Sarah McCraw Crow explores women’s movement of the ’70s in debut novel
Canterbury author Sarah McCraw Crow weaves a story of loss, change and identity amid the second-wave women’s movement in her debut novel The Wrong Kind of Woman.
In 1970 New England, Oliver Desmarais, a professor at the elite all-male Clarendon College, dies suddenly. The Wrong Kind of Woman follows three characters through the year following Oliver’s death — his widow Virginia, his 13-year-old daughter Rebecca and his student Sam Waxman — and is told through their alternating perspectives.
Virginia had previously shared her husband’s disapproval of the four unmarried women on the faculty at the college, known as The Gang of Four, but now finds herself in their circle, joining the women’s movement and making waves at the otherwise apathetic campus.
Rebecca’s world has been turned upside down as she adjusts to life without her father and the shifting identity of her mother, whom she is growing to resent.
Mourning the loss of his favorite professor and hungry for human connection, junior Sam Waxman falls in love with a passionate activist who is willing to do whatever it takes to bring about change.
The Wrong Kind of Woman was born out of the author’s interest in women’s history, particularly in the realm of academia. McCraw Crow has had a “longtime fascination,” she said, with the women of her mother’s generation — women who are in their 80s and 90s today.
“I’ve always wondered how they managed, when they were young, with the choices that were available to them back in those days … and the various constraints and cultural pressures that were strong against them doing jobs that were more traditionally masculine or ambitious,” McCraw Crow said.
The fictional Clarendon College, she revealed, is loosely based on her alma mater, Dartmouth College in Hanover, which she started attending in 1983, a little more than a decade after the Ivy League university started admitting female students in its undergraduate programs.
“When I was there, there were still all sorts of reminders and remnants from the days when it was all male,” McCraw Crow said. “I thought a lot about what it must have been like for the first women faculty working there and the first women exchange students.”
To capture the book’s period setting, McCraw Crow explored archived newspapers from the early 1970s, read memoirs by women’s movement activists and personally interviewed a number of women who were among the first women to attend Dartmouth College when it became coed.
“Dartmouth wasn’t uniformly anti-women, but there was a core group of people who really didn’t want women there and were pretty awful to the first women students,” she said. “It was very helpful for me to talk to these women about how difficult that was and how they got through it — the good things from that time and the things that were the most hurtful.”
While The Wrong Kind of Woman provides an inspiring look at the social change effected since the 1970s, McCraw Crow said, it is also a sobering reminder that the war is not yet won.
“This is a story that still resonates today,” she said, “because as far as gender parity and gender equity, we still have quite a long way to go.”
The Wrong Kind of Woman by Sarah McCraw Crow The novel is available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Walmart and local independent bookstores. Visit sarahmccrawcrow.com.
Take a mini day trip and discover new flavors at New Hampshire wineries
Whether you know (or think you know) everything there is to know about wine, or your wine experience is limited to the glass of Champagne you had at your cousin’s wedding, tastings are a great way to experience local wines, learn about how they’re made and the best foods to pair them with, and explore the vineyards that are occupying more and more New Hampshire real estate.
“People come for a tasting for something [fun] to do,” said Al Fulchino, owner and winemaker at Fulchino Vineyard in Hollis. “When they find out they like the wine, they think, how [is that made] in New Hampshire?”
Local winemakers and vineyard staff answer our questions about their wineries, their tasting experiences and the wines they think you should try.
Appolo Vineyards
49 Lawrence Road, Derry 421-4675, appolovineyards.com
Photo courtesy of Appolo Vineyards.
Mike Appolo, owner and winegrower, talks about his vineyard, the outdoor tasting room known as #thecrushpad, and Firefly 2020.
From fruit to wine: We make only grape wines. We are focused on food-friendly wines, so you will not find anything overly sweet here — well, except for our port-style wine, and that has some special pairing recommendations. We have a small vineyard [with 1,500 vines] in Derry with nearly a dozen named varieties of grapes. We also source grapes from all over New Hampshire, New York and other places. We make a variety of wines from dry to sweet, red, white and rosé. We have still and sparkling wines, including a brand new naturally fermented pet-nat [called Wild Eyes] and a red pinot noir bubbly [called Barchetta]. Many of our fermentations are done using native yeasts that bring out the best of the varietal character of the grapes we choose. We were one of the first in New England to grow the grape Brianna, which is now grown extensively in Vermont and in vineyards across the region. We offer still and sparkling versions of this wine. We are constantly experimenting with new grape varieties and trying new styles of wine.
What makes us unique: We have an outside tasting room, #thecrushpad, a patio in the middle of our sustainably grown vineyard. We have fire pits groups can reserve in spring and summer. Dogs are welcome on our patio as well. As one of the closest vineyards to Boston and Interstate 93, we see many visitors getting away for the weekend.
The tasting experience: Our staff will guide you through a tasting of anything from our menu of [often 15] wines, including both sparkling and still wines. The staff is well-versed in how each wine is made. When the winemaking staff is available, we will meet with customers to talk about the process.
Popular pours: Firefly 2020 is our newest sparkling Brianna white wine and is quickly gaining ground as our most popular at the winery. The sparkling Bee Wild 2019 white blend is right up there with it. Blue Eyes [sauvignon blanc] is our best selling wine in the New Hampshire Liquor and Wine Outlets. Red One [a sweet sangria-like New Hampshire red blend] is our most popular wine in Market Basket stores throughout the state.
Personal favorite: Firefly is my new favorite. I love the way the Brianna vines and grapes grow here — expressing the minerality of the granite-filled soils. We don’t spray this grape or use pesticides anywhere near it. I have had Brianna wine grown in at least five states and at various places across this state. The grapes here are very different, and my preference.
