PICKING GRAPES AND OTHER LITTLE CITY VINEYARD TRIVIA

Have you ever been to the Agricultural Farm on Cook Hill Road in Windsor? About 30 years ago several vines were planted by the PHD in charge of grape production in Connecticut. The passage of the Connecticut Farm Winery Act in 1978 made it possible for wineries to produce and market their product. We now have 22 commercial wineries, with more scheduled to open.

Several years ago some Lions from our club toured the Windsor vineyard learning first hand pruning techniques and discussing how to manage our small vineyard on Little City Rd. We have planted and replanted Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay varieties due to disease and Japanese Beatle infestation.

This past April Ed Hayash, Terry Doyle and I harvested 140 lbs of Marechal Foch grapes at Windsor. In return for the free grapes we cataloged the number of clusters from each vine and their weight. Dr. Bill Nail keeps an accurate record on production from this vineyard and the Hamden location. Terry, our chief winemaker, and I crushed these small purple beauties that same afternoon and pressed 10 gallons of juice a week later. We have sampled this new wine after the first racking. Terry says, "This wine is not bad, in fact it tastes pretty good ". Terry has introduced a scientific process to assure this red wine is worth drinking on special occasions.

After the third racking which purifies the wine, we will bottle this hand crafted product for sale to any interested Lion.

Terry Doyle inspects the grapes

Written exclusively for the Killingworth Lions Website by Charlie Smith, 11-6-07.

Last Updated: November 18, 2007