Mazza: Growth has been a 'mixed bag'

The wine caucus at the Pennsylvania Winery Association on June 4 followed the unveiling of “Vintage 2012,” a five-year plan to double the impact of the Pennsylvania wine industry that was launched last year. Association president Bob Mazza said during a wide-ranging chat Thursday night that both the plan and the caucus are essential to fulfilling long-term goals as production increases and wineries continue to multiply.

“What [Vintage 2012] really means,” said Mazza, “is basically developing a funding steam that’s going to be consistent and something we can count on year after year so that we can begin to do some of the long-term marketing and some of the long-term quality initiatives to develop a reputation for Pennsylvania wines. It can be done to a certain extent, by individual wineries, but that’s very, very difficult. And we don’t have the size and scope of wineries in this state to accomplish that. Certainly if we had a Robert Mondavi located in Harrisburg or Adams County or something like that, Pennsylvania would get noticed. But we don’t have that type of producer. There’s a couple that kind of think they are, but they’re a long way from it. But, you know, we just don’t have the notoriety. I always say, boy, it’s a darn shame that Mario Andretti had to go to California to open up a winery when he was basically from Pennsylvania. It’s a darn shame he didn’t open up his winery in Pennsylvania. That would have been a real boost for our industry to have someone with that name recognition to be in our industry.”

Mazza Vineyards is located in North East, Pa., smack up by Lake Erie, with New York a hop, skip and a jump to the east and Ohio a bit farther away on the western horizon. Welch’s is the major employer, and it’s one of only a couple of towns in the United States that has more than five wineries. Six currently are in operation there. Mazza said his was the seventh winery to be established in the state, back in 1973. He noted that while there has been plenty of growth across the state, “in certain areas we probably have not met our expectations and in other areas we’ve probably exceeded them, so its kind of a mixed bag.”

He continued: “To be honest with you, I didn’t envision as many wineries as we have in Pennsylvania, but I also had expected that he the wineries that would be in business would be considerably larger than they are. I guess I expected fewer wineries and larger producers, but in fact we have the numbers greater but they’re tending to be smaller operations. . . . I guess I just expected the growth curve to be a little bit different.

“Some of them start fairly small and very conservative, and others are starting out almost California-style, investing millions of dollars in their facilities . . . and, you know, I don’t know what their expectations are. But often times I see a lot of money being spent and I look at wineries that have been around 20, 25 years and those wineries could barely justify that type of investment. But everybody gets into the business for different reasons, I guess. Some folks, as I say, [it’s] California style. They’re looking to make a statement. Put up a facility perhaps that’s very prestigious and that’s fine. That’s good for the industry. But if I take a look at what their return will be, it will never be an operation that . . .will give a decent return on their investment.”

This recent caucus was encouraging, Mazza said, not only because it’s the first of what hopefully will be many but that so many legislators participated. More than 25 attended along with members of the wine association and the state Department of Agriculture. No doubt, Mazza agreed, part of the lure is how much making and drinking wine are in vogue these days.

“I firmly believe that it’s a type of business that’s exciting and its growing and there’s a lot of interest in it,” he said, “and people want to be involved and they want to be associated with it.

“It’s definitely a very sexy business, there’s a certain amount of romance and sizzle . . . to the wine business. It’s got a certain amount of cachet in the business world. I see it in different events that I attend. I’m sitting at a dinner. It s a diverse group of people, and as soon as they figure out you’re in the wine business, boy, the attention and the conversation just kind of swings over to the wine. You maybe have people in the construction business, whatever else they’re in, but it just seems like wine just kinda like, boy, it’s something people want to talk about, they want to learn more about it. It just has that kind of draw, I guess.”

A letter from (wine) camp: Day 1

Photos courtesy of Nina Kelly: from left, Jim Osborne, Cellar Master at Chaddsford, takes aim at a barrel, and campers relax during their official welcome.

Courtesy of Nina Kelly, the director of communications for the Chester County Conference & Visitors Bureau, here's a first-day summation of the Brandywine Valley Wine Camp. We plan to continue these posts throughout the weekend for the filled-to-capacity event, which runs through Sunday:

