Plymouth Winery, Plymouth MA

Plymouth Winery is unfortunately closed now. The good news is they were bought and re-opened as 1620 Winery and Wine Bar, which we visited.

We visited Plymouth Winery as part two of my birthday celebration, after visiting Mayflower Brewing Company. Mark and I were accompanied by my sister Samantha (she went to Cape Cod Winery with us as well), our friends Andrea (went to Cape Cod Winery with us), Bre (went to Gilmanton Winery with us) and Katrina. Mark’s brother Jason and sister Michelle also joined us (they had both been with us when we visited Blue Hills Brewery, and Michelle when we had visited Flag Hill Winery and Distillery).

Plymouth Winery, located in the Village Landing Marketplace in Plymouth MA has a cute small town/country feel. Plymouth Winery makes all of their wine in the same building as their tasting room.the shop’s wine shelvesLinda Shumway, Owner and Wine Maker

 

Our tasting:

Bogarts Blend: A Chardonnay, not Oaked. They don’t oak their Chardonnay due to the feeling that oak is an equalizer and makes the wines taste different. Light with a lot of character. Pretty good. Sam and Andrea, who had gone to the Cape Cod Winery with us (and weren’t huge fans) felt this tasting started off on a good note- they liked this wine more than all that they had tried at Cape Cod Winery. This wine uses California grapes. Bre also thought it was pretty good.

Pilgrims White: A Sauvignon Blanc, not oaked. Tastes like pear, green apple and red grapefruit. No grassy flavor. Delicious. Everyone liked this one- it has a nice earthy tone.

Bug Light Red: A Zinfandel. Flavors of strawberries and chocolate. Aged in new American Oak. Not too dry. Good flavor. Sam stated that it was not a dinner wine due to the rich flavor.

Cranberry blush: 90% white grape (Sauvignon Blanc) and 10% cranberry. On a similar idea to a white zinfandel. A fun summer wine. Enough cranberry to give it a kick without being over powering. Really really good! Enjoyed by all.

Strawberry: A semi-sweet fruit wine. Really good authentic flavor. Suggested to serve chilled with dessert or as a cordial after dinner. Jason liked this wine, he stated that it tastes like kool-aid

Blackberry: Made from blackberries, this wine resembles a port. Great chilled with vanilla ice cream or next to a fire on a cold winter night. Katrina said this was delicious!

Raspberry: A true authentic raspberry taste. A semi-sweet dessert wine. Suggested to serve with champagne or chocolate cake. Bre: really liked, as it was sweet enough for her.

Blueberry: A rich dessert wine, similar to a sweet Merlot. It was really good, and on the sweet side which was unexpected.

Cranberry: Good tartness, drinks like cranberry juice.

 
 Bre stole a quick picture of me during the tasting

Nice wine glasses

Group Photo!

Back row: Jason, Mark, Sam, Andrea & Katrina

Front row: me, Bre, Michelle

Group photo, take 2!

Andrea, me, Sam, Jason, Katrina, Mark

Bre, Michelle

I left with a Cranberry wine and will go back for a different bottle next time I’m in the area. Many others also made wine purchases.

Bre, with her two (yes 2!!) bottles of wine 

Want to visit?

A quick taste is free, but a full tasting is $5 (you get to keep the glass).

Call ahead (508-746-3532) to make sure they will be open, as their hours change on bottling and delivery days.

Winter Hours vary.  Open Tuesday to Saturday 11 AM to 5 PM (weather permitting).

Open on Holiday weekends including MLK and President’s Days.

Open 7 Days a week April to June: 11 AM to 5 PM; Sundays 12-5 April thru December.

July to mid-September: 10:30 AM to 6 PM Mon-Wed, until about 8 PM Thursday to Saturday.

October to December 1: 11 AM to about 6 PM Monday – Saturday; Sundays 12-5 PM.

