Sakonnet Winery

A gorgeous Sunday in June seemed the perfect time to drive along the Rhode Island coast. Listening to Memoirs of a Geisha , I drove past sailing ships and small farms on my way to the Sakonnet Winery - the largest winery in New England. The long dirt driveway led between rolls of hay and interesting sculptures before reaching their lovely tasting building. Rows of vineyards stretched into the distance. I smiled, took a deep breath, and sighed with pleasure.

My friend Donna and I headed into the tasting area, and shortly thereafter the next tour was gathered. A projection room with comfortable chairs was soon half filled with maybe 15 adults and five children. The tour is truly a family activity, although at times the noises the kids made created trouble for us to follow the well-done movie they put on.

The Tour

The fifteen-minute film went over the history of wine in Rhode Island, and the story behind Sakonnet in particular. In the 1633 charter granted to Rhode Island, there was specific encouragement for the winemaking profession. There are now four wineries in Rhode Island, and Sakonnet is by far the largest.

After the video, Joe, our tour guide, came in and brought us into the winery itself. The first room, kept cool, is the fermentation room. Large stainless steel fermentation tanks of around 1400 gallons each line each side. On the right, the standard ones will hold their wines for 5-7 days, while on the left are cooled tanks. Because of the lower temperature, they can ferment for longer, up to 20-30 days at 45F.

To prevent those harmless tartar crystals from forming in their wines, they then cold stabilize the wine down to 31F. This lets the crystals precipitate out onto the sides of the tank, and keeps them from ending up in the wine. Again, tartar crystals are quite innocuous, but some people get worried about them and think something's wrong with the wine. Sakonnet finds it easier to remove them and prevent the situation in the first place!

Some wines age in a larger tank set up in the next room - 3500 gallons. The wine is sent through filters on its way from tank to tank. An intriguing blender, for mixing in yeast and sugar, is constructed out of a stainless steel boat propeller. Other wines age in oak - some French, some American, and the aging time is different for every wine. Each barrel, containing around 1100 gallons, has a notecard attached to it. These hold information on the pH, sugars, SO2 and other statistics for each time the wine inside has been sampled.

In addition, they are releasing their first Methode Champenoise in Sept 1999. This is from a 1995 vintage of grapes.

For bottling, they have a clean room which completely protects the wine from air. The bottle goes in one side, is filled with nitrogen, then wine, corked, and comes out the other side completely sealed.

Wine Tasting

After the tour, Donna and I found ourselves in the tasting room, surrounded by the various bottles of wine Sakonnet produces. With a limit of five tastes each, we chose ten of the fifteen wines to sample, and were served these, from light to dark.

First came the 1997 Gewurztraminer, grown on the estate and tank aged. This has a light body, and a spicy, floral (but dry) flavor to it. It has a long, tasty finish. Next, the 1996 Vidal Blanc - also fruity, and a little less dry, this tasted of apricot and lemon. This contrasted with the 1997 Fume Vidal which was thicker and smokey. Its rich flavor was more toasty, not nearly as bright.

Our last white was the 1997 Estate Chardonnay, which was my favorite of the whites. Usually I don't like Chardonnays, either! This one was buttery and smooth, with hints of lemon and apple.

Now, on to the reds. First, the America's Cup Red - this is a blend of five grapes. It was very bright and tannic, with hints of spice and smoke. The Pinot Noir has a delicious, full smell and lighter in color - almost orangish. It was very sharp, spicy and tannic. The 1995 Cabernet Franc was very good, bittersweet, with a smoky, tobaccoey flavor.

The 1996 Mariner Cabernet Sauvignon uses grapes imported from France, and is very bright. It has a complex flavor of fruit, tobacco, black raspberry, with a medium finish. The Mariner Merlot is 85% French Merlot and 15% Chancellor. This is a peppery, blackberry wine, very full bodied.

Finally, we tried the intriguing Rhode Island Red, made solely with Chancellor. We had a lot of trouble describing this wine - it has a very distinctive, intriguing, perhaps gamey flavor to it. We couldn't think of any standard tastes to assign to it, but it would go well with a flavorful, gamey meat. It had a long finish.

Once done with the tasting, we spent a while discussing the recent, strange Blackberry Merlot TV ads (definitely not a Sakonnet wine!) with the friendly serving person. Then we each selected a few bottles and went to the checkout counter. Joe, our tour guide, was now serving as cashier and regaled us with stories of his favorite thick red wines. A few more minutes, and we were strolling in the bright sunshine, admiring the trumpet-shaped white flowers, and the sculptures on their lawn.

All in all, we found all of the people at Sakonnet to be delightfully friendly, their grounds beautiful, well-flowered and lovely for picnics. The wines are all quite tasty, and the tour was well suited for young and old alike. If you're in the Rhode Island area, definitely add this to your list of things to see!

Visit Date: 06/21/99

Sakonnet Winery Reviews and Photos

Winery Reviews Main Listing > Rhode Island Winery Reviews

All content on the WineIntro website is personally written by author and wine enthusiast Lisa Shea. WineIntro explores the delicious variety and beautiful history which makes up our world of wine! Lisa loves supporting local wineries and encouraging people to drink whatever they like. We all have different taste buds, and that makes our world wonderful. Always drink responsibly.