Girl Gone Globetrotting

J and I spent the weekend in a little town called Goshen, Conn., and since there’s not a lot to do in tiny Northeastern towns, we drank.

A lover of the spirits, J took me along on his journey to find local Connecticut beer to bring back to Boston. On one of our stops, an incredibly friendly booze-aficionado/liquor store proprietor told us we had to go to family-owned Sunset Meadow Vineyards & Winery. Or rather he said, “That’s where I’d take my lady.” Enough said.

When we arrived at Sunset Meadow, we were told that the parking lot was full and we should park up the driveway. J wanted to turn back and find a quieter winery—yes there are that many in close proximity—but I said we should soldier on. It would be more fun if it was busy anyway.

And busy it was. The tasting bar was packed, so we perched ourselves next to an old cast iron stove and peered out onto the snowy vineyard. Okay, okay, maybe we were actually making dagger-eyes at the people at the tasting bar in a subliminal effort to get them to leave. Either way, I was warm, so therefore, I was happy.

Finally a spot opened up and we hopped up to the counter. The tasting was inexplicably cheap, $6 for tasting 5 wines of our choosing and the wines were phenomenal. 

(Disclaimer: I know NOTHING about wine, except that I like some, and I don’t like others—Chardonnay is a no no. All this talk about notes or hints of certain flavors totally goes over my head. But, I shall put it in here in case some of you out there do understand it and find it important. If you are like me, just nod your head and pretend you understand.)

After tasting the first wine, the vineyard’s Cayuga White with notes of melon, peach and grapefruit, J and I looked at each other with delight and surprise. It was de-lish! But I still didn’t taste any melon, just sayin’. J doesn’t like white wines at all, and he could easily say he’d buy a bottle of the Cayuga White. 

The Sunset Blush was also awesome, with hints of peach, apricot and plum. Sweet and yummy.

The red wines we tried (the New Dawn and Twisted Red) were equally tasty, not a bad grape in sight.

To top the amazing experience off, the vineyard offered a rather generous tasting of their hot mulled wine free of charge. Being a Southwestern gal, I’ve never had mulled wine in my life, so I reached for my glass with equal amounts of excitement and hesitation.

I hope you’re sensing a theme here, because the mulled wine was ba-na-nas. So rich and warm that I decided to buy a bag of the mulling spices right there on the spot.

It looks like that was a great purchase because it’s supposed to snow buckets again this weekend in Boston, no shock there, so I’ll definitely be brewing up a batch in memory of a wonderful vineyard visit.

Photography by me. February 2013.

Where to find it:
599 Old Middle Street
Goshen, CT 06756
(860) 201-4654

A couple more photos from Portland, Maine, on a rainy afternoon.

P.S. I wasn’t driving, so this picture is legitimately safe.

Photography by me. April 2012.

My favorite pictures from my trip to Olvera Street. The first one is my absolute favorite because it shows two types of masks that are popular in Mexican culture. On the right are the traditional bright masks that everyone would think of. On the left are wrestling masks that are popular because wrestling is a popular sport in Mexican culture.

The second picture is, I’m assuming, a bathroom sign.

The third picture of a “pan de muerto” is less about the picture itself and more about the sign. It was Halloween weekend, or in Mexican culture - the weekend of Dia de los Muertos, which is a time to remember those who have passed away. Still, bread of death doesn’t sound that yummy to me.

Photography by me. October 2011.