Carolyn's Sakonnet Vineyard Wins Big at Int'l Wine Competition
GoLocalProv Food Team
Carolyn's Sakonnet Vineyard Wins Big at Int'l Wine Competition
The vineyard received a Gold Medal for Blessed Blend, a Silver Medal for Port and a Bronze Medal for Winterwine. The wines were judged blindly in flights of 8. The winning wines are available for tasting and for purchase at the vineyard. They can also be purchased at wine shops throughout MA and RI.
This was the 14th year for the festival, which featured 75 judges, all with national and international credentials, from multiple markets in Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, the United States and other wine regions of the world judged 3756 wines. In perhaps their tightest competition ever, the Finger Lakes International Judges were able to award 140 Double Gold and 284 Gold medals in the judging. Entries arrived from 20 countries, 50 states, and 6 provinces in Canada.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTFormerly known as Sakonnet Vineyards, these fields have been producing award-winning wines for over thirty years. In the spring of 2012, the vineyard was purchased by Carolyn Rafaelian, Founder and Creative Director of Alex and Ani, who is honored to continue the winemaking traditions at this agricultural treasure. The vineyard is home to an annual concert series, festivals and many other local events open to the public. Enjoy the vineyard for a variety of special occasions including weddings, corporate and charity events.
Great Moments in Alex and Ani History
On the Silver Screen
April 2011
Alex and Ani Hit Silver Screen
Local jewelry makers and retailers Alex and Ani has partnered with ScreenVision Direct, the worldwide leader in cinema advertising, on a project that includes playing a movie trailer advertisement in Rhode Island theaters. It represents a new type of advertising environment for Alex and Ani. Read More
Best Places To Work
May 2011
Alex and Ani Named One of Best Places to Work
The Alex and Ani jewelry company has been named on of “The Best Places to Work in Rhode Island" - recognition of the growth of the company and the culture. Read More
Fastest Growing Companies
August 2011
Alex and Ani Named One of America's Fastest Growing Companies
Leading business publication Inc. Magazine has ranked Designer Carolyn Rafaelian’s Alex and Ani, Inc. number 470 on its annual Inc. 500 list, jumping nearly 800 spots since last year’s ranking of 1,247 on the Inc. 5000. This exclusive ranking of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies recognizes Alex and Ani as the only Rhode Island based company to make the 500 list – a prestigious acknowledgment among the nation’s primary independent-minded entrepreneurs. Read More
$1M Donation to Bryant
January 2011
Alex and Ani Donates 1 Million to Bryant University
Alex and Ani, Inc. - named one of Inc. Magazine’s 500 fastest growing companies for 2011, has donated $1 million to Bryant University. The gift -- $100,000 a year for 10 years – will support the University’s nationally recognized International Business (IB) program. Read More
Biz Person of the Year
March 2012
Alex and Ani's Rafaelian RI Small Businessperson of the Year
Celebrating a substantial history as an established business, growth in the number of employees, innovativeness of products and contributions to the community, the U.S. Small Business Administration has announced Alex and Ani, Inc. Owner, Designer Carolyn Rafaelian, Rhode Island’s Small Business Person of the Year. The announcement means she will compete for the National Small Business Person of the Year. Read More
$1M Donation to RIC
September 2012
Alex and Ani Donates $1M to Rhode Island College
Alex and Ani, LLC has donated $1 million — $100,000 a year over 10 years — to Rhode Island College. In recognition of the donation to the college, the new $17 million Art Center currently under construction building will be named Alex and Ani Hall. Read More
Belcourt Castle
November 2012
Alex and Ani Founder Buys Belcourt Castle
Belcourt Castle has been sold to jewelry designer Carolyn Rafaelian for more than $3 million. The sale by the Tinney Family to the founder of Alex and Ani is the most recent in a series of acqusitions and expansions tied to the Rhode Island-based jewelry company. Read More
Difference Maker
December 2012
Carolyn Rafaelian: 12 Who Made a Difference in RI in 2012
You can go big or go home. Or, if you're Carolyn Rafaelian, you can go big, stay home, and do worlds of good with the great success you're generating as a business. Read More
Buying a Vineyard
December 2012
$8.95 Million Sale of Sakonnet Vineyards To Alex and Ani Final
Lila Delman has announced the sale of Sakonnet Vineyards in Little Compton, listed at $8,950,000, to Alex and Ani, the Cranston-based jewelry company. According to RI’s statewide MLS service, this is the highest sale in Little Compton in the last two years. Melanie Delman, President of Lila Delman, Susana Gustavson and Robin Nicholson, Broker Associates with the company, represented the seller. Read More
The Boss
March 2013
Alex and Ani Designer Rafaelian Appears on “The Boss”
Alex and Ani Designer and Founder Carolyn Rafaelian starred in NECN's "The Boss," on March 11, 2013 at 8pm EST.Giovanni Feroce, Alex and Ani CEO, appeared on NECN's 7am Morning Show with Steve Aveson and Bridget Blythe to promote the episode. Read More
Job Creation
September 2013
Alex and Ani Fuels Economy - Creates Thousands of Jobs in RI
Rhode Island’s economy may be stuck in a low growth gear, but Alex and Ani is developing into one of the bright spots for the Rhode Island economy according to a report by Bryant University’s John H. Chafee Center for International Business and The Center for Global and Regional Economic Studies. The Bryant report found that in 2012, the company directly or indirectly generated nearly 1,100 fulltime jobs in Rhode Island. Read More
Celtics Team Wine
November 2013
Celtics Name Carolyn’s Sakonnet Vineyard Official Team Wine
The Boston Celtics have named Carolyn's Sakonnet Vineyard as the official team wine, in a partnership announced today between the 17-time World Champions and the domestic, international-award winning wine producer in Rhode Island. Read More
Man of the Year
January 2014
Rhode Island’s Man of the Year: Giovanni Feroce
In 2013, no one man has done more to transform Rhode Island's self-confidence than Giovanni Feroce.
In just four short years, he helped to grow a small Rhode Island jewelry company from just $4 million in sales to over $200 million. No favorite son has spent more time and energy reinvesting in the Ocean State, between rebuilding a manufacturing base, to multiple million dollar donations to colleges in the state, to growing jobs. Read More
New CEO
March 2014
Alex and Ani Appoints Carolyn Rafaelian Interim CEO
Alex and Ani has announced that founder Carolyn Rafaelian has been named Interim CEO of the Cranston-based life-style brand company.
The company, which has grown to be one of the largest employers and manufacturers in Rhode Island, has been on a rocket of good news. Presently featured in a national ad for Bank of America, the Alex and Ani has been featured as a model for innovation, branding, and Made in America manufacturing. Read More
