Bishop's Orchards Farm Market & Winery
by
Kathy Sullivan
Summary: Bishop’s Orchards Farm Market & Winery offer visitors a great selection of foods and wine. The farm market strives to be one-stop shopping for visitors. Keith Bishop, owner and winemaker, wants visitors to know that the wines he produces are from the fruits on his farm. Since beginning the winery, Keith has found that his fruit wines are well accepted by visitors to the tasting room. This winery is a bit unusual because they also sell wine from three other Connecticut wineries in their farm market. This is also a pick-your-own farm operation. Be sure to check out their website to find out what is available.
Bishop’s Orchards Farm Market & Winery in Guilford, Connecticut is within a mile of Interstate 95. Access off and on this well-traveled road makes it a fairly easy day trip from New York City. Bishop’s Orchards is easy to locate with a sign for the Connecticut Wine Trail directly across the street. The large sign for the farm market and winery has a large 3-dimensional red apple atop the sign.
While the family farm has been in the family since 1871, the farm market started in the early 1900s. In the 1970’s the market began to operate year round. The winery is a relatively new addition to the farm market. The wines are produced from some of the 313 acres of fruit grown on the property with the exception of the cranberries used in one of the wines. Fruits grown on the property include 25 varieties of apples, pears, peaches, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and nectarines.
The idea of a winery came to Keith Bishop, owner and CEO, after having other winemakers purchase his fruit and juice to produce wine. Keith began selling wine in the farm market in 2005. Today the winery is producing 2,000 cases. An expanded tasting counter was recently added to the farm market. Keith plans to add additional enhancements to the wine tasting experience including different flights. Soon the top of the tasting counter will showcase 12” x 12” tiles superimposed with photos of the orchards.
Currently the winery offers 11 wines. Many of the wines are variations of apple wine. Other wines include a strawberry dessert wine, peach and pear. Both dry and sweet fruit wines are available. The sweet wines dried on the finish. Many of the wines would pair well with foods and also be perfect for a hot afternoon.
Dry Fruit Wines
Pearadise was a pear wine made from Bosc pears. The aroma and taste were of pear. The finish was dry with a long pear aftertaste. Stone House White, an apple wine, was named after a nearby building, Stone House, which was built in the 1600’s. This wine offered an apple aroma with a smooth apple taste. There were apple nuances on the finish with a hint of oak. Celebration, an apple wine, had an apple aroma with a smooth apple taste. There were apple nuances on the aftertaste. Happley ImPeared was an apple and pear wine. The aroma and taste were of pear. The finish was crisp with apple on the aftertaste.
Sweet Fruit Wines
Apple Raspberry Blush with 12 percent alcohol was a light pink color. The aroma was of apple while the taste was sweet with raspberry nuances. The wine dried on the finish. Peach Wine was a gold color with an aroma of peach nuances. The peach taste was crisp and the peach finish lingered. This wine had five percent residual sugar. Strawberry Raspberry Wine was 10 percent alcohol. The aroma and taste were of strawberry with a finish of raspberry nuances that dried on the finish.
When planning on a visit to Bishop’s Orchards Farm Market & Winery, save time to browse the array of food products available. There is a large section of fresh fruit and produce. Families will enjoy a visit to a pick-your-own fruit farm.
Bishops Winery
1355 Boston Post Rd. (US Rte 1, I-95 Exit 57)
Guilford, CT 06437
GPS: N 41º 17.402’ W72º 41.736’
