The Wine Classroom

Making a move out of the neighborhood, but home remains the vineyard

2010-01-26T13:44:00.000-08:00

I've been at this for almost two years now, and to a large part it's a blog that has remained a largely a secret around the wine community. Much of that is my own fault: just not taking the time to bring it up to speed on Facebook and Twitter. Some of that has been the dinosaur syndrome -- not adapting quickly to new technology -- and a lot of it has just been the factor of time; i.e., not enough of it.

So it makes sense to move this to a platform where more should see it and be able to spread the word. I already blog sports fan issues on pennlive.com here at the Harrisburg Patriot-News. As of today, I've also switched The Wine Classroom to its new address: http://blog.pennlive.com/wine. Please bookmark that address.

That's really all that's changing. I'd like to continue looking at the regional wine industry, focusing on those who are now old-timers in these parts (hello Chaddsford and Blue Mountain and Boordy and Basignani, to name a few) and the many others who are just beginning to cast their fates in the soil and climate that provide a home for the vines. And by doing so, making more people who live in the mid-Atlantic some idea about how the wine industry is growing around them and where it's headed.

Still feel sometimes like I'm searching for my voice: It's neither graperadio.com nor Gary Vay-ner-CHUK of the Wine Library, two of my favorites sources of information on wine. It's probably closer to Pierre Carafe, a favorite nickname bestowed by a previous colleague who's known to more people as Joe Sixpack than Don Russell.

While still feeling much the novice, I know much, much more about regional wines and wineries than when I started. And there's plenty more to discover. I'll be happy to share that knowledge as I'm learning.

Penns Woods part of 'Taste Local' event

2010-01-22T21:12:00.000-08:00

Penns Woods Winery kicked out a release Thursday touting its participation in an event called "Taste Local: A Celebration of Regional Food, Wine, and Beer" that will be held from noon to 3:30 p.m. Feb. 6 in Malvern/Great Valley, Pa. Tickets are $35/person for the event, which will be housed at the Desmond Hotel & Conference Center.

Sounds like around 15 wineries and breweries will be offering samples of their product. You can purchase tickets by calling 610.249.2180 or clicking on this link.

Penns Woods has its tasting room in Chaddsford and its winery down near the Philly airport, in Eddystone. A member of the Brandywine Valley Wine Trail, the winery produces maybe a dozen and a half of largely dry reds and whites. Had a chance to sample (and savor) their wines twice, at a vintner's dinner before Christmas in 2008 and at Barrels on the Brandywine, a wine trail event that takes place annually every weekend in March. A few people that I respect, such as Craig Laban of the Philadelphia Inquirer and regional wine writer Roger Morris, laud the work that owner and winemaker Gino Razzi done since he took over what used to be called the Smithbridge Winery in 2004.

Wine Excellence awards provides firsts for Chambourcin and Chaddford

2010-01-21T19:24:00.000-08:00

I write about a number of wineries from the region that few people have heard about, either because they've just opened or don't get their product into the state store (in Pennsylvania) or into the hands of many merchants in Maryland.

But that's not meant to downplay the continued great work of some of this region's standbys, one being Chaddsford in southeastern Pennsylvania. Can't think of another regional winery that carries more weight as an innovator and is known in more corners of the world that wine drinkers occupy. And the winery's win Sunday in the annual judging by the Pennsylvania Wine Society serves as a reminder of where winemaker and co-owner Eric Miller has set the bar at a winery that will celebrate its 30th birthday in a couple of years.

Society president Paul Beesom said that there were several precendents this year: no Chambourcin had ever won before and Miller and Chaddsford had never won before. Those streaks are over, off the win of the fabulous 2007 vintage. Those who follow the progress of the local industry will recall that Pinnacle Ridge's 2007 Chambourcin was the Farm Show's top winer in 2009.

It took awhile, Beesom admitted, for Chambourcin to even be allowed into the competition.

"I had mixed feelings and a lot of us had mixed feelings of whether to include Chambourcin," he said. "But the feeling was that it was so close to a vinifera species that it could almost be one and also that it was the one area that this state and this area could make its mark with. And it does very well here. So we agreed to include it."

The Society has been around since 1987, but has only been judging PA wines for its Wine Excellence competition for eight years. Wineries are invited to submit their wines to the organization, which narrows the entries to a more workable number. This year, according to the Pennsylvania Winery Association Web site, there were 11, including two each from Allegro, Manatawny Creek and NW Pennsylvania's Presque Isle.

And more and more, Beesom said, it has become a pleasureable experience. "They're getting better," he said of the state's wines and the ones in particular that wind up in the competition. "Better every year, and I say that after each event. I can honestly say that of the 11 wines that we [judged], every one of them could be on a fine-dining restraurant list."

That wasn't the case early, he added. There were two or three good ones, the rest a "little shaky. But they're just getting better. I think the winemakers are learning more as they go along on how to do things right in this area."

If you want to check out some comments on Chaddsford wine, here's a link to the Web site where Lee Miller has assembled a collection of praise from magazines and bloggers alike. These include insight from some of the folks I follow regularly, including Delawareonline.com's Roger Morris (who also blogs under the heading of Been There Tasted That) and theother46.com's Brian Kirby.

Manatawny news: Syrah, new Web site

2010-01-20T18:53:00.000-08:00

So what's coming up this year at Manatawny Creek Winery in central Pennsylvania, which sits on the western flank of the group of wineries that make up the Berks County Wine Trail.

Owner and winemaker Joanne Levengood had a short list that included the first-ever release of a Syrah, using grapes grown in her vineyard and a few others around the county. It's another arrow in the quiver, so to speak, in her mission to get more of her customers to at least try dry reds. "I just think it's a nice drinking wine," she said. "It's got real nice black fruit to it, got some peppery, some black peppery spice characteristics, and we aged it in Pennsylvania oak, so it has a nice oak component to it."

One of a half-dozen premium reds, this one sells at $15.95, about what you'd expect to find at a majority of the wineries in the midstate. She also said she'd like to get rid of some of the fruit wines she sells and make use of the Muscat grape as a dessert wine. "I have a little Muscat in the tank right now and I don't quite know exactly what to do with it. That's the only other thing that I can think of that would be new [in 2010]. I do want to continue the Syrah program and all the dry and just keep trying to get people to drink more of them. I'd love to eliminate the sweeter stuff," she said, laughing, but that's a tough business decision with the palate of most of her customers leaning toward the semisweet and sweet wines.

What's also new and fresh is the Manatawny Web site that includes a link to a unique description of sustainability in the vineyard.

On the other hand, what never gets old at Manatawny and others on the Berks County trail are the free tastings. Levengood said that while a few of the wineries have started to charge, they're planning to continue to offer the entire lineup for free. Well, with one exception. "After the [trail's] chocolate event last February, I had a bunch of people complaining to me about how they had to wait forever [to get up to the bar and be served]. And that spurred our decision to ask people to keep their tastes to eight wines and stop. But, you know, that's kind of a little bit of a loose rule. We're trying to plan that wine and chocolate event in February again and we are going to cut everyone off at eight. And I'm hoping that will alleviate the problem and not have to force us to charge to taste. Just about everybody who walks through that door buys a bottle, so I don't really want to charge for tastes. It's just another headache to deal with."

Taste of Thailand on menu at Serpent Ridge

2010-01-20T18:38:00.000-08:00

Mentioned in a couple of posts about Serpent Ridge Vineyard in Maryland closing for a month. The Carroll County winery will reopen Saturday and also is taking reservations for a Taste of Thailand wine dinner from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. on Feb. 5.

Chaf Monique Washirapanya of L'Ecole Culinaire School of Cooking will handle the food end of the evening. Cost is $75/person plus tac. Here's a look at the menu, with the wine choice at the bottom of each course:

I
Tom Ka Goong
(Shrimp Coconut Soup)
Seyval Blanc

II
Taud Man Pla
(Fish Cakes)
Albarino

III
Tam Taeng and Yam Nuea
(A duet of Northeast Cucumber Salad and Beef Salad)
Pino Grigio

IV
Gaeng Ped Gai
(Red Curry Chicken)
Basilisk

V
Glazed Pineapple with Coconut Ice Cream and Pound Cake with Chocolate
sauce
Vintner’s Cabernet

Chaddsford wins Wine Society's top award

2010-01-19T04:48:00.000-08:00

The Pennsylvania Wine Society selected Chaddsford Winery's 2007 Chambourcin as the overall winner of the 2010 Excellence Award on Sunday at the Harrisburg Hilton.

The other 10 involved in the competition included:

Chaddsford Pinot Noir 2007
Presque Isle Blaufrankish NV
Pinnacle Ridge Chambourcin 2008
Galen Glen Cabernet Franc 2007
Manatawny Creek Cabernet Franc 2007
Presque Isle Merlot 2007
Manatawny Creek Merlot 2007
Pinnacle Ridge Veritas 2007
Allegro Bridge 2007
Allegro Cadenza 2007

Regional calendar offers classes, discounts

2010-01-17T13:38:00.000-08:00

Three events to put your your calendar involving regional wineries.

1, The wineries of Pennsylvania's Brandywine Valley Wine Trail are offering a 10 percent discount on all their wines through the end of the month.

2, Fiore Winery in Pylesville, Md., has two classes on pruning scheduled for a pair of Saturdays in February, the 6th and the 20th. Call 410.879.4007 for information and to register.

3, Adams County Winery in Orrtanna, Pa., will hold wine appreciation classes on a pair of Saturday evenings (6 to 8) the next two months, one on Jan. 30 and the other on Feb. 20. The cost is $35 per person per class. Its next home winemaking class will be Sunday, Jan. 31, from 1 to 3 p.m. Cost is $25/person.

Serpent Ridge owners savor first year, start getting prepared for reopening Jan. 23

2010-01-16T07:01:00.000-08:00

Carroll County, Md., winery Serpent Ridge closed for holiday on Dec. 23, 2009, and will be closed one more week before reopening Jan. 23. Owner Greg Lambrecht said it's a good chance to get a lot done around the winery in a short four-week burst, although they might not repeat this exact scenario.

"We may not do it next year; it may just be Christmas week we're closed," he said recently. Because we're small and because we still do everything by hand . . . we don't have have bottling line, we don't bring in a bottling line, everything is still done by hand. I think we can maintain that. We've upped our production by about 50 percent [to 1200 cases] this year and probably another 50 percent [in 2010] and then I'll have to consider where we are." With all that work, he continued, it just helps to have the unimpeded stretch of time to get things accomplished.

Lambrecht said he they're looking at bringing in someone else to work the tasting room and possibly an assistant to assist him with making the wine. And he said he thought that they would open on Fridays this year in addition to the weekends, maybe add a bit of Friday night entertainment.

