Wonderful Lakes Region Wineries

By Kathi Caldwell-Hopper

Wine has been around for centuries. It was a popular drink in Europe as early as 4,000 BC. In the early days of winemaking, grapes were placed into big vats and crushed with the feet of workers. The juices were collected and fermented, and wines was the product. 

Italy was one of the first, but not the only place, to make wine. Egypt made wine around 3,000 BC. Many countries made wine and the popularity of the beverage spread through trade around Europe and as far away as China.

Over the years, wine making was done everywhere and became a drink in America as well. Interestingly, it was not until the 1970s that wine gained the popularity it enjoys today in this country. Grapes were always referred for winemaking, but now other fruits are used as well.

Wine tastings have become quite popular, and the Lakes Region of New Hampshire has some wonderful wineries with tastings, offering a variety of wines made on-site.

In the Newfound Lake area, Crazy Cat Winery, owned by Claudette Smith, is located at 365 Lake Street in Bristol. “We offer over 36 wines,” Smith says. “Those include rose, reds, white wines and dessert wines.”

Crazy Cat Winery started when the Smith family moved from Virginia to Bristol in 2017. After finding an appropriate property with room for the business, Smith’s husband began to make wine. “He has been a wine maker since his college days. He started out by brewing beer and hard cider and then expanded to winemaking. We took it to a commercial level in 2016,” Smith explains.

When asked what her favorite Crazy Cat Wines would be, she says the dry red wines, such as Stormy Skies and Bull on the Hill. 

Crazy Cat has a tasting room, so visitors can learn about and sample the variety of wines made at the business. “We also serve entrees, salads, soups, stews, paninis, and desserts, all freshly made,” Smith says. “Our charcuterie boards are popular, and we also do wine slushies. We are starting to offer fondues as well, but those must be reserved ahead of time.”

Crazy Cat Winery also has art classes, crafting events and hopefully, according to Smith, line dancing and pop-up yoga classes this summer.

Why the name Crazy Cat Winery? “We adopted a cat when we lived in Virginia,” Smith explains. “He was the craziest cat. Sadly, he passed away and we now have two resident cats.” 

For hours and information, visit www.crazycatwinery.com or call 603-217-0192.

Hermit Woods Winery, located at 72 Main Street in Meredith, is among the most popular wineries in New Hampshire. Owners Bob Manley, Ken Hardcastle and Chuck Lawrence got started making wine at Manley’s home in Sanbornton. They became friends over a shared interest in winemaking, and their knowledge of wines grew. “It started as a summer through fall and a weekend activity,” says Manley. “We quickly grew out of that space, and we needed to expand. We bought the Meredith property in 2014.”

Manley says Hardcastle has taken the craft of winemaking to the level of artistry, garnering the business respected reviews. Oprah Winfrey named Hermit Woods Winery as one of the top things not to miss if visiting New Hampshire, and USA Today voted the winery the fourth best tasting room in America.

Says Manley, “We make our wines from whole ingredients, produced at 72 Main Street.” One of Hermit Woods most popular wines is Petite Blue Reserve, made with 100% low-bush blueberries from a farm in Maine. 

According to www.hermitwoods.com, “Hermit Woods Winery is a small boutique winery. We strive to make wines of the highest quality with the greatest emphasis on locally grown fruit and raw honey. We have a small organic vineyard, and we work closely with local farmers and pickers to find the best possible fruit, ideally organic, to make our wine. We make our wine available in our tasting room and local wine shops and restaurants in our surrounding communities.”

Some of the wines include Apple, Crabapple, Blueberry, Mead, Kiwi, Peach, Pear, Blackberry, Elderberry, and various blends of all the above. These are just a few of the many varieties of fruit the winery produces. They seek to identify the depth and breadth of fruit that can be found in abundance in the local community and make the best wine they can from it.

Manley says his favorite Hermit Woods wine is the one that is in his glass. His choice of wine is attributed to the season, the music he might be listening to, the people he is socializing with, etc. “We try to have favorite wines for each occasion,” he adds.

Offering about 35 wines, Hermit Woods makes the wines on-site at their 72 Main Street, Meredith location. Hermit Woods offers wine making tours for six or more people. 

Soon, there also will be a new patio on the front lawn for outdoor dining. The business name will be changing to reflect exactly what the winery is: Hermit Woods Winery and Eatery. Says Manley, “We are more than just a deli, and our restaurant offers farm-to-table foods. We have also launched The Loft at Hermit Woods, a listening room experience. It will offer a live music series on Thursday nights, 52 weeks a year. We will have artists from all over the country performing here.” The first show will be on May 19, with Wangari Fahari, a Kenyan singer, writer, and founder of The Fahari Brand. Visit http://hermitwoods.com/events/list for a schedule.

Hermit Woods wines also are widely available at NH State Liquor Stores, small wine shops and Hannaford. Visit www.hermitwoods.com, or call 603-253-7968 to learn more about the many offerings at Hermit Woods and about their popular tasting room and tours.

