Arrigoni Vineyard

When I first moved home I had this grand plan that I would be able to visit all of the wineries in Connecticut this summer and fall. Then reality set in and between juggling my call schedule and other social obligations with my family and friends, I found myself on Labor Day Weekend with a grand total of 2. I have found that making spontaneous plans on a Saturday has really made my weekends. With that in mind my friend Kait and I packed a picnic lunch and headed to Arrigoni Winery for the afternoon a few Saturdays ago.

The winery is only two years old so as you can see by the picture the grapes are still very young. They do, however, make their wines from locally grown grapes from the upper East Coast. We purchased tastings and really enjoyed the offerings. I especially liked trying an apple wine infused with maple. I bought it to serve at brunch with waffles. 

 After trying out nine different wines we headed to the patio to enjoy our picnic lunch and take in the beautiful day. There is plenty of outdoor seating and on the weekends that often have live music you can enjoy. They are also going to start having a Wine and Painting Class offered about once monthly.

After eating we headed inside to peruse the adorable gift shop filled with wine-related knickknacks.  We enjoyed reading the funny magnets and picked up a few coasters with funny wine sayings. 

I thoroughly enjoyed the time that I spent at Arrigoni and thought they were very unique in the types of wines offered and the awesome gift shop. If you are looking for a quick weekend trip to enjoy the changing leaves and want to explore some more adventurous wine choices, I would put Arrigoni on your list of destinations this fall.