Made On Cape Cod: Cape Cod Winery

The Town of Falmouth has about 500 acres of farmland. This includes cranberry bogs, tree farms, horse farms and the Cape Cod Winery in East Falmouth.

The Cape Cod Winery was founded by Kristina Lazzari and her family in 1994; sitting on 8 acres, it is the largest vineyard on the Cape.

When they first opened Cape Cod Winery produced the wine on the premises using only grapes grown on their land. They cultivated six varieties of wine grapes to produce a Pinot Grigio, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Vidal and Seyval.

The wines vary from very dry to a very sweet dessert wine. According to the winery’s website, “The production is geared toward wines that match up with the finest seafood and gourmet cuisine available on Cape Cod.”

More recently the winery has brought in grapes from other regions to create lighter reds and fresh whites. The winery also incorporates fruits from around the Cape, such as cranberries and beach plums, blended into some of the wines.

The Lazzari family likes to say “the extraordinary wines [they] produce from these fruits reflect the very special character of Cape Cod sun, soil and climate that may be savored in each sip.”

Many believe that growing grapes on Cape Cod would not produce a quality wine. However, many connoisseurs recognize that the coastal region of Massachusetts is an exceptional grape-growing climate similar to that of the vineyards of southern France and northern Italy.

The Cape Cod climate does present challenges for the winery - humidity can cause the grapes to rot during the summer months. But this past growing season went very well. They recently finished harvesting the grapes by hand with the help of some very willing volunteers.

The Lazzaris do add seashells and compost to the soil to provide the additional minerals needed to develop their premium wines. Their methods seem to have worked as its Nobska Red is a past bronze medal-winner in the International Eastern Wine Competition.

The winery makes about 2,000 cases of wine a year, with 80 percent of sales generated by people who walk into the tasting room at the winery. The rest is sold at local wine shops.

The Lazzari family has created a peaceful and inviting atmosphere on this land, which includes a tasting room and a gift shop that in addition to the wine sells wine glasses, other wine accessories, aprons, decorative towels, fudge and chocolates, jellies and jams, and candles.

The Cape Cod Winery is located at 681 Sandwich Road, East Falmouth and online at www.capecodwinery.com .