Winter hours are weather permitting.

me, outside of the winery

The party continued on…

Mayflower Brewing, Plymouth MA

Mark, myself and a few friends went to Mayflower Brewing Company, located in Plymouth Ma, as part of my birthday celebration. My sister Samantha joined us- it was her 1^st brewery (she had joined us a few weeks before for a trip to Cape Cod Winery). Mark’s brother Jason and sister Michelle joined us (they had both been with us when we visited Blue Hills Brewery, and Michelle when we had visited Flag Hill Winery and Distillery). Our friends Andrea (went to Cape Cod Winery with us), Bre (went to Gilmanton Winery with us) and Katrina joined us as well. After we visited Mayflower Brewing Company, we went to Plymouth winery! See that post soon!

Mayflower is located in an industry park area of Plymouth, off of exit 7 near Colony Place.

When we entered, we were welcomed and quickly started our tasting. The glasses were larger than dixie glasses, and we were given decent sized pours for each beer.

 Mayflower Brewing had us try 7 beers. We were lucky enough to be able to try both the Summer seasonal as well as the Fall seasonal.

Our tasting:

Summer Rye Beer: A Belgian style rye. Good flavor, but wouldn’t be my first choice for a summer beer. Michelle shrugged, that it was ok. Katrina doesn’t care for Belgians in the least (so I enjoyed most of her pour). Mark liked it, stated that it is defiantly a summer beer, but doesn’t have a fruity taste as many summer beers do.

Golden Ale: A crisp and dry ale with a malt flavor. I did not enjoy the Golden Ale. Sam enjoyed it more than the Summer Rye Beer, but stated that it needed more of a flavor. Andrea agreed with Sam, that it was better than the previous one. Michelle said it “tastes like beer.”

Pale Ale: British in style has more bitters in it. I actually liked it, which surprised me (I usually don’t enjoy Pale Ales). When I mentioned this to the woman pouring our beer, she mentioned that their Pale Ale is British in style, and has more bitters in it than an American Pale Ale.

Mayflower IPA: surprisingly good. Mayflower uses four varieties of American hops to create a balanced flavor. Both Michelle and I are not typically IPA lovers, but we could say that we enjoyed Mayflower’s IPA. Sam enjoyed drinking it, but did not like the after taste, she wanted a piece of gum after.

Autumn wheat: A dark wheat beer. Michelle, Sam and I thought it was really good. Katrina loved it, as she tends to love fall seasonal. Jason: thumbs up

Mayflower Porter: Mayflower uses five varieties of malted barley to make this delicious porter. Not heavy tasting. Sam stated that “it look(ed) like soda” when it was first poured.  Good porter.

We also tried the Single Hop Ale as well as the Mild. Both were part of the “Cooper Series.” I really enjoyed the Mild, it was delicious, but definitely a beer I could only do a pint or two of.

Katrina stated that she has enjoyed Mayflower beers before, but finds it is only good when it is super fresh (not in a bottle, or an old keg/tap line).

Jason didn’t have one he didn’t like.

Me, enjoying a beer tasting (see the pours are of a good size!)

Family Picture #1: Me, Sam & Andrea

Family Picture #2: Mark, Jason & Michelle

Take 1

Take 2

Our tour:

 

At the beginning of the tour, we were instructed to keep our shoes on and not to touch anything. And to keep our shoes on. Apparently people feel the need to walk around without their shoes on in a factory?

The brewery smelled like a farm, as someone pointed out. The scent was due to the grain that is being used by the brewery.

The brewery was started in 2008, when there was no other brewery on the South Shore. The location of Plymouth was easy for two reasons:

1. soft water of Plymouth makes an easy starting point to make beer

2. the owner is a 10^th generation descendant of the cooper on the Mayflower (John Alden).

A cooper? What’s that? John Alden was responsible for the many barrels of beer that were on board the Mayflower. According to the tour, those on board the Mayflower had thought about landing in Provincetown, but did not because there wasn’t a running water source for them to make beer (which they needed to survive).

The tour went over the brewing process, and the tour guide compared the beer making process to something most are familiar with: making tomato sauce. We found out that all of their bees, with the exception of the Summer Rye are filtered (Summer Rye still is, but not to the same effect). We had the opportunity to see their Mill Room, where they keep the grist.

Mayflower Brewery tries to be as green as possible, and they send the spent grain to local prisons for farm land. Mayflower does not use chemicals to help close and seal their bottles.

Bottling Assembly:  

    Michelle commented at the end of the tour that it was good and the tour guide was personable.

