Featured Vendor for this week is Coastal Vineyards

David Neilson from Coastal Vineyards.   

We've been waiting all year for the arrival of locally grown peaches, blueberries, corn, heirloom tomatoes and even early apples at the Braintree Farmers Market hosted by Sustainable Braintree.  The season goes by so fast here in Massachusetts so please come on down and support your local farmer and enjoy the fruits of their labor before it's too late.  In the days before the market was established folks needed to make special trips out of town to find these local treasures but now you can purchase them direct from the growers each Saturday from 9 to 1, rain or shine, at the Braintree Town Hall Mall at One JFK Memorial Drive.  Come on down and see what the buzz around town is all about.

   This coming Saturday, August 20th, we are offering a yoga workshop before the market opens.  Join Jill at 8 a.m. on the front steps of the Braintree Town Hall.  Please bring your mat. A special thanks goes out to our Yoga Coordinator, Erin Monroe, whose been putting these inspiring workshops together for the market.  Thanks Erin.

   Our Featured Vendor for this coming Saturday is David Neilson from Coastal Vineyards.  David has been working in conjunction with the market since this past spring in an effort to introduce local wines to our customers.  The criteria for selling local wines at Massachusetts farmers' market has very strict regulations that include permission from the MA Dept. of Agriculture as well a special licensing from the towns where they are sold.  Based on feedback from market patrons we were confident that offering wines would be well supported.  Thanks to David's determination to make it happen we are finally able to offer local wines at the Braintree Farmers Market.  

Coastal Vineyards is a small vineyard and winery located on the southeastern shore of Massachusetts in South Dartmouth.  It was started in 2004 by David & Linda Neilson. They planted 4200 grape plants in 2005 and 4800 grape plants in 2006 and meticulously cared for, their eight acres of vinifera grape vines to produce the highest quality grapes. Their grape varieties include Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc, Gewurztraminer, Riesling, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc.

Coastal Vineyards produces small batches of fine creative wines produced from their estate grown grapes. Their approach to winemaking is to bring out the wonderful fruit flavors of each varietal while also blending different varieties to create unique bouquets and mouth feels that cannot be found with individual varieties.

They will be introducing many of their selections of their 2010 Vintage this weekend.  Their 2010 Estate Riesling, 2010 Estate Gewurztraminer, 2010 Seyval Blanc, 2010 White Wave, 2010 Beach Rose, 2010 Vidal Blanc.   They will also be introducing their 2009 Reds.  Their 2009 Merlot, 2009 Cabernet Franc, 2009 Seaside Red. Enjoy your market foods with a wonderful artisan crafted local wine to complete your meal. It doesn't get any better than this.

The second half of the market season is quickly approaching and we're making a plea for volunteers to help us out at the market. We're currently looking to fill the setup position before the market opens, working at the market manager tent during the operation of the market and the cleanup slot to assist with putting away items used during the market. Try it once or whenever you have time and help us keep the market a valued treasure in Braintree. To sign up fill out our Volunteer Sign Up at www.sustainablebraintree.org/food or email our Volunteer Coordinator, Marie Vega, at mariev@sustainablebraintree.org for more information. Every little bit helps. See you on Saturday.