Elaine tastes her way through the Green Mountain State.
The Vermont wine industry is unique in the United States: wines from the state are almost exclusively made from hybrids bred in Minnesota specifically to be cold hardy. The earliest plantings in Vermont were French–American hybrids but many proved too delicate for the cold winters of the region, leading to a greater interest in cultivars bred to survive snow and winter freeze instead. A very small amount of Riesling is also found in Vermont, but conditions are difficult for vinifera, and Riesling is unlikely to increase in stature within the...