First Crush Winery on Cape Cod | Captain Freeman Inn

by Donna Cain

Every Saturday afternoon/evening is date night for these two innkeepers. We have arranged for a good friend and former employee, Espi, to watch the inn for us. It’s comforting, even knowing that the inn will be full, that Espi will take good care of our guests in our absence. This summer we decided to explore new areas of the Cape and then have an early dinner out.

For our first outing we decided to check out a new winery in Harwich that has been getting quite a bit of buzz- First Crush Winery! What a wonderful treat. Their physical location can be misleading as their winery is in a commercial area in Harwich.

The building may not look like a winery but what’s inside was quite amazing.

First Crush Winery’s business philosophy is to procure the highest quality wine grapes, from one of the best wine growing regions in America. Subsequently, and only four days from harvest, winemaker Dr. Frank spends the next year nurturing the end result handcrafting them into award winning wines!

First Crush Winery is fortunate to have a close relationship with a family of growers in northern California, located in the Suisun Valley AVA. Their vineyards border Napa Valley and benefit from a Mediterranean-like climate, fertile soils with volcanic minerals and significant marine air influences during the summer. The four-generation Lanza family, maintain 250 acres of pristine vineyards within walking distance to Napa Valley on the southeast, closest to the Stagg’s Leap District.

We love red wine and decided to taste their Cabernet Sauvignon, Primativo Zinfandel and Sangiovese. All three were quite remarkable!

Also looking forward to trying their Super Tuscan Blend and Malbec.

Last fall they submitted two big reds in a noted San Francisco International competition, the Artisan Awards. They were thrilled when the Cab blend earned silver medal and the Zin blend earned gold. Not bad for an east coast winery going up against the best in the west!

Really looking forward to purchasing some cases from them in July when last years grapes are ready to sell.

Thanks Frank for a wonderful tour. We were so impressed with your passion and results of creating such a unique operation on Cape Cod. I also loved your collection of spikkits

and antique bottle openers

and that beautiful marble table.

After our wine tasting we decided last minute to have dinner at Cape Sea Grill. We love sitting at the bar and had a great meal of scallops for Donna and steak for Byron.

And we found our dream home on the beach just down the road from the restaurant…..

What a fantastic evening! Consider a stay at the Captain Freeman in one of our deluxe porch rooms and enjoy a glass of First Crush Wine while sitting on your private porch overlooking our beautiful back gardens.

We’d be glad to make a reservation for you for the wine tasting and pretty sure you’ll want to purchase some bottles afterwards. We are really looking forward to the Super Tuscan Blend we are having with dinner tonight.

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