Pour Yourself a Glass…

There are wineries you visit for the wine, and then there are places where the setting becomes just as memorable as what’s poured into your glass. Worthington Pond Farm & Gardens is one of those places.

What began in 2000 as a run-down turkey farm has slowly been transformed into a beautiful private park filled with gardens, rustic buildings, walking paths, and quiet corners meant to be enjoyed. More than 20 carefully tended gardens overflow with daylilies, hydrangeas, hibiscus, and seasonal blooms, making the property feel like a little world of its own.

In May 2022, another chapter began when Worthington Pond opened its farm winery. And perhaps my favorite part of the story is where the wine is made—in the farm's original Sugar Shack, once used for boiling maple sap and now home to their winemaking operation. It’s wonderfully rustic, wonderfully personal, and exactly the kind of place I love discovering along the vineyard trail.

So pour yourself a glass and come along with me to Worthington Pond Winery…

An Afternoon Made for Lingering

One of the pleasures of visiting a small farm winery is discovering that the wine is only part of the experience. At Worthington Pond, there seemed to be something around every corner—a garden to wander through, goats and their very attentive four-legged supervisor, a quiet pond, and plenty of places to simply sit and enjoy the afternoon.

We settled in with a bottle of Private Picnic Riesling, a couple of warm pretzels, and live music drifting across the lawn. Nothing elaborate was required. Good wine, something to nibble on, beautiful surroundings, and nowhere we particularly needed to be.

Those are often my favorite vineyard days—the ones that aren't really about checking another winery off a list. They're about slowing down long enough to enjoy where you are.

Private Picnic Riesling

Naturally, a place like this called for a wine named Private Picnic. We were so happy Alexa recommended this one.

This Riesling turned out to be just right for a relaxed summer afternoon—enjoyed outdoors with warm pretzels, conversation, and music in the background. And sometimes that's as complicated as a wine recommendation needs to be.

Wine doesn't always need an occasion. Sometimes the place becomes the occasion.

Hibiscus Red

And then there were the hibiscus. "Boyfriend Bob" always at the ready to show scale!

Among all the greens of the gardens, these enormous crimson-red blossoms simply demanded attention. That saturated red against fresh summer foliage is exactly the kind of color combination that stays with me long after I've left a place.

For a jewelry designer, inspiration doesn't always arrive as a finished idea. Sometimes it begins with nothing more than a color: hibiscus red, leaf green, the pale gold of a glass of Riesling. I tuck those combinations away, knowing that eventually they may find their way onto my worktable.