Featured Vendor of the Week; Mt. Warner Vineyards

"It's 5 o'clock somewhere" being the mantra of good wine and celebration!  Quality "hand crafted wines from hand tended vines” is what Mount Warner Vineyards Farmer Winery is all about. Located in the farm heritage community of Hadley, Bobbie and Gary Kamen’s artisan winery produces award winning wines from grapes they grow and harvest in their own one acre vineyard. The vineyard and winery was the Kamen’s “What’s Next” adventure as they embarked on the next phase of their lives. Gary retired from UMASS as a Professor of Kinesiology and Bobbie retired from AARP as a Senior Strategic Advisor.
 
Their winemaking passion began in their basement about 17 years ago and their grape growing passion began shortly after when they planted about 25 vines from cuttings of wine grapes from their dear friends Brenda and Peter at Jewell Towne Vineyards in Southampton, New Hampshire.  While the short growing season defines the varieties that can be grown here, these cold-climate varieties - developed at Cornell University for the New York Finger Lakes area and in Minnesota - are well suited to the Hampshire County mesoclimate.  They have continued to experiment with trellising systems and expanded the vineyard to over 725 vines including a number of varietals such as Cayuga White, Chardonel, Seyval Blanc, Traminette, Marquette, Marechal Foch, Leon Millot, Corot Noir and Petite Pearl. In addition to the grape wines, they supplement their own harvest of raspberries with ripe berries from local farms to make a “to die for” raspberry port-style dessert wine – Raspberry Rhapsody and a Positively Peach dessert wine made from locally sourced ripe juicy peaches in the style of a classic dessert wine.
 
As a “nano winery” their small scale production ensures that the vines will be hand tended and the wines will be hand crafted. Their wines can be sampled at several summer Farmers’s markets in Amherst, Springfield and Westfield.  For more information contact Bobbie Kamen at 413-588-1329.
 
Gary Kamen and Bobbie Kamen, Winemakers and Owners
Mount Warner Vineyards LLC

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