Date: Fri 29-Dec-1995

Publication: Bee

Author: SHANNO

Illustration: C

Location: A-11

Quick Words:

McLaughlin-Solstice-sleigh

Full Text:

(Winter Solstice/Open House Party at McLaughlin Vineyards, 12/29/95)

Welcoming A Winter Wonderland

(with photos)

By Shannon Hicks

It had been on Michele Murphy's Christmas wish list for years: a winter sleigh

ride. She had never been on a sleigh ride before last Friday night. Thanks to

her husband's luck in seeing an ad in a newspaper and the ingenuity of

McLaughlin Vineyard manager Morgen McLaughlin, Michele was finally able to

enjoy her first, along with husband Tom and their son Kyle.

The setting could not have been more perfect: Morgen McLaughlin opened her

family's estate/vineyards to the public last Friday for an all-day open house

and an evening of sleigh rides. Thanks to the abundance of snow dumped on New

England by last week's two storms, there was plenty of snow for the

horse-drawn sleigh to be pulled easily around the estate. The night air was

crisp, but not bitterly cold.

The sky was clear and the stars were glimmering. Morgen had holiday music

playing from the estate's main house, and trees throughout the estate had been

decorated with white or red lights to illuminate the path for the sled, as

well as anyone who wished to walk the path that wound around the grounds.

A bonfire was lit in the lower field below the greeting house, so visitors who

wanted to enjoy the night air could warm their hands outdoors while waiting

for their turn on the sled.

There was even luminaria along the driveway leading in from the 28-acre

vineyard's main gate, welcoming visitors to the culmination of a week where

the public was invited to view the decorative lights of the estate, which won

special mention in The Bee 's holiday decorations contest this year. ("The

judges agreed the lights and decorations at McLaughlin Vineyards ... were

extraordinary and in a class by themselves," a story in the December 22

edition of The Newtown Bee read. "Because [the vineyard] is a commercial

enterprise, the vineyard and winery decorations were deemed ineligible for

contest prizes, but the display clearly won the hearts of the judges," the

story continued.)

Last Friday, the first day of winter, Morgen hosted the vineyard's first

"Winter Solstice" party. She decided to have the festive holiday party after

reading an issue of Martha Stewart Living , in which a calendar at the

beginning of the magazine mentioned a "Winter Solstice Party" for the first

day of winter.

"Martha Stewart is my idol," Morgen admitted last week. "I thought, `What a

great idea!'"

After reading the calendar listing about the winter solstice party, Ms

McLaughlin said she decided to try one of her own. Hosting an open house was

her original plan, she said, "then the sleigh rides came into play, and the

Bee decorating contest also worked to tie everything together." Morgen was

also excited about the sleigh ride aspect of the party, having never been on

one herself.

Friday afternoon at the winery was spent setting up the greeting house, where

visitors began pouring in later that evening. In addition to the sleigh rides

that began at 6 pm, Morgen was offering tastings of some of the vineyard's

most popular wines, homemade breads and wine jellies made from the vineyard's

wines. There was also a regular grape jelly, made from grapes grown in the

vineyard.

A wood stove warmed the main room of the building, where families, couples and

friends met and mingled Friday evening, admiring the estate and welcoming

winter. The building was built in the 1950s, originally a cow barn her

grandmother wanted on the grounds. It was later converted to living quarters

for a former vineyard manager, and now serves as a sort of greeting house.

Morgen was kept busy all evening, between offering wine tastings, answering

questions and visiting with guests, and keeping the sleigh ride schedule on

time.

To give the sleigh rides, Ms McLaughlin called all around the area and was

having very little luck in finding someone to hire for the rides until someone

suggested she contact Wood Acres in Terryville.

Ken and Joyce Wood, the owners of the farm, specialize in horse-drawn rides,

so Morgen struck gold when she contacted the Woods. In addition to sleigh

rides, Wood Acres also accommodates hay rides, weddings and anniversaries,

parades and other special occasions. Ken Wood was featured last year in First

Night Hartford.

For Friday's Winter Solstice party, Mr Wood donned a festive red hooded poncho

and a black top hat to add to the holiday atmosphere. The horse on sleigh duty

was Sir William, a beautiful black horse who was a champion about pulling the

sleigh over the same track well over a dozen times, and welcomed the curious

looks and tentative touches of children and children-at-heart adults all

night.

The 15-minute rides, which left from the lower level of the greeting house,

took revelers along the outer field of the farm, along part of the driveway

and around the vine fields before returning to the starting point for another

sleigh ride. Mr Wood had decorated his sleigh with large red bows, and there

were plenty of blankets for riders to pile on their laps or wrap up in.

The Narel family of Sandy Hook arrived at the vineyard a few minutes before 6

Friday night. They were the first group scheduled for a sleigh ride - the list

filled up almost as soon as Morgen put an announcement in the newspaper about

the open house/sleigh rides - and it would be a first for everyone in the

family.

Richard and Marita Narel, along with their children Rebecca, Lorraine and

Matthew Narel, waited inside for the sleigh to arrive at the greeting house,

sipping mulled cider and talking excitedly with Morgen and among themselves.

When Ken Wood and Sir William pulled up a little after 6 o'clock , the holiday

weekend was off and running for the Narels, and everyone else who joined in to

welcome winter at the vineyard.