The Brandywine Valley Wine Camp got off to a rousing start this Friday evening (more details to follow). What is this wine camp, you ask? It is the brain-child of Greg Edevane, director of sales and marketing at the Chester County Conference and Visitors Bureau. The three-day, two-night weekend "camp" is dedicated to fun, food, wine and winemaking in the Brandywine Valley area of PA. The schedule is as follows: Friday starts at the Chaddsford Winery with a "Barrel Tasting in the Cellar" followed by a picnic dinner and concert under the stars. Overnights are at guests choice of cozy Bed & Breakfasts in the area. Saturday starts with a great breakfast at said B&B's - then to Kreutz Creek Vineyard in West Grove for "A Walk through the Vineyards" - off to lunch and a wine paring at Paradocz Vineyard, then "Vines to Wines the Crush" at Twin Brook Winery. Dinner Saturday evening is at the wonderful Brandywine Prime in Chadds Ford. Sunday starts off with another hearty breakfast and off to learn about "The Chemistry of Winemaking" at Stargazers Vineyard in Coastesville. Guests are then free to explore area treasures such as Longwood Gardens, Brandywine River Museum, QVC Studios and much more with the Brandywine Sampler coupon books that are included in their welcome package. But I digress - back to the beginning and how much fun Friday night was . . .

Campers arrived at Chaddsford Winery at about 4:30 p.m. The Chaddsford Winery is a magical place where a 17th century Colonial barn has been transformed into one of Pennsylvania's premier wineries. Here they were greeted with at refreshing glass of Spring Wine, a light delightful light wine that has become a favorite at Chaddsford during the warm weather season. After a welcome reception (name tags included) the group was escorted by Jim Osborne, the Cellar Master at Chaddsford for a very entertaining tour through the barrel aging process. Types of oak barrels used at Chaddsford are American, French and Hungarian, according to Jim and each add a subtle difference to the wine. Some wines which are not aged in barrels are known as "unoaked" and one such wine at Chaddsford is their famous "Naked Chardonnay". Campers compared oak-aged Chardonnay to the "Naked" version as well as several red wines in various stages of the aging process. After the cellar tour the group enjoyed adelicious picnic dinner of chilled salmon, steak and grilled vegetables with their favorite Chaddsford Wines. Pastries and fresh fruits followed as the air was filled with the sounds of the City Rhythm Orchestra, a fabulous band that played big band favorites while guests danced under the stars. It was truly a glorious night and a great kickoff to this inaugural (but destined to be annual) event. Look for an update on the rest of the "Camp" and don't miss the "Summer Nights Under the Stars" concerts at Chaddsford Winery Friday nights during the summer.

Wine caucus indicative of change that's ahead

Bob Mazza’s winery was the seventh in the state when it opened in 1973. Now in his fourth term as president of the Pennsylvania Winery Association, he has seen the industry in this state and elesewhere do more than take root. It’s developed a sexiness that didn’t exist when he and his wife Kathie put in their first vines.

“No question about it,” he said during a phone conversation Thursday night. “We kind of have a saying that years ago, you know, we were kind of lumped in with the drug dealers and the criminals, being in the wine business. It wasn’t the type of business that commanded any amount of respect. It was like, you were, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, it sounded like you had a problem because you were governed by this particular governmental agency. Today, with all the positives that come out, from the wine business, in terms of the health benefits, in terms of the lifestyle, in terms of other neat things that are associated with wine in terms of agritourism and land conservation and maintaining green space and vineyards … it’s very, very well received now.”

He and others participated on June 4 with more than 25 members of the state legislature in a one-day wine caucus, according to a story on the Pennsylvania Winery Association (PWA) Web site. It was held at PWA's headquarters in Harrisburg. This was the first, and Mazza said assuredly that it won’t be the last. “We’ll certainly have, let s just call them get-togethers, in order to keep caucus members apprised of what’s going on in our industry and what some of the challenges are that we face and some of the good things that we’re doing as well. Just have this core nucleus of legislators that are generally interested in this business to really be our ambassadors in the rest of the legislature.”

Mazzza said it’s “imperative to build this core group of legislators” that are interested in the wine industry and seeing it grow. The state’s wine association notes that Pennsylvania is the fifth largest wine grape producer in the nation and ranks eighth in wine output, amounting to about 340,000 cases in 2005. There are more than 150 wine grape growers and over 120 wineries. More will open this year; Hauser Estate, located west of Gettysburg, is schedule to open next month. “You know, when legislation comes down the pike," Mazza continued, "we’ll have a core group of legislators that are really going to go to bat for us and help our industry where and when it needs help.”

As for how residents of the Commonwealth might interpret this meeting and the push toward developing the industry -- the goals of that initiative in a recently released plan entitled "Vintage 2012" -- Mazza was frank. “I suspect the average person might just regard it as another special interest group,” he said. “And let’s call a spade a spade; yes, we are a special interest group, but by the same token we do generate quite a bit of economic impact for the Commonwealth and we create jobs and we pay taxes. So yes, bottom line is, we are a special-interest group, but I think our interest is certainly in keeping with the average citizen, too.”