Appolo opened on March 13 for the new season. Current hours are Fridays from 2 to 8 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., by reservation only (visit the website to book online or call for same-day reservations). The winery is also in the approval process for a new outdoor covered tasting space and an indoor tasting room that Appolo says he hopes to start building in late spring, with expanded hours upon its completion.
Copper Beech Winery
146 Londonderry Turnpike, Building 3, Unit 23, Hooksett 400-2595, copperbeechwinery.com
Photo courtesy of Copper Beech Winery.
Lin L’Heureux owns and runs Copper Beech Winery on her own, which means she’s also the chief fruit selector, winemaker, lab chemist, taste tester, director of bottling, web designer, social media manager, photographer, advertising manager, hostess, server, groundskeeper, gardener and more.
From fruit to wine: Copper Beech Winery is a small batch woman-owned boutique winery. … We make … wines from fresh fruit and grapes that are grown as locally as possible and choose organic fruits whenever we can. Each small batch is hand crafted with patience and attention to detail. … We opened our tasting room in March 2014.
What makes us unique: While many fruit wines are sweet, ours are on the dry side, with just enough residual sweetness to showcase the fruit character without overwhelming it. Yes, dry fruit wines, a pleasant surprise for many of our customers. In 2021 we’ll be adding some well-aged grape wines as well. Our wines are fermented in the traditional style and most are aged at least a year before bottling.
The tasting experience: Normally we have about 14 types of wines available, which vary throughout the year. When a local farmer has a smaller supply of fruit available due to a bad winter, lack of rain, etc., we may run out of that wine earlier in the year. … We appreciate the local fruit when it’s available to us, and because I grew up on a farm, I really like the opportunity to help support local farmers. Our tasting room is small and cozy. … I love talking to people about how the wine is made, where the fruit comes from and what’s new in the tanks. This year, we’re working on approvals for an outside tasting and seating area and hope to open it later in the spring.
Popular pours: These tend to sell out early every year: Autumn Harvest [a blend of New Hampshire apples with tart red cranberries]; Brilliant Cranberry; Country Crabapple [a limited-edition wine crafted from New Hampshire crabapples]; Massabesic Rose [made with locally grown strawberries and fresh rhubarb]; and Wild Blue [a dry oak-aged red wine made with low-bush blueberries from New Hampshire and Maine].
Personal favorite: I honestly don’t have a favorite, but in the cooler seasons I tend to gravitate toward the reds, like Wild Blue or Regatta Red. In warmer seasons, I like a chilled white wine, like Fresh Peach or Country Crabapple.
Copper Beech Winery is opening later this spring; visit its website for details and hours for wine tastings and tours.
Crazy Cat Winery
365 Lake St., Bristol 217-0192, crazycatwinery.com
What can you expect from a wine tasting experience with Crazy Cat owner Claudette Smith and winemaker Tim Smith? Five pours, a souvenir tasting glass and stories about winemaking and “the Haunted House of Bristol.”
From fruit to wine: Our wines are made from wine grape juices shipped in from California, Washington and Oregon, as well as from Chile, Argentina, South Africa, Italy, Australia, etc. and fresh fruit from New Hampshire. All of our wines are produced here on site. We have planted a small vineyard on site that we hope will produce wine-quality fruit in a few years.
What makes us unique: One of the factors that makes us unique is our rather large selection of wines and varied styles. We produce reds, whites, semi-sweet summer wines, fruit wines and several dessert wines. Our proximity to Newfound Lake makes us an especially convenient and fun location for visitors to the Lakes Region. This building was built in 1880 and the tasting room is in the original carriage house.
The tasting experience: Our tasting experience consists of five pours from our collection and includes a logo souvenir tasting glass. Tastings are done in our Tuscan-themed tasting room. During the summer months, we also offer outdoor seating and service. One of our favorite things to do is to meet and talk to our customers, talk about the wines and winemaking. We also love to tell our story and tell tales about the building. It has been described by many locals as “the Haunted House of Bristol.” On many occasions, we love to sit with customers talking about our unique and weird experiences since moving into this building. Lots of unexplained happenings!
Popular pours: Popular pours would be our Reserve Merlot, juice sourced from Washington State; Whisker White, our special blend of three whites; Beach Peach semi-sweet summer wine and the Chocolate Espresso dessert wine.
Personal favorite: Tim’s new personal favorite is our Grenache Rose — light, clean with a distinct flavor of fresh strawberry. Claudette’s favorite is the cabernet sauvignon.
During the cooler off season months, Crazy Cat is open Friday through Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. In warmer months it is open Thursday to Saturday from noon to 7 p.m. and Sundays from noon to 4 p.m. Visit the website for current hours.
Flag Hill Distillery and Winery
297 N. River Road, Lee flaghill.com
Cassey Nickerson, brand ambassador for Flag Hill, talks about what the largest vineyard in the state has to offer.
From fruit to wine: Flag Hill sits on a 110-acre conservation easement, which preserves the property to remain in agriculture forever. The vineyard itself comprises two areas on the property totaling 14 acres, making Flag Hill the largest vineyard in the state of New Hampshire. We focus primarily on cold-tolerant white grapes, though we grow a total of six hybrid grapes, which consist of both whites and reds. The types of grapes are Minnesota hybrids and French-American hybrids, and varieties are Cayuga, vignoles, la crescent, Niagara, de Chaunac and Marechal Foch. While we do grow all of our grapes for our grape wines, and the corn and rye for whiskey, we do not grow our own fruits for our fruit wines, though we source these from within New Hampshire and the surrounding New England states as best we can.
What makes us unique: We are a true farm winery and farm distillery. Growing the grapes and grains here at Flag Hill means that we have control over everything, from the compost that goes into our soil, to the temperature at the time of harvest.
