2021 La Garagista "In a Dark Country Sky", Vergennes, Vermont

Domaine La Garagista is located in Vermont on Mount Hunger in the Châteauguay Forest and on Lake Champlain in the Champlain Valley. We grow alpine wine, but also ciders and cofermentations, an ancient practice that encourages vibrant conversations between our orchards and vineyards. The lands for which we care have been part of small homestead farming for over two hundred years. We practice a whole-farm and diverse agriculture focused on the marriage between soil, plant, and sky where we are not only growing wine, but also vegetables, fruits, flowers, and herbs for ourselves and our tiny kitchen and for our pop-up bottle shop and wine bar Forêt Caviste.

We farm four parcels: two vineyards in the mountains, and two vineyards in the valley. The work we do at the farm and winery, both in the field and in the cellar, is inspired by the energy of forest edge ecology, and guided by regenerative, permaculture, and biodynamic thought. We try to let all elements of the farm speak for themselves accompanied by our stewardship.

Our mission is to care for our land in creative and natural ways with plantings of cold hardy hybrid grape vines, cross pollinations between European wine grapes and indigenous grapes that grow here in the northeast. We hope to make way for the honest narrative told by the wines and ciders that express our unique landscape and each vintage year, and share in and support the spirited food and agriculture of our community.

We began planting Domaine La Garagista in 2007, and our first vintage was in 2010. In 2018, Camila Carrillo came on as assistant winegrower, and began to develop her own label La Montañuela. She became a partner in 2021. Willa Deely began helping manage the cider program in 2019, and made her first cofermentations under her Disciple Cider label. Anna Travers joined fully in 2021 and has begun to make micro-vintages of her Lilith Wines label. The newest member is Sarabeth Ivy Hurst, who is focused on viticulture and the orchards. These dynamic women and their labels are all currently imprints under La Garagista. Together, we are the hands and hearts that make up a poweful little collective: Gruppo Garagista.