Connecticut Celebrates Its “First Agricultural Product” Maple Syrup. Events This Weekend (March 20-21)


Since 2017, the State Senate has considered March to be “Connecticut Maple Month.” The designation is no coincidence. March in New England is when nights are cold enough and days warm enough for Maple trees to run their sap.

Vermont and Canada may be better known for their Maple Syrup, but Connecticut is also a significant producer, both commercially and in a surprisingly large number of home operations. Except along Long Island Sound, where the maritime influence reduces the range of this diurnal temperature variance, Connecticut is a producer of top quality maple syrup. Because it is produced so early each year, Maple Syrup is often called “Connecticut’s First Agricultural Product.”

Where are the Sugar Houses?
The MSPAC is the Maple Syrup Producers Association of Connecticut. The Association publishes a nifty map of Connecticut that is similar to the maps of Connecticut Breweries and Wineries produced by the Connecticut Beer and Wine Trails. Check it out on the MSPAC website, at: http://www.ctmaple.org/sugar-houses-open-to-the-public.html

There are several opportunities this weekend, March 20-21, 2021.

Connecticut’s Maple Weekend
Members of the MSPAC hold their yearly Maple Weekend every March. This year, it takes place this Saturday and Sunday, March 20 and 21. The Sugar Houses will offer tours and explanations of how maple syrup is made.

Being in the great outdoors while visiting a Sugar House offers a nice escape in these days of Covid. But please make sure you wear masks and maintain distance from others while visiting.

Participating Sugar Houses include:

THE PROULX FAMILY
326 Mansfield Road (Route 89)
Ashford, CT. 06278 (about 10 miles from Storrs, CT)
(860) 429-1510
Email: [email protected]
Webpage: riversedgesugarhouse.com

BATS OF BEDLAM MAPLE FARM
Bob & Pat Dubois
101 Bedlam Road
Chaplin, CT (about 8 miles from Storrs, CT)
(860) 455-9200
Email: [email protected]
Open Sat. & Sun., March 20th & 21st, from 12 Noon to 5 PM

SABINE’S SUGAR HOUSE
Jack Sabine
72 Johnson Road
Columbia, CT (about 11 miles from Storrs)
(860) 550-4953Open Sat. & Sun., March 20th & 21st, from 9 AM to 3 PM

WILKINSON FARM
Mat & Cindy Wilkinson
Columbia, CT (about 11 miles from Storrs)
(860) 228-0030
http://www.wilkinsonfarm.com/index.html
Open Sat. & Sun., March 20th & 21st, from 10 AM to 3 PM

RICK’S SUGAR SHACK
Rick & Jill Walker
69 Collie Brook Road
East Hampton, CT 06424 (On Lake Pocotopaug, 8 miles east of Middletown; close to Fat
Orange Cat Brewery.)
(860) 267-7117
Facebook: Rick’s Sugar Shack
Open Sat. & Sun., March 20th & 21st, from 10 AM to 3 PM

SWEET WIND FARM
Arlow & Susan Case
339 South Road
East Hartland, CT (Near the Barkhamstead Reservoir, on the Massachusetts Border)
Open Saturday & Sunday, March 20th & 21st, from 10 AM to 4 PM
(860) 653-2038
www.sweetwindfarm.net

BROOKSVALE PARK SUGAR SHACK
Owned by the Town of Hamden
524 Brooksvale Avenue
Hamden, CT. 06518 (On Route 10, near Quinnipiac University, just north of New Haven)
(203) 287-2669
www.friendsofbrooksvale.org
Open Saturday, March 20th ONLY, from 10 AM to 2 PM
Event: public Maple Sugaring Day

BRIGHT ACRES FARM SUGARHOUSE
46 Old Kings Highway
Hampton, CT (Near Brooklyn & Danielson, in northeast CT, off I-395. Added bonus: Sharpe Hill
Vineyard is nearby!)
(860) 455-9654
Open Saturday, March 20th ONLY, from 11 AM to 4 PM
Features not only the Sugar House, but also maple products and locally-made goods in the Big Barn. Also features goats, geese and tractors.

WINDING BROOK SUGAR HOUSE
Wayne Palmer
54 Skinner Lane
Hebron, CT. 06248 (about 15 miles SW of Storrs, CT)
(860) 228-0246
Open Saturday & Sunday, March 20th & 21st, from 10 AM to 4 PM

GOSHEN HILL MAPLES
Pete Solari
1040 Goshen Hill Road
Lebanon, CT (between
Storrs and Norwich, CT)
(860) 465-6582
Email: [email protected]
Open Saturday, March 20th, from 10 AM to 4 PM; and
Sunday, March 21st, from 12 Noon to 4 PM

GREAT BROOK SUGARHOUSE
Mark Mankin
140 Park Lane (Route 202)
New Milford, CT. 06776 (just above Danbury)
(860) 210-2030
Open Saturday, March 20th, from 10 AM to 4 PM; and
Sunday, March 21st, from 12 to 5 PM

François Steichen founded and owns Frenchy’s Wine Road, a Connecticut company that writes
copy and content for the wine, spirits and cider industries.

He is a resident of Old Greenwich with 15 years’ experience in the Wine Industry. François started at Harry’s Wines in Fairfield; worked at Acker, Merrall and Condit, in New York, the oldest wine store in America; and has managed stores in Greenwich.

François holds the WSET Diploma, the gold standard in wine education. At 10 years of age, François took his first – chaperoned – sip of a sparkling wine. Since that moment, the magic of fermentation and spontaneously-produced bubbles has never truly relinquished its hold on his curiosity.