Hopkins Vineyard

Hopkins Vineyard is a winery in Southbury, CT. The vineyard grows 12 varieties of grapes in a setting overlooking Lake Waramaug and produces award-winning whites, reds, and sparkling wines. The property offers winery tours, events, and a gift shop, with seasonal opening hours that vary from four to seven days a week depending on the time of year. Visitors can sample the wines on site, bring outside food to enjoy in the outdoor picnic area, and bring well-behaved, leashed dogs and cats both indoors and outdoors. Reservations are taken for parties of eight or more.

In 1979, Bill and Judith Hopkins transformed their family's dairy farm into a vineyard, one of the first in what has become a thriving Connecticut industry, and filed for the farm winery permit that same year. The Hopkins family connection to the land goes back much further: Elijah Hopkins purchased the farm in 1787 after returning from the Revolutionary War, and his ancestor Stephen Hopkins was a passenger on the 1620 Mayflower voyage. William L. Hopkins took over the running of the family dairy farm in 1956, and in 1988 the U.S. Department of Agriculture honored the Hopkins Farm as a Bicentennial Farm, recognizing that it had remained in the same family for two centuries. Restoration of the 19th-century barn began in 1980. The vineyard is described by the family as the oldest family-owned and operated winery in Connecticut and is a National Bicentennial farm. The current team includes founders Bill and Judith Hopkins, owners Jorge "George" Criollo and Hilary Hopkins Criollo, and winemaker Jim Baker.

Hopkins Vineyard is located on Hopkins Road. It holds a rating of 4.70. As the oldest family-owned and operated winery in Connecticut, it draws on more than two centuries of continuous family stewardship of the same farm.