Currenly they are producing six wines; he said they'd add a Pinot Grigio to the line this year, "one I've been holding back. It's actually from 2007. And we would like to do . . . I have a Vidal that I'm doing in more of a late-harvest style. We harvested it the second or third week of November, just before Thanksgiving. But it's going to be a small run. Testing the water with that one. My grower who is growing that; we're both kind of playing with a late-harvest style. I think it's going to be nice, but I think it will take some time before it's ready to go."

Overall, once he and his wife Karen opened the place in April 2009, things went smoothly. Business, he said, was so good that [the wines] moved veyr quickly, where almost to the point by the end of the year we had to start limiting the sales of some just so I could extend my inventory."

He laughed when asked what, in retrospect, they might have done differently leading up to opening.

"I need a bigger building," he said. "The actual wine production building. Everybody always told me when we started preparing to do this at least five, six, seven years ago, they always said build things better than you think you need them. And I always said I know exactly what I need. And now I'm telling all the new winery committees [to] 'build it bigger.' You know, bigger overall, just everything. I wish in the beginning I wouldn't have spent the money on smaller tanks, I wish I would hav spent the money on bigger tanks to begin with. I wish I had built a bigger building. Bigger everything, because you are going to grow."

Briar Valley, Cherry Valley garner Best of Show awards at 2010 Farm Show judging

2010-01-14T07:46:00.000-08:00

Results are in from the 2010 Farm Show. Here's a list of the top winners off the state Wine & Wineries Web site, and a link to the list if you want to check out the wines receiving silver and bronze medals.

Gold Medals and "Best ofs"

Best of Show- Grape, Best Vinifera; Gold: Briar Valley Vineyards & Winery -- 2008 Gewürztraminer

Best of Show - Fruit: Cherry Valley Vineyard -- 2009 Raspberry Wine

Best Hybrid: Presque Isle Wine Cellars -- 2008 Vignoles

Best Dessert: Greendance Winery -- 2008 Late Harvest Vidal Blanc

Best Sparkling: Pinnacle Ridge Winery -- NV Blanc de Blanc

Best American: Allegheny Cellars Winery -- NV Big Bend Blush

Golds

Arrowhead Wine Cellars: Dry Riesling

Arrowhead Wine Cellars: Vignoles

Benignas Creek: 2007 Chambourcin

Briar Valley Vineyards & Winery: 2008 Riesling

Chaddsford Winery: 2007 Pinot Noir

Clover Hill: Vignoles

Franklin Hill: 2008 Apple

Manatawny Creek Winery: 2007 Merlot

Mazza Vineyards: 2009 Riesling

Naylor Wine Cellars, Inc: Topaz

Naylor Wine Cellars, Inc: Essence

Nissley Vineyards: 2008 Chambourcin

Nissley Vineyards: 2008 Fantasy

Pinnacle Ridge Winery: 2007 Veritas

Presque Isle Wine Cellars: 2008 Sauvignon Blanc

Rose Bank Winery: 2008 Vidal Blanc

Seven Mountains Wine Cellar: 2008 Traminette

Vynecrest Winery: 2008 Cherry Divyne

Waltz Vineyards Estate Winery: 2008 Baron Steigel Rose

Terrapin virtual tasting set up for Jan. 28

2010-01-14T07:21:00.000-08:00

Couple of note from Terrapin Station Winery in Cecil County, Md., near Elkton. They have scheduled a wine dinner at Agro Dolca restaurant at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 20. Cost is $55 per person. It's a five-course Prix Fixe menu paired with five wines from Terrapin Station. For details, go to the Terrapin Web site.

Have written on several occasions about the plans for a virtual tasting, the first that I'm aware of in this region. It has been scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 28. And I'll steal the remainder of the commentary from the winery's latest e-letter.

"So what's a virtual wine tasting? Glad you asked!

Since our fans are located all over the state, we decided to steal an idea that Morris experienced once to enable people to try wines and talk about them online. This is how it will work:

1. You acquire the wine for the tasting at your local retail store so that you can taste along with the event. A complete listing of our stores can be found here. If your local store does not have the wine we plan to try, tell them to call us and we will make sure they have it for you. The wine we are tasting at this event will be our 2008 Cabernet Franc.

2. Before the tasting visit Talk Shoe. While it is not strictly necessary to set up a login account, it does make your experience better.

4. A few minutes before the show, login and join the show. During the show, we would taste and talk about a wine or wines while everyone online tried them along with us.

5. During the show you could ask or post questions or comments. If you use a telephone connection you will actually be able to speak and ask questions when the mic is open. Otherwise, you can always type your questions.

We ask in advance that you be patient as this is an experiment and frankly we'll be learning on the fly. A little genuine spontaneity isn't such a bad thing."

Wine Society to judge Sunday in Harrisburg

2010-01-14T07:12:00.000-08:00

The Wine Society of Central Pennsylvania will hold its annual judging of Pennsylvania wines starting at 2:55 p.m Sunday at the Harrisburg Hilton. Cost is $35 per person for members and $45 for non-members.

Readers of this blog are familiar with Mark Chien and his insights into this state and its vineyards and wineries. Chien will be the guest speaker. Judges will pick a champion and runners-up from the following:

Allegro Bridge 2007
Allegro Cadenza 2007
Chaddsford Chambourcin 2007
Chaddsford Pinot Noir 2007
Galen Glenn Cabernet Franc 2007
Manatawny Creek Cabernet Franc 2007
Manatawny Creek Merlot 2007
Pinnacle Ridge Merlot 2007
Pinnacle Ridge Veritas 2007
Presque Isle Blaufrankish NV
Presque Isle Merlot 2007

Fiore Chambourcin is tonight's partner at dinner

2010-01-13T17:42:00.000-08:00

Matched my favorite restaurant in York (Pomodoro's) with wine I brought along from one of my favorite wineries: Fiore, in Pylesville, Harford County, Maryland. We had stopped there several months ago and among the bottles we brought home was a Proprietor's Reserve Chambourcin. That was a 2005 vintage, selling for $16.99.

My wife's tastes don't agree with most reds, especially the tannic brews that pucker you up. But this one was all fruit and went down easy, and she didn't even look around for a white on the table.

You can see the tasting notes and the many awards this wine has won at this link. While I didn't quite eat the lamb or prime rib or veal that this wine is supposed to best complement, it went perfectly with my chicken cacciatore.

Overloaded with info to post over the next couple of days. Hope to catch up before my midwinter va-K ends.

Crossing Vineyards celebrating two accolades from recent Jefferson Cup competition

2010-01-12T06:04:00.000-08:00

Two wines from Crossing Vineyards and Winery in Washington Crossing, Pa. have earned a Certificate of American Merit in the Jefferson Cup Invitational in Kansas City, Mo., a designation the competition says is comparable to a silver medal.

Appreciate Rebecca Felten looping me in on the e-mail.

The invitational event, now in its 10th year, pre-selects more than 600 wines from 23 states which it says, “exemplify viticulture and winemaking in America.” The Jefferson Cup, held Nov. 19-20, 2009, does not award golds, silvers and other medals. Rather, according to competition organizers, “the invited wines have all proven their excellence in competitions and tastings throughout the last year. We believe and try to publicize our belief that these are wines that are extremely deserving of the nation’s attention.”

Of the wines invited to compete for the Jefferson Cup award, some 350 received the “Certificate of American Merit.” One hundred and thirty two received medallions deeming them, “American Examples of Greatness,” and 78 of those were selected “Jefferson Cup honorees.” Fifteen received the Jefferson Cup award.

Crossing Vineyards’ Cabernet Franc '06 -- its most decorated wine from the 2006 vintage -- and its newly released estate-grown and bottled Vidal Blanc 2008 received the Certificate of American Merit. The recent honors bring to 84 the number of awards the winery has earned since it opened six years ago on a 200-year-old estate in Bucks County.

"This is Crossing Vineyards' first Invitational Competition, and we are very proud to have received Certificates of American Merit for two of our wines,” said Crossing co-owner and vintner Tom Carroll Jr. “The Cabernet Franc has been a winner many times over, and that's always a thrill. But the Vidal Blanc is newly released and is an estate wine: grown, produced and bottled at Crossing Vineyards. Now that's exciting!"

Head of marketing and PR Chris Carroll noted by e-mail a few days after this initial posting that she had sent organizers a group of wines last spring and they requested that five be entered in the competition. She wrote: "The invitation to submit is equivalent to a bronze medal: Viognier 2007, Riesling 2008, Vidal Blanc 2008, Cabernet Franc 2006 and Merlot 2006. We have won multiple awards for all of these wines.

"As for the fruit source of the [2006] Franc," she continued, responding to a question, "as you can see on the label, there is no single vineyard designation; we buy fruit from several growers and we actually Franc on our property; this wine is a combination of all of those."

Asked what the reaction is usually like to the announcement of an award, she said there's generally a flurry of activity for awhile afterward. "Sometimes, as with the Chardonnay 05 [World's Best-Starwine 2006] we sell out almost immediately [good and bad news!],' she wrote.
-

Judges in this year’s competition included: Glen Bardgett, a St. Louis restaurateur and a founder of the Missouri State Fair judging; Wayne Belding MS, past chairman of the Court of Master Sommeliers and a Boulder, Col. wine merchant; Laura dePasquale MS, one of the world’s few female Master Sommeliers; Bob Foster, writer, The California Grapevine; Frost; Patty Held-Uthlaut, former proprietor of Stone Hill Winery and a lifelong Missouri wine veteran; Robert Noecker, a midwestern wholesaler and 30-year veteran of the wine industry; Jeff Miller, a Kansas distributor with 25 years of experience; and Joyce Angelos, a Missouri wholesaler and industry veteran of 25 years.

-
It's an acknowledgement, wrote Chris Carroll, of the strides that American wines and their winery in particular have made. "This Jefferson Cup is a quality competition," she said. "It is all American wines. The win means more to us than just another medal. It is a statement about America earning its place in the world of wine and about the various regions developing their unique styles and identities. Americans is still a very young country when it comes to making wine. It is an exciting time to be involved in this industry.
-
"For a 9-year-old winery to receive two "Certificates of American Merit" for their wines [one which is 100% estate fruit-Vidal] is pretty remarkable."

Off and running in 2010 . . . chilling at Woodhall

2010-01-11T13:12:00.000-08:00

Sorry about the delay in posting. Blame it on the holiday, on work, on getting out of the routine. So, with the Farm Show under way it's time to roll this out daily again, with plans to add social media to the mix as this year ages.

Would prefer to start where this all started, down at Woodhall Wine Cellars in Parkton, Md., on Sunday, where several dozen visitors gathering to watch the Ravens in the tasting room. Others paraded through on the second part of a weekend library tasting, a rare commodity in this region. An annual event at Woodhall, the winery has blocked off a couple hours on a Saturday and Sunday in December and allowed case club members to saunter down the path to the winery and storage building, essentially down into the cellar. This year it was the second weekend in January, where they served a few wines with virtually no inventory (including a 1994 Vidal) and another dozen where the winery had perhaps a case or several left.

