The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
GRAPE EXPECTATIONS REALIZED AT WINE FEST
GOSHEN >> Festival organizer Sherrie Palmer confessed the secret to winning grape-stomping: “The more flair, the more drama you have, and the person who is the most fun, often comes in first.”
Under a large white tent shielding the scorching sun amid 86-degree weather, 53 people competed in the grape-stomping contest at the eighth annual Connecticut Wine Festival at the Goshen Fairgrounds Sunday afternoon. Instead of using a wine press, grapes were crushed under participants’ bare feet in several metal vats. The stomping released the purple grapes’ juices and begins the long fermentation process. Winners of the contest won free “passports” to the Connecticut Wine Trail, which includes tours of Connecticut vineyards.
“It was lots of fun,” said Aric Wellman of New Haven, who won third-place in the competition, winning a gift basket of wine-themed T-shirts, gift certificates and wine glasses. “At times it got wicked slippery but it was refreshing.”
While Wellman hosed down his grape juice-stained feet, his wife, Leslie Stasko, who also participated, said, “We love to dance — in fact, that’s how we met. So our moves came in handy today! It’s also about safety first and good sportsmanship.”
Festival organizer Palmer, who also works full-time at Adams Hometown Market, a Connecticut
supermarket chain, commented, “Everyone is here to have wine and to celebrate Connecticut agriculture. We have more wineries than last year, and we’ve got great prizes. It’s very exciting.”
As of 3 p.m., Palmer said Sunday’s festival had seen about 1,800 visitors. She added that the weekend-long event saw an approximate two-day total of 5,300 people visit the festival’s local vineyards’ vendor tables, live music and food tents.
Next Laureen Guerriero of WineTime CT instructed visitors on what to look for in a glass of wine during a winetasting seminar to about 50 people on bleachers under a tent across the midway. Guerriero wore a navy-blue T-shirt that had an American flag and the lettering “United We Sip” on the front and “One Night Under Grapes” on the back; she gave people samples of local vintages.
She commented on the nuances of the wine-tasting experience: “You can ask yourself, ‘Does it have a ‘fruit-forward’ taste? And then you can drill down to which fruit you mean. Apples? Pears? Also, people talk about notes of floral, spices, and oak.”
She also discussed wineand-food pairings, saying, for example, a chardonnay, a rich white wine, goes well with lighter fare, such as grilled chicken.
“Like Chicken McNuggets?” joked one audience member to laughter from the group.
“Sure,” Guerriero said, adding: “The other day I saw this photo on Facebook where it gave you a choice on how to vote: Democrat, Republican, or ‘I Need a Glass of Wine.’ I think we are going to need a lot of wine to get us through to November!”
Guerriero discussed “ice wine,” a Canadian and German type of sweet wine produced from grapes that have been frozen while on the vine: “The grapes are picked in the middle of the night and pressed frozen. It produces more of a dessert wine. The price tag is very expensive.”
Among the food trucks selling apple fritters, shish kabobs and “chompers” (or small deep fried balls of meat and cheese filling), Julie DiLaurenzio of Little Farm on Main in Bethlehem gave samples of and sold small containers of homemade goat cheeses at her tent.
“Our kopanisti is very popular,” she said of the Greek-like dip made from feta goat cheese and roasted red peppers. “We also have a garlic-and-chives chèvre. We’re excited that we are going to be in Whole Foods in Hartford soon. I have 35 very happy, spoiled goats right now. If I had 150 goats, the resulting cheese would still all be gone.” DiLaurenzio said her farm will also be coming out with garlicflavored frozen yogurt as well as cheese canolis.
Across the midway and inside the fairgrounds air-conditioned buildings, 14 local vintners served large crowds waiting in long lines to try their vintages.
In the crowd was a group of friends, including Tawana Grant and Terri Walker, who raved about the honey-peach melba-infused wine from the table of Bishop’s Orchards Winery in Guilford.
“It’s a great event,” said Grant. “We came all the way from the Bridgeport and Norwalk area.”
At a stage erected toward the back of Fairgrounds, people listened to classic rock song covers by the band The Groove, who played Georgia Satellite’s “Keep Your Hands to Yourself.”
Nearby at the outdoor picnic tables, Nina Le and Dane Zettergren of Plainville shared a plate of pork quesadilla. “It’s a great time,” Le said. “It was well worth the drive.”