Local growers help raise interest in agriculture

State Rep. Michael Rodrigues wasn't whining about the way he had to spend Friday.

Instead of making the almost daily commute to Boston, the Westport Democrat instead tossed aside the suit for jeans, boots and a University of Massachusetts Dartmouth windbreaker to lead state agriculture officials on a tour of the SouthCoast's farms and related businesses.

The tour, which included stops at the farms of Henry Arruda and the Santos Brothers, the Westport Shellfish Propagation Facility, Quansett Nurseries in Dartmouth and the Shy Brothers Cheese manufacturing facility, concluded with a walk around the Westport Rivers Vineyard and Winery.

The final stop included the presence of Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Ian Bowles and a couple hundred bottles of wine.

Owned by the Russell family, husband and wife Bob and Carol along with son Rob, provided the tour group with an exclusive look at the nooks and crannies that make up the wine producing facility.

Lasting about an hour before the group got to partake in a couple of samples, the government officials saw a section of the vineyards where some of the 50 varieties of grapes are grown before entering the barn that has been retrofitted to house the wines as they ferment and become the desire of wine connoisseurs.