Regular readers of this blog know that I visit McLaughlin Vineyards on a regular basis. They are one of the closest farms to my home and their Vista Riposa is a red wine that goes with just about everything I eat. This past weekend, I visited Digrazia Vineyards and Winery and enjoyed that as well.

This time, I took notice of the passports—the Passport to Connecticut Farm Wineries, a program sponsored by the Connecticut Farm Wine Development Council.

The Passport program is an adventure in Connecticut wine tasting. The way it works is that you pick up a blue passport at any of the participating vineyards on the Connecticut Wine Trail. Visit at least 14 of the 26 wineries and have them stamp your passport. Submit your stamped passport to a participating winery by November 8, 2009 and you will be entered into a drawing for these prizes:

First Prize: January 31 to February 13, 2010. 13-night stay at the Benalmadena Palace, Benalmadena, Costa, Spain.

Second Prize: February 14-27, 2010. 13-night stay at the Benalmadena Palace, Benalmadena, Costa, Spain.

Additional Prizes: 15 Weekend Getaways, two nights, one room double occupancy at the Courtyard by Marriott Norwich, Norwich, CT.

First and second prize include one room double occupancy and round trip airfare for two to Spain.

I’m not able to find any information online about the 2009 program, but here are the passport results from 2008. Visit ctwine to download a brochure of the Connecticut Wine Trail.

I decided that this is the year I’m going to get my Passport stamped! Cecelia (my childhood friend) will be joining me in this endeavor. That means you can look forward to a series on our adventures in wine! So here’s the deal—you can sit there and read about all the great wine we’re tasting or you can get out there and get a Passport of your own. Better still—you can do both!

By the way, if you’re in the area and want to do a meet-up for any of the tastings, let me know!