They went as far back as a 1991 Cabernet Sauvignon, a 1993 Meritage and that Vidal that I mentioned. You probably don't want to keep your whites more than several years, but there are always exceptions. One was a 2001 Chardonnay they produced for Corks Restaurant in Baltimore. It still tasted good several years ago when I had bought a half case, and little had changed in the last couple of bottles remaining that were pulled out on Sunday. Same with the Vidal, which still held up its end even thought it's 16 years old. Took home two of the last five bottles left in storage, and we'll wait for a suitable occasion this year to open them.

Winemaker Chris Kent and former co-owner Al Kopp served as the guides at the tasting. Kopp noted that they would always put a case aside of every wine they would produce. But these tastings over the last few years have pretty much wiped out the cellar, so there's a good chance several years could pass before the next one. Not sure why some of the older wineries do not hold a similar tasting; but it's a question I want to ask as I catch up to the proprietors of wineries in Pennsylvania and Maryland that are 15 years or older.

Most of the bottles at Woodhall sold in the mid-teens up to 20 dollars; several of the Copernica Reserve Cabs (2002, 2005) were selling for $30. The most expensive was a Jubilee Reserve Merlot from 2007, acknowledged as a best vintage of the decade. That was going for $35.

This event done, the winery prepares for its annual wine and soup pairing starting next weekend and continuing into February. This has become a staple event there, as has the Valentine's chocolates and barrel tasting that will commence Feb. 13 and likely continue into March.

A toast to 2010

2009-12-31T19:51:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year, all. Will get at it again in the new year.

Paul

Waltz extends its hours over next two weeks

2009-12-21T06:04:00.000-08:00

Expect to start to see various wineries extending their hours, partly because of the business lost during this weekend and partly because of the proximity to the holidays.

Saw Waltz Vineyards in Manheim, Pa., did a shout-out overnight via e-mail to its customers on the extra hours it plans to be open the next two weeks. The schedule includes 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Monday through Wednesday of this weekend and next week, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. both Saturday.

Closed obviously on Christmas Day and New Year's Day.

Jeferies unique but not alone in terms of regional eateries wanting to serve regional wines

2009-12-19T13:48:00.000-08:00

Had no luck Friday finding out when John J. Jeffries Restaurant in Lancaster, Pa., is scheduling its next food and wine pairing dinner. But there's no question that the restaurant located in the Lancaster Arts Hotel will be having more, featuring foodstuffs from local providers and regional wineries such as Chaddsford and Pinnacle Ridge. The pairings are a bargain, featuring multiple courses matched up with either local wines or beers at an agreeable cost. And someone from the featured winery or brewery will be represented to offer insight into how each wine was made.

This all leads into a subject the Pennsylvania Winery Association president Sam Landis and I had several months ago about the difficulty regional wineries have had getting their product into area restaurants. Indeed, he mentioned some local research that was being completed on the subject, something I need to try and obtain.

Landis noted that the PWA (and he could just as well had been talking about the winery run by his folks, Vyncrest Vineyards & Winery in Breinigsville, Pa.,) has put that initiative on hold for certainly the near term. Some eateries, such as Jeffries, don't need to be sold on carrying local wines. But those are the exceptions rather than the rule. Landis called it an uphill battle. "The only restaurants we've had success with are the ones that have actually solicited us and wanted to have a local presence," he said. "But to go the other directions, to try and convince restaurants to carry your wine espeically now with the economy. They're going to pick 7 or 8 dollar bottles of wine and sell them for 30 [dollars]. and they're going to go for name recognation. It's something we've consciously put on the back burner here. If it happens, it happens."

Chaddsford has probably had more success than any other winery in the region in placing its wines in local eateries. Co-owner Lee Miller said in a recent phone conversation that they have in a sense gotten out of the business of trying to push their wines into restaurants.

She said during the time period when they were focused on that aspect of their business, they "hired a sales manager and several salesmen, we put them out on the road and . . . knocked down doors and they sold a lot of wine. But the problem for us was that it was very expensive to have four people on the payroll, with cars and expense accounts, since they are traveling all over selling wines. And then the second part, there's such turnover. Restaurants change constantly. The managers change, the sommeliers change, the beverage manager changes and we found that we were placing things and then two months later they'd change and they'd want something different."

Plus they would require plenty of support such as printing menus and providing small wine glasses and training the wait staff. In other words, lots of promotional materials. "It was a very expensive proposition," she said, "and on a business level, we said, you know what, this isn't getting us anywhere. We have hundreds of thousands of dollars in staffing costs and we dont have that much wine and we're running out of things ,so we just decided we weren't going to pursue it on that level.

"It's not that we weren't successful at it. If you do it right, and this is what these other wineries don't realize, you have to do it RIGHT. Big wineries have staffs and they go out and sell. When you're a one-man show . . . you can't expect to do it, because that's a service industry, so you've got to be out there every week, and most wineries right now don't have the staff to do it. If you have it, you know, we were very successful at doing it. We had every restaurant in Philadelphia using our wines, but they have come to expect because most restaurants buy from wholesalers who have a staff who is out there every week because those salespeople are living on commission. So they're in there, they're taking samples, they're having dinner, they're talking, they're sitting at the bar, and most small wineries don't have the have the staff to do that."

Instead, she said, they're quite content to work with restaurants such as Jeffries and nearby Brandywine Prime and the White Dog in Philly that WANT their product. "And they come to you and they say, 'I really want to use local products,' and then you work out a program with them. And we're happier to do that, because Eric and I can do that. So right now we're concentrating on people who want the wine, who want to work with us, who know that we're different . . . we decided we like it better that way. So I'm not disappointed. I think there are a lot of restaurants that are realizing that local is good and that are adding some local wines to their menus. But right now we have maybe 50 wine accounts where at one time we used to have 400 all across the state."

Crossing Vineyards list two Riedel workshops, wine and chocolate pairing

2009-12-19T13:36:00.000-08:00

Crossing Vineyards & Winery in Washington Crossing, Pa., will toast the holidays with a tasting workshop Dec. 27 (and Jan. 24), featuring four of its premium wines served in Riedel Crystal specifically designed for each varietal. It also will offer a wine and chocolate pairing workshop Jan. 3. Included below some specifics, and you can learn more about other Crossing events and its wines at this link.

Sunday, Dec. 27, 2009, and Jan. 24, 2010

Riedel Crystal Wine-Tasting Workshop, In 90-minute class, sample premium wines in Riedel Vinum glasses, analyzing taste difference using various shapes and sizes of stemware. 2 p.m. starting time both days. Crossing Vineyards & Winery, 1853 Wrightstown Road, Washington Crossing, PA. Cost: $99, includes Riedel sampling kit with four glasses. Anyone purchasing Riedel stemware will receive 50 percent off a second item. Information and reservations: 215-493-6500, ext. 19 or www.crossingvineyards.com.

Sunday, Jan. 3

How Sweet It Is: Pairing Wine & Chocolate, Tips on enjoying wine and chocolate together, presented by Eric Cavatore, sommelier at Crossing Vineyards and Winery; 2 p.m., Jan. 3, Crossing Vineyards and Winery, 1853 Wrightstown Road, Washington Crossing, Pa. Cost: $35, includes samples, learning materials and the Lindt Chocolate bar of the participant’s choice. Information and reservations: 215-493-6500, ext. 19 or www.crossingvineyards.com.

Call ahead before you made any winery visits throughout the region this weekend

2009-12-19T13:07:00.000-08:00

Based on my conversations with some wineries around the region, if you can get out and are tending to visit one later this afternoon or tomorrow, call ahead. Some never opened, others opened and then closed early. Saw where Fiore Winery in Pylesville, Md., closed on what was its Customer Appreciation Weekend and wasn't exactly sure if it would reopen on Sunday. Check the Web site. Once it does reopen, it will extend its 21 percent off sale through Christmas Eve. The winery is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday.

Fiore's Customer Appreciation Weekend still a go

2009-12-18T10:55:00.000-08:00

Customer Appreciation Weekend is still on at Fiore Winery in Pylesville, Md. Just got off the phone with them, one of a number of calls they're received today about the event, which is scheduled to run Saturday and Sunday.

Should the predicted storm for the winery to close, then expect to find that information on the winery Web site and on its Facebook page. Also expect Fiore, as well as many of the other regional wineries, to probably extend their sales past the present deadlines.

Admission to Fiore is free, where the winery will serve light refreshments and Rose Fiore's fresh-baked Italian cookies. All cases of Fiore wine, solid or mixed, will be 21 percent off . The winery will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and noon to 5 on Sunday.

Lehigh Valley wineries list invididual schedules

2009-12-18T10:28:00.000-08:00

Been AWOL for a week trying to stay afloat with my other job, so I apologize. Most obvious subject heading into this final weekend before Christmas is the bad timing of this prdicted snowsotrm for wineries trying to unload product and gifts before the holiday.

With that in mind, let me post a couple of e-letter that I received about activities at several wineries over the next week or so.

Courtesy of PR ace Courtney Romain, here's the listings of what the wineries on the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail in eastern Pennsylvania have planned.

Amoré Vineyards: The warmed Spiced Apple is always a special holiday treat. A cinnamon stick makes it even more festive. The brave and bold enjoy it with apple pie. Open daily until Christmas.
Blue Mountain Vineyards is offering a new release of its Sparkling Peach ($19.50). It is a semi-sweet sparkling wine produced with succulent peaches and alive with sparkling bubbles. Blue Mountain also offers an Adopt a Vine Program for that wine lover who has everything on your gift list. Purchase a vine and receive a certificate explaining the program to present to the recipient. The first year they receive a plaque to be placed on their vine and for five years thereafter they will receive a specially labeled bottle of wine for the varietals you have chosen. The winery will be open Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and will be closed Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.
Clover Hill Vineyards & Winery: Share the grape of the Lehigh Valley, Chambourcin, with friends and family this holiday season. Clover Hill makes two styles of Chambourcin: 2008 Chambourcin ($14.99) is a dry, oak-aged medium body red with rich, luscious berry flavors and a warm toasty oak. The Turtle Rock Red is a lighter, fruiter version of the Chambourcin made in stainless steel tanks with just a hint of residual sugar. Celebrate the holidays with local flavor! Open Monday – Saturday from 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. and Sunday from noon – 5 p.m. Closed Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.
Galen Glen Vineyard & Winery: The winery suggests custom labeled wines as a great gift; an extensive collection of artwork with your personalized message for a flat fee of $10, plus cost of the wine. Minimum order is a case (12 bottles). Through January 3, 2010, Galen Glen will be open Sunday through Friday noon -5 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Also open Christmas Eve 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. Closed: Christmas Day and New Years Day.
Pinnacle Ridge offers great gift baskets for holiday giving. Choose your wine, wine accessories and gourmet foods and create your own special gift for that special someone. The winery is open Sunday through Friday (except Christmas Day and New Year’s Day) from noon- 6:00 p.m. and Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Open until 6:00 p.m. on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve for those last minute wine and gift purchases!
Vynecrest Vineyards & Winery’s Spiced Winter Red ($9.99 a bottle), a seasonal holiday wine, is reminiscent of a German Gluwein, which can be served warm with Christmas cookies or fruitcake. Spiced Winter Red is available in a three pack, specially priced for December at $25.00. Starting Thursday, December 17, the winery is open every day from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., until Christmas Eve (open 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.). Closed Christmas Day, then open December 26 - 29, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m., December 31 open 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Basignani holiday open house Saturday/Sunday; among a number being held around the region

2009-12-11T14:24:00.001-08:00

Safe to say that wineries across the region want one thing this weekend, and that's good weather for their holiday open houses. Some, such as Basignani Winery in Sparks, Md., held their first of two weekends last Saturday and Sunday and spent a lot of time, well, maybe sipping their own wine as the snow fell outside their windows. Lynne Basignani said by phone a few minutes ago that all they want are some crowds this weekend after the weather kept a lot of people indoors last weekend.

