My wife and I spent Memorial Day on Crane Beach. Gorgeous weather for a day at the beach--sunshine and hot! After getting our fill of surf and sand, we headed for home but made a quick stop at Russell Orchards to check out their fruit wines. From the size of the sign advertising their wine, I suspected that wine was not the primary focus of the place, and I was correct. If ice cream, baked goods, cold cider, or local produce is your object, Russell Orchards is the place. The tasting room, produce stand, ice cream counter, cider fridge, and bakery are all housed in their big old barn. It took a little bit of snooping around to locate the winetasting counter in the back corner of the barn. I was immediately turned off by tasting from small plastic cups instead of a normal glass (it's a pet peeve of mine). The tasting counter is also very small (less than 6 feet long). The poor gal behind it was trying to serve as many people as possible, but not physically possible to get more than 4-5 folks squeezed in.
Russell Orchards produces only fruit wines and cider and most everything that was open that day was sweet to some degree. Their Baldwin apple was pleasant--crisp, fruity, and the only dry wine available to taste. I was eager to try their blueberry (off dry), but couldn't get past the funky taste (like old leather soaked in medicine). Ditto for the black currant. I ended the tasting with their rhubarb wine--very interesting. Their rhubarb is completely colorless (looked like a bottle of vodka) and tastes only slightly of rhubarb. I'm guessing that they don't use much rhubarb in their recipe, but was surprised by the good body and mouthfeel of such a light version.
My recommendation--not a destination in and of itself, but a fun stop after a warm day at the beach. Go when it's less crowded for a more pleasant experience. Judging from the size of the parking lot, that may not be very common.
Salute,
a Wine Student.