The tasting experience: We offer a guided public tour every weekend at noon with one of our staff. If you … miss the scheduled tour, we encourage you to explore the grounds via our self-guided walking tour, which has 18 stations to visit. Our tastings are $5 for five tastes, where you get to choose which wines, spirits or combination of those you would like to try. Small snack boards are available, as well as glasses of wine, … wine smoothies and other seasonal offerings. … We are looking forward to when we can return, safely, to bar service in the Tasting Room, where guests get a one-on-one with our staff. … We are [also] looking forward to the summer of 2021 with the addition of an outdoor patio [where] guests can grab a flight, a glass and a friend and enjoy the day under the pergola.
Popular pours: Aromatic white wines are certainly what we do best at Flag Hill, so our visitors gravitate toward those. Our most popular pour within this would have to be our Cayuga white. It is our fan favorite that pops with flavors of green apple, peach and pear, very similar to a Germanic-style riesling. If you are more of a bubbly wine drinker, give the sparkling Cayuga white a try! Add a dash of one of our fruit liqueurs and your day is made.
Personal favorite: La crescent. This is hands down our winemaker’s favorite. La crescent is intensely aromatic with notes of honeydew, pineapple and orange blossom; it is the perfect marriage of sweetness versus acidity at the first sip.
The Tasting Room & Gift Store is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., seven days a week, year round, with the exception of Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.
Fulchino Vineyard
187 Pine Hill Road, Hollis 438-5984, fulchinovineyard.com
For owner and winemaker Al Fulchino, winemaking has been part of his family’s history for nearly two centuries — so it only makes sense that he now has vineyards of his own.
From fruit to wine: We believe in simplicity. We have four vineyards within two miles. … We like to source what we use. Eighty-five to 88 percent comes from our property. We plant, pick, prune, we bottle, we label … we do all that. We believe in letting the wine speak for itself by staying out of the way. [We have] good vineyard sites to warm up and ripen the grapes. … We bought the land in 1991 and in 2007 planted the first vineyard. It’s a very successful piece of land for growing wine grapes. … Everything on this property, we built it.
What makes us unique: What makes us different, I don’t even want to know. All we can do is what we do. I think we make people happy.
The tasting experience: We cater to people who like wine, want to like wine or are curious about wine. We expect to exceed expectations with the wine person [and we] want to show people how to appreciate wine in a non-snobby way. I talk to everybody I can talk to, [and] we try to impart our knowledge on our staff. … [Tasters can try] five or six wines. … We try to give people information about the wine and what pairs well with it. [We want to] show people where the wine shines. … We try to have 18 to 22 [wines] on the table, but if we’re hit really hard there may only be 10 to 12 wines on the table. Right now there are 15 wines on today’s table. Things come and go.
Popular pours: Mirabella is our signature proprietary blend. It is a very full-bodied robust red that is meant to savor … with stone fruit notes, notes of chocolate, orange peel. It’s a crowd favorite, our No. 2 wine. No. 1 is a sister wine to Mirabella [where we] alter the aging process and we oak it differently: Cenare. It’s a French oak.
Personal favorite: If I just want a sip I like to go to my Mirabella. If I’m eating a certain type of dish, I might need my pinot or my chardonnay.
Hours now through March are Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., opening daily from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. starting in April.
Owners Sunny and Marshall Bishop offer tastings in the former home of a local legend.
Photo courtesy of Gilmanton Winery & Vineyard.
From fruit to wine: We have roughly 4 acres and six different kinds of vines: seyval, reliance, Concord, Marechal Foch, Marquette and aurore. We also make some of our wines from grapes that have already been pressed.
What makes us unique: Our property is just under 9 acres, and the house, which is attached to the business, was once owned by Grace Metalious, the author of Peyton Place. My husband, the winemaker, is a retired Marine and I’m a retired flight attendant, [so] we have a bit of memorabilia here.
The tasting experience: You get to taste at your own table, whether inside or outside, and we bring the flights of wine to you. We also serve [light bites, like cheese and crackers] and we do as much local as we can. My husband also loves to walk around and chat with everyone. … We also serve brunches every Sunday morning. We’re planning on doing picnics this summer.
Popular pours: Our most popular wines are Jack the Ripper, Green Apple Riesling and Blueberry Surprise.
Personal favorite: My favorite is Jack the Ripper. It’s from the carmenere grape and is a dry red wine.
Gilmanton Winery is open Thursday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from 1:30 to 5 p.m. for wine tastings.
Hermit Woods Winery
72 Main St., Meredith 253-7968, hermitwoods.com
Photo courtesy of Hermit Woods Winery.
Owner Bob Manley talks about the highly interactive experience you’ll have at a wine tasting at Hermit Woods.
From fruit to wine: Each of our … handcrafted wines is made from a unique combination of locally sourced fruit, honey and flowers, in some cases wild-foraged. Our process is … hands-on from vine to bottle, using old-world techniques. … The result is a wine with rich, complex flavors. All of our wines are vegan, with the exception of honey wines, gluten-free, raw and mostly organic to best management practices. … We get our fruit from farmers all over New England, and on occasion outside of New England when supplies are short
What makes us unique: Hermit Woods is crafting dry, barrel-aged, European-style wines, many of which can be laid down for years in your cellar, from fruit other than grapes. We are the only winery I am aware of with this focus anywhere. We also offer a farm-to-table restaurant at the winery and sell local cheeses, meats and other locally crafted food items at the winery. We will soon be offering a listening room, called The Loft at Hermit Woods, where we will be showcasing music from around the country and possibly the world.
Our tasting experience: Our tasting experience is highly interactive, providing guests with an in-depth knowledge of our wine, wine in general, and wine application. We do offer tours, [but] they won’t resume until we are 100 percent past Covid. We will also be offering a wide variety of advanced tasting programs. … A typical tasting lasts about 30 minutes and is one-on-one with our team. Our premium tasting experience will be a 45-minute presentation by the owners and management only.
