The Vineyard at Seven Birches

We went on a winery adventure and came looking for this winery. They were closed but willing to open the store, let us peruse, purchase and enjoy on their property! They also make great sandwiches (with my new favorite, maple mayo!!) We had a great time and are quite thankful for their hospitality!

I was well confused by the lay out of this property (see here:
). Facing the buildings, all the way to the right is a gift shop where you can buy apples, cider, candles, souvenirs, etc. Next door to it, and run entirely separately, is a café where you can get some of the best apple-​themed sandwiches of your life (or so I’m told). And next door to that, and run entirely separately, is a winery. I came here specifically to go apple picking after my slow cruise down the Kanc, but that I got to sample wines, too?
How could my day get any better?
When I first poked my head into the open, clean, rustic space that is the winery there was no there. So, I walked back across the property to the gift shop to ask if someone was supposed to be there. She assured me there was. So, I walked back across the property to the winery where a woman was cashing out a plethora of customers. I patiently waited behind two older couples until it was my turn. Could I try the wines? Yes. One sample was complimentary. To try all seven wines, I’d have to pay $ 5, but I’d also get a free «Seven Birches» wine glass in the process. Take my money.
1. Chardonnay — Possibly one of the best Chard’s I’ve ever had. I don’t like whites. I definitely don’t like Chardonnay’s. But Seven Birches? It’s very easy to drink. It’s very mild, silky, and could compliment possibly any food you’re eating. Definitely impressed and struggled with buying/​not buying it.
2. Merlot — It’s okay, nothing too memorable in my opinion.
3. Cab — I thought their Cabernet Sauvignon tasted like straight-​up grape juice; probably not something I would necessarily get myself.
4. Syrah — Whoa. Just… whoa. I’ve never tasked a Syrah quite like this. It tasted like tobacco. And the aftertaste? Like smoking a nice cigar. VERY weird… yet, entirely pleasurable. I regret whole-​heartedly not purchasing this. I am a silly, silly girl.
5. Malbec — Like the Merlot, nothing really stood out to me about this. Would I drink it? Of COURSE I would. But would I sip it and savor it? No, but it is a dangerously easy drinking red wine for sure!
6. Apple — This is one of those «dangerous» adult beverages. You know the kind — it tastes sooooooooooooo good that you just keep drinking it… until the room is spinning because you’ve forgotten that there’s alcohol in it. Especially impressive considering the ABV is upwards to 14%.
7. Blueberry — Very authentically blueberry tasting, which I appreciated since I come from a top-​producing blueberry state and we’re all genetically predisposed to tell the difference between blueberry flavoring and flavored with blueberries.
The woman working here (can’t remember her name) was also a joy to spend some time with. She was fun and enthusiastic about life and her job, and I would highly recommend talking with her!
All in all — this place truly is a «gem» hidden in the mountains of New Hampshire. It’s sad that they don’t distribute their wine outside of the immediate area, but I also respect and understand that they’re trying to keep it small and local. Definitely worth checking out if you’re in the area (or looking for something to do post Kanc drive)!

Nice tasting room. Very nice customer service. Their wine is very good. My favorites are the Cab, the Malbec and their Chardonnay. While it’s true the café and gift shop only accept cash, the winery does however accept credit/​debit cards. I returned with my glasses from a previous tasting and they were nice enough to let me try a few other wines.

The atmosphere here is very happy and fun. My parents and I ate cider donuts and relaxed a bit while we enjoyed the view. Soon after, we did a wine tasting with an employee named Jennifer. She was very friendly, enthusiastic and knowledgeable. Definitely worth a visit in the late summer, early fall to enjoy the wine and apples.

We had seen their wines while visiting Windy Ridge orchards in the past and was really looking forward to this visit when I read they had built a large building to house the winery and tasting room at Windy Ridge. The tasting room is large and there are glass windows which let you view the workings of the winery. We saw grapes being crushed while we were there.
Tastings just started in this new building in July and in my opinion they still need to work out some kinks. You can taste one wine for free or 5 for $ 5. We opted for the five for five. We were each given a packet of cards which had all the wines available for tastings along with their descriptions, with instructions to lay out five cards in the order we wanted to taste them. Neat idea!
Here is the first problem — there are only three or four tables in this enormous tasting area. All of them were filled and we were told we could go outside on the porch, as long as we didn’t go in the grass. We grabbed a table on the porch, lined our cards up on the table and never saw the woman again! Now this was the weekend before Columbus Day and they were a little busy, but they have to either put more tables in the tasting room or come up with a better system. I went in with our glasses and the card of what we wanted to try and got our first samples. The pours were generous. When we were ready for the next sample my husband had to go hunt the woman down to get it. After that we saw one of the tables inside had opened up and grabbed it. Our service improved a bit at that point.
The next problem — the wines just aren’t that good. Between my husband and I we tried ten wines and there were only three we liked. The Riesling, the Cabernet and the Merlot were all good and we did buy a bottle of the Cabernet and Merlot. Most of the others either had an off taste or tasted watery. Maybe they were too young?
The final problem — there doesn’t appear to be any running water in the tasting room. You get to keep your glasses as part of the $ 5 tasting and when I handed them to the woman, she grabbed them, still with a few drops of wine in them, and wrapped them in tissue paper. Yuck. At one point during the tasting my husband really disliked one of the wines and he was looking for a dump bucket or any place to get rid of it. Nothing. He had to drink it. He didn’t have the option to rinse his glass of have a drink of water at that point either.
If you do decide to go, bring cash! It’s cash only although there is an ATM in the gift shop.