There are plenty of things associated with New Hampshire – maple syrup, forests, granite, moose, fireworks, covered bridges and, more recently, craft beer, just to name a few.
Now, you can add high-quality, handcrafted wine to the list, too.
You may not realize it, but the Granite State is booming with independent wineries and vineyards, and given how popular pretty much all alcoholic beverages are, there’s no sign of things slowing down on that front any time soon.
It’s no secret that we at the Insider enjoy a nice adult beverage from time to time, but more often than not, it’s the sudsy, hoppy stuff we go for instead of the smooth and velvety. But, being the equal opportunity publication that we are, we decided to check out some of the wineries in the area for all you winos and oenophiles out there.
We’ve pulled together as much information as we could about some of the more local wineries – ones in the Monitor’s coverage area. Since there really are quite a few of them outside the area, we provided a list at the end of this piece with the most basic of information from the rest of the wineries and vineyards farther away across the state.
Cheers!
Hermit Woods Winery
72 Main St., Meredith. 253-7986, hermitwoods.com.
Hermit Woods Winery opened in June 2011 in the master bedroom of owner Bob Manley’s home.
“This started as a hobby that got out of hand,” Manley said of the company’s almost accidental origins.
Manley, Ken Hardcastle and Chuck Lawrence all had different jobs back before Hermit Woods existed, but they all loved to drink and make wine, beer and mead. As their hobby progressed more and more – and more and more money was being spent on said “hobby” – the guys all decided to go legit and make a full-fledged business out of this. After three years of growing the winery from Manley’s house, they bought the location in Meredith where the winery is now, and the business took off.
“We had visited some other wineries in the region and were inspired by what they had done,” Manley said, after admitting he wasn’t sure how well a wine business would do up here in New Hampshire.
What makes Hermit Woods stand out from the other wineries in the state is their focus on making traditional style wines, the kinds typically produced from grapes in California or Europe somewhere, Manley said. Most wineries in the Northeast, he said, focus on making fruit wines centered around a single fruit, and they tend to be sweeter than most wine you’d typically get at a restaurant. The reason for this is because it’s extremely difficult to grow traditional wine grapes organically in this part of the country.
But at Hermit Woods, they use combinations of all different kinds of fruit, mostly grown within an hour or so from the winery, to create a profile very similar to the grape wines most of the world is so familiar with – these aren’t the syrupy, super-sweet wines. They’ve gotten this down to such a science (Hardcastle is a geologist by trade and the winery’s resident science buff) that the winery was named one of the top 500 wineries in the country by Food & Wine magazine, the only New Hampshire winery to every earn that distinction, Manley said.
Hermit Woods has somewhere between 35 and 40 wines currently available at its tasting room. They produce between 20 and 25 varieties a year, and the 35 to 40 number comes from wines made in years past that are still available.
While you can browse the full selection at the tasting room, which also has a deli with a light menu (allowing for full pours), Hermit Woods wines can also be found in many retail locations such as Marketplace New England and Apple Hill Farm here in Concord. Manley said about 10 varieties go out to retailers, and the rest are exclusive to the winery.
The winery is open seven days a week all through the year, and tastings are available any time they’re open. A tasting session gets you six 1-ounce pours of whichever wines you’d like to taste for $10, and you get to keep the wine glass after.
Tours are also available any time they’re open for $25 per person. Tours typically last about a half hour, and they begin at the top of every hour, with no appointments necessary unless you plan on bringing a big group. These tours are fun as well as very educational, Manley said.
If any of this sounds good to you, just stop by Hermit Woods – their hours are Sunday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Gilmanton Winery & Vineyard
528 Meadow Pond Road, Gilmanton. 267-8251, gilmantonwinery.com.
Gilmanton Winery & Vineyard is big on combining wine with entertaining social activities. The year-round operation hosts Sunday brunches from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. each week. They also host five-course dinners, weddings, bus tours and private parties – pretty much anything you can do while sipping on some wine.
For this summer, the dates of the dinners are June 16, July 21 and Aug. 25 – all Saturdays. In the fall and winter, the schedule switches to Fridays – see the website for the full schedule.
Gilmanton Winery produces 16 varieties, with several seasonal offerings only available at certain times of year. The pricing is very simple – everything is $15.99, except for the signature Jack the Ripper, a Carmenere with deep cherry and peppery flavors, which is $16.49.
The winery is open Thursday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., during which time tastings and sales are available. On Sundays, they host the brunches from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., with sales and tastings beginning after brunch and running until 5 p.m. Final tastings are held a half hour before closing time, so make sure to plan accordingly.
There are a few options for tastings. You can try a flight of any three wines while seated at a table of your choice for $5. A flight of six with your choice of seat goes for $9, and a tasting of five wines while seated at the bar can be done for $12. With this option, you’ll be attended to by a staff member who will provide more information about the wine. You also get a souvenir wine glass with the $12 package.
When you finish with your flight, you can walk around the rural property and check out the Juliana pig, Nigerian dwarf goats, three rabbits and a small herd of ducks that are always hanging around. Or you can just walk through the vines and wonder whether you’ve been transported to Northern California.
Apart from the winery itself, you can find Gilmanton Winery products at retailers such as Hannaford and Red River Theatres in Concord. If you don’t happen to live anywhere near any of those options, you can also order online.
For more information or to reserve a spot for one of the dinners, call 267-8251. For more information about booking a wedding, email Ellen at gilmantonwineryweddings@gmail.com.