Popular pours: Our most popular wine is Petite Blue and Petite Blue Reserve. [Petite Blue] is bursting with fresh blueberry aromas and flavors. An entire pound of wild low-bush blueberries is in each and every bottle of wine. Unlike many available blueberry wines, this dry blueberry wine embodies the characteristics of a more traditional dry red wine. We enjoy it slightly chilled. Petite Blue Reserve, a specially crafted vintage of our … Petite Blue, is fuller in body and finishes long and dry like so many fine Burgundies we have come to love. Like our Petite Blue, there is over an entire pound of wild low-bush blueberries in every bottle. Also very popular is our Winnipesaukee Rosé. … Cranberries and apples are blended together in this rich, sweet, and tangy wine.
Personal favorite: Our personal favorite is our Red Scare, a multi-berry melomel. Whole wild blueberries, organic blackberries and raspberries, and local, raw, unfiltered honey providing balance, structure, and long-deep flavors. This wine was aged in a French oak barrel for many months. A complex, dry wine with great aging potential.
Hermit Woods is open seven days a week, year round. Wine tastings are available at any time during operating hours, which are Sunday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the winter. It stays open an hour later in the summer.
LaBelle Winery
345 Route 101, Amherst; 104 Congress St., Portsmouth; and coming in May, 14 Route 111, Derry, labellewinery.com
Photo courtesy of LaBelle Winery.
Michelle Thornton, director of marketing and business development, explains the winemaking process that happens on the grounds of LaBelle’s Amherst property and describes the winery’s most popular pours.
From fruit to wine: LaBelle Winery Amherst has seven different grape varieties planted on about 2 acres of land. … Varieties of grapes are chancellor, noiret, petit amie, seyval blanc, petit pearl and Brianna, and are all cold-hardy to withstand New England winters. The vines will be hand-harvested in the fall when the grapes reach the optimal sugar and acidity and will immediately be transported to the crush pad behind the winery. … LaBelle also sources grapes from the Finger Lakes region of New York, California, and Washington State to supplement our volume. Our fruit wine is produced using farm fruits from all over New England. … Ripe red grapes are crushed in a crusher/destemmer. Must [a juice containing the skin, seeds and vines] is placed in a container and a selected strain of yeast is added. In the fermentation process, yeast added to the grape or fruit juice converts sugar into both carbon dioxide, which is released into the air, and alcohol. … After being filtered from the other organic material, most red wines undergo a second, malolactic fermentation, in which sharp malic acids are converted to softer lactic acids. Racking and filtering follow when the wine is separated from any remaining solids. Clarified wine is placed in bottles and sealed. For white grape processing, instead of being crushed, white grapes are gently pressed to avoid juice contact with the skins or broken seeds and vines that give red wines that sharp, tannic taste. The juice is collected in a fermentation tank [either stainless steel or oak] and may be clarified once before a yeast variety is selected and added. Fermentation of white wines usually occurs at cooler temperatures and for more time than reds to maintain crisp, fruity aromas and flavors. Barrel aging and malolactic fermentation may occur for some wines [like chardonnay], followed by clarification and bottling.
What makes us unique: Amy LaBelle is the winemaker, founder and owner of the business, along with her husband, Cesar Arboleda. LaBelle processes over 40 tons of grapes a year, which will be doubling in 2021 with the Derry property’s addition. LaBelle is known for its friendly and inviting staff and incredible dining, shopping options and educational and fun events that complement the award-winning wine. LaBelle also hosts hundreds of private events a year, such as weddings, corporate and nonprofit events.
The tasting experience: Our expert tasting room representatives guide guests by sampling our wines, all produced in our … winemaking facility in Amherst. During a wine tasting, a guest can select from over 35 of our different wines to taste. … Tastings are first-come, first-served, and do not require a reservation. Our guided tours, which are approximately 20 to 30 minutes, provide an overview of the building architecture, vineyards and winemaking production cellar within our Amherst facility. Additionally, guests are welcome to follow our self-guided tour brochure at any time during operating hours. We also offer private tasting and tours, which require a reservation. Tour and tastings are highly interactive and educational. The LaBelle Winery Derry property will have a new structure built, named LaBelle Winery, home to a tasting room and a space where a new line of sparkling wines will be produced. The tasting room will wrap around the production and aging experience and will require additional equipment and riddling racks that we don’t have space for in our Amherst location. The new red, white and rosé sparkling wines will be made using the French Methode Champenoise, making the Champagne house at LaBelle Winery Derry the only one of its kind in New England.
Popular pours: Rose, a dry, classic blend of the red grapes grenache and syrah, with aromas of watermelon, florals and strawberries; Americus, with a rich tannin structure and loads of pepper on the palate; petit verdot, a bold red wine with strong floral and fruit tones and a deep tannin structure; seyval blanc, a delicate wine with citrus tones and a crisp, clean finish; and malbec, a deep red rich wine that’s spicy and bold on the palate with a lush and balanced finish.
Personal favorite: Americus
LaBelle’s hours are changing soon; visit the website for the most up-to-date information.
Owners Lewis and Stacey Eaton live and work on their farm, where they offer a relaxed wine-tasting experience and a chance to walk around the vineyard. Lewis Eaton shared more about what you’ll find at Sweet Baby Vineyard.
From fruit to wine: We are a small family-owned vineyard and winery that grows six different cold-hardy grape varieties. Each year we expand our vineyard, with plenty of room to grow for the future. Our … fruit wines are all made with locally grown New Hampshire fruits. We source them directly from single source farms. … Our winemaking process is simple and natural with all-natural ingredients letting the wine express its own unique character.