Basignani will hold Part 2 of its annual open house from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Cost is $8 per person, which covers a tasting glass that visitors can take with them, wine tastings and food such as bread, cheeses and Christmas cookies. Lynne said they served hot mulled wine last weekend made out of Marisa, what the winery terms its version of a Beaujolais with a little more structure. The fruity mix includes a blend of Foch, Chambourcin and Chancellor grapes.

At least give Piccolo, the winery's newest offering, a try. Tasted it after harvesting in October and really liked it. The red table wine pairs equal parts of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot and sells for $11.99/bottle. Works superbly with any kind of pasta or a beef or steak dish.

Sand Castle opens TASTE, unveils 2 new wines

2009-12-10T20:02:00.000-08:00

Two recent wine releases and a new store have the folks at Sand Castle Winery in Erwinna, Pa., buzzing. A suburban Philly winery that's a member of the Bucks County Wine Trail, it recently came out with a 2006 Pinot Noir and a 2004 Chardonnay Classic. About the Pinot Noir, general sales manager Peter Ricci said was tasting "very good, good fruit, with raspberry flavors to it. Pinot Noir is hot, that's just a given in the marketplace." It's selling for $30/bottle.

The 2004 Chard hardly sounds like a new release, but it emerges from three years aging in French oak. "It has really nice flavors of vanilla and almonds and caramel. You really pick up the French oak in the wine," Ricci said. That's available at $17/bottle. Three years in a barrel is probably as long as any winery in the region ages its Chard.

Ricci said the winery's new retail store, called TASTE, is located in a former Starbucks shop at the Valley Square Shopping Center, 711 Easton Road, in Warrington, Pa. You can purchase wine there, but that's just part of what Ricci called selling a gourmet experience that includes wine-related gift items, a coffee bar, a wine bar, an imported olive oil and balsamic vinegar bar, gourmet cheeses and gourmet foods. Samples are scattered throughout the shop, giving customers a chance to try things before they purchase them. Hence, the name of the shop. The hours at TASTE are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays.

This isn't the winery's first attempt at an off-site retail outlet. Last year it tried a kiosk at a mall in Lower Bucks County that Ricci said "worked reasonably well" for awhile. The economy took some of the initial burst away, and so did the mall insisting that the kiosk be opened when the mall was. During the holiday season, that could mean as early as sunrise. "Well, how many people are going to buy wine at 6 o'clock in the morning?" Ricci asked. "We didn't lose money last year, but it just simply wasn't worth all the time and effort we had to put into it."

Looking for a wine job? You could start by attending Thursday class at Philly's Wine School

2009-12-09T19:09:00.000-08:00

So many people these days are making decisions about their lives and careers, whether out of necessity or simply out of unhappiness or fear about what the future holds. This morning at the Harrisburg-Patriot News we talked about covering a midday job fair at the Giant Center in Hershey, which turned out drawing around 500.

Within that context was the blurb I saw on the holiday e-letter from the Wine School of Philadelphia, 2006 Fairmount Ave., which I've blogged about in the past and have its Web site linked to my blog. School founder Keith Wallace wrote about a one-hour talk and wine tasting he's planning tomorrow (Thursday, Dec. 10) on how to get into the wine industry. Cost for a workshop that Wallace has entitled Becoming the Next Robert Parker is $18, primarily to cover the expenses for the wine.

Wallace said this idea is an extension of the one-on-one discussions he's already having with his students at the nine-year-old school, helping them not only decide what they want to do but finding the route to get there. He said a number of those students have gone on to successful career as either a winemaker or the owner of a company that has a connection to wine. "You're not going to make great money," he said, "but you can have a decent living and actually be able to enjoy life and be your own boss. And in this economy, why not do what you love?" So, he continued, he'll talk on Thursday about how to scout out these potential jobs and find a niche.

And those opportunities to make money do exist, he noted, although at one point breaking into a laugh and noting "not in wine education, by the way. Most of the money I make comes from a lot of the other things I do on the side." He noted that while the wine industry as a whole is hugely regulated, "it's like the Wild West. It's highly regulated, but state by state there are no clear dominant leaders, except in distribution, but it's a place . . . that you can really start something and ramp up very quickly, to the point of actually becoming a national figure, or at least a regional figure and turning that into a company."

Showtime is 6 p.m. Thursday at the school, which offers an A to Z of classes from 101s to more specialized education experiences such as Napa Valley & Beyond and Winter Cooking and Wine Class. Even saw a special wine and food arrangement that Wallace is cooking up with Luca Garutti, the chef at nearby L'Oca Bistro. That four-course dinner and Italian wine class is on the calendar for Wednesday, Jan. 13, from 6 to 9 p.m. Cost is $52 per person, taxes and tip not included.

Kreutz Creek unveils 'best ever' Holiday Wassail

2009-12-06T16:13:00.000-08:00

Missed the chance to pull several items off the e-letter for Kreutz Creek Vineyards in West Grove, Pa., before the start of the weekend. Still, several things apply through the end of the year.

Owner Jim Kirkpatrick noted that "another year comes to an end but before we look toward 2010, we still have a full month of events for 2009. We just released our new Holiday Wassail and it's the best one I've ever made. I fermented pumpkin and apples in the Niagara and added spices like cinnamon and cloves. We serve it warm in a crock pot but it's delicious served chilled as well. Stop by for a sample and check out our holiday decorations. Read on to see what's happening in both West Chester and the winery in West Grove for the rest of 2009."

Kirkpatrick wrote that the winery will hold its Holiday Wine Sale through the month: 10 percent off bottles and 20 percent off cases of 12. The winery is planning to be open the weekend after Christmas, Dec. 26-27 and the weekend after New Year's on Jan. 2-3.

As for its tasting room in West Chester, here's the entertainment schedule for the rest of the month:

Friday, 12/11 – The Al Moretti Jazz Duo
Saturday, 12/12 – Jazz by Aniya
Friday, 12/18 – Latin Guitar by Brad Rau
Saturday, 12/19 – Jazz and Swing by Swing Set
Friday, 12/25 – Closed
Saturday, 12/26 – Jazz Vocals by Unstuck in Time

The BYOF (Bring Your Own Food) facility will be closed Thursday, Dec. 24 and Friday, Dec. 25 and Thursday and Friday, Dec. 31 and Jan. 1.

About that virtual tasting idea ... give Morris Zwick a call if you're interested in participating

2009-12-05T12:12:00.000-08:00

Chatted with owner and winemaker Morris Zwick of Terrapin Station Winery in Elkton, Md., more than a week ago about a number of subjects, including the virtual tasting he'd like to try sometime this month.

Using a software called talkshoe, it would allow folks to interact with Zwick as they are all tasting the same wine. He said he's been a participant on a show for amateur winemakers that originates in the Pittsburgh area; that show sometimes goes as long as an hour and a half and involves a number of different folks dialed in to the site.

He's hoping to even get a dozen or so involved in the first attempt, go between a half-hour and 45 minutes, and then build it from there. His goal is to arrange the virtual tasting for mid-December.

"You know, even only have 10, 11, 12 people, I'd be perfectly happy with that," he said. "I think it's the kind of thing where people have got to try it and see it work, then they'll tell other people. Eventually, I can see also bringing people on to the show, maybe bring Kevin Atticks from the Maryland Wine Association or people from other wineries in Maryland . . . and so it would be a way to promote not only Terrapin Station Winery but other Maryland wines in general."

For those not familiar with Terrapin Station, it's the only producer of boxes wines that I know of in the region and it's distributing now through more than 60 outlets in Maryland. Zwick figures he'll just start with one wine, maybe their 2008 Cabernet Franc, one of two ones that Terrapin Station recently released. "Then they'll dial in at the appropriate time and while they're trying it, we're trying it, and people can ask questions," he said. "It gives them an opportunity to ask what we did with it and what some of the stats were like . . . gives them an opportunity to ask some of those specific questions and on top of that we can talk about why this vintage is the the way it is. For example, this [2008] vintage is a 14 percent alcohol wine, which is pretty high for the East Coast. It was a hot, hot August, September; we really got the sugars up and we decided instead of trying to [drop] it down we'd just take advantage of the situation and see what we got as long as we were down below, what's the magic number there, 14.5, and see what we get."

If you're interested in participating in this first virtual tasting that I'm aware of in the region, drop the Web site an e-mail or call 410.398.1875. The wine should list around $23 for a 1.5-liter box; obviously, the the equivalent of the two .750 ml. bottles that you're probably used to buying in your favorite state store or shop.

Zwick noted the one other thing he likes about talkshoe is that the program can be recorded. So if you miss it, you can still sample the wine later and read the comments. This idea, he said, just supplements the other ways of getting the word out: store tastings and festivals, to name a couple. "Our challenge is all about evangelism and getting people to try the stuff," he said. "Once they do, they're fine with it."

Stopped in Hershey, but bypassed the chocolate

2009-12-05T11:30:00.001-08:00

Working on a story for a publication that took me Friday to the tasting room at Cullari Vineyards & Winery in Hershey. It's just one of many buildiungs that pop up along Route 422 between Harrisburg and Annville, where I've been teaching as an adjunct at Lebanon Valley College. Probably ridden by it 25 times and finally had a chance to nose around the comfy surroundings.

Owner Salvatore Cullari, who formally taught at LVC and served as head of the psychology department there, has a bar set up on the main floor where he handles most of his tastings. The room is open Thursdays through Sundays. A few steps lead up to a small dining room where Cullari can hold parties; indeed, he and his brother were getting set up for one yesterday.

Cullari hails from Calabria in Italy and talks about having been associated with wine-making since he was a kid. His 25-acre lot in suburban Harrisburg, Pa., holds two vineyards with around a dozen types of grape, including Zinfandel, Barbera and Sangiovese.

While admittedly someone who favors dry reds, his wine list caters some to those who prefer their wine with some sweetness. His biggest seller, called White on White, is a blend of white grapes that has the aroma of Traminette. I also sample something he calls Pomegranate Splash, a tasty sipper that blends some whites and pomegranate juice. And I sampled a few of his red blends, all with good structure and flush with color and aroma and -- much to my satisfaction -- generally priced in the $10 to $15 range.

