Lost Acres Vineyard is a boutique vineyard and winery located in North Granby CT. A former apple orchard, owners Kevin Riggott and Michelle Niedermeyer reclaimed this agricultural land for a vineyard in 2009.
Lost Acres Vineyard offers wine tastings, and wines by the bottle and glass. The farm kitchen can provide cheese plates and antipasto plates, or you can bring your own picnic. Check our website for info about art exhibits, music and more.
The vineyard is open March 29th through December on Friday and Saturdays from 11 to 6, and Sundays from 12 to 5.
Lost Acres Vineyard offers wine tastings, and wines by the bottle and glass. The farm kitchen can provide cheese plates and antipasto plates, or you can bring your own picnic. Check our website for info about art exhibits, music and more.
The vineyard is open March 29th through December on Friday and Saturdays from 11 to 6, and Sundays from 12 to 5.
11 Questions for a Granby Farmer
Each month, the Granby Drummer publishes an interview with a local farmer from our town. Read on to lean more!
1) How did you get started in farming? We started with horses, then went to chickens. We decided we wanted to have an agricultural business and the winery seemed like a good idea because it is sustainable and leverages off Kevin’s hobby of wine making
2) What's your favorite product/service that you produce? Wine, of course!
3) What will your farm look like in 10 years? We probably won’t expand that much, we want to focus on farming a small amount of vines very well, rather than have more acres but less product per acre. We are thinking of raising some beef cattle because they are good for the pasture. We would like to rely more and more on renewable energy as that becomes more affordable.
4) What benefits does agriculture give the community? Well on a personal level, I appreciate all the other farmers in town who lend their expertise and knowledge to us start up farmers. We have benefitted tremendously from the help and support of our farmer neighbors. On a broader level, the number and variety of farms in Granby forms part our town’s identity and makes it unique in the Farmington Valley. We have more open space due to farming, we have an amazing source of local food and I think it helps make the town warmer and more neighborly. I love being able to get milk for my coffee at 7am at the Sweet Pea Cheese farm store for example.
5) Who did you learn the most from when you were getting started? It is a toss up between Larry McCullough who ran Charmard vineyards for many years and Ginny Wutka who owns Lost Acres Orchard with her husband Tom. Larry was the expert in starting a vineyard and making wine on a commercial level and he saved us lots of time and money by preventing mistakes. Ginny, though, was the one who kept us positive and motivated when things were tough.
6) What do you wish more people knew about farming? How expensive it is. When I go to the store and see pork for 99 cents a pound, I am amazed. It costs over that to butcher the pork alone. I understand that factory farms allow meat for example to priced low, but there is a huge unseen cost to that including animal welfare, our health and the health of our environment.
7) What's on your farm's wish list? Mostly to have a successful opening season. We have been working hard for the past 3 years to be able to open our tasting room to the public and sell wine. Now that all the approvals are in place and we are finally open to the public, we hope that people come and enjoy what we worked so hard to create.
8) What's the biggest issue facing agriculture today? Education. We need work hard to help people understand the value of knowing where your food comes from and to take responsibility for the food choices you make. The trend is to increase regulation to make our food safe, I would like to see more people take an interest in where their food comes from and vote with their feet so to speak.
9) What's next at your farm? Getting acquainted with our new space and having other wine and local food enthusiasts come join us!
10) What's the most amazing thing you've seen on your farm? A wild turkey family teaching the chicks how to cross the road. They couldn’t see me but there was one adult on one side of the road and the other was herding the very young chicks across. It reminded me of people crossing the road with young children.
11) What's the best thing about farming in Granby? The support from the town and community. Granby has been fantastic in helping us get the vineyard up and running and we really appreciate it.
1) How did you get started in farming? We started with horses, then went to chickens. We decided we wanted to have an agricultural business and the winery seemed like a good idea because it is sustainable and leverages off Kevin’s hobby of wine making
2) What's your favorite product/service that you produce? Wine, of course!
3) What will your farm look like in 10 years? We probably won’t expand that much, we want to focus on farming a small amount of vines very well, rather than have more acres but less product per acre. We are thinking of raising some beef cattle because they are good for the pasture. We would like to rely more and more on renewable energy as that becomes more affordable.
4) What benefits does agriculture give the community? Well on a personal level, I appreciate all the other farmers in town who lend their expertise and knowledge to us start up farmers. We have benefitted tremendously from the help and support of our farmer neighbors. On a broader level, the number and variety of farms in Granby forms part our town’s identity and makes it unique in the Farmington Valley. We have more open space due to farming, we have an amazing source of local food and I think it helps make the town warmer and more neighborly. I love being able to get milk for my coffee at 7am at the Sweet Pea Cheese farm store for example.
5) Who did you learn the most from when you were getting started? It is a toss up between Larry McCullough who ran Charmard vineyards for many years and Ginny Wutka who owns Lost Acres Orchard with her husband Tom. Larry was the expert in starting a vineyard and making wine on a commercial level and he saved us lots of time and money by preventing mistakes. Ginny, though, was the one who kept us positive and motivated when things were tough.
6) What do you wish more people knew about farming? How expensive it is. When I go to the store and see pork for 99 cents a pound, I am amazed. It costs over that to butcher the pork alone. I understand that factory farms allow meat for example to priced low, but there is a huge unseen cost to that including animal welfare, our health and the health of our environment.
7) What's on your farm's wish list? Mostly to have a successful opening season. We have been working hard for the past 3 years to be able to open our tasting room to the public and sell wine. Now that all the approvals are in place and we are finally open to the public, we hope that people come and enjoy what we worked so hard to create.
8) What's the biggest issue facing agriculture today? Education. We need work hard to help people understand the value of knowing where your food comes from and to take responsibility for the food choices you make. The trend is to increase regulation to make our food safe, I would like to see more people take an interest in where their food comes from and vote with their feet so to speak.
9) What's next at your farm? Getting acquainted with our new space and having other wine and local food enthusiasts come join us!
10) What's the most amazing thing you've seen on your farm? A wild turkey family teaching the chicks how to cross the road. They couldn’t see me but there was one adult on one side of the road and the other was herding the very young chicks across. It reminded me of people crossing the road with young children.
11) What's the best thing about farming in Granby? The support from the town and community. Granby has been fantastic in helping us get the vineyard up and running and we really appreciate it.
