Visitors to Carolyn’s Sakonnet Vineyard in Little Compton sample vintages at the outdoor tasting bar.
Photo Credit : Mark Fleming
Add a visit to a local winery this summer and enjoy a truly unique and delicious experience. Here are our editor-approved picks for the best winery in every New England state.
Need more outdoor travel ideas? Find these picks, plus more than 120 of the best things to do, places to eat, and places to stay that celebrate the great outdoors in The Best of New England: Outdoor Edition.
It would be worth a visit to this vineyard for the views alone: a 360-degree panorama encompassing vineyards, woodlands, and fields. Sample your way through the award-winning lineup of more than a dozen wines year-round; in summer you can also try Gouveia’s Portuguese-inspired sangria and, in winter, mulled wine.
Forgot stuffy tasting rooms: From June through September, visitors are invited to visit Oyster River’s post-and-beam barn to purchase a bottle to take home or to drink on-site (ask about the Wednesday pizza nights). The natural wines, made with Maine-grown organic fruit and precious little intervention from the winemaker, are shockingly good. The Morphos sparkling wine is especially quaffable, so stock up when you go.
With 80 acres under cultivation, Westport Rivers is among the largest vineyards in New England, and one of the oldest, too. The winery’s portfolio of crisp white wines—both sparkling and still—are rooted in its particular deftness with Chardonnay and Riesling grapes. They’re also the ideal accompaniment to local seafood. You can tour and taste every Saturday, or plan a visit around the annual sunset music nights (Fridays, beginning in mid-June) or hayrides (Saturdays in the fall).
If you haven’t yet fallen under the sway of fruit wines, prepare to be surprised and delighted by the offerings from Hermit Woods Winery. Here, they craft fruit wines of remarkable depth, such as a lush blueberry wine evocative of pinot noir, and an heirloom crabapple wine that’s a medium-dry sparkler. You can taste the wines at a guided, seated tasting (some with food pairings), or pop in for a more casual self-guided tasting and order from a menu of sandwiches and other nibbles at the in-house deli.
Winemaker Elaine Phipps and vineyard manager Lorraine Frank’s combined decades of experience are evident when you taste these white, red, rosé, and dessert wines. Sample flights at the cedar-shingled tasting room, or grab a table outside on the lawn and enjoy a bottle in the sun.
After nearly two decades of experimentation, Lincoln Peak winemaker Chris Granstrom has zeroed in on the grapes that grow best in the Champlain Valley. He uses hybrid varieties like Marquette and La Crescent to make award-winning wines that express the distinctive terroir of this part of the state. When summer rolls around, sample them in the casual tasting room overlooking a pond, or pair with your own picnic and lay a blanket on the big lawn.
Leave your picks for the best New England wineries in the comments below.