Hauser Estate readies for two firsts: winermaker's dinner and debut of reserve Chardonnay

2009-12-04T08:49:00.001-08:00

I'd be remiss not to apologize to folks for not having the time to post interviews, etc. School ended yesterday but work has been crazy. So some of what I'll post over the next couple of days has been sitting on my recorder and in my notepad for weeks.

Caught up with the delightful Michelle Oakes, the winemaker at Hauser Estate Winery west of Gettysburg, Pa., on Thursday to talk about the winery's first Christmas dinner. That's scheduled for 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 10, at the gorgeous winery that overlooks the Adams County countryside for miles. You can make reservations by calling 717.334.4888 or visiting the Web site.

The four-course dinner will be catered by Accomac Catering of Wrightsville, Pa., and feature Oakes as the MC, so to speak, as the winemakers are wont to do at these events. She said she's looking forward to it.

"I'll present each of wines with the courses and we'll talk a little bit about the wines, how they were made, a little bit about how they go with the food there," she said, "and also some holiday planning . . . helping people kind of figure what wines go well with what they’re doing." By capping the size of the group at 50 and putting more people at fewer tables, Oakes she she hopes that will help prompt more interaction and discussion about the wines.

One wine that Oakes will get a chance to unveil will be Hauser Estate's first reserve, a Chardonnay, which will be paired with the first course, a cream of asparagus soup topped with crab. This Chardonnay is a mix of what Oakes called short-term barrel-aged and long-term barrel-ages, so anywhere from six to 10 months. It has been in the bottle since August and could be available for sale as early as Friday, depending on whether some new labels arrive in time. Otherwise, figure to be able to pick it up sometime over the next couple of weeks.

Oakes said it's fine now, but . . . "I think it’s really going to blossom a year from now. It’s going to be phenomenal. Right now it’s very . . . crisp, a little bit of sweet oak kind of character to it, but it's very crisp, clean mineral right up front right now, and it’s getting more of that kind of chewiness coming back to it."

And in a year?

"I think it’s going to get richer and fuller, it’s going to take on more of that creamy, nutty type character," she said. "But right now it’s just got a real nice freshness to it, so I think it’s a nice wine either way, depending on what kind of style you like. But I think it’s going to get a lot more depth with time on it."

Several reserve reds are scheduled to be released after the holidays. "I'm really excited about the cabs," she said. "They're really shaping up to be nice wines in the bottle."

Cost of the winermaker's dinner is $59.95, and it also will include the Cabernet Franc Rose, the Cabernet Franc and the Cabernet Sauvignon, all made out of the 2008 vintage. As all this is going on, Oakes is starting to get a look at the 2009 grapes that have come in from her suppliers. No one will confuse this vintage with the one two years ago, the best of the decade, but Oakes said in some cases she's seeing better fruit than what came in last year.

"Honestly, I've heard a lot of doomsday theories on it," she said of the '09 vintage. "I think for the people who really stuck with it and just said, I’m going to stick to my fundamentals and the things I know .. I think those people are going to fare well.

"There’s certain things you can’t do about a year that’s less than perfect," she continued, "but we had a long harvest at least, so if you let it hang, it came around. The people who got worried and pulled it off early are the people I think who are going to have a lot of trouble. It was a gamble, but if you took the gamble, I think it paid off."

Lower Manhattan event scheduled for Sunday

2009-12-03T06:50:00.000-08:00

Must have a dozen posts to get done and way too much other work. So let me try to put the other work on the back burner for two days and catch up before we reach the weekend. Been having this one since Monday. Here are two items I liked out of the New York Wine & Grape Foundation newsletter:

CITY WINERY in lower Manhattan will be the scene of our “Uncork New York—Sip, Savor & Shop” tasting next Sunday afternoon [Dec. 6], with 38 wineries, over a dozen food producers, and four restaurants providing samples for locavores. Besides tasting, attendees can actually buy the wines and foods on the spot, a great way to stock up for the holidays.

Friday’s Wall St. Journal included a nice mention of the event, which is also being promoted in Time Out New York and through other means. Tickets are only $45, and are available at www.citywinery.com/events/50934.

“WINES, WITH NOTES OF M.B.A.” is the headline of a New York Times Business Section article today by Kathryn Jones on the growth of the wine industry stimulated by people from other businesses pursuing a second career.

The piece also features a great photo of Mike Schnelle and Nancy Irelan, owners of Red Tail Ridge Winery on Seneca Lake, the first LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) certified winery in the Finger Lakes. Nancy’s Ph.D in genetics and years of experience in enology and viticulture research at Gallo, combined with Mike’s M.B.A. and experience in the heavy equipment and construction industries, brought a unique set of knowledge and skills to creating a new vineyard and winery literally from the ground up.

Of the 58 New York wineries that have opened in the past three years, virtually all are owned by people from other walks of life, as opposed to the immediate post-Farm Winery Act (1976) wineries which were all owned by grape growers whose traditional markets (large wineries) had dried up.

A similar trend is occurring in different parts of the country, and in most cases there is virtually no attrition (failure), largely because most new entrants do their homework and create sound business plans. In New York, for example, we offer a sophisticated web-based site selection system (www.nyvineyardsite.com), and on our own web site (www.newyorkwines.org) legal and regulatory information, a comparison of different types of licenses, and basic resources for business planning.

In today’s economy, few industries are growing and contributing as much value-added benefit as the wine industry, which in New York State generates over $3.4 billion annually in economic activity. Public officials would be wise to keep this in mind as they shape budgets and policy initiatives.

Serpent Ridge offering food/wine pairing Dec. 11

2009-11-30T08:02:00.000-08:00

Couple of quick notes out of Serpent Ridge Vineyard, a Maryland winery located in Westminster that opened this summer.

It's opened Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and offers a mix of primarily dry whites and dry reds. Four already have been honored in several Maryland and out-of-state competitions. The most decorated is their Vintner's Cabernet, which is 65 percent Cabernet Sauvignon and 35 percent Cabernet Franc. That earned golds in the Indy International and Winemaker Choice competitions, and a silver in the 2009 Maryland Governor's Cup competition. All told owner Karen and Grag Lambrecht produce six wines, including a rose.

They will be closing from Dec. 23 to Jan. 22, 2010, one of the few wineries I've seen in the region that will shut its doors after the Christmas rush.

Before then, on Friday, Dec. 11, the winery will hold a holiday hors d'oeuvres and wine pairings. The event will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. and cost $35 per person. Chef Greg Hutsell from L'ecole Culinaire School of Cooking will prepare several dishes and be on hand to answer questions about preparing what he makes at home. There will be six hors d'oeuvres paired with three Serpent Ridge wines. Reservations are required. Call 410.848.6511.

One final note our of their most recent e-letter: "As many of you know, we are a true artisan style winery and everything is done by hand - including our bottling. There will be multiple opportunities to be part of this exciting process over the next few months and if you would like to volunteer, please email our winemaker, Greg at greg@serpentridge.com with your contact info."

Talking a little Mischief and 20 percent sale at Pennsylvania winery called Black Walnut

2009-11-30T07:13:00.000-08:00

Should you get in the vicinity of Chester County, east of the Gap around the point where Route 30 turns into an elevated four-lane highway, steer down Lincoln Highway and stop in to Black Walnut Winery. A member of the Brandywine Valley Wine Trail, Black Walnut now has its facility open for business. Nose around the 200-year-old renovated bank barn, and give the wines a try. It's a winery owned by two couples -- Val and Lance Castle and Karen and Jack Kuhn -- that's similar to a few others around the region in that it imports all of its grapes.

Was reminded of the winery, which officially opened in August, when we opened a bottle of their wine last night called Mischief. It's a medium-bodied to full-bodied white that blends their 2006 Pinot Gris and 2007 Chardonnay. Dry, with some hints of oak and the distinct smell of citrus. We just sampled enough to sip and enjoy, but it would have gone well earlier with the mix of vegetables, salad and shrimp we had out on a platter.

Black Walnut is open four days a week, from noon to 6 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Also worth mentioning: As of Black Friday the winery launched its 20 percent off sale on all of its inventory that will last through the end of the year.

A sale worth sampling: Manatawny marks down 2006 Meritage by 30 percent

2009-11-27T19:23:00.000-08:00

Like the looks of a Meritage sale that's currently under way at Manatawny Creek Winery in Douglassville, Pa. Owner/winemaker Joanne Levengood makes a line of wines that represent the region and state very well. Always like to mention that it's the only place I've visited where we were offered the entire line to taste (not sure if that has changed) at no charge (I'm very sure THAT hasn't changed), both winery staples that are about as common as a Pennsylvania screwtop. In other words, good luck finding more than a handful of others that provide so much when you walk into the tasting room, in addition to the snacks they place on their bar.

Levengood reported in her December e-letter early Friday that she has around five cases left of the Meritage, something you can drink now or store for a few years down in your cellar. This 2006 vintage is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot and normally sells for $21.95, on the lower end of the price scale when you compare it to other Meritages in the region. She's pushing it out the door by taking 30 percent off, knocking the price down to 16 dollars and change. Once those cases are sold, she'll roll out the 2007 vintage at the regular price.

Their Pinot Noir also is on sale, marked down 10 percent off the $14.95 price. As Levengood noted in her e-letter, this wine is aged in French oak and should be bound for your lips rather than your cellar. "This is not a wine for aging," she wrote. "It is wonderful with Christmas turkey -- we had some with our Thanksgiving turkey this year and it was a fabulous match."

More and more winemakers are using their e-letters or blogs or Facebook to chime in with answers to basic wine and wine pairing questions. This is Levengood's take on how to match up with holiday foods: "Which wine should you serve with your holiday dinner? Anyone who has ever been in our tasting room knows the answer to that question – serve what you like! The subjectivity of wine applies to wine pairing as well. Having said that, however, there are a few simple things to keep in mind. Don’t overpower the food with the wine and vice versa. If you are serving a turkey breast with a light glazing, serve it with a lighter wine like Pinot Grigio. If you are serving turkey with a full-flavored, hearty gravy, you may want to try an oaked Chardonnay. The addition of a sweet cranberry sauce may call for a wine with some sweetness to it, like a Riesling. Everyone thinks about white wine pairing well with turkey or ham, but a lighter-bodied red like Pinot Noir can work really well too. I very much like the idea of setting the table with two wine glasses at each place so everyone can try two different wines with each course. Different wines really make the food taste different!"

Allegro's Bridge hits all the high notes

2009-11-26T08:07:00.000-08:00

One of the wines I featured in the Jan-Feb issue of In Central Pennsylvania magazine, published by the Harrisburg Patriot-News, is Allegro Vineyard's Bridge. It's a Bordeaux-style blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc that ages for 22 months in French oak barrels and then is bottled unrefined and unfiltered.

