Newport Vineyards couldn’t have asked for a more glorious weekend to kick off their seventh Harvest Festival. Under clear skies of blue, wine fans had the opportunity to savor all kinds of tastings from the treasured vineyard, including reds, whites, rosés, beers and ciders. They were peppered throughout the immense indoor space, accented by several tall vats of libation.

The very popular Real Weird Band kept the place hopping. Even though it was all about the wine, there were plenty of nibblies to compliment the vineyard samples. I tried the chicken sandwich, which was absolutely delicious. It had a creamy sauce that was divine. The coolest bit? Instead of coming in a bun of bread, it was placed in a “sandwich” of a waffle. Impressive, and oh so good. It was definitely my favorite food at the festival.

I also witnessed my first grape stomping. I don’t know how I got this far in life without ever having seen one! It was a hilarious experience. As it was explained beforehand, none of the stomped grapes were used in the wines, but the competition was fun to watch and now I come away more educated about the process. Although there were lots of (very enthusiastic) volunteers, only four were chosen to take part, two at a time to compete against each other.

Bailey Quinn, 31, a pediatrician from West Hartford, CT, said it was the best way to take in the fall season. “We built an entire weekend around this,” she said. She and her boyfriend, Jordan, were putting together fall-themed events all weekend, with the Harvest Festival being the highlight. They also visited Mystic, CT last month. “We’ve been meaning to visit Newport,” she added, noting that she was very happy they chose the weekend of the Harvest Festival.

She also participated in the first grape stomping, which she narrowly lost. “It was very hard,” adding that the experience felt “very squishy,” (laughing).

In the second stomping competition, Rick Anderson won a bottle of Newport Vineyard wine and a gift certificate from the store. It turned out serendipitous for the septuagenarian who was also celebrating his 71st birthday. His much younger opponent seemed only too happy to lose to him.

Another fun highlight was the axe throwing cage by Kingdom Axe Throwing. This was billed as a kid-friendly activity, but hilariously only adults were in line. I guess we were all kids at heart! I tried my hand at this activity too, and found out that not only was it fun, I have a little talent for this kind of activity. Who knew? As an Estonian-American, I guess it’s the inner Viking in me.

Of all the wines I sampled, the Great White Rosé was shades above the rest (but many were good). I wasn’t sure with such a goofy name for a wine, but once I had a taste, it was instant love. I had planned to try something different after that, but I ended up using two of my tickets on the rosé and I’m happy to say I now have a new local favorite.

An added touch from the experience was the elegant Newport Vineyard wine glass I got to take home with me. I will definitely be returning, if anything, to pick up another bottle of that Great White Rosé and also to see if that chicken sandwich is on the menu.

Newport Vineyards will be participating in Newport Restaurant Week next, which will be taking place Nov. 1-10.

All photos by Veronica Bruno/What’sUpNewp.