Coffin Cellars
1224 Battle St., Webster. 731-4563, coffincellarswinery.wixsite.com/home-1.
Coffin Cellars is a family-run country winery in Webster. Peter Austin, along with his two sons, Jamie and Tim, specialize in wines made from fruits and berries, many of which are grown locally or on their own property.
Much like the story of Hermit Woods, Coffin Cellars began as a hobby of Peter’s in the 1970s. As he progressed in his hobby and as his sons grew older, they took a liking to their dad’s pastime and started getting into it themselves.
From there, the three guys would make wines and serve them at family gatherings. After so many positive reviews from friends and family, they decided to go all the way and open up a winery, and Coffin Cellars was formed in 2009 in a garage bay at Peter’s home.
Now it’s a full business, with 14 varieties rotated through the year. The wine is sold at the winery and about a dozen independent retailers in the area, including Apple Hill Farm, Cimo’s South End Deli, Marketplace New England and River Hill Market in Concord, as well as True Brew Barista and Red River Theatres.
The latest variety is a yellow raspberry wine. The bushes were planted six years ago, and the first batch was picked two years ago. It has since been bottled and properly aged and is ready for sale. It’s a limited batch that’s only available at the winery, so get over there and get some before it’s gone.
As Coffin Cellars is a small operation, and since wine takes a long time to produce, sometimes certain varieties are unavailable for weeks, months or even years at a time. Coffin Cellars wines average two years to produce, with some taking as long as five years.
The winery is open for complimentary tastings on Saturdays and Sundays from 1 to 5 p.m. from April until December, or any time of year by appointment. The tasting room, opened in 2016, is in a restored Civil War-era shoemaker shop, which is original to the property.
Since it is a small operation, Coffin Cellars doesn’t have the ability to ship wine, so if you want some, go to the winery itself or any of the retailers that carry it. You can always call ahead if you’re going to be in the area during hours when the business isn’t open, as they are always willing to open for any individual customer, which is something not many businesses would do.
Copper Beech Winery
146 Londonderry Turnpike, Building 3, Unit 23, Hooksett. 400-2595, copperbeechwinery.com.
Copper Beech Winery is a small-batch boutique winery in Hooksett. Like several other Granite State wineries, these award-winning wines are made from fresh fruit sourced as locally as possible, and everything is hand-crafted in small batches.
The tasting room opened to the public in March 2014, and it began winning medals within the first two months of opening, according to the company’s website.
Copper Beech also prides itself on producing dry, more traditional style wines, as opposed to the sweet varieties that are more common among most fruit wines. The wines are fermented in a traditional style and aged at least a year before bottling.
There are 16 varieties to choose from, including intriguing blends such as Caliente, made from fresh whole jalapenos, and Country Crabapple, made from 100 percent New Hampshire crabapples.
Many of the varieties have been recognized at various expositions and competitions with gold, silver and bronze medals. The Country Crabapple, for instance, was the bronze medal winner of the 2016 Eastern States Exposition, the gold medal winner and winner of best fruit wine at the 2017 Best of New England Wine Competition, and the silver medal winner at the 2018 Best of New England Wine Competition.
In fact, of the 16 varieties, 12 have won at least one medal in the past, so this isn’t a ho-hum operation by any means.
Wine tastings and tours are held on Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 4 p.m. The winery will be closed for Labor Day weekend. Tastings for groups are available in the spring, summer and fall by appointment.
To stay up to date with all the latest happenings at Copper Beech Winery, follow them on Instagram or Facebook, or go to their website to sign up for an email newsletter.
Others around New Hampshire
There are many vineyards and wineries (and some meaderies, which are close enough to include here) in New Hampshire, and a large percentage of them are outside of our coverage area. But we know a lot of people enjoy taking a nice day trip outside of this immediate vicinity, so we rounded up all the contact information of every winery in the state we could find. Hopefully this is enough to pique your interest and get you started as you prepare to maybe hit up every one in the state.
Candia Vineyards, 702 High St., Candia. 867-9751
LaBelle Winery, 345 Route 101, Amherst. 672-9898, labellewinerynh.com.
Black Bear Vineyard, 289 New Road, Salisbury. 648-2811, blackbearvineyard.com.
Haunting Whisper Vineyards & Spirits, 77 Oak Ridge Drive, Danbury. 768-5506, hauntingwhisper.com.
Flag Hill Distillery & Winery, 297 N. River Road, Lee. 659-2949, flaghill.com.
Fulchino Vineyard, 187 Pine Hill Road, Hollis. 438-5984, fulchinovineyard.com.
Zorvino Vineyards, 226 Main St., Sandown. 887-8463, zorvino.com.
Vitone Family Wines, 69 Route 101A, Amherst. 714-9963.
Moonlight Meadery, 23 Londonderry Road, Londonderry. 216-2162, moonlightmeadery.com.
Whippletree Winery, 372 Turkey St., Tamworth. 323-7119, whippletreewinery.com.
Appolo Vineyards, 49 Lawrence Road, Derry. 421-4675, appolovineyards.com.
The Summit Winery, 719 Route 12, Westmoreland. 852-8025, thesummitwinery.com.
Walpole Mountain View Winery, 114 Barnett Hill Road, Walpole. bhvineyard.com.
Sweet Baby Vineyard, 260 Stage Road, Hampstead. 347-1738, sweetbabyvineyard.com.
Sap House Meadery, 6 Folsom Road, Center Ossipee. 539-1672, saphousemeadery.com.
Averill House Vineyard, 21 Averill Road, Brookline. 371-2296, averillhousevineyard.com.