Opened another bottle Wednesday to go with a pre Thanksgiving Day meal (in other words, the day you sit around with family and sample a few wines) and it was very, very good. Wonderful fragrance and color with just the right amount of tannins, it's something you could pair with any number of foods or simply savor as you're sitting around talking.

Carl Helrich, the winemaker and owner of the winery in The Brogue, in southcentral Pennsylvania, had e-mailed me about the history of the name at the time I was writing the story. It served as a bridge, he wrote, between the Cadenzas of former owner John Crouch and the ones Helrich was producing. You could call Cadenza, also a Bordeaux-stlye blend, the previer member of the Allegro line.

"In 2006, I felt that the wine wasn't quite Cadenza quality, but much better than our regular bottling," he said. "I brought back the name in 2006, and we bottled a 2007 as well. We may have one from 2009. We'll see."

It's selling at $27 a bottle. Definitely worth the investment. Helrich had noted that he felt this present vintage for sale (2006) would peak in 2011 and could be cellared as late as 2016 to 2018.

To Carl and wife Kris and all the other supporters and readers of this blog, Happy Thanksgiving and the many, many blessings this holiday brings.

Terrapin Station considers virtual wine tasting

2009-11-26T07:36:00.000-08:00

Let me post this and then try and hook up with the folks from Terrapin Station Winery in Elkton, Md., over the next few days to find out the story behind the story. Already one of the more innovative wineries in the mid-Atlantic area with its support of the Terrapin Institute and its line of boxed wines, owners Janet and Morris Zwick want to try a virtual wine tasting if they can find enough interested parties. Here's how it would work, based on what's in their e-letter.

We are considering holding a virtual, online tasting using the capabilities of Talk Shoe.

This is how it would work:

1. We would announce the date for the tasting and the wine(s) that would be tasted.

2. You would acquire the wines for the tasting so that you can taste along with the event.

3. We would set up a Talk Shoe show that you would log into.

4. During the show, we would taste and talk about a wine or wines while everyone online tried them along with us.

5. During the show you could ask or post questions or comments.

We would like to give it a try, but of course don't want to log in and listen to (virtual) crickets chirping. Therefore, please let us know what you think by answering the poll we have on our Facebook fan page or send us a note here. If there is enough interest, we'll announce a date and give it a whirl.

Fiore serving dessert on Friday and multi-course Christmas meal on Dec. 5

2009-11-25T16:35:00.000-08:00

Two notes from Fiore Winery in Pylesville, Md., less than a half-hour drive from I-83 and the Pennsylvania communities of Shrewsbury and Stewartstown.

The winery will be open Friday and is inviting visitors to pack a lunch and park themselves anytime between 1 and 4 p.m. Fiore Winery will provide trhe dessert and offer a 21 percent discount on all wine case purchases. While you are there, try and taste some of the Fiore wines that have received awards over the past several years, including the Proprietor's Reserve Chambourcin and the Chardonnay. And, in general, you'll find them priced moderately.

Like other regional wineries, Fiore is planning a Christmas meal from 6 to 9:30 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 5. Live music will be provided by the local duo Chalk Dust. Menu by Panache Fine Catering. Each course is served and paired with Fiore wines. Reservations are requested for the event, which will cost $65 per person.

Here's what you can expect to eat and drink:

Hors d'oeuvres: Antipastotable of cheeses, vegetables, dips, and spreads, with artisan breads, crackers,pita, crostini

Apple-lucious, Sangiovese

Seated Dinner: Butternutsquash ravioli with sage, rye, and cream.

Pinot Grigio

Baked salmon with roasted pepper sauce and spinach orzo.

Chardonnay

Spice beef round with roasted green beans and grape tomato.

Proprietors Reserve Chambourcin

Seasonal salad with fruit, nuts, and cheese, vinaigrette.

Vidal Blanc

Christmas pudding with hard sauce.

Maryland Merlot

Two bits of news from Mt. Felix: pumpkin wine for sale and open Thanksgiving

2009-11-25T10:34:00.000-08:00

Saw where Mary and Peter Ianniello, the owners of Mt. Felix Vineyard & Winery in Havre de Grace, have released a pumpkin wine. Called Terra Maria, the tasting notes mention hints of cinnamon and spice with a long finish of sweet pumpkin. As far as the background of the name, Italian explorer Giovanni Caboto (known to the English as John Cabot) discovered for England the route to the Chesapeake and North America in 1497. A century later English settlers arrived in "Terra Mariae," or "Mary's Land," named in honor of their queen, Henrietta Marie. These settlers, the story goes, relied upon the pumpkin, a native food relished for its flavor and versatility.

I've never tried pumpkin wine, but doubt that I will have a shot at a taste of this release, which is selling for $12.99. An e-letter sent Wednesday referenced a limited supply and not much left. So I'll wait for the batch next fall, if they choose to make it again.

Weekend hours: open til 8 today, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Thanksgiving, and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday through Sunday.

While new Maryland winery opens this weekend, two others to try a dual barrel tasting promotion

2009-11-24T18:27:00.000-08:00

Maryland wine honcho Kevin Atticks (OK, he's officially the executive director of the Maryland Wine Association) noted by phone today that the state's newest winery will open this weekend. Harford Vineyard in Forest Hill will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days, and the same times during the next three weekends in December.

Expect to be able to taste and purchase five wines (all white at this point), including blush, Sweet Harmony (a semisweet white blend), Pinot Grigio, Viognier and Sauvignon Blanc. Assuming the process here will be similar to other wineries opening up, such as Logan's View in Loganville, Pa., with the whites available to tasting and purchase the first six to 10 months and then reds also for sale thereafter.

The Web site notes that grapes were first planted on the 20-acre farm in 2003, with the wine facility opening two years later and now the winery opening for business.

Meanwhile, there are usually several highlights on the monthly newsletter coming out of Woodhall Wine Cellars in Parkton, Md., and this year is no exception.

Already posted info on the library wine dinner on Thursday, Dec. 10, at the winery. In addition, the winery will be teaming in a unique event with nearby Galloping Goose Vineyards in Hampstead on Dec. 5-6. Called a Point-to-Point Barrel Tasting, visitors can start at either winery between noon and 5 p.m. and taste at least two yet-to-be-bottled wines. Then they'll get a full glass of wine and complimentary hors d'oeuvre, then bring their glass along with them to the other winery for a similar offering. The cost, including the souvenir glass, is $15 per person.

One other bit of knowledge that everyone wants to know two days before Thanksgiving is what kind of wine to serve with dinner. Woodhall's strongest suggestion out of its line: it light reds such as Sangiovese Rose and Pinot Noir.

A big splash: York trail's Nouveau event overflows tasting room at Naylor Wine Cellars

2009-11-23T22:53:00.000-08:00

Dick Naylor said he looked at the 50 or so folks who visited his winery in Stewartstown on Friday and wasn't quite sure what the rest of the first Uncork York Wine Just Off The Vine promotion would bring. Turned out to be almost more than he could handle.

Naylor said they thought maybe 150 or 200 would stop by Saturday to taste his 2009 vintage wines. Instead, they wound up doubling that. "It was phenomenal," he said by phone Monday afternoon, confirming just by his tone that this likely will be an annual event for the trail. "We had over 350 people in here on Saturday. It was just nonstop. What happened, there were so many people we took care of them as far as the tasting [out of the barrel] was concerned, but when it got into the tasting room there were just so many people that they couldn't get up to the bar to buy wine, and a lot of them left."

Saturday alone he said they sold close to 14 cases, and almost 40 of those bottles were the Naylor Port, produced from the Chambourcin grape. Ten wineries on the trail participated int he event; the cost to stop by all and taste the Nouveau wine was $10 per person.

The Stewartstown winery had another 155 or so on Sunday, plus 54 to their winemaker's dinner. All of which left Naylor knowing that they have some work to do in the tasting room before the trail's next big event, Tour de Tanks, in March 2010.

"I told my son-in-law, I said, where we have the wine supplies at the end, we're going to have to knock that wall out," he recalled. "I told him that three weeks ago. In March, when we had this thing, we lost a lot of business because people [couldn't find a path to the bar] and get waited on. I wish I had knocked the thing out last week so we would have had the room available Saturday."

Not only is Wine Just Off The Vine behind Naylor now, but so is the Wines of the World community education course that he taught in conjunction with Penn State Harrisburg. It ran on Thursday afternoons over a period of six weeks. The finale almost two weeks ago featured wines of the East Coast. Naylor said he served a mango wine from Key West, Fla., a cranberry wine from New Jersey, and wines from Connecticut, New York, Virginia and Maryland (Boordy and Fiore).

Paris walk yields off-street surprise

2009-11-23T05:18:00.000-08:00

People head to Paris to, among other things, drink the wine and not necessarily see the vineyards. But seeing the vineyard, singular in this case, was one of the highlights for me earlier this month. It's an out-of-the-way plot that sits a few blocks from Sacre-Coeur on the meandering walk down to the marketplace in Montmartre.

We just sort of happened by it; as it turned out about a month after the annual festival called Fete des Vendanges that takes place in early October. A vineyard called Clos Montmartre, it's the lone working vineyard in Paris. Those vines cover 1500 square meters and produce 27 varietals, filling about 1500 half-liter bottles. Generally those are sold to raise money for charities.

For more, check out this extended story on the vineyard that I borrowed the info from. What I provided are the couple of photos I've attached, taken the end of the first week of November.

Waltz Vineyards' next release will be the first for a new semi-dry white blend called Fusion

2009-11-21T08:23:00.000-08:00

A couple of things out of Waltz Vineyards in Manheim, a new Pennsylvania winery that I haven't been bashful about calling one of my favorites since it opened earlier this year.

One, they're able to ship UPS now, so anyone ordering wine can have it on their table in a day or two. Meanwhile, the winery is expanding its hours beginning Monday, opening its doors six days a week through the end of the year except for Thanksgiving day, Christmas Eve, Christmas, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. They'll be open noon to 5 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and noon to 6 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.

Co-owner Kim Waltz said Friday that they have been maintaining a schedule of being open three days a week, but "if there's any month we should probably be more available, it's December. So, we're going to give that a shot."

Waltz noted she and husband Jan have bottled a number of wines, but none have been released as yet. They offer a line of six dry wines -- two whites, three reds and a rose, ranging in price from $18 (Baron Steigel Rose) to $36 (their Cherry Hill Merlot, really what I'd consider their signature wine) to $42 (Crow Woods Cabernet). The first one they plan to release, as early as this weekend, will be the seventh wine in their line. It's a semi-dry white called Fusion that will sell for $18.

"It's three whites blended together and a little more sweetness than we normally do on our other wines," Kim said. The blend is 50 percent Semillon and 25 percent each of Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay. "It's really nice. It's got a little punch to it; it's about 13 percent [alcohol]. It's interesting, you know, there are still a lot of people that really like a lot of sweetness in their line. So we stayed with the semi-dry and didn't get too, too sweet, but for us it tastes sweet. . . . But I think it will be a nice one here, especially going into the holidays, because it's capturing the audience that really would rather have a little sweetness."