Gilmanton is steeped in history and beauty. It is the site of the Gilmanton Winery, which makes fruit, white, rose and red wines, according to co-owner Marshall Bishop. (His wife, Sunny, is the other owner.)

“We learned to make wine by reading a lot and listening to others; we have been making wine for about 13 years,” says Bishop. He continues, “We make all the wine here, and we have a vineyard with about 854 grape vines.”

Gilmanton Winery is beloved in the area for not only their wines, but also for their weekly Sunday Brunch. Once a month, they serve dinner, and will offer a Murder Mystery event on June 4. “We also cater to parties on the property,” Bishop adds.

With a wine tasting room and events, the winery is a busy place. Asked what his favorite wine might be, Bishop says, “I like our Green Apple Wine and white wine and fruity wines. Sunny likes a red wine we have called Jack the Ripper.”

The winery property has an interesting history and was once the home of the author of “Peyton Place”, famed writer Grace Metalious. For more on Gilmanton Winery, visit www.gilmantonwinery.com or call 603-267-8251.

In Tamworth, Whippletree Winery is located at 372 Turkey Street. Owner Lauren Barrett has an interesting history with winemaking. “I did not like wine; I found it undrinkable. As a retirement venture, I decided to create some wine that was friendly to the palette. I discovered there is a niche around wineries if the wine is smooth and balanced.”

Using new world wine making methods with old world chemistry, Barrett made delicious wine that changed her opinion of the drink. With at least 30 wines in a variety ranging from rose, white, red, and fruit wines, Whippletree is a popular spot for wine tastings. Barrett says Whippletree has a wine for everyone, from sweet to off-dry to dry wines.

Barrett explains that different wines age at different times. Depending upon what one wants for a result, production and aging times vary. 

The tasting room at Whipple Tree has been in operation for seven years, seating about 50 people for indoors and 50 people outdoors with a great view of the Ossipee Mt. range. Along with the wines that are popular with customers, Whippletree serves cheese and crackers, and guests can bring their own food if they wish. 

Barrett’s employees are trained and very knowledgeable. They understand the wines and how they are made. When a person comes for a wine tasting, it is almost like a wine consultation, and it is a friendly, relaxed experience.

Barrett says her favorite wines are dependent upon the season and the job the wine needs to do. “For example, if I am sitting on my deck at home and I have just mowed by lawn, I might want a lime coconut wine. It would be a different wine for an Italian dinner, for example My favorite wine is the one that does the job best for the situation.”

Barrett does wedding wine consultations and is a wedding wine planner. Whippletree also offers custom wine labels and gives advice about the pairing of wines. Visit www.whippletreewinery.com or call 603-323-7119.

Beautiful Whiteface Hollow Farm has a rich history. Says John Ferreira, who owns the property with his wife, Jennifer, “In the early 1800s both on this farm and in nearby fields in the area, farmers cultivated native grapes to produce wine. If you look closely, you can still see some remnants today from that era on our venue.”

The first vineyard beds at Whiteface Hollow were prepared in the fall of 2017 with the planting of 1/4 acre the following spring: an expansion in the spring of 2020 brought the vineyard to nearly 1/2 acre. Seven cold hardy grape varieties, four red and three whites, were selected from the University of Minnesota’s and Elmer Swenson’s special viniculture grape breeding programs for their ability to produce superior tasting, medium and full bodied aromatic wine that can grow and mature in the New England climate. 

Ferrera continues, “We have a fantastic micro-climate for cultivating hardy wine grapes; our hilltop location is perfectly situated and receives all-day sunlight throughout the growing season. The hilltop was carved by glaciers, a unique area between the White Mountains and Lake Winnipesaukee and provides fertile soil and an environment for hardy grape varieties to thrive. It typically takes three to five years for vines to mature and produce a ‘good’ harvest suitable for high-quality wine production. 

“Whiteface Hollow took our first harvest from a portion of the vineyard in the fall of 2021, and we currently have four varieties that are aging well. We plan to begin bottling the very first vintage sometime in the summer of 2022. Most of our wine will be sold directly to guests at the venue.” (Whiteface Hollow Farm has become extremely popular since the Ferreira’s transformed the farmhouse and barn into a beautiful wedding/event venue.)

“One-hundred percent of the wine is grown, made and bottled on the property,” says Ferreira. “The wines are handcrafted in small batches. We do not import grapes from elsewhere.”

 John Ferreira is the winemaker at the boutique winery. He was self-taught and took some courses. He speaks highly of the New Hampshire Wine Association, where there are good learning opportunities.

He says, “The Winery building has a Tasting Room and large patio for intimate, year-round gatherings and events. It is our intention to open to the public mid-weeks in the future.”

Visit www.whitefacehollow.com for information or call 603-409-7028.