Western Wineries (MA, that is.)

The
four wineries range from northerly, near the border of
Vermont, to westerly, near New York State, to southerly
enough to approach Connecticut. They share the terrain and
climate of the Berkshire Hills, too severe for home-grown
vinifera grapes, but, as we’ll see, they make laudable
potables from fruit other than grapes, from French-American
hybrid grapes and from vinifera grapes grown under more
gentle conditions elsewhere. Hard cider contains 3 to 6
percent alcohol, fruit wines about 7 percent (unless sugar
is added to the fermentation). Grapes contain the highest
concentration of any fruit, so, after fermentation, the most
alcohol.

The Berkshires
do support the growth of flavorful fruit, and are host to a
vast array of cultural and recreational resources. The
wineries herein addressed offer various tasties in addition
to wine tasting and sales, and promote attractive special
events. Specific information and directions are available
from the respective websites and by telephone.

West County
Winery, founded in Colrain in 1984 by Terry and Judith
Maloney, is helping to preserve the Massachusetts cider
tradition. Cider, the traditional beverage of English and
French settlers of New England, has retained its niche in
part because of our abundant, flavorful apples.
Practitioners of wicca, believing in the benefits of locally
grown products, are said to favor cider. Two of the most
esteemed heirloom apples, Baldwin and Roxbury Russet, were
born in Massachusetts. Hard cider and fruit wines are low in
alcohol, and go well with food.

Colrain,
population 18OO, is located amidst peaceful hills and forest
in traditional cider and applejack country. Cider mills have
graced the hill towns around Shelburne Falls as long as
anyone remembers. Fruit is obtained from the Maloneys’ own
trees and from local orchards (they grow one-third to
one-half of their needs).

The Maloneys met
at University of California, Berkeley. Terry, a native of
Buffalo, went to medical school in San Francisco. Judith,
who grew up in Berkeley, previously did some teaching. Their
vague interest in wine engendered in the Bay Area of
California was crystallized in Colrain by the neighboring
orchards.

Ciders and wines
are made artisanally in small batches. Sugar is not added.
Annual production averages close to 4OOO gallons, which are
sold throughout Massachusetts (see website). The winery is
open these days for a few selected weekends (see website).
Annual Cider Day, the first weekend in November, is put on
by West County and five other orchards. It is worth
attending (www.ciderday.org). North River Winery over the
line in Jacksonville, Vermont is not far.

Produced every
year are Dry Baldwin, dry and light, Baldwin, full flavored
and long, and Organic McIntosh (one I tasted some time ago
was delicious, even elegant). Other varietal ciders are
produced depending on a given year’s characteristics.
Currently, a Blueberry-Apple Wine, a 5O/5O blend, is also
available.

West County
Winery 248 Greenfield Road P.O. Box 29, Colrain, MA O134O,
413.624.3481, www.westcountycider.com. Open only as
designated on website.

If Furnace Brook
Winery were any further west, it would be in New York State.
Owner/winemaker John Vittori, following a career that
included running a restaurant in Gloucester, bought Hilltop
Orchards, which surrounds and supplies the winery, eighteen
years ago in partnership with his sister Wendy (she
continues as a financial partner) – odd for two urbanites
who grew up in Brookline, Massachusetts.

John and his
wife Julie operate the orchard, the winery and the tasting
room, which sells wine, cider and tasty goodies. (I can
personally endorse the peach melba pie.) The Normandy Gazebo
on the hill outside provides a pleasant, protected setting
to enjoy the products offered.

Twenty-four
varieties of apples and some pears grow on the 2OO acres.
Fresh grapes are supplied by long-term agreement with Laurel
Lake Vineyards, planted in 198O in the North Fork of Long
Island.

John studied
cider making in England and chemistry here. He gets helpful
advice from Mark Daigle of the Brotherhood Winery in the
Hudson Valley and from Caesar Baeza of Laurel Lake
Vineyards.

Hard ciders have
been produced since 1995, wine since 1999. There are two:
French-style Cidre from Golden Russet is dry and very well
made. American-style Johnny Mash, from McIntosh and Northern
Spy, is moderately sweet and quite pleasant. The grape-wine
cast is Chardonnay, a light and delicate Pinot Noir, Merlot
with ample berry fruit, a spicy Cabernet Sauvignon, a
Johannisberg Riesling with abundant pure fruit, a Blanc de
Blancs sparkling wine made by a carbonation of Chardonnay
and Seyval, a White Zinfandel (grapes from California), and
a bright and happy, low-alcohol fizzy Muscato that resembles
Moscato d’Asti. Annual production is about 2OOO cases of
cider and 1OOO of wine, which are available at the winery
and at shops and restaurants in Berkshire County.

