Hopkins Vineyard

Forgot to get my check in (because there are almost zero bars of service on my cell… probably a good thing ;-7) but had a nice little picnic w/​the gf on a super Saturday afternoon. After a tasting inside we grabbed a table out back on the lawn by the little pond an indulged some snacks, a bottle of the 2014 Estate and a bottle of the Peach wine. Both great. From the tasting the Lady Rose, Duet and Cabernet Franc stood out (but the latter I think I’ll wait until fall and a flickering firepit to drink beside).
As all other reviews note, the location is inspired, parking is ample, a right-​hander out of the driveway when you leave gets you on track for a picturesque drive around the lake (take it easy, go slow, enjoy the view and watch a couple blind right hand turns). Warren, New Preston/​Washington, Kent, etc are all just a treasure tucked away in Western CT. Hopkins is a great reason to head out this way and try a different back road each time.

Really nice quant winery with some good white wines and a decent view.
Parked across the street, went inside for a tasting and then upstairs for a bottle and some relaxation.
The white wine was some of the most delicious we have had recently and we ended up buying a bottle.
They had a dj which was awkward and he was only downstairs. They need music upstairs and a dj is not a good idea for a winery. Either had someone with a guitar play live or put on xm radio.
We hear it’s crowded when the weathers nicer out. I’ll be back.

This winery is nice. A little more commercial than some. Nice selection of white and red wines. The lady who helped us was so nice and describes the wine in a simple way.

We rode up on our bikes to the vineyard. The place is beautiful and the staff is very attentive. We showed up on a Sunday and they had a jazz band playing. We got a bottle of Sachems Picnic and the nibbler platter. It was great. I love the view out the top window. When you leave take a right and go around the lake. It is beautiful

Of all the vineyards in Connecticut this is one of my favorites. Great atmosphere with award winning wines, and the service is great, the wine bar offers views of Lake Waramaug.
Lower level offers a complete country style store with all sorts of items.
I would highly recommend this winery.

The location obviously can’t be beat. That view of the lake on a beautiful day is just amazing. The wine was ok, the staff was nice, loved the shop and bought several things, we enjoyed a little picnic outside with our bottle of wine. Overall a nice time!

I’d give this place zero stars if I could. I came in on a Saturday for a tour of their property. I got there a bit early and had a 10 AM appointment. Patty was extremely rude to me and more concerned with her chores than helping a customer. Overall the place looked nice but the service and customer experience definitely leaves something to be desired

My wife and I love to visit this hidden gem. The drive to this vineyard is gorgeous. The vineyard is located on a hill overlooking a beautiful lake. The views are breathtaking especially In The fall. The wines are very good… I especially like the Cabernet Franc. After wine tasting we love to upstairs have a glass of wine or tea and share cheese, crackers and fruit overlooking the beautiful scenery. Check it out for yourself.

A group of 16 of us came to Hopkins for the 5^th annual Connecticut wine and cheese festival and we had a blast. First off before I talk about the festival let me review the vineyard itself.
It’s a large vineyard/​farm and the places is very spacious I would assume they do weddings here due to the décor in the area. They have their distillery here and a gift shop and a small bar where you can taste their feature wines. Fortunately along with 4 more other winery’s Hopkins featured their wine in the showcase. For the most part I enjoyed their selection but I’m more into the slightly sweeter wines and they didn’t show case those.
Now for the festival. Amazing! So many people attended and they had so many farm showcase their chocolates, breads, meats, wines, cheeses, cookies, and soaps. I enjoyed going around trying the pairings. Overall there were probably more then 15 vendors there. I came home with some meats, cheeses and wines and a couple of us just sat in the garden area and drank and ate. We had a picnic. It’s definitely an event I would go back too. Be prepared to drink more then 20 samples of wines and get a little tipsy. Loved this place!

Stopped in here on Sunday after going to another vineyard with undrinkable wine.
This place was so nice! The staff was so friendly and extremely helpful. The wines were very good and we went back to Brooklyn with several bottles.
Highly recommend stopping at this Vineyard if you are doing a trip in Connecticut.

Somehow I managed to miss that large blue blob on the map when looking up directions to Hopkins. There’s a lake! What a beautiful ride and location! Hopkins tasting room is a spacious, open repurposed barn with 3 bars, goods ranging from loathsome wine tzozchkies to local soaps and artisan snacks, and an upstairs seating area where you can order cheese plates.
We did a tasting, and I was not excited to see the One Ounce Stopper of Doom on the bottles. Our host was friendly but brief, and the wines were generally just ok. I did like the Riesling, and have always been a fan of Sachem’s picnic, having bought it many times in the liquor store. Although we did a quick tasting and left, I could certainly see myself returning some day to share a bottle and enjoy the view.

I liked the tasting room. The wines are good. They have a great selection of gifts. They also have an upstairs to where you order glasses of wine or a cheese platter. There is a nice view of the lake up there. Nice place.