What makes us unique: What makes us stand out is that we offer locally grown fruit, we are agriculturally driven and are very approachable. We live and work on the farm and love what we do. Coming to our farm is very relaxed and easy.
The tasting experience: Our tasting experience is super-relaxed and guided by our incredible tasting staff. Our winery sits in the middle of our 8-acre farm. We offer 25 different wines — fruit, grape, sparkling and fortified — [and] our tasting staff and winemaker will explain everything from where the fruit is from, how it is made and usually what their favorites are. Though there isn’t a formal tour, our grounds are open to everyone and we allow folks to roam through the vines and enjoy the beauty we offer. … We have both indoor and outdoor — in warmer weather — seating.
Popular pours: Some of our most popular wines are our blueberry wines — sparkling, port-style and still — and our varietals, like Niagara and Marechal Foch, that we grow on the property. The blueberry wines are produced semi-sweet and are made with locally grown low bush wild blueberries from Alton, New Hampshire. We do three versions of Niagara: sweet, sparkling and dry. These are grown on our farm. Marechal Foch is a dry red grown on our property and aged in American oak barrels for two years and is a dry medium-bodied table wine.
Personal favorite: My favorite is our Farm Stand White. It is a blend of la crescent, petite amie and aromella. Two of the grape varieties are grown here and the other we buy from [Flag Hill Distillery and Winery]. It is an off-dry aromatic white perfectly balanced acidity with melon and citric notes. This wine is incredible.
Sweet Baby Vineyard is open year-round from noon to 4 p.m. Thursday and noon to 5 p.m. Friday through Sunday.
Winnipesaukee Winery
458 Center St., Wolfeboro 455-0182, winniwinery.com
Heidi von Goetz Cogean, owner and winemaker, looks toward the future at her vineyard.
From fruit to wine: We are a New Hampshire farm winery, woman-owned and family-operated. We grow cold-hardy white grapes in our vineyard, [which] operated as a dairy farm from 1810 to 1942. … The vineyard was planted in 2018 [and] we expect a harvest in 2023. We source our cabernet sauvignon and merlot red grapes from the Lanza family vineyard in Sonoma County, California, and our award-winning carmenere from the Central Valley of Chile. Wild blueberries are purchased locally and rhubarb comes from Tuftonboro, New Hampshire, [and we make] both sweet and dry wine from these fruits.
What makes us unique: All of our red wines are classic European-style fully dry reds, aged in French oak barrels. We are currently selling vintage 2016 dry reds, [and] we are the only New Hampshire winery selling oak barrel-aged wine that is over four years old. We are [also] New Hampshire’s only winery and bed and breakfast. … We also have a huge barn full of antiques for sale … from April to mid October.
The tasting experience: We conduct a four-wine tasting, with [an] option to enjoy prepackaged snacks procured from Black- and woman-owned companies. [Visitors can] enjoy a glass of wine on the patio [or] a bottle of wine in our vineyard. Frozen wine slushies [and] wine cocktails with real fruit are … popular. … Most days the winemaker is serving customers. … Private tastings with [a] charcuterie board can be arranged after hours.
Popular pours: Wicked Good Red, [which is] 50 percent cabernet and 50 percent merlot, [is] our most popular wine. [It] pairs well with heartier fare [and has] balanced tannins and superb mouthfeel. [We are] selling vintage 2016 right now.
Personal favorite: Whatever I am currently bottling!
Winnipesaukee Winery is open May through October, Thursday through Sunday from noon to 5 p.m.
Tom Zack, wine director, talks about the wines, the food and the woodwork you can find at Zorvino Vineyards.
From fruit to wine: Zorvino Vineyards is an 80-acre property in the middle of a Northern hardwood forest, which is composed of vines, fields, woodlands with trails, a pond and a beautiful post and beam manor house. … Our actual vineyard is now home to 1,000 vines, including la crescent, Marquette, petite pearl, St. Croix, Itasca, Valiant, Frontenac, Frontenac Gris and Niagara. Most of these are known as Minnesota hybrids. We have extensive gardens where we grow vegetables for our restaurant plus for winemaking and fruit trees that bear fruit for wine also. We source premium grapes from wine regions all over the world including California, Italy, South America and South Africa. Additionally, we start with local fruit from New Hampshire and then branch out to other areas of America depending upon production needs. Our wine is initially made in stainless steel drums and then the premium wines are transferred to American Oak barrels for aging and refining.
What makes us unique: We are one of the largest and busiest wineries in New Hampshire, especially during the summer months when our outdoor patio is open. … Our kitchen puts together a menu that includes creative sandwiches and flatbreads to pair with our options of six different flights where the wines rotate from week to week. The patio can seat up to 80 people but we allow guests to bring blankets and chairs and enjoy our beautiful property. We have our own sawmill and you can often see Jim Zanello, our owner, working on our own hardwoods to create tables, chairs and … whimsical items of all shapes and sizes.
The tasting experience: Our typical offering consists of six different wine flight options, where each flight includes four rotating wines of 3 ounces each. All our outdoor tables are reservation only, made through our website, and reservations are for an hour and a half each. During Covid we have suspended tours, but guests are welcome to wander the property and enjoy the scenery. We also have first-come first-served tables and benches near the pond and throughout the property if the patio is full. When you purchase your flight samples, our winery staff will fill you in on which wines you’ll be trying. Our … staff is always glad to take the time to answer any questions you may have about our wines or our history.
Popular pours: We make more different varietals than any winery in New Hampshire: white, red or fruit wines totaling over 40 this past year. … We are also known for our Z Wine Labs offerings, which are short-run wines that are released every two weeks and include … Peanut Butter & Jelly, Blackberry Bourbon Smash, Chocolate Hazelnut, Key Lime Pie, Field Day (watermelon) and many, many more. We also offer a new product that is quickly gaining in popularity. It’s called Good Boy Sparkling Seltzer. It’s unique in that it’s wine based and comes in at 7 percent alcohol. This means lower-calorie too because [there’s] less sugar.
