Isn’t New England too cold for grapes?

There are many reasons that the Northeast has historically lagged in its winemaking reputation, but the cold isn’t one them—most varieties of grape are a lot more cold hardy than people think! That being said there are definitely varieties that you’re never going to see in New England whether it’s the cold or the growing season, and others that are going to make completely different wines than you’d get from the same varieties in a warmer climate. And yes, you can make excellent wines in New England—just try it if you don’t believe us. While an oversimplification, we like to say wine quality is about 1/3 variety, 1/3 growing conditions, and 1/3 winemaking. We select varieties that thrive in our region and make wines they’re suited to make rather than trying to make west coast wines on the east coast.

Why don’t I recognize the grapes?

The short answer is that while there are hundreds of varieties of incredible wine grapes, most people are familiar with just a handful that have been heavily commercialized—and many of those varieties people tend to recognize either aren’t great fits for our climate or don’t produce styles with which people are most familiar.

We work with both vinifera and hybrid varieties. Vinifera grapes are the European species to which most well known varieties belong (like chardonnay & riesling). Hybrid varieties tend to be less well known as they are more regionally specific crosses of native grape species & vinifera to enhance disease resistance, hardiness, yields, etc. over the frail, but great tasting vinifera varieties. Like with vinifera varieties, understanding the fruit you’re working with is key to making excellent wines—we’re not going for wines that taste like concord grape.

What’s a coferment?

In its simplest form, it can mean our practice of fermenting multiple varieties of grape together to get more interesting results than blending after fermentation (as is how the vast majority of blends are made). You may notice that some of our wines contain fruits other than grapes—these aren’t the gimmicky fruit wines or sweet ciders you may be used to, they’re every bit as “winey” as our grape wines. Grapes dominate the wine game because they tend to have the most complex changes through fermentation and have other desirable attributes like balanced sugar and acidity, but in a region with rich history of producing excellent apples and other fruits, there’s a much broader world of wine to be explored by bringing the character of different fruits together.

What’s natural wine?

We encourage you to read our approach to page to learn more about what it means to us because everyone’s got a different definition. In short, it’s about spontaneously fermenting wine from great quality and responsibly sourced fruit without additives or physical modifications; whereas conventional wine is more heavily sulfited and fermented under conditions designed to create certain results (and can contain dozens of additives to achieve such results), then is fined and filtered (often so the wine can contain residual sugar, while natural wine will almost always be dry). Some winemakers really lean into the “funky” side of natural wine, whereas we aim to have wines that aren’t significantly “faulty” and appeal to everyone.

Learn about the key grape varieties we use

White Vinifera Grape Varieties

  • THIS IS NOT YOUR CALIFORNIA CHARDONNAY—IF YOU “DON’T LIKE CHARDONNAY,” YOU’RE DRINKING THE WRONG STUFF. Cool climate chardonnay is all about the subtle citrus, pineapple, & quince, with a prominent minerality. None of the richness of a ripe warm climate chardonnay nor buttery-ness of barrel aged chardonnay.

  • Criminally underrated and underappreciated in the US, pinot blanc is pear-y, lemony, and has delightful minerality.

  • You know it, you love it, and yet we do still find ourselves needing to explain that riesling isn’t necessarily sweet (all of ours is dry). This is probably the most ubiquitous vinifera grape in the northeast, but it’s that way for a reason.

White Hybrid Grape Varieties

  • One of our favorite grapes—it features prominently in several wines in our lineup. It’s got a pretty distinct muscat-adjacent aromatic flavor with notes of apricot, peach, citrus, and honeysuckle that really shines with skin contact. Without skin contact its a bit more subtle and grapefruity.

  • An underdog that’s been around since the 50s, at its best Cayuga is one of the best white hybrids around—think somewhere between albarino/Vhino Verde and Alsatian whites. Citrusy with minerality, what more could you want?

  • Think a more aromatic twist on riesling—it really shines in sparkling wine, playing a key role in our new Reserve Pet Nat from 2024.

  • While it’s made into varietal wines, we find white wines made only out of vidal to be a bit boring. That being said, it makes for a nice blending component. It’s the star of the show with skin contact though—making up the base of our C. cornuta.

  • True muscat varieties aren’t very hardy—this Cornell hybrid is the answer to that. Classic muscat white flower, stone fruit, & orange aromatics are the stars here. Again, no sweet “muscato” wines here, muscat is absolutely delightful dry with skin contact.

  • Very distinct, very delicious. With skin contact, traminette packs a punch of lychee/rose notes with subtle citrus. Like its gewürztraminer parent, less skin contact, earlier harvest samples can lean more orchard fruit and spice.

Red Vinifera Grape Varieties

  • A fabulous medium-bodied, balanced, up-and-coming red grape that’s long been a staple variety in Central Europe. While it can make fabulous varietal wines, we think it’s even better in coferments where it can shine in a number of different styles. Think black cherry & spice—it really shines with the arandell as the base to our Reserve Red.

  • A once obscure teinturier (inky fleshed) red grape variety that’s making a name for itself as the go-to Georgian red variety and staple for the biggest body reds out of the finger lakes. With lots of pomegranate character and a good amount of depth, it’s hard to find a bad saperavi—though it can be equally difficult to find exceptional examples. We’re quite excited about what we got from the 2024 vintage though.

  • Everyone’s favorite light red variety from Beaujolais! Not widely planted on the east coast for some reason, we were able to get grapes from one of the handful of growers in the region in 2024. It’s not just for making nouveau—we find it shines in rosés and varietal reds as well. Grown on the east coast, it’s a bit less unctuous than west coast varieties, but carries notes of cranberry and has a spicy earthiness that we find reminiscent of syrah.

  • Cab Sauv’s edgier, less full body parent, cab franc makes for some killer cool climate reds. It’s got soft red fruit and spicey earthiness that adds real depth to the wines it’s in.

Red Hybrid Grape Varieties

  • We like to think of this pinot noir grandchild as the gold standard of red hybrids because it’s perfectly balanced and incredibly versatile. Depending on the source and winemaking, a spectrum of juicy bramble fruits dominate.

  • Not a grape you really see on its own, it’s a newer variety that brings a lot to the party in coferments. It’s a bit earthier and more complex than Marquette, and leans black raspberry for fruit flavors.

  • A challenging but rewarding grape to work with—It’s vibrantly cherry-forward and well-structured but can have a punchy peppery/stemmy character that needs to be reined in. Find it as the base of our main rose R. typhina and a key component of our Reserve Red.

  • A grape used a bit more in colder climates than ours (like Vermont), it’s got big ripe plum flavors. We don’t use it heavily though because unless it’s insanely ripe (and thus full of alcohol), it’s a quite tart grape to work with.

  • The inkiest hybrid grape around, verona is the purpliest of purples. It’s very new and very hardy for growing, but doesn’t ripen properly in the shorter growing season of Vermont. We got lucky and got it ripe in 2024 and can’t wait to see the results. Fresh, the grapes taste like grape candy; freshly fermented it changes to a balsamic-y character; and from early samples we’ve tried, it matures into a very sophisticated varietal wine.

  • Chambourcin is one of the oldest hybrids in use, and is a bit more common further south where it gets better ripening conditions (ours is coming from Lake Erie AVA). It’s quite similar to a light cab franc with spicey, sometimes vegetal flavors. Great examples we’ve had remind us of cherry cola.