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Date: 5/19/2022
SOMERS, CT. – On May 7. owners Mark and Karen Murdoch opened their new farm winery, Worthington Vineyard & Winery. They introduced four selections of wine including a red petit sirah wine titled “Perseverance;” reflecting the patience and fortitude the couple has taken to open their tasting room.
“After three years and over 20 meetings with the Somers Zoning Board, we were able to open our winery,” Mark Murdoch said. “The approval process took over two years because Somers did not have zoning regulations in place that allowed wineries. The opening was a success. Right now, we are offering our tastings and yard games. We will be adding more wine selections as the season goes on.”
The Murdochs have been wine makers for over two decades, having started with crabapple wine made from fruit taken from their own trees in Broad Brook, CT. Since then, they’ve moved to Somers and have grown grapes, raspberries, apples, peaches and blueberries, all of which have been used to make their popular wines. They have now planted nearly 2,000 grapes vines at Worthington Farm, including five cold-hardy grape varieties. “We were introduced to home winemaking by friends,” Karen Murdoch said. “We had a crabapple tree and that was the first homemade wine Mark and I ever made. Our friends liked it and we just kept experimenting with other grapes and different fruits.”
She continued, “We started to learn more about winemaking by going to conferences and reading lots of books and magazines. We decided six years ago that we wanted to have our own winery.”
The property was originally Worthington Pond Farm & Gardens, a scenic private park where visitors walked nature trails, went fishing and observed wildlife. The “brainchild” of Dan Roulier, the farm has been a “best kept secret” of locals for many years, but relatively unused and unseen by the general public. The property had been up for sale and was in danger of being acquired by corporate developers when the Murdochs met with Roulier about their dream to open a farm winery. The Murdochs purchased the 88-acre property in October 2020 and received approval to open when their special use permit was approved in February 2022.
At the winery, there is a chef on site most weekends who offers a variety of snacks, salads and sandwiches. The Murdochs also allow people to bring their own food or picnic lunches to enjoy with their wines.
“We thought the property was perfect for offering people a place to go,” Mark stated. “The process was difficult because the approval of new zoning regulations got sidetracked by other issues that the Zoning Board had to deal with. Then COVID[-19] hit, further delaying the process, but we got through it.”
The Murdochs plan to be more involved in the community. They’re working on partnerships with local vendors to do paint and sip events. Because their tasting room and winery buildings are small, they look to design and build a new building in the near future.
Mark concluded, “We’re trying to grow into a destination that is popular for those who are looking to relax, have a great afternoon and have a place to unwind.”
Located on 359 Mountain Rd., Worthington Vineyard and Winery’s hours of operation will be Fridays and Saturdays from 12 p.m.- 7 p.m., and Sundays from 12 p.m.-6 p.m.