   

We had to end our tour with a couple of group photos:

Back row: Mark, Sam, Andrea, Jason

Front row: Michelle, Katrina, Me, Bre

For our last picture, she told us to JUMP!

Thank you very much to Bre, who stole my camera (and then proceeded to take photos with her phone when it died)!

What else did we do for my birthday celebration? Soon to come, Plymouth Winery!

Sea Hagg Distillery, Hampton NH

I had wanted to hold off on writing this entry until their Strawberry Rum was out… Mark suggested that we go back for their Strawberry Rum and add to our information then, but it isn’t ready yet and I’m getting antsy! I will add to this entry once we are able to pick some up.

sign out front

Display out by their tasting bar

Rug in the back room (the distillery area)

We visited Sea Hagg Distillery, located in Hampton NH, as part of the Granite State Growler Tour. Sea Hagg Distillery was the only distillery on the tour.

When we entered Sea Hagg Distillery, we were greeted by Ron with a delicious mixed shot-sized drink- mango lemonade mixed with their blueberry rum. Really good! Not too sweet, but a nice summer-y drink! After another sample, this time Amber Rum, we went out back to see the distillery and hear about the company.

their traditional copper alembic pot still

Sea Hagg Distillery is considered to be a craft distillery, producing small batch artisan spirits that are made from start to finish on site. Sea Hagg Distillery produces both rum and fruit brandy, as well as eau-de-vie. All of their products are made using either fruit from local farmers or sugarcane molasses grown in the USA.

Did you know that producing rum and other spirits used to be labeled as a “women’s job”? Well, Sea Hagg Distillery is taking that label and running with it- it is women owned and operated. The idea of Sea Hagg Distillery was created while sitting on the beach in the Caribbean. At first, the idea was to import Caribbean rum and blend and bottle in NH. Once the history of rum and New Hampshire was looked into, the decision to make rum instead was decided upon.

Products:

They import 4000 pound totes of Louisiana molasses to make their rum! A traditional Colonial rum distilled in the time it took to travel via ox cart from the distillery to the tavern.

Sea Hagg Silver Rum: small batch, made from US grown sugar cane molasses. Sea Hagg’s rum is distilled in a traditional copper alembic pot still, barrel aged and bottled by hand.

Blueberry Rum: contains one pound of blueberries per container!!! They went through 5000 pounds of blueberries last year!

Amber Rum: a true colonial style rum. Colonial style rum was made in the areas between Portsmouth and Newport (RI). 80 proof, aged 5 months. Had a slight oak and whiskey flavor but was very smooth.

Strawberry Rum: when we tried it, it was 60 proof but would grow to be 80. Went down smooth and easy. The strawberries are from a local farm, Apple Crest. Can’t wait to pick up a bottle when they are all labeled! I think it would go great in many drinks, but also over ice.

Poitin: Irish moonshine. All grain style. When we tried it, we tried it straight from the barrel. It was 120 proof at the time, they will bottle it at 90 proof.

Peach eau-de-vie: Peach, un-aged brandy. Sea Hagg Distillery enjoys working with seasonal fruits.

Sea Hagg Distillery will also have a Spiced Rum coming out this fall!

Want to visit?

Complimentary Tastings, Tours, and Sales:

Hours of Operation:

Wednesday – Friday; 12:00pm – 6:00pm.

Saturday; 12:00pm – 4:00pm

Sundays (Holidays); 12:00pm-4:00pm

 

Why’s the rum gone?!

Cape Cod Winery, East Falmouth MA

On a rainy camping morning, my sister Sam mentioned that she wanted to do something, and then had the grand idea to go to either a winery or a brewery. Sam had recently turned 21, and had never been to a winery or a brewery. This  Since it was a Sunday, breweries in the area were closed, so we decided to go to the Cape Cod Winery. This was also the first visit to a winery for two others who went with us, my sisters Heather and Jessica. Andrea, a literally life-long friend (met when we were 3 years) had been to one winery previously.

