Three-hundred years of wine history in RI

It is debatable when the French officially arrived in Rhode Island, but there's no disputing the impact they've had in building the agricultural foundation for the wine region. It is said that "certain plants that do not thrive elsewhere in New England grow profusely" along the South County Trail.

In the 1600s, French immigrants marveled at the peculiar climate, finding it proper for vineyards. They began harvesting the native—and potentially motherland—grapes to create delicious wines that were praised as being as good as Bordeaux. Soon exiled from the area, French Huguenots moved on to establish other notable wine regions in the U.S. and in countries like South Africa.

After prohibition, a French vintner from Romano Vineyards began producing sparkling champagne with great success in the same area. Romano was run by Italian winemasters with years of experience in winemaking and vineyard management in Italy and NY. They worked for the Italian Vineyard Company, "one of the leaders of the grape growing and wine producing industry in California," and settled in North Kingstown, RI.

At the time, Romano Vineyards was the largest vineyard operation in the Northeast with 125,000 grapevines, 100 acres of vineyard, and produced 100,000 gallons of wine. The “most influential New England winery was nearly realized in the late-1930s but the Navy acquisition ended it all.”

And just like that, a promising, sought-after wine region in Rhode Island was forgotten again, left untouched, unloved, and underappreciated for decades. Until now.