Personal favorite: My current favorites are the Tempranillo Barbera Blend, zinfandel and tempranillo that are sourced from the Lanza Vineyard in the Suisun Valley of California. These are aged in American white oak for six months to a year or more and are our top reds. These continue to get better and better.
Zorvino is open daily year round, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., with extended hours in the summer, usually until 8 p.m. There is indoor seating and a seasonal patio, which sometimes closes early for weddings and other functions.
Featured photo: Photo courtesy of Flag Hill Distillery and Winery.
After a regional vaccine clinic for teachers was held at the Steeplegate Mall in Concord on Sunday, March 21, several schools were forced to close Monday after hundreds of teachers who received the vaccine called in sick, according to a March 22 report from WMUR. Teachers from several local districts received the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, and many started feeling side effects shortly thereafter. Concord, Hopkinton and Hillsboro-Deering all canceled school, but it was too late for Bow to cancel after the buses went out, despite ultimately having more than 50 staff members call out. The district sent an emergency alert to parents asking them to keep middle and high school students remote if possible.
Score: -1
Comment: “Is it a perfect day of school? No, but we were able to cover and be open for the students that really needed us to be, especially because of the late-breaking nature of this,” Bow Superintendent Dean Cascadden told WMUR.
Dancing in spite of it all
Some Milford residents have spent part of every evening for the past year dancing outside. According to a March 16 report from WMUR, the Myrtle Street neighborhood celebrated its one-year anniversary of its nightly outdoor dance party on March 15. “We’ve been keeping it going for 365 days and if one of us couldn’t make it, then everyone else would represent,” Monica Kluz said in the report. The parties were inspired by a video of neighbors in Italy singing together from their balconies. Now the whole town knows about the 6 p.m. dance party, and at the moment, there’s no plan to stop.
Score: +1
Comment: Even in the dead of winter, the dancing continued. “We always made it out for at least one song,” said Jamie Anderson. “So we would dance real quick to keep our bodies warm and then we would run back in.”
Meth, not Adderall
On March 22, Sen. Maggie Hassan retweeted a post from the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New England division warning young people in the region — and specifically in New Hampshire — that they are being targeted with counterfeit prescription pills that look like Adderall but are made with methamphetamine and caffeine. DEA New England has released a poster warning parents, coaches, teachers and kids that the fake ADHD drug is on the streets being sold illicitly. The poster shows how the fake pills are nearly identical to real Adderall and said that meth dealers are specifically targeting students in college, high school and middle school.
Score: -2
Comment: “They’ve shown up all over New England, but specifically New Hampshire,” DEA Special Agent in Charge Jon DeLena said in a WMUR report. “All four corners of the state are seizing these pills and they are deadly. … It’s probably one of the most critical messages that we’ve had to deliver yet.”
Rent costs going up in New Hampshire
The average cost to rent an apartment in New Hampshire is increasing at a higher rate than almost anywhere else in the country, according to a new report from QuoteWizard, an online insurance marketplace. While the average cost of one-bedroom apartments in 15 states has dropped in the past two years — mainly highly populated states like Massachusetts, whose rent dropped 11.3 percent to an average of $1,152 — New Hampshire joins other rural states like Montana, Idaho and Vermont in the Top 10 states that have seen an increase. The Granite State ranks No. 6 for rental increases, with the average cost of an apartment has gone up 7.5 percent in the last two years and is now $1,010, compared to $939 in 2019.
Score: -1
Comment: According to the report, since the beginning of the pandemic, the number of available apartments has gone down 10 percent in suburban areas.
QOL score: 63
Net change: -3
QOL this week: 60
What’s affecting your Quality of Life here in New Hampshire? Let us know at [email protected].
For card-carrying members of Patriot Nation, with Bill Belichick going away from type to blow up the first week of NFL free agency by bringing in 13 new faces, it was quite a week. It was the talk of the league and the biggest sports story of the week. But with the NCAA Basketball Tournament kicking off, the Celtics season collapsing, the Red Sox close to beginning with anonymous faces all over the roster and the Bruins also operating there’s a lot going on. So with that my brain is about to explode if I don’t clear some room by sharing the following today.
At the risk of earning a scolding from my friend Bill (Wright) Clayton, I should admit that what the Bruins are doing is mostly in the dark for me.
Think it’s the pandemic, which has messed with my head by throwing off the regular calendar. I couldn’t get into the Masters in fall, UNH football in the spring, baseball at all and even my usual enthusiasm for the NCAA Tournament, which should be of really high interest with Gonzaga having a chance to have the first undefeated season since Indiana in 1976-77.
Ditto (again) for baseball, but it’s more for Chaim Bloom dismantling the 2018 outfield and a pitching staff that seems to have been recruited from the FBI’s Witness Protection Program. Or maybe I just don’t have the patience to wait out whatever Bloom’s master plan is.
On the plus side, I am curious about current prodigal minor-leaguer son Jarren Duran. Ditto for a full season of Bobby Dalbec. Someone said in the Boston Globe the other day that every time he sees him he thinks of Tony Conigliaro. High praise indeed since he was the second youngest player to reach 100 homers in MLB history.
Sports 101: Who was the youngest player to reach 100 homers?
Hearing Danny Ainge talk about the dumpster fire the season is turning into makes me think he doesn’t get how much trouble the Celtics are in.
I think Brad Stevens has done a very good job overall here, but if going home is appealing I’d say take the Indiana job, because the biggest thing the C’s need is a new voice, one that will come with a large boot to kick them in the tail, because they are too accepting of losses.