This was our first stop on our 2014 wine trail tour. We did the NW trail, which is the closest to our house for right now. I really enjoyed this one. It’s a great ride up there, and it has awesome scenery. I gave it 4 stars only because I really liked our bartender. He was AWESOME and super funny, however the wines did not do it for me at all. I was not a fan of any of them to be honest. My boyfriend enjoyed one of the red wines a lot and ended up buying it. I also asked them about cheeses. and the guy told me to go upstairs. When we went up there though, there was no sign of cheese anywhere. Maybe we missed it, but I was a little disappointed. I will return next year in hopes that maybe my taste will change and I’ll find something I enjoy. The parking is a little annoying, but its right next to a restaurant I believe. Cute little place, just nothing there for me :(

The wine is pretty good. The facility is very enjoyable. The room upstairs is beautiful. The little pond and gardens are peaceful and relaxing. I’m not sure why I got such a negative vibe from the people who worked here. It was kind of like they were right on the verge of being rude but caught themselves before they crossed that line. Without exception every other winery I’ve ever visited was warm and friendly and fun. Hopkins reminded me of school when the teacher was in a bad mood.
I didn’t deduct stars for that since it was a first visit and anything could have occurred to set an unwelcoming mood before I arrived.
I might go back someday but if I don’t I won’t have any regrets about going once. I bought a couple bottles of their wine. All in all I would say to go and have a nice time. I probably went on a bad day and most of the other reviews seem to be favorable.

Good wine from many home grown grapes. Friendly service, nice scenery of the lake, and a nice take home glass. Definitely come on a sunny day, with snacks, so you can relax and enjoy they scenery.

They expanded maybe about a year ago. The tasting room is much larger now. It’s in a nice area with beautiful views. There were some good wines. I have always loved Sachem’s Picnic. There is a room upstairs to enjoy a glass of wine and order a cheese platter.

1^st stop on the NW leg of the wine trail. It was spacious with a fairly large gift shop and a café upstairs. It’s been a month and unfortunately I don’t remember the wines at all. I know I didnt hate them and I know I would go back again. Not my best review but it’s all I got.

They are celebrating their 230^th anniversary so we stopped by yesterday. We had a lot of fun in the 90 degree heat. They had a rope making demo, a black smith, and an old fashioned kitchen setup where thery were roasting pit over a pit, baking bread in dutch ovens and popping corn over the fire. There were samples of wine and stories about the history of the farm. A very interesting afternoon. The winery barn is very nice to browse and upstairs there is a small area with tables and chairs to have wine and cheese. Very enjoyable and the ride around the lake afterwards was nice. Worth a stop when you are up in Litchfield County.

We were the only patrons just after opening on a cold November Sunday. A tasting of 7 or 8 wines will run you a mere $ 7.50, but it was free for us because we were staying at the Sachem farmhouse. We sampled a nice mix of reds and whites, and liked 4 of the wines enough to take home a bottle. I enjoyed browsing the selection of cute country souvenirs and exploring the grounds behind the tasting room as well.

Hopkins is the oldest CT vineyard, and it does a brisk business in tourism. That said, it’s not my favorite stop on the wine trail. Seeing the property is, however, worth the drive; Kent and Warren are very beautiful, and the vineyard itself has a lovely view of Lake Waramaug.
The gift shop is large and chock-​full of every kind of wine-​inspired tchotchke/​artisan food product/​cute accessory for the consumption of said artisan product… so much so that it’s easy to forget that you are in a vineyard. It’s sort of annoying, but I guess if their bread and butter is in the hawking of Syrah-​flavored lip gloss (seriously), who am I to judge? (And by ‘judge’, I mean judge *out loud*…)
We had 6 tastings for $ 6, in addition to the ice wine which was extra. The Chardonnay is pleasant, and very definitely the best of the selection. The Cab Franc is the most successful CT red I have had yet (which perhaps isn’t saying much, but I did enjoy it). The ice wine is fine, but I must admit I don’t get the fascination; as any ice-​wine, it is fairly pricey ($ 40/​bottle) but has none of the complexity of a comparably priced Sauterne. But if you like ice wines, try it.
The tasting room itself is small for the volume of tastings they do; the bar also faces a utility area that made me think I was looking at my grandparents’ kitchen circa 1982. I hope the flies were just an issue on the day of my visit and not a recurring problem. The people who conduct the tastings have no clue what they are doing; I was listening to the (food?) pairings one of the young women was recommending to the party next to us, and I swear it went something like, «a good wine to drink by the pool». Huh?
Once the tasting is over, you can take your wine purchases upstairs to the loft, where the 80s madness continues (this time in the form of a ‘country-duck’-inspired decorating theme). Unlike other wineries in on the CT Trail, Hopkins does not encourage you to bring in food from outside. Warning: no matter how hungry you are, *do not* let yourself be tempted by the cheese platters they sell. The featured cheeses are brie (the «MEH» of mehs) and some yellow cubed cheese that I would have thought was fab in 1982 (I was 5). For $ 20.
All in all, touristy without delivering anything of real value, disappointing in terms of service and a little creepy in atmosphere.