Talk-A-Vino

The art of living.

Joie de vivre.

We are so entrenched in our infinitely accelerating lives (or at least so it seems) that we forget to live. We forget to enjoy those little simple moments that actually make life worth living.

The daily grind. Work, kids, worries, joys, celebrations and disappointments. Often one after another at a breakneck speed. All equally important. But you know what else is important? The ability to enjoy the moment. Enjoy it by yourself. Enjoy it with the family. Enjoy it with the friends.

Slow down. Look around and see, it is really important not just to look but to actually see. See, process, and appreciate what you see, appreciate what you have. A beautiful sky. A glimpse of color not too far away. The sound of a bee. A friend’s smile. Time grinding to a halt. Capture that moment and treasure it. This is what the art of living is all about. Treasure the moment.

The vineyard is a perfect place to experience the art of living. Tranquility of the rows of vines, the air, sometimes still and quiet, the colors. The vineyard is a perfect place – especially when someone can make it such a perfect place.

Gouveia Vineyards in Wallingford, in central Connecticut, was a product of imagination and a bit of obsession of Joe Gouveia. Born in a rural village in Portugal, Joe came to the US with his family at the age of fifteen. When later on he discovered the hilly terrain in Wallingford, a dream was born, and the dream became a reality in the form of the Gouveia Vineyards winery in 1999.

Our discovery of Gouveia Vineyards was simply a matter of chance. The weather was great over the past weekend, so our main plan was to hike at the Sleeping Giant State Park in Hamden, Connecticut. A few days prior, I stopped by the Murray Cheese store at Grand Central Market in New York’s Grand Central Terminal and picked up a few interesting cheeses. I’m sure you already see a connection, right? You say cheese, and I say wine! Cheese needs wine, therefore, let’s look for a winery to enjoy cheese with wine and company!

A quick search for wineries in close proximity to the Sleeping Giant Park brought back the name Gouveia, about a 20-minute drive. I checked the website, and I really liked what I saw. No, not just the wines, even though the selection looked good. But even better, the FAQ section had two answers which were literally a balm for my soul. First, it said, “Food is welcome! Please bring your food”. And then it also said, “we have tables, but if you want to bring your own chair in case we get busy, you are welcome to do so”.

Let me explain the significance of these two answers (a mini-rant is incoming).

I understand that the winery is a business. I understand that a winery has to make money. But it is also important to make your customers happy, without looking for an opportunity to milk them at every possible occasion. We used to go to Paumanok Winery on Long Island. We would bring our food (sandwiches, cheeses, etc.), find a table, and spend the next 2-3 hours slowly enjoying wine and the company of each other. We did it year after year, until people at Paumanok got simply greedy. We were told all of a sudden, “No, you can’t bring food; you have to buy food”. So we said fine, let’s buy food. I remember we ordered a truffle mousse pâté, which was $11. Next, we received a plate with truffle mousse pâté from Trader Joe ($3.99 at that time), served directly in the plastic container (they removed the wrap, wow!) with a few crackers, I think also directly from Trader Joe’s. Look, Paumanok makes good wine and is free to run business whatever way they want, but this was the last time we set foot at that winery.

This is why when I saw that food is welcome and we don’t even need to reserve a table, I was very happy. Whether the wines were good or bad was not even relevant anymore.

As we arrived at the winery, looking at the number of parked cars, my first thought was “ohhh, we really are going to use our lawn chairs…”. And I was wrong! There were a lot of people there, but there were even more tables! We had no problems finding a table literally 20 feet from the first row of the vines. The next 2 hours (or more; I was really ignoring time) were literally a dream – slowly sipping the wine, taking little bites of food, talking or enjoying the silence… The time has stopped…

Gouveia Vineyards had 11 white wines, 7 red wines, and 2 dessert wines available for tasting. We took 2 tasting flights of 5 wines (each tasting flight is $20) to try 5 white and 5 red wines. Letting the wine snob speak for a second, I have to say that I was surprised, as literally all 10 wines we tried were well drinkable. If you will look at my notes from the tour of Connecticut vineyards about 12 years ago, you will understand that 10 out of 10 is quite a fit.
To give you a quick rundown of what we tried:
White wines:
Steel-aged Chardonnay – very good, apples, Meyer lemon, a touch of vanilla.
Sauvignon Blanc – excellent, lemon-forward, with tropical fruit undertones, crisp and fresh, more of the Loire style than a New World style.
Dry Rosé – very nice as well, with some onion peel and a touch of cranberries
Seyval Blanc – very much on point, a touch of tropical fruit with a clean finish
Muscat – again, a typical, varietally correct Muscat with some residual sweetness but well balanced.
Red wines were at least equally impressive, if not even more:
Cabernet Franc – this was my personal favorite out of 10 wines we tried. This Cabernet Franc was textbook Loire version, with cassis and bell peppers, perfectly balanced and simply reminding how good old-world Cabernet Franc can be.
Merlot had some cherries, maybe a hint of cassis, dark, firmly structured.
Stone House Red boasted fresh berries, light and playful.
Vinho Tinto, clearly a nod to Joe’s birthplace. The wine was restrained, tight, and firmly structured.
Semi-sweet Sunset Red was open, inviting, and an easy drink.

I was so focused on having a good time that I forgot my responsibilities as a blogger… I didn’t take any pictures of wine and food, tasting flights, or the winery itself. But I took plenty of fascinating pictures of the vine leaves, some of them boasting bright autumn colors.

Joe had a vision of Gouveia Vineyards as the place where people can get together and enjoy their lives – I think this mission was accomplished perfectly.

Next time you are looking for a winery to visit for a good glass of wine and The Art of Living experience, please include Gouveia Vineyards in your short list.

Art of living.

Enjoy the little moments that comprise life.