Hermit Woods Winery is a small boutique winery located in Meredith, New Hampshire. We visited with Megan’s sisters Heather and Sam; Sam’s boyfriend Dustin and our friend Bre. We had a good feeling when we entered the winery, as well as when we left. Sometimes when we visit wineries, due to us being fairly young, we are not taken seriously. We are often greeted with a feeling of “why are you here,” or no greeting. This is not across the board, but often. We often end up surprising them with our questions and comments…
At Hermit Woods they were nice right from the beginning, greeting us when we walked in. There were 6 of us (between ages 22-30) and they were truly excited to share their story and information with us.
We had a choice of a large glass or a smaller glass, with a minor price difference. The larger glass enabled you to try the Premium wines. Between all of us, we were able to try each wine. They make plenty of traditional wines but also have plenty of unique and non-traditional wines. They use locally grown fruits like peaches and Maine blueberries to make some of their more unique wines.
We were served by Ken at the bar, and he is also their head wine maker. He was obviously very knowledgeable, but also very friendly and willing to share his knowledge with us.
2013 Lake House White
Listed as a dry wine, but still surprised Mark that it was dry because it is made from local, organic whole peaches, quince, and rosehips. No grapes are used at all.
2013 Kiwi
Heather thought it was a little sour. This wine is made from locally grown kiwi berries. These are not the type of kiwi’s you by at the store.
2013 Harvest Apple Wine
This wine is made from fresh pressed, local cider. Heather liked the smell.
2013 Knot Mead
A varietal, dry, traditional mead made from raw, unfiltered, honey sourced from Japanese Knot Weed Flowers
Good flavor, not overly sweet like some meads are. The Japanese Knot Weed is an invasive flower, in case you were wondering, and bee’s love it.
2013 Three-Honey Wine
Three separate, raw, unfiltered, wildflower honeys are blended together to make this wine
All locally sourced honey, of course. The 2011 won Gold at the Colorado Mead Cup.
2013 Petite Blue
There is an entire pound of blueberries in each bottle! They are wild Maine blueberries. It is a dry wine, but tasty. This was aged in different oak barrel’s for extra flavor. Recommended for people who don’t enjoy red wine. This was Megan’s 2nd favorite.
2013 Chuck’s Peach Folly
Sweet, light taste. It smelled a little funny but everyone liked it. It was Heather’s favorite, and Megan’s 3rd favorite. Made from whole, locally sourced peaches.
Heirloom Crabapple
15% abv, made with 95% Adobgo? crabapples and 5% blueberries. Sweet and a little tart. This is their best selling wine and Megan’s favorite. In the 1800’s people used adobgo crabapples to make hard cider.
2013 Deep Blue
18% but still sweet, really good. It is made from a port base. Only a small, half bottle, with a pound of blueberries in this small bottle.
Sammies favorite wines were Deep Blue, Peach Folly, Heirloom Crabapple, and Petite Blue. They were the somewhat sweeter wines here.
Dustin liked most of the wines because they weren’t overly sweet.
Want to visit?
Visiting Hours:
Monday – Thursday 1:00 to 5:30
Friday 12:00 – 6:00
Saturday 11:00 – 6:00
Sunday 11:00 – 5:00
Breweries, Wineries and the fun in between! 