Lost Acres

Last weekend I attended a Harvest Dinner at Lost Acres Vineyard, which is just down the road from us. In fact I could walk there quite easily--it would only take about 15 minutes, which is convenient since trying out the selections doesn't necessarily make one the ideal driver.

I was thrilled when I first discovered the Vineyard. Here I was, returning to Connecticut after many years living in the big city, and although I was truly thrilled to be living in the woods, it was a shock to my sophisticated city self. After all, living in Park Slope, Brooklyn, one has only to walk a couple of blocks in any direction to be near gourmet food shops, eclectic boutiques and restaurants of every ethnic variety.

I decided to drive down the road a piece and there it was--a beautiful red barn with rows of vines growing on the slope just behind it. Inside the red barn is the tasting room, on the second level. The first level is where the grapes are crushed and stored while they turn into wine.

Inside the tasting room I met Michelle, who owns Lost Acres Vineyard along with her husband, Kevin. I introduced myself and learned that she had also transplanted herself from Brooklyn (the Heights) to Granby rather recently. What's more, she had done it for the sake of her then teenage son, so that he could live closer to his father. I moved here for the sake of my teenage daughter, so that she could train as a figure skater.

I loved our parallels and her story of reinvention, which got even better when she got to the part about meeting her husband. He was her neighbor (in another section of Granby). They met, fell in love and started a vineyard together. Now that's romance!

The place they have created together is idyllic. And I swear I am not just saying that because I adore good wine, not to mention easy access to said wine.

Their atmospheric tasting barn has become a real community setting. It is the about the only place in Granby to sit and drink good wine, and the setting for it could not be more ideal. There is the indoor part, with wood planked walls and a fireplace, and there is also the deck, which looks out over the vines and the fields where they keep their horses (also their pigs, which isn't so idyllic--but you can't see or smell them from the deck). You can also sit on the lawn in chairs or spread a blanket on the grass. They have art shows, comedy nights, bands and yoga classes.

Doing yoga amidst the vines is so idyllic I can hardly stand it! As I move into downward dog, smelling the gorgeous autumn smells and hearing the sounds of a galloping horse thundering by I want to jump up and down screaming, "Hey, look at me! I could be in the hills of Tuscany right now! That's how great this is!"

After all that excitement, one can only head over to the barn for a glass of the Wedge White to get calmed down, which I know is what the yoga is supposed to do, but I can't help it. It's that wonderful.

Check out Lost Acres Vineyard's website and read all about this wonderful place.