Beyond the rock, some wine finds
Plymouth Colony Winery
56 Pinewood Road, Plymouth
508-747-3334, plymouthcolonywines.com
Plymouth Winery
170 Water St., in the Village Landing Marketplace
508-746-3532, plymouthwinery.com
Plymouth Bay Winery
114 Water St., Plymouth
508-746-2100, plymouthbaywinery.com
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.
Next came Plymouth Bay Winery. It's a bigger storefront facility, and you can clearly see the massive tanks representing the different fruit wines they produce.
The gentleman who served us explained each wine very carefully. By the time we had tried our fourth cranberry wine of the day, we found one we liked - Plymouth Bay's Cranberry Bay, a 100 percent cranberry wine that was just tart enough and very sweet. It is a good dessert choice.
Throughout the day we tried several wines in which cranberries, the local staple, were part of the blend, mixed in with other flavors or reduced in its concentration. Our conclusion: If you're going to make wine out of cranberries, go all out, 100 percent.
Plymouth Bay also offered two traditional-sounding whites. Their yellowish Drydock White wasn't our favorite. It wasn't dry enough and just seemed off. But the sweet Widow's Walk was flavorful and worthy of further examination at home.
Tally from stop number two: a bottle of Cranberry Bay, two Widow's Walks, and a wine glass. Cost: $25.
We had to pull out the map to find the third winery, Plymouth Colony. It's a few miles off the main drag on Pinewood Road.
There was only one other couple at the winery, so we figured we were in luck, and could take our time and learn about the different kinds of wine. We had to ask the clerk to taste the wines, whereas at the other wineries they were already pouring for us when we walked in.
We weren't pleased that the purveyor asked to check our identification.
I know you can't be too careful these days, but it seemed improbable that two underage people would drive out into the middle of nowhere for a thimbleful of Concord grape wine.
More to the point: The wine did not prove memorable. There were lots of varieties, including the only peach and merlot of the day, but most were not memorable - although I did rather like the Red Gold, a blend of honey mead and cranberry wine. It was distinctively sweet and smooth.
We bought a bottle of the Red Gold, and we got a wine glass to complete the collection. The tally: $15 spent, five minutes gone, and so were we - right back into town for some ice cream to call it a day.
Plymouth wine is generally inexpensive, usually under $10 a bottle, so don't worry about breaking the bank. We spent the whole day in town, ate lunch, took home eight bottles of wine, three wine glasses, and had ice cream, and only spent $200. Subtract the bottles and we're looking at a day trip on the water for under $50.
It is wise to get to town early. Finding a parking space is a challenge. We were in town by noon and still had to sift our way through three parking lots for a half-hour.
Our lingering complaints: First, the wineries should give people something else to do besides shop. I asked around but none of the wineries offered "how it's made" tours of their facilities.
There's not even an attempt at a wine museum. Second, all three wineries are stingy with the samples. You get less than an ounce of each wine poured into a cough medicine cup. Not exactly the kind of presentation that most retailers strive for.
I'd suggest some crystal wine glasses filled up a bit. What better way to get customers to spend more?
JOHN GUILFOIL 