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Heritage Trail Vineyards
291 N Burnham Hwy
Jewett City, CT 06351
(860) 376-0659
Jewett City, CT 06351
(860) 376-0659
- Price Range:
-
$$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Good for Kids:
- No
3 reviews for Heritage Trail Vineyards
I found this place on my Ct wine trail brochure. So I went there to taste what I had hoped to be great wine on a scenic property. I was not aware that they were also a resturaunt- we did not eat a meal there, we were there for the sole purpose of tasting wine.
The outside has some cute areas, but not a lot of outside seating and the buildings are all together, the barn you see on the brochure is not where you are eating or tasting, and it is probably the prettiest part of the property.
While you are waiting there are none of their bottles of wine prominently displayed to get you excited about tasting. Then when they seat you they seat you in the dining area, they have no designated tasting area. The menus are literally printed from someone's pc- for the vibe they are trying to go for(and the prices they are charging!) you think that they would be more elegant...parchment and fabric covers anyone? Now for the decor.....yowza! Let's find one theme and stick with it. It is not "ecletic"- just a mess. It looks like victorian, farm/rustic- tuscan with some diner kitsch thrown in.....please hire a decorator. The ceilings aren't even finished, the light fixtures don't match and have exposed wiring. Ok, so now you are aware of how ugly this place is-let's move on to the wine.
We did the pairings which is inclusive of all of the wines that they have available and a cheese plate. The cost for this is $25 for 2. RIP OFF!
They literally serve you a platter which features a scoop the size of a tablespoon of 4 different goat cheeses (herbal, wasabi,sundried tomatoes and one I can't recall) along with 4 tortilla chips and a slightly larger scoop of hummus and a piece of cow cheese and then of course a pour of one of each of their wines. We of course had to ask for a refill on crackers since they only provided 6 of them.
The pours were the stingiest that I have EVER experienced! Normally I would have said something but the wines (were the minimum price for a bottle was $25)weren't really good enough to even bother and the waitress (YES WAITRESS) was so slow and uninterested I didn't expect it would do any good. Now for the quality of the wine.....as I stated earlier the lowest (and average) bottle price was $25, well the wine quality isn't good enough to charge that. Some of them, I believe it was their fancy dancy RESERVE that commanded a $42 price tag smelled like gym socks! Of the wines, the chardonnay was the best, which for me is weird as I typically don't like chard! Did I buy a bottle? Hell NO! I can get a beautiful bottle of something else for the $32 that they were charging that I would like even more!
For the service, again we had a WAITRESS as our pourer. So she is waiting tables and trying to run back and then pour another wine! This doesn't work people. As wine drinkers know, when you go for a tasting we want to see the label, we want to know something about the wine, we like suggestions on what you would pair it with. We were never even asked if we liked any of the wines.
As we go to leave, I ask about purchasing the cheese that we had. For $17.95 you can purchase a container of the goat cheeses. The cow cheese is $21.95 a pound. I was never even asked if I wanted to purchase any of the wines that we had sampled. I wasn't even asked if we enjoyed everything. They basically didn't care.
Skip this stop on the Connecticut wine trail. There are so many places that understand how to run a vineyard and how to host a tasting.
The food is outstanding! I love the combination of tastes and presentation. The wine was so good, I took home 3 bottles. I have been their twice already. I like the country feel of the dining room.
This is a cute place with a small variety of tasty white & red wines. I tasting is about $5 and doesn't include wine glasses. One of my favorite wines was the Sweet Reserve White table wine which uses Vignoles Blanc grapes. The property is beautiful and there's a pond a benches around it, definitely a nice place to sit and relax. I'm not sure about tours of the barrels etc, you would probably have to make an appointment ahead of time. Overall, it was a nice stop on the CT wine trail, not the most exciting, but worth the visit.