Expect the others to be released right around the start of the new year.

Among the wine-food dinners on regional calendar, Woodhall has its set for Dec. 10

2009-11-20T10:06:00.000-08:00

I assume the many wine dinners held around the region are profitable, or they wouldn't be quite so plentiful. Just about every winery in the region that I cover in Pennsylvania and Maryland holds a wine and food pairing at some point during the year. Some hold more than a few.

One I spotted in my trawl through the various Web sites is set for Thursday, Dec. 10, at Woodhall Wine Cellars in Parkton, Md., minutes off I-83 at 17912 York Road in Baltimore County, just north of the Gunpowder River. It's a seven-course meal that will run from 5 to 9 p.m. and include wines from Woodhall's library. The cost is $65 per person, and does NOT include tax and gratuities. There's also a restaurant on the premises called Patricia Della, which is open Thursday through Sunday from 5 to 9 p.m. Reservations are required.

Here's the menu:

1st course: rosette of salmon with verte sauce
2nd course: crab bisque
3rd course: seared duck breast over couscous with rose of merlot reduction
4th course: warm carpachio
5th course: double lamb chop with persillade crust
6th course: 3 cheese tray
7th course: pumpkin bread pudding with cinnamon ice cream

For more information, call 410.357.5078. Woodhall is one of the older wineries in the state with a knowledgeable staff, headed up by owners Al Copp and Chris Lang and tasting room manager Debbie Morris. Chris Kent is the winemaking consultant.

Every weekend Woodhall features two separate and different special tasting experiences:

1. Vintners Reserve Wine Tasting: Kent has selected seven of the winery's finest wines (all black labels) for an exclusive comparative tasting experience. Three of these wines will be tasted against barrel samples of the same wine. Participants will be able to learn the difference between various wine varieties and different vintages, as well as have an opportunity to sample the "Best of Woodhall." The tasting will be conducted by one of the staff well versed and involved in the winemaking process. Tasting fee: $15

2. Comparative Barrel Tasting Tour: Participants have an opportunity to compare five current vintage wines to the 2008 barreled wine of the same variety under the guidance of a staff member knowledgeable and involved in the winemaking process. Tasting fee: $15

Wine Off The Vine opens Friday and continues through Sunday at 10 midstate wineries

2009-11-19T17:14:00.000-08:00

What the Uncork York trail is calling Wine Off The Vine, another name for Nouveau Weekend, will begin Friday and continue through Sunday at 10 wineries in midstate Pennsylvania.

Tickets are $10 to taste wine made from freshly harvested grapes at any of the participating wineries. There might be some minor variation, but the wineries are expected to be open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. You can buy those at any of the wineries involved, although note according to the Web site that a $1 processing fee will be assessed per ticket for anyone who used a credit card to purchase them.

A number of winemaker dinners are being held in conjunction with the event. PR coordinator extraordinaire Alison Smolinski noted in a Wednesday e-mail that the Allegro Vineyard's dinner in the Commonwealth Room at the Yorktowne Hotel in York this weekend is sold out. That's a total of 70 seats that will be filled for the food and drink, the latter produced by winemaker and owner Carl Helrich.

Fiore taking reservations for Christmas dinner

2009-11-17T20:59:00.000-08:00

We're seeing more and more of these Christmas dinners at various mid-Atlantic wineries. Fiore Winery in Pylesville, Md., is one of those, charging $65 per person for a dinner from 6 to 9 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 5, that will include the wine, food and entertainment. Prepaid reservations are required at 410.879.4007.

So what's coming out of the kitchen?

Hors d'oeuvres: Antipasta of cheeses, vegetables, dips, and spreads, with artisan breads, crackers,pita, crostini
paired with Apple-lucious, Sangiovese

Seated Dinner:

Butternutsquash ravioli with sage, rye, and cream.
paired with Pinot Grigio

Baked salmon with roasted pepper sauce and spinach orzo.
paired with Chardonnay

Spice beef round with roasted green beans and grape tomato.
paired with Proprietors Reserve Chambourcin

Seasonal salad with fruit, nuts, and cheese, vinaigrette.
paired with Vidal Blanc

Christmas pudding with hard sauce.
paired with Maryland Merlot

State wine trails, stores ring in the Nouveau

2009-11-17T13:11:00.001-08:00

Wine moves to the forefront this week across the state, and not just because it's nearly Thanksgiving and you figure to be buying a few bottles or cases for your dinner table.

It's also Nouveau week, the first release of the 2009 vintage. The state makes it a big to-do Thursday when the Duboeuf Beaujolais Nouveau goes on sale and is complemented by a number of free tastings through the weekend. A number will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday throughout the Philadelphia suburbs and west to Lancaster and Harrisburg. You have a pretty good selection of wines to pair up with your Thanksgiving food, and one of those on the list is the Beaujolais.

This Beaujolias release on the third Thursday in November has become a regular event on the wine calendar in France and the United States. What is becoming more the standard among Pennsylvania wineries is a similar release, accompanied by plenty of hoopla and food pairings.

One will take place along the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail, where Nouveau Weekend will be held Saturday and Sunday. In addition to being able to taste and purchase the wines, trail members are expected to offer Thanksgiving-themed food pairings, live entertainment, and more.

Nouveau Weekend will be held at all nine wineries on the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. A few wineries will be open as late as 6 both days. According to a release sent out on behalf of the trail, here's what some of the wineries are planning:

Big Creek Vineyard in Kresgeville is recommending a warm Spiced Apple as an aperitif and Nouveau Red with the big bird.

Blue Mountain Vineyards of New Tripoli suggests its 2008 Riesling - a refreshingly dry, intensely fruity and crisp wine with a very long lingering finish.

Cherry Valley Vineyards of Saylorsburg will serve its award-winning Cranberry Blush, a semi-sweet that is crisp and clean, similar to a white zinfandel with intense cranberry flavor. It starts sweet and finishes with a well-balanced citrus zest.

Clover Hill Vineyards & Winery of Breinigsville offers its new release 2007 Oak Vidal Blanc – upfront rich butter and cream flavor, the finish bursting with lemon and zesty acidity.

Galen Glen Vineyard & Winery, Andreas: Cellar White is a cuvee of the vineyard - Vidal, Riesling and Cayuga. Created in the style of German wines, it is an arrested fermentation (all sweetness is natural and from the grapes) with an elegant wild flower nose and brightly layered fruit ending.

Vynecrest Vineyards & Winery of Breinigsville will serve the Gamay Beaujolais Nouveau 2009 vintage wine, a perfect accompaniment to your holiday meals.

Thirty-five wineries part of next New York event on Dec. 6 in Lower Manhattan

2009-11-15T07:59:00.000-08:00

Have occasionally chatted with executive director Jim Trezise of the New York Wine & Grape Foundation, so I don't mind snatching from his weekly e-letter when I see item pertinent to my audience. Here are a couple entries from the one that arrived this morning.

VINTAGE 2009 is one of the longest, slowest, and latest in recent memory, but is also surprisingly good under the circumstances (particularly the fall harvest season), according to the final edition of the “Veraison to Harvest” e-newsletter published by Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) and underwritten by the New York Wine & Grape Foundation.

Statewide Extension Enologist Chris Gerling wrote an excellent wrap-up with comments by winemakers in various regions like Christopher Tracy of Channing Daughters on Long Island: “What we have will be super, there’s just not that much of it” (reflecting a smaller than normal crop). The weekly e-newsletter is a timely and valuable resource for grape growers and winemakers alike, and now CCE is launching a sequel called “The Cellar Dweller” to provide up-to-date information for winemakers on cellar techniques to maximize wine quality.

The research and extension provided by Cornell University and the Geneva Experiment Station have been a vital part of the dramatic improvement in quality of New York wines, and we are delighted to support their efforts.

2,500 WINE GLASSES disappeared yesterday at the New York State Fairgrounds. That’s great news: Everyone who attended the first-ever Pride of New York Harvest Fest in Syracuse got a complementary “Uncork New York” wine glass, which means over 2,500 consumers attended in just one day. We had to put in an emergency order for 2,000 more to cover today’s anticipated crowd, having thought the original 2,500 would cover Friday through Sunday.

The Department of Agriculture & Markets, State Fair, and New York Wine & Grape Foundation partnered on this venture, which far exceeded our expectations. With about 50 wineries and 50 food producers scattered in the spacious Horticultural Building, it was hard to judge the size of the crowd, so the wine glasses gave us the most accurate count. To my knowledge, this was the largest single-day crowd of any event we’ve ever been involved in, and there’s still today!

The “locavore” and “locapour” trend seems alive and well in the greater Syracuse area, as people were not only sampling but buying, stocking up on New York wines and foods for the holidays. Between my seminars (Wine & Chocolate, Wine & Cheese), I sampled a wide array of wonderful local foods—cheeses, chicken meatballs, sausage, sauces, pastries, wine ice cream—which reaffirmed that New York Farm Country is a gold mine for fabulous fare.

Now we just need to have consumers ask for New York wines at liquor stores and restaurants, and New York foods at grocery stores. New Yorkers supporting New Yorkers: It just makes $en$e.

SIP, SAVOR & SHOP AT CITY WINERY is our next event on the afternoon of Sunday, Dec. 6 in lower Manhattan. More than 35 wineries from throughout the State will be joined by a dozen artisanal food producers and several restaurants to give participants a taste of New York while listening to a popular jazz trio from Long Island.

Tickets are only $45, and available at www.citywinery.com/events/40934. For more information on the participants, go the home page of www.newyorkwines.org.

No Nouveau, but the old standbys should make visitors plenty happy at Pinnacle Ridge

2009-11-14T13:11:00.000-08:00

Lehigh Valley Wine Trail will be among several in the state that will hold Nouveau Weekend NEXT weekend, a day or two after the Beaujolais from France is released in the state stores. You probably recognize the term even if you pay little attention to wine. Nouveau is, obviously, new wine that only a month or two ago was hanging out in clusters on the vine. All nine wineries will be participating in the promotion, which will run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the 21st and noon to 5 p.m. on the 22nd.

Pinnacle Ridge Winery will be one of those wineries, indeed open until 6 both days, only you won't be getting the Nouveau when you exit the Krumsville exit of I-78 and drive the half-mile or so to the tasting room. Had a chance to bust on winemaker and owner Brad Knapp on Thursday about Nouveau Weekend without the Nouveau, since he decided not to make it this year after producing it since 1995. The reason? Simple. Lots of effort for minimal reward.

"I had made a few from Chambourcin," Knapp said by phone, talking about the grapes he incorporated into his previous Nouveaus. "Which is troublesome because it's so late [to harvest]. It's hard to get the wine made in time. And then I was purchasing some Dornfelter, which is an early ripening German red variety, which works reasonably well. But I was not real happy frankly with the sales of that style."

