COVID OPERATIONS.   We are operating under the guidelines established for restaurants by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts which mandates that everyone must be seated at a table during their visit.    We request that all visitors, adults and children, remain seated at all times except when making necessary visits to the restrooms or when coming or going.

VISITING WITH CHILDREN

A visit to our winery is different than a visit to farms that focuses their attention on Family related activities like hayrides, Pick Your Own, Petting Zoos, Corn Mazes, and family games.  Our primary focus is presenting an adult beverage to adults, educating them to our vineyard and operations and hopefully finding long lasting customers that will support us going forward.  While we always welcome children to our farm and vineyard, it is with the understanding that we are not a farm that focuses on providing entertainment for children and that our focus is on adults.

Children must always stay with their parents.   We do not allow children running around tables or through the orchard or in the vineyard.  If you are looking for a relaxing lunch stop, enjoyable evening sunset, or are truly interested in learning about wine and viticulture, then visiting wineries with your kids is perfectly acceptable, and can be a lot of fun.    When planning a visit, it is important for parents to explain to children that are going to visit a farm/vineyard, which despite acres of open land, is not a playground.  Bring small games, books or electronics – iPods, iPads, etc. – to keep the kids occupied. If you plan to have a glass of wine after the tasting on a veranda in the sun or to watch the sunset, never underestimate the power of a deck of cards and a good game of “Go Fish” or “Cheat” if they are older.

For us, our winery is our home, our vineyard, our orchard, our place of business and a place where we hope people will experience our vision of what our work is all about.  We invite people to our special place so that they can gather with friends, relax and enjoy our wines, while experiencing food from our kitchen and the beautiful Town of Bolton, Massachusetts.  Like people you invite to your home, we invite people to our winery hoping that they can share in our experience, appreciate our hard work, and perhaps learn a little about our wines and our approach to winemaking.

Take a moment to explain to your children where they are going and what is expected.

Behavior should be the behavior expected in a restaurants, museums, libraries or stores, etc.  Most of our customer are want a quiet relaxing experience which is not going to be achieved if we allow our grounds to be used as a playground.

The throwing of objects, running or rolling around the grounds is not permitted.  There is a playground and baseball field at the bottom of the hill about 3/10th of a mile from the winery.  Consider driving or walking to the playground to burn of excess energy.

Noise should be kept to a minimum.  Screaming is not allowed.

Ponds are dangerous.  Like swimming pools, they present a clear and dangerous safety risk to children.  Our ponds are very deep and are for irrigation.  Remember, children must remain with their parents at all time and should not be allowed near any body of water without adult supervision.

What we grow is our livelihood.  Apples on the ground are recovered to produce Vodka.  Each year we find hundreds of people taking apples without paying for them or children picking apples and throwing them to the grounds or down the hill or into the ponds.  With hundreds of thousands of visitors each year, if everyone were to take an apple, we would have a financial loss of over $40,000.  Most people would not take an apple from a shelf in a grocery store without paying for it so we simply ask that you show us the same respect you show to grocery stores. One apple does make a difference.

Our flowers from our gardens are for everyone to enjoy and are intended to make our property beautiful.  Please do not allow your children to pick them.  Imagine how you would feel if you came home to people picking flowers on your property?

There are a lot of things that unattended and uninformed children will do without understanding that the activity is not appropriate.  Take the time to help your children understand the importance of and reason for rules.  Understanding what is acceptable at a playground, a church, a hospital or a farm can be a great learning experience for your children.   We are not a free-range venue for children to explore their independence so we ask our visiting parents to provide guidance.

Finally, please appreciate that parenting is a full-time job and drinking at work is not something we encourage.  We believe in a designated driver and a designated parent when spending time at a winery with your children.