If you like to keep track of these things, the now 22-year-old Collin Sexton, whom the Cavaliers took with the lottery pick the Celtics gave them in the Kyrie Irving trade, is averaging 24.2 points per game, and for Terry Rozier, who walked the plank for Kemba Walker, it’s 20. Meanwhile the hobbled and struggling Kemba’s at 17.1 while making $12 million more per year.
Lakers sixth man from the 1980s glory days Michael Cooper gets my vote for the Hall of Fame. With all due respect to Dennis Rodman, Robert Reid and Paul Pressey, nobody gave Larry Bird more trouble. So that and being a real contributor to five titles puts him in for me.
One final word on Coach B’s spending spree: So much for the idea that after the disintegration of the Brady-Belichick relationship players would no longer want to come to Gille tte as free agents.
Don’t know if it was an all-time MLB record, but Johnny Damon allegedly blew a .3 on the breathalyzer a couple of weeks back in Florida. That got him arrested on suspicion of drunk driving, to which he later pleaded not guilty. Danno also booked his wife Michelle on charges of battery on a police officer and resisting arrest with violence, according to news reports. Damon reportedly tried everything to get let off including the old chestnut, “I‘m 200 yards from my house,” and the new chestnut, “I know I‘m being targeted because I support Donald Trump,” all of which probably renews his membership in the Idiots Club for another 10 years.
I know he was a terrific player, but sorry, I don’t get the who-ha over Drew Brees joining NBC. I get the great white whale hunt for Peyton Manning because broadcasting is about insight and personality and he’s got both. Brees may have insight, but so did Joe Montana and he was a disaster because the personality wasn’t there, and I fear Brees’ blandness will lead to a similar outcome.
And in a related note, with Brees retiring, Tom Brady will be the all-time leader in TD passes and passing yards with no one on the horizon for at least 15 years.
Sports 101 Answer: The youngest to reach 100 homers was the forgotten great New York Giant Mel Ott. He got to the majors at 17 in 1926 and reached 100 at 22 helped by going for 42 homers and 151 RBI while batting .328 when he was just 20. With 504 he was the third to reach 500 and the NL leader until Willie Mays passed him in 1965.
I thought I’d heard or read all the Yogisms there were, but I just ran across two new ones. His wife, Carmen, asked him while they were estate planning, “You’re born in St. Louis, you live in New Jersey and you played ball in New York. So if you go before I do, where would you like me to have you buried?” To which Yogi said, “Surprise me.” Then there is when he and Reggie Jackson are watching the names of baseball legends who had died over that year scroll on the scoreboard as they’re read to the Old-Timers Day crowd, when Yogi looks up at Reggie and says, “I hope I never see my name up there for that.”
Transitional housing in Nashua gives families a fresh start
Family Promise of Southern New Hampshire has opened a new transitional housing facility in Nashua for families experiencing homelessness. Executive director Pamela Wellman talked about the facility’s amenities and programs and the demographic they serve.
How did Family Promise come to acquire this new building?
We were on the grounds of the Presentation of Mary Academy in Hudson … for almost 18 years. … Then, we found [the property formerly occupied by] Infant Jesus School in downtown Nashua … and have gone through a six-month capital campaign and renovation project … to build a beautiful brand new home for our mission and for our families. We worked very closely with the City of Nashua … and we got a $2.7 million grant through Gov. Sununu’s New Hampshire CARES Act and the New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority … so there have been a lot of partnerships supporting us throughout this whole thing. … We were able to bring our first families in on Feb. 15. Starting on March 29, we’ll be able to bring in the second phase of families. … Our capital campaign will continue for the next two years … to sustain the program operationally, and to support the families.
What is the new facility like?
It’s 35,000 square feet — twice the size of our former facility — with 48 bedrooms, which translates to about 25 family units, so about 80 or 90 people. It’s got a beautiful dining area, a commercial kitchen, a laundry facility and plenty of storage space. … Each family has their own bath … and refrigerator space and cabinet space. They’ve got everything they need. They have a real home here, and they live a real life here. … We also have a filtration system, so if a family does contract Covid, they can quarantine in their units; we don’t have to place them elsewhere and put that burden on the community.
Who does Family Promise serve?
There are so many transitional housing and shelter programs in Greater Nashua, and we each share a certain piece of the pie when it comes to homelessness. Ours is family; we take families — moms and dads with children, single fathers and single mothers with children, and families however they identify themselves — and we keep them together. … Sixty-five percent of our community is children.
Aside from providing transitional housing, how does Family Promise help families experiencing homelessness regain independence?
One of the programs people work once they come here is financial literacy. … They have to save up to 75 percent of their disposable income in their own savings account so they get used to budgeting and paying rent again. We supply their food, toiletries and daily living supplies so that they can start saving that money. … Working full-time is a requirement … because you can’t save money unless you’ve got income, right? It’s not a handout. They’ve got to do the hard work, but we guide them through it. If people don’t have a job, we help them with their resume and help them look for jobs and realize their potential as professionals and career-builders.
We help them regain driver’s licenses and vehicles, if they don’t already have them. We help them get back in school to finish a certification so they can maximize their professional acumen. … We offer parenting and family advocacy courses to help them navigate any emotional trauma that homelessness has put on them as well as their children. … We’ve also got tons of great youth programs and activities here so that kids can take a deep breath and learn to play and be kids again.
What are some of the circumstances leading to families seeking transitional housing?
The stereotypical idea of what homelessness is — the impoverished person living under the bridge — is an important population of people to serve, but that’s not the only face of homelessness. Homelessness among children and youth ages 18 to 24 in New Hampshire is staggering. We see a lot of younger families who don’t have the support system of family or friends outside of themselves to help them get through [homelessness] and have no other place to go. … People don’t realize that one of the most prominent faces of homelessness is the average working family making minimum to slightly-higher-than-minimum wage. They are the ones that fall through the cracks. The current housing market doesn’t support them. They don’t qualify for many lower-income supports, but they don’t make enough money to get back up on their feet. … We’ve all seen the tremendous impact that Covid has had on these middle-class families, or have been personally affected by it. One crisis — a job loss, having to take a lesser-paying job, a family break-up or divorce, or a health tragedy — can send them spiralling into homelessness.
