Blue Mountain officially opens inside 2 Giants

Several shots of the Hershey store, courtesy of Giant Foods.

I had mentioned a few weeks ago that Blue Mountain Vineyards & Cellars would become the second winery in Pennsylvania to open a shop inside a grocery store. That came to fruition on Sunday, Dec. 12, when Blue Mountain opened a shop inside a Giant Foods Store at 277 Hershey Road in South Hanover Township.

According to the release sent out by Giant, the wine “store within a store” initially will be open 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays. The Blue Mountain Wine Shoppe is approximately 600 square feet and located in the front
of the store.

Editor's note: Blue Mountain opened a second shop last Friday, Dec. 19. This one is inside a Giant store in Willow Grove, in suburban Philly.

Jeff Martin, executive vice president for sales and marketing for Giant, said, “The opening of the Blue Mountain Wine Shoppe enables us to continue to showcase and promote quality products found right here in Pennsylvania’s own back yard. This is the second in-store wine shop we have opened this year as we continue to provide customers with the convenience of purchasing wines from a well-recognized Pennsylvania vintner.”

The Blue Mountain wine list features more than 21 wines with a wide range of wine styles from dry and semi dry to sweet and dessert wines. These wines include Blush, Riesling, Chardonnay, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Meritage, Shiraz, Sangria and Ice Wine. Blue Mountain wines range in price from $10 to $45 per bottle. Customers also should be expected to find frequent buyer discounts as well as case discounts and monthly specials. All wine sales will occur in the Blue Mountain location with Blue Mountain staff.

Blue Mountain winemaker and proprietor Vickie Greff said that “our primary goal is to consistently produce world class wines that are recognized throughout the United State and world. In addition, our customers receive friendly and professional service from our staff. We strive to treat our customers as we would like to be treated ourselves.”

Located in Lehigh Valley in New Tripoli, Blue Mountain Vineyards has been in business for more than 23 years and is a member of the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail. Planted in 1986 by Joe and Vickie Greff, the vineyards at Blue Mountain have grown from 5 acres to more than 50 acres. Blue Mountain Vineyards has received regional, national and international recognition for the quality of its wines. In April 2008, the wine trail was granted the designation of an American Viticulture Area, which allows Blue Mountain to label their wines as estate bottled.

This is the second wine shop within a Giant. Allegro Vineyards from southern York County opened a shop in early November inside the Enola store at 310 East Penn Dr. Owner Carl Helrich said recently that sales at the shop, completely staffed by Allegro employees, have been excellent and that he has seen a particular interest there in the winery's dry wines, even moreso than what they sell at the winery.