Public Hearing Set on New Winery, Tasting Room in North Branford

Photo of Jon Rose and wine grapes at Rose’s

NORTH BRANFORD, CT - A public hearing has been scheduled August 17th for a winery building, tasting room and associated improvements on Rose’s Farm located at 27 Branford Road.

Work on the winery has been going on at Rose’s for well over a year at the farm located near the Branford/North Branford line.

Last year, Jon Rose talked to Patch extensively about his plans to open up a winery on the property which abuts Van Wilgen’s.

Rose said idea to turn the area that buffers Rose's and the adjacent Van Wilgen's into a farm winery Rose said, came from his uncle and father, who are the patriarch's of the family farming business.

"My uncle started cleaning up the area and once we saw it open up my dad said – "Maybe we should plant grapes."

Rose immediately took that idea, noting: "Farm wineries are very popular in Connecticut now. I thought to myself, let's do this!"

Rose said he began researching farm wineries, learning everything he could about the industry.

The farm winery won unanimous approval from the Planning and Zoning Commission. Now it is time for the public hearing stage.

Rose said the family is also planning to build a full-scale tasting room on top of the hill that sits where the grapes are currently growing.

He said when the winery does finally open it'll likely, at first, be a combination of wines from grapes grown at Rose's and some wines from other grapes brought in.

"We'll probably have about eight different varieties of wines when we first open," Rose said.

Rose said while the winery is an important aspect of the family business, it is only an aspect, and the rest of the farming the family does will remain a priority for the family as it has been for centuries.

Robert Rose, born in 1594 in England and died in 1664 in Branford, was the first Rose to settle in Connecticut. Now in the 11th and 12th generations, some of the original descendants of Robert Rose still live on the grounds of their original home on the farm.

But while family farming will always be in the Rose blood, it is clear that Jon Rose believes that the farm winery gives the family an opportunity to take it to another level.

Photo by Jack Kramer