Furnace Brook
Winery at Hilltop Orchards 5O8 Canaan Road (Route 295),
Richmond, MA O1254, 8OO.833.6274, www.hilltoporchards.com.
Open year ’round,

Friday through
Sunday from 9 to 5.

Chester Hill
Winery, in the Hidden Hills above Chester, is the focus of
Joe and Mary Ann Sullivan’s transition from Manhattan – the
city that never sleeps – to this quiet eastern face of the
Berkshire Hills. Chester was on New England’s first route
west to the Hudson Valley, the Jacob’s Ladder Trail. This is
blueberry country.

Joe, a reformed
civil engineer and home winemaker, and Mary Ann, formerly a
nursery-school director, helped by daughter Julie, raise and
sell 6.5 acres of blueberries and operate the winery founded
in 1999. He makes the wine while she handles marketing of
the 9OO case annual production, sold at the winery and in
the four western counties of Massachusetts. Chester Hill’s
production is 75 percent blueberry wines from fruit
home-grown at 14OO feet. (A quarter to a fifth of the
blueberries go to make wine.) Mary Ann likes to point to the
research that has demonstrated how rich blueberries are in
healthful polyphenolic antioxidants. The rest is made from
Finger Lake grapes and from apples grown in Granville,
Massachusetts.

The quality of
the wines attest to that of the fruit and to Joe’s skill.
Apple Pie is a satisfying apple wine from a mix of
varieties. Mountain Laurel, made from Seyval and Vidal, is
fresh and attractive. The Riesling is a superb achievement,
intense, mineraly, long. New Blue, early bottled blueberry
wine, evoking the berries and, strangely, pumpkin pie in its
aromas, would drink well with spicy food. Best Blue, nearly
dry, is fuller and of more serious mien: I imagine it
accompanying roast duck with blueberries. Baby Blue is a
well-made blueberry Port.

Chester Hill
Winery 47 Lyon Road, Chester, MA O1O11, 413.354.234O,
www.blueberrywine.com. Open June through December, on
Saturday and Sunday, from 1 to 5, or call for
appointment.

Les Trois Emme
Vineyard and Winery, named for Wayne and Mary Jane Eline’s
three eldest granddaughters, Megan, Madison and Mary
Katherine (who are depicted on the labels), was initially
planted in 2OOO on an old dairy farm outside of Great
Barrington, in the southwest corner of Massachusetts. Wayne,
formerly a chemistry teacher, then a school principal, has
focused his retirement on growing grapes and making wine.
His first vintage was 2OO3. The wines and a number of
attractive items assembled by Mary Jane are sold, thus far,
only at the winery.

Wayne is a
straight-talking and engaging man. He was a light-beer
drinker until 1996, when, like many of us, befuddled by
restaurant wine lists, he resolved to learn about the
mysterious potion. Like many of us, he fell in love. His
chemistry background helps. He consults with Wayne Stitzer,
of Connecticut, on technical problems. The Wayne twain
clearly has learned quickly. The rest of the family has
become involved in the project – the wine bug is contagious.
Wayne built much of the neat little winery with the
volunteer help of neighbors – like an old-time New England
barn raising.

The plantings,
now occupying just over three acres, are limited to
French-American hybrids: Marechal Foch, Seyval Blanc, Cayuga
White, Chancellor, and Traminette – the last a recently
developed white hybrid. Some grapes may be purchased from a
Finger Lakes vineyard. Vinifera is not grown: the inland
location and 18OO-foot elevation would preclude ripening. A
few vinifera grape varieties have lately been acquired from
California, but I’ve not tasted their wines. French and
American oak barriques are in play. About 24OO gallons are
produced annually.

Because Mary
Jane and Wayne strongly believe in the partnership of food
and wine, they serve tidbits of her food to visitors tasting
his wines. (He calls her the expert palate of the outfit.)
The fine finishes and polish of the wines in my tasting
attest to high-quality winemaking. Seyval Blanc is tasty,
refreshingly grapefruity and toothsome; Cayuga White soft
and easy, with good fruit; Nick Jackson Blush, name for the
grandson, has balanced berry fruit and good mouth feel;
Marechal Foch, regular and Reserve, have good fruit
potential and show their oak heritage.

Les Trois Emme
Vineyard and Winery 8 Knight Road, Great Barrington, MA
O123O, 413.528.1O15, www.ltewinery.com. Open April through
December, Thursday through Sunday from noon to 5, or call
for appointment.