Tricia Smith of Carlisle Farmstead Cheese with her goats, from whose milk she produces her award-winning cheese. Her farm is one of many on the new Massachusetts Wine & Cheese Trails.
(Photos By Erik Jacobs for The Boston Globe)
On the trail of Mass. wines and cheeses
Tricia Smith of Carlisle Farmstead Cheese with her goats, from whose milk she produces her award-winning cheese. Her farm is one of many on the new Massachusetts Wine & Cheese Trails.
(Photos By Erik Jacobs for The Boston Globe)
BOLTON - The wine makers and cheese producers that dot the agricultural landscape of Massachusetts are now connected, as part of the new Massachusetts Wine & Cheese Trails. There are six, a trail for each geographic region of the Bay State.
Recently, many producers met at Nashoba Valley Winery to celebrate the new trails and the “Savor Massachusetts’’ campaign launched by the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources and Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism. The two organizations want to draw attention to the state’s agricultural destinations. “The trails are an extension of agritourism that we’ve been promoting statewide,’’ says Scott Soares, DAR commissioner. They want consumers to be able to buy local - directly from the source.
The state is home to 18 cheese makers (11 appear on the trails) and 34 licensed wineries (21 on the trails). Some are relatively new, others generations old. Cheese producers use both goat’s and cow’s milk to produce fresh and aged goat cheese, cheddar, Gouda, camembert, and mozzarella. Wine is made from grapes, peaches, blueberries, cranberries, and apples. Kipton Kumler, owner and wine maker of Turtle Creek Winery in Lincoln and chairman of the Massachusetts Farm Wineries & Growers Association, says, “wineries are the fastest growing agricultural sector in Massachusetts.’’
Soares says, “The diversification of agriculture is important to the state economy.’’ Many of the producers on the trails are relatively new to the business. Carlisle Farmstead Cheese owner Tricia Smith founded her company in 2005 after spending five years learning the art of cheese making. An anthropologist and former civil engineer, Smith now manages a herd of 16 goats, delivers the kids, and makes ripened goat cheeses.
At Westport’s Shy Brothers Farm, a third-generation dairy farm, the owners started making cheese a few years ago as a value-added product to the dairy business. Karl Santos, one of four brothers who own the farm, visited France with business partner Barbara Hanley to learn how to make thimble-size cow’s milk cheeses named Hannahbells.
Dave Smith, owner of Smith’s Country Cheese in Winchendon, started making cheese for the same reason, but did so 23 years ago. His farm produces Gouda, cheddar, havarti, and cheese spreads.
And then there’s Alfalfa Farm Winery, which made the unusual leap from dairy farm to vineyard. Dick Adelman, who has owned the Topsfield farm for more than 30 years, started planting grapes in 1995, and his brother Dave, a chemical engineer, began making wine as a hobby. Today they produce merlot, marechal foch, and seyval blanc as well as blueberry and cranberry wines, and welcome volunteers in the fall for grape picking.
On the southeastern coast, Manuel Morais has grown grapes in North Dartmouth and Westport for over three decades and cofounded Running Brook Vineyard & Winery about 10 years ago. Born and raised in The Azores, Morais grew up tending vineyards; among his grapes are chardonnay, vidal blanc, and cabernet franc.
Much newer to wine making is David Neilson, a former engineer, who planted grapes four years ago on what was a cornfield. At his small Coastal Vineyards in South Dartmouth, the first wines, including seyval, were ready last summer.
The state boasts several dozen spots to visit. Pick your trails, hop in the car, and take your scenic drive to an artisan producer.
For more information on “Savor Massachusetts’’ and the Massachusetts Wine & Cheese Trails, go to www.mass.gov/massgrown.
Alfalfa Farm Winery, Topsfield, www.alfalfafarmwinery.com
Carlisle Farmstead Cheese, Carlisle, www.carlislefarmsteadcheese.com
Coastal Vineyards, South Dartmouth, www.coastal-vineyards.com
Nashoba Valley Winery, Bolton, www.nashobawinery.com.
Running Brook Vineyard & Winery, North Dartmouth, www.runningbrookwine.com
Shy Brothers Farm, Westport, www.shybrothersfarm.com
Smith’s Country Cheese, Winchendon, www.smithscountrycheese.com
Turtle Creek Winery, Lincoln, www.turtlecreekwine.com
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