Farm Fresh Rhode Island blogRhode Island wines really shone at the Local Food Fest this year. If you haven’t tried RI wine recently, you’re missing out. The same sea breezes that moderate the climate on Aquidneck and Sakonnet make for complex and deeply satisfying wines. The three Rhode Island winegrowers you enjoyed at the Local Food Fest also offer regular tastings. Follow the Coastal Wine Trail from Newport Vineyards to Greenvale Vineyards to Sakonnet Vineyards and you’ll find the vistas and vines are as grand and pastoral as the flavors. Visit between now and October to see the grapes ripening in the early autumn sun! (By the way, Newport Vineyards’ 2007 Riesling just won Best of Show at an Atlantic wine competition this month, is home to the Saturday Aquidneck Growers’ Market, and produces a “Rhody Coyote” hard cider with local apples.)
Between wines, Local Food Fest guests enjoyed a selection of local brews, from rich and fierce to smooth and sweet, care of RI favorites Newport Storm, Narragansett Beer and Trinity Brewhouse.
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Other standouts at the Local Food Fest:
- Goat cheese in a cone (!) from Blackstone Caterers
- Ice cream with peaches from DeWolf Tavern
- Squid salad fresh off Point Judith from Castle Hill
- The Matunuck Oyster raw bar
- Narragansett Creamery’s cheese auction
The work that we’re doing at Farm Fresh to connect local farms with chefs and eaters is all the more important given the news out that RI still is at the top of the nation for farmland prices. (Actually, we’re number two this year. $12K/acre -vs- $12.2K in Mass.) The chefs at the Local Food Fest are committed to RI farmers. We hope that the colorful bounty and seasonal, fresh flavors inspired all of us to appreciate that eating closer to home is both good for our taste buds and good for Rhode Island.