Blue Bear Ease blends blueberries, white grapes

Blue Bear Ease?

Could be the name of the horse running in the second race today at Penn National. Maybe something you'd find in the gadget section of Bass Pro Shop. It certainly could be the name of one of those zillion colors that Sherwin Williams includes in its line of paints.

In this case it's the name of a popular blend that winemaker and owner Joanne Levengood nurtures at her Manatawny Creek Winery in Douglassville, Pa., unique. The winery recently sent an e-mail out that bottles of Blue Bear East are back on the shelves. That prompted a note from me to Levengood asking about the wine and its following.

Her reply: "We've been making the Blue Bear Ease for 4 years and we typically make about 500 gallons per year. It is pretty popular. We used to make a straight blueberry sweet dessert wine which I loved but didn't sell all that well. We started blending white grapes with blueberries to make a lighter style of fruit wine that people could enjoy by itself - not just for dessert. The addition of the grapes lowers the acidity of the overall blend and resulted in less sugar needing to be added to bring the wine into balance."

And there you have it.