How would you describe the community at Family Promise?
It becomes a family. So many of our graduates become best friends because there’s a comfort in knowing that you’re not alone and that there are other people going through the same thing. … Sixty-five percent of our graduates actually come back and volunteer here and [remain a] part of our extended family.
Information from the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services
Covid-19 news
On March 15, the New Hampshire Department of Health & Human Services issued a notice of potential community exposures connected to positive Covid-19 cases associated with the King of the Mat wrestling tournament, which was held on March 6 at The Rim Sports Complex in Hampton. Anyone who attended the tournament between 5 and 10 p.m. that day, according to health officials, should be monitoring symptoms and should seek testing.
The state launched its new Vaccine & Immunizations Network Interface website on March 17, at 8 a.m., according to a press release, just in time for Phases 2A and 2B vaccine appointment scheduling to begin. The new VINI platform is a state-run site, transitioning New Hampshire away from the federally run VAMS portal. During the state’s public health update in a March 18 press conference, Gov. Chris Sununu said the system was loaded with about 200,000 first-dose appointments through the month of April. He said the state is on pace to expand vaccine access to all adults over the age of 16 in New Hampshire within weeks. “We don’t have a firm date on that yet,” he said, “but it really is just weeks away that any adult citizen in the state of New Hampshire will be able to go to VINI and sign up for their vaccine as well.” As of March 18, about 12 percent of the state’s population has been fully vaccinated, according to Dr. Beth Daly, Chief of the Bureau of Infectious Disease Control of the New Hampshire Department of Health & Human Services. “To date, 31 regional clinics have been held with 6,500 people in Phase 2A vaccinated,” Daly said later during the press conference. “An additional 36 regional clinics are scheduled through the end of March, with plans to vaccinate another 20,000 people.”
Registration for Phase 2B, which includes people between the ages of 50 and 64, opened on March 22, with the first appointments beginning on March 25. Hundreds of thousands of newly eligible registrants encountered problems on the site as soon as they were able to log in at 8 a.m., according to a report from WMUR, with many others who called 211 not being able to get through on the phone. “An unprecedented volume of web traffic was experienced this morning, a good sign that Granite Staters are ready and eager to receive their vaccine,” Sununu said in the March 22 report. “Registrations have been accepted and continue to be processed at an increasing pace, with over 35,000 having scheduled an appointment within the first three hours.”
Funding input
The office of Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig issued a press release last week asking Queen City residents to share ideas on how to spend the federal funds that the city will be getting from the American Rescue Plan Act. According to the press release, Manchester will receive approximately $44 million over two years. Though it’s waiting for more guidance from the U.S. Department of the Treasury on how exactly the funds can be used, the idea is to help with local economic recovery, which includes things like assistance to households, small businesses and nonprofits, assistance to hard-hit industries like tourism, travel, and hospitality, premium pay for essential workers and infrastructure investment. Craig is asking residents to share their Covid-19 stories, specifically how it’s impacted them and how they’d like to see the funds used. “For over a year, our community has felt the widespread negative impacts of Covid-19. This is the first time the City of Manchester is receiving direct funding, and we want to ensure it’s used to best meet the needs of our community,” Craig said in the release. Contact the mayor’s office or fill out a form at bit.ly/ARP4MHT.
Homeless Assessment
Last week the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development released its 2020 Annual Homeless Assessment Report Part 1 and, according to a press release, the report found that 1,675 people experienced homelessness in New Hampshire on a single night in 2020, which is an increase of 20 percent from 2019. HUD releases its report in two parts; Part 1 is a snapshot of homelessness on a single night, conducted during the last 10 days of January each year, so these numbers are pre-Covid. Other key findings in New Hampshire: Unsheltered homelessness increased 133 percent, with 199 people counted in 2019 compared to 348 in 2020. Also seeing increases were family homelessness, veteran homelessness and chronic homelessness. Youth homelessness is down 22.6 percent, according to the press release.
Rachel Budd from Bow High School has been selected as the alternate winner of the 2021 New Hampshire Poetry Out Loud High School Championship, according to a press release from the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts. Budd will fill in for winner Lilla Bozek from Newmarket High School if Bozek can’t participate in the national finals. Bozek received $200 and Newmarket High School got a $500 stipend for the purchase of poetry books, while Budd received $100, plus a $200 stipend for Bow High School’s poetry book collection.
Detective Justin Breton has been named 2020 Officer of the Year for the Manchester Police Department, where he’s served since 2010, according to a press release. He has been a patrol officer, a juvenile detective, a detective with the Investigative Division and a SWAT negotiator, he is the director of the Manchester Police Critical Incident Stress Management Team, and he’s the primary handler of Manchester’s comfort dog, Patch.
Beth Greenwood of Amherst is the first American-born female catcher of an NCAA baseball team. According to a report from WMUR, Greenwood is a junior at the University of Rochester in New York, and she has earned a spot on the roster of her school’s baseball team. She has never played softball; she was on the baseball team at Souhegan High School, according to the report.
The CHaD NH East-West High School All-Star Football Game, which will feature more than 80 of New Hampshire’s best football players taking the field to raise money for Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth-Hitchcock, will also be a tribute to Londonderry High School football captain Jacob Naar, who was killed in a car accident on March 12. According to a press release, his family has chosen to fulfill his wishes of fundraising for the game, and his team will not replace Naar on the roster; instead his teammates will honor his memory at the game, which is scheduled for July.