Andrea, Jessica, Heather, Samantha, Mark and I pulled up to Cape Cod Winery and could see all of the beautiful grape vines growing. The signage on the property directed you inside for a wine tasting.
When we walked inside, I was somewhat surprised at the size of tasting room. Although I have been to smaller tasting rooms, like that of Gilmanton Winery, I expected something more like Flag Hill’s tasting room due to the location. Cape Cod is a vacation land, and when it rains everyone looks for something to do. The winery was very busy, due to it sprinkling out, and we weren’t the only ones with the great idea of going to the winery. I was just a little surprised about the size of the tasting room.

The tasting was $5 per person and included a full sized wine glass.

We tried six wines:
Pinot Grigio: smooth, notes of apricot, hazelnut and pear. The grape skins are left on for this wine (like a red) for 24 hours to create a richer, fuller flavor and a golden color. Jessica thought it was good for a white wine. Andrea, Mark and  I would drink it, but it wasn’t amazing. Heather didn’t enjoy it, and Sam’s face spoke what words could not.
Nobska White: a blend of Seyval and Vidal grapes. Some tropical fruit highlights, but no where near the tropical fruit flavors you might get from a Cayuga. Andrea, Heather and I enjoyed this one more. Mark and Jess also enjoyed, with Mark commenting that it had notes of tart apples. Sam still didn’t enjoy this wine.
Nobska Cranberry Blush: Seyval white wine with a splash of cranberry. This wine sits for six months with whole fermented cranberries. Prior to trying this wine, I had assumed this would be a favorite- cranberry wines from southeastern Mass & the Cape are usually quite good. Jess, usually a cranberry fan, did not enjoy this one. It was too light in cranberry flavor. I thought it was the best I had tried at the time (and then the 2nd favorite of mine there). Mark, Heather, Sam and Andrea agreed.
Merlot/Cabernet Franc: 50% Merlot, 50% Cabernet Franc. Aged in oak barrels. Jessica really enjoyed this one (red wines are her favorite, especially merlot). Sam, Andrea and Heather tried it and then passed their pour on to Mark. Mark and I thought it wasn’t bad, but too dry for our tastes.
Nobska Red: was not available for tastings, as it was waiting to be bottled.
Regatta: sweet, with a slight (very slight) strawberry flavor. At this point, we were rushed to our next taste and I wasn’t really able to find out other’s opinions. Would have loved to learn more about this one, especially since it was not listed in their wine list pamphlet. I think it was a dessert wine??
Nobska Blue: mezzo dolce wine, a blend of blueberries and grapes. This was Heather’s favorite (mine as well, I went home with a bottle). Heather mentioned that it would be great with real blueberries as garnishment. If you are someone who likes their blueberry wine chilled, you could also freeze blueberries and use them as ice cubes! 

Also available for tasting were two jellies. It was good, but seemed like a typical jelly

The Cape Cod Winery grows the majority of the grapes they use on their property- Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Pinot Grigio, Seyval, and Vidal Blanc. These are grapes most commonly found in southern France and northern Italy. Cape Cod Winery chooses to grow organically.

Pros:

organic

Local

Have a tasting notes/order sheet you can pick up

Offer $1 off a bottle for purchasing a tasting/glass

Offer other discounts (3-5 bottles, $3 off; 6-11 bottles, $8 off total; 12 bottles, $20 off)

Cons:

not a good winery to go to with people who are new to wine or wineries- not a good first impression of the way things work

not enough room to have a tasting unless you are the only people there (and this one I tried to hard to go with because I work in the industry!)

Not enough people working to learn about the wines (although he did a great job with making sure everyone was trying, we just didn’t learn anything)

Wine was expensive to purchase ($14-$17 per bottle)

Want to go?

Summer Wine Tasting Hours are Wednesday through Sunday, June 26th through Labor Day 11-4 pm.

Fall Wine Tasting Hours are Saturday and Sunday, 11-4, through Christmas.

 
This winery was one that I am glad I went to so I can now cross it off my list, but not one that I would want to go to again.
My thing is that if you don’t like wine (or beer), it’s that you haven’t found one that you like yet and you should continue trying different ones. Hopefully, those that also went with me and didn’t find anything worth bringing home (I was the only one to buy a bottle) will try another winery with me again soon… Or maybe it will be a brewery next time 🙂