Wine Tasting on a Rainy Day

What do you do after 4 days of rain, only a brief half day respite of sun, and then back to more cool misty weather? Well you go wine tasting of course!





Surprisingly, along the coast line of New England are quite a few local vineyards. It's not Napa Valley, but there are some really good local wines. Today we visited Newport Vineyard in Newport, Rhode Island. The winery, founded in 1978, is family owned. Paul and John Nunes, whose local roots date back to 1917, purchased the winery in 1995. Since that time, the winery has grown to 50 acres of varietal and hybrid grapes.



A colorful mural on the wall.



The fermenting vats.



The store and wine tasting area was packed today. I guess since we are not having beach weather everyone is drowning their sorrows.



Today we sampled 10 different wines (each of us tasted 5) from their nice selection of local vintages. I enjoy the drier wines while Andy's palette tends to prefer the sweeter ones.



The patio, which is usually filled with visitors, is empty since everyone is taking refuge indoors.





Off in the misty distance is a farmhouse peaking through the fog.



We wrapped up our day by having diner at Cooke House on the marina.



We sat in the lower level tavern. Our table was right by the windows.



In the lower portion of the photo you'll see a caution sign warning people to be careful of the slippery stairs, which are wet from the humidity of this foggy day.



I thought this room was so cheerful with the pink stripes. It's on the upper level of the restaurant and much more formal (with a different menu and higher prices there are far less people sitting up there).



The view from our table - it was like sitting right outside on the dock since the windows slide back into the wall. Even with the rain we enjoyed watching the boats come in and out.







I had the sea bass - it was delicious atop a celery puree with morels mushrooms.



Andy had the penne chicken with a creamy almond basil sauce.



With full bellies we went for stroll to look at the yachts. This one was huge and it was privately owned - by whom I don't know but it came with a large crew.





As the darkness of evening fell upon us I admired a gorgeous hydrangea (the picture below is untouched - it really was that color). If only there was more light I would have photographed the entire garden that was next to an old inn we happened upon. It was lovely and worth a return visit.

Tour of Newport Flower Part 4

The fog has rolled in. The air is heavy with mist from the ocean. The smell of salt comes at me in waves seemingly in concert with the sea slamming against the rocks on the beach below.




I look back at the grand white mansion and can almost hear the sounds of the turn of the century in my head. The fountain spurts water reaching for the sky and I immediately notice the container garden displays encircling it.



Large and small. Intricate and simple. From tender annuals and hardy perennials to succulents that are smooth and spiky. An assortment of styles from which to get inspiration.

Enjoy the tour. (Click on a picture to enlarge it and see the details.)


































Join me for the next post which will take us back to the front of the mansion for a wrap up of the tour.