Plymouth Winery named the best by the Boston GLOBE!

 dining out  Boston Globe

Beyond the rock, some wine finds

     New England is a wine-producing, wine-drinking region, and Massachusetts has some hidden gems in the world of bottled, fermented fruit. The state's 24 wineries - scattered from Cape Cod to the Berkshires - produce everything from ice wine to merlot.

The surprise for me, however, was in Plymouth.

The first time I went to Plymouth was in the early '90s, with the family, with the sole intention of seeing Plymouth Rock. It turns out that there's much more to do in Plymouth than rock viewing.

There are three wineries in Plymouth. Two are located right in the heart of the waterfront tourist area, near restaurants, the water, and yes, the rock.

The storefront of the Plymouth Winery on Water Street is small, but the winery itself is one of the biggest in the state, producing more than 10,000 gallons of wine every year, according to Destination Plymouth, a tourist guide.

The Plymouth Winery was the best of the three we visited. It had a wide variety of fruity and premium varieties, and the shop was nicely set up, with plenty of wine paraphernalia to take home.

Their fruit wines ranged from cranberry to apple - apple wine being an acquired taste that eluded us - to a pleasant blackberry selection, which wasn't too bitter and went down smooth.

The Mayflower Red was one of the better reds we sipped all day. It's an oak-aged blend of merlot, cabernet sauvignon, and shiraz with a bold flavor. It was far better than some of the reds we tried later; apparently people think you can make wine with Concord grapes. Bad idea.

The Primitivo Ice Wine, made from frozen-on-the-vine grapes, was their premium offering at $40. It's extraordinarily sweet and sugary.

Although it was our first stop of the day, we left with four bottles of wine, a few trinkets and a wine glass - and about $125 lighter.

JOHN GUILFOIL

© Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company.

Spring 2008 New England Wine Gazette