Worthington Vineyards & Winery sits on Mountain Road in Somers, in Connecticut’s northeast corner near the Massachusetts border, about 30 minutes northeast of Hartford. The winery is the working centerpiece of Worthington Pond Farm, a nearly 100-acre property built around a beaver pond, a rustic covered bridge, and more than 20 cultivated gardens filled with day lilies, hydrangeas, and hibiscus.
The Murdoch family’s winemaking story started with a crab apple harvest. Mark and Karen Murdoch turned an overabundant crop into crab apple jam, then into crab apple wine, and the hobby stuck. Two decades of home winemaking and vineyard visits later, the couple set out to open a place of their own, ultimately staying close to home in Somers, where they’d raised their sons, Alex and Kevin. Worthington Pond Farm had already existed since 2000, converted from a former turkey farm into a private park for recreation and events; it opened as a licensed farm winery in May 2022. Today, it’s family-run across two generations, with Karen, a chemical engineer, leading the winemaking, and Kevin, a certified winemaker, overseeing both production and the tasting room.
The vineyard holds more than 2,000 vines along Mountain Road, plus a smaller site in nearby Ellington, planted with cold-hardy hybrids: Chambourcin, Cayuga, Corot Noir, Vidal, Marechal Foch, and Frontenac Blanc. Grapes are hand-harvested each fall with the help of volunteers. Wines are made in a converted maple-sugar shack on the property, kept at a steady 55–60 degrees to control aging, and still bottled, corked, and labeled by hand.
Beyond the tasting room, the farm serves as a four-season recreation spot: canoes, kayaks, and paddleboats for touring the pond; a mile of hiking trails that connect to the neighboring Camp Aya Po system; bocce and cornhole courts; and a resident herd of goats. Winter brings ice skating, pickup hockey, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, and heated igloo rentals overlooking the pond. The covered bridge hosts private events for up to 120 guests from April through October, while the Warming House seats up to 50 for cooler-weather gatherings.
Wine List
- Perseverance
- Zinful Pleasure
- Worthington White
- Private Picnic
- Blueberry Bliss
- All That Razz
Facts
Est. 2022
Founders/Owners: Mark and Karen Murdoch
Worthington Pond Farm has operated as a private recreational park since 2000; it launched as a licensed farm winery in May 2022.
The vineyard spans two sites — the main Mountain Road property and a smaller planting in Ellington — growing Chambourcin, Cayuga, Corot Noir, Vidal, Marechal Foch, and Frontenac Blanc.
Wine club members can join the "Worthy Wine Club" for free online.
Kids are welcome on the grounds, including visits with the farm's goats, Stella, Dixie, and their kids, Billy, Peg, and Luna. The tasting bar itself is restricted to guests 21 and over.
