards. However, the woman at Sakonnet suggested that we skip the trip south to Newport and instead head east to Westport Rivers Vineyard & Winery in Westport, Massachusetts. Westport Rivers differs from Sakonnet in that they only grow grapes for white, sparkling, and rose wines, and so their selection is dramatically different. We took a look around in the farmhouse store, and E's father decided to sit this tasting out. M and E, along with E's mother and sister, did a tasting which was supposed to be only six pre-selected wines. However, since there was no one else in the store and they had a few other bottles open, we ended up getting two bonus wines. In the end we bought a bottle of the 2003 Brut Cuvée RJR, and two bottles of their dessert wine called Pineau de Pinot. Both E and her sister were extremely excited to learn of this wine, as their family name was originally Pineau, the same as the creator of this type of wine. Overall, the wines at Westport Rivers tended to be more dry and more of an acquired taste than something a casual wine drinker would enjoy (as proven by E's mother), but considering that it's more of a "niche" winery, it was worth the trip. Finding out some long-lost family history was an added bonus.
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