Knapp said that he and wife Christy were touring wineries on Long Island when they entered Macari Winery, which "put out a wine called early Chardonnay, I think it was called. And it was an oaked wine, released very early. I think it was November. And they did very well with it and we decided to try it. They pitched it as an Austrian pub wine. . . . the taverns around Vienna will serve this newly fermenting wine in the fall. So we pitched it that way, that this was an Austrian-style Nouveau. And that actually did well. Slightly sweet and very fruity."

But, he added, no matter what he made, it was a lot of work to produce a small quantity of wine that just didn't have much appeal. "The bang for the buck was low, let's put it that way," Knapp said.

So what you'll get instead will be a few of Pinnacle Ridge's award-winning line of wines paired up with Turkey Day foods. They'll match up their 2008 Chambourcin and slightly sweet, fruity 2008 Chambourcin Rose with smoked turkey breast piled on lightly toasted baguettes. Those will be topped with a variety of Robert Rothschild spreads: Caramelized Onion Balsamic Spread, Champagne GarliC Honey Mustard or Raspberry Cranberry Horseradish Sauce.

Check out the Web site to see the wide array of food to be served at Customer Appreciation Weekend on Dec. 5-6 and the chocolate and red wine pairing event the following weekend. Knapp said there have been plenty of customers to appreciate this year.

"Our business is phenomenal," he said. "We're doing great. My take on it is that most of us, myself included, there's a strong element of entertainment. And we're inexpensive entertainment. And we're local entertainment. So folks are getting in their car and driving around the countryside and spending a few bucks on buying a few bottles of wine instead of hopping in a plane to go somewhere or doing something more expensive."

Soups, pasta highlight menu at two Maryland wineries this weekend

2009-11-13T18:27:00.000-08:00

Wanted to loop in a couple of events going on at Maryland wineries the next couple of weekends before focusing on what's on tap in P-A. Soup in the Cellar starts tomorrow (Saturday) in the 1830s wine cellar at Boordy Vineyards in Hydes, and coming off several days of rain and chilly temps, the timing couldn't be better.

This event will run from 1 to 5 p.m. the next three Saturdays. In addition to the wine and soups pairings and organic bread, you'll get a tour of the winery, some music, and a chance to toast marshmallows over an open flame cauldron. Expect a choice of the following soups: Southwest Shrimp and Corn Chowder, Tomato Cheddar Bisque, Mulligatawny, and Double Smoked Bacon & Black Lentil Soup. The winery is located 15 minutes north of the Baltimore Beltway.

Over in Frederick County, the already multi-decorated Black Ankle Vineyards has plenty cooking heading into the holidays. The year-old winery that already has produced Maryland's "wine of the year" in 2008 and 2009 Governor's Cup judging will be serving as host of another in a series of wine and dinner pairings at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday. Chef Paul Dongarra of Dionysus Kitchen will produce a three-course meal including pasta that will pair up with Black Ankle wines. Cost is $35 and $8 for a kid's plate. You can find out more by e-mailing Melissa Schulte at melissa@blackankle.com or calling 619.203.8230.

Next weekend the winery will have its chefs on location to answer questions about Thanksgiving foods and the wines that go best with them, plus Maryland-based artesian chocolate company Parfections will be in-house to build customized boxes of truffles for folks wanting to add some sweetness to their dinner table. A unique promotion called Family Photo at the Farm ($25 per session) will take place the day after Thanksgiving.

Owners Ed Boyce and Sarah O'Herron note on their Web site that supplies are dwindling on several of their wines, including their medium-bodied red blend called Passegiata (two cases left), their 2007 white blend called Bedlam (a winner of the 2008 Maryland Winemasters' Choice award, there are four cases left), and their white varietal called Gruner Veltliner (3 cases left of the '08 vintage).

Finally, back to the business of blogging

2009-11-13T10:32:00.000-08:00

Forgive the lapse in posts. One week vacation seems to translate in almost two weeks out of pocket with all the work that accumulates.

Wanted to start anew by first thanking those who sent recommendations, etc., to me for our trip to Paris last week. Ate at a couple of the restaurants, saw a few of the suggested sites. I'd go back in a heartbeat. We didn't run into a single case of the rudeness that has long been associated with traveling through France. Whether it's the new climate created by Barack Obama or the fact it was the offseason or just, well, things have changed, I don't know. Maybe the global economic meltdown has softened the edge. But all our questions were politely met with the answers we needed to get where we need to go.

Had two restaurants I wanted to recommend, one with a name I'm still trying to track down. The other was La Varangue in Rue Cler, near the Eiffel Tower. Offered up as a place to go in Rick Steves' Paris book, it's a tiny eatery along a side street that seats around 25 on five or six tables. Philippe Mollay, who ran a French catering shop in the Philly suburbs for three years during the early part of this decade, brings over his chalkboard and reviews all the offerings for the evening in detail. Steves wrote that the cuisine is simple and cheap, and he was right on both counts. Add a thumbs up for the house wine and the chocolate cake, which Phillippe makes. And if you stop by, you might run into Phillippe's daughter, who pitches in as a waitress.

Have plenty of entries to post; some from interviews that go back a few weeks. See if I can't clear my notebook by the end of the weekend.

Galloping Goose can't keep enough Cabernet Franc on the shelves during first weekend

2009-11-02T21:09:00.000-08:00

Told from across the Mason-Dixon Line that several wineries should be opening in Maryland over the next few months, according to the executive director of the Maryland Winery Association. Kevin Atticks wrote in an e-mail Monday that Galloping Goose Vineyards in Westminster sold out of its Cabernet Franc at its grand opening this past weekend.

He noted that late winter/spring opening include Knob Hall Winery in Hagerstown, DeJon Vineyards in Hydes (in Baltimore County, near Boordy Vineyards), in addition to two others on the mid/lower Eastern Shore.

Turkey's on table for class at Chaddsford

2009-11-02T20:47:00.000-08:00

So what's going on at Chaddsford Winery? You could probably ask that question year-round and get some sort of answer. Pretty much the busiest of all the regional wineries is cooking up an event called Turkey Tastings for the next three Sundays, beginning Nov. 7

Its wine educators will pair dry white wines, dry red wines and some sweet wines with honey brined turkey, herb stuffing, roasted yam wedges, seasonal vegetables, cranberry relish and pie. In essense, it's your pre Thanksgiving laboratory all for the cost of $20. For reservations, call 610.388.6221.

At the bottom of Eric Miller's always-interesting vintage notes is a short piece about the origin of a new wine recently released called Essence. He writes of a trip that he and Lee took to Priorato, Spain, last June. "There, Alvaro Palacios was kind enough to allow us an extraordinary tour of his extraordinary vineyards and winery. There we experienced his [costly] magnificent blend of Terroir, what his mountainous, oddly planted mix of varieties could transform into a landscape of smells and flavors. There I tasted an immaculate picture where no one could say this image had too much sunset, too much heat of the day, too much Cabernet, too little Syrah. There I dreamed of my own landscape reaching beyond any single grape variety, deep into an unrestrained pure finesse of intrinsic geography and climate.

"And so, the day after we got home, I began blending a simple percentage mix of the best '07 grapes grown on the Miller Estate and vinified in my hands. We bottled it this spring and I truly feel it expresses the essence of what I can do as a winemaker with my dirt and my grapes and my lifetime of winemaking experience. It might not surprise you that we have named this terroir blend 'Essence.' It is a very small lot (71 cases), a blend of five reds grown on our estate and two additional reds from the region. I hope you’ll try it and lay down a bottle or two in your cellar."

Manatawny puts Meritage on sale for November

2009-10-31T20:11:00.000-07:00

It's called Manatawny Creek Winery for a simple reason: the winery sits alongside the Manatawny Creek in central Pennsylvania, sporting a mailing address of Amityville. Manatawny is a native American term that the winery's Web site means: "Where we meet to drink." Well, I'll take their word for it.

Our one visit with another couple lasted a couple of hours, what with the snacks to nosh and the many wines that owner and winemaker Joeanne Levengood produces. I found my share of dry reds and whites to savor; and if you don't like those the line runs from sparkling to fruit to sweet to several end-of-the-evening beverages that will rock you quietly to sleep.

Levengood's newsletters are always a mix of tasting room sales and vineyard education, definitely worth sharing. They'll have their 2006 Meritage reduced by 30 percent for November, with an additional case discount. Perhaps a sign of what's going on today, this is the first time that the Meritage has ever been on sale. Meritage is a dry, oak-aged, red blend of the Bordeaux varieties that includes Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot.

Manatawny's annual wine and soup day is scheduled for next Saturday, the 7th. A beef and vegetable soup (and vegetable soup alone for the veg-heads) will be on the menu and paired with Chambourcin.

Levengood noted in her e-letter that rain has curtailed plans to use volunteers to pick, similar to a number of other wineries throughout the region. "This Saturday looks like a washout again," she wrote, "so it looks like the remaining grapes will get picked on weekdays. Sorry to everyone who wanted to help us pick on the weekends this year! It was so odd how it rained (or rain was predicted) on almost all of the weekends this fall."

And then there's my favorite part, the question of the month. Can wine bottles be reused.

Levengood: "We get lots of people wondering if they should bring back their empty wine bottles for us to reuse. We cannot do that because wine bottles need to be sterile when bottling. The bottles arrive to us from the manufacturing plant in a sterile condition, because very high temperatures are used to make glass wine bottles. The amount of time and energy required to sterilize a used wine bottle is prohibitive for us. So what should you do with your empty wine bottles? Give them to your home winemaking buddies. Or if you’re creative, check out the web for all kinds of ideas including wind chimes, candles, pourers and even cutting in half to make drinking glasses. And if you’re not creative or drink a lot of wine like we do, put your empty wine bottles in the recycle bin to get reused elsewhere."

For Allegro owner, another 'Christmas' behind him

2009-10-30T22:33:00.000-07:00

I took it as a compliment knowing I had a little bit to do with owner and winemaker Carl Helrich's blog on his Allegro Vineyards Web site. He was the first winemaker I interviewed when I started this blog, and we have continued to talk off and on since then, sometimes for publication and other times just to catch up.

A couple months ago he rolled out the blog and provided his followers, including me, with lots of insight. His newest one was posted earlier this week at the end of harvest, what he calls the "best time of year. Think of it as Christmas," he adds a bit later.

What's fun about Carl is that he's not much for fluff; neither with his wines nor his comments. You know where you stand. and the blog reads that way, too: direct, lots of passion squeezing between the lines. "I will admit it makes me tired some," he writes later on in his post. "OK, a lot. I'm 39, and this is my 12th harvest. Not a lot, yet. But I can tell a difference. I still wake up early, too excited to sleep, but I can't go go go like I used to. Ray--my assistant winemaker--is starting to show it, too. When he first showed up here in his late 20s, he used to help with harvest then head to the bars. Now, four years later, it's been a few weeks since he's done that. We all get older, but the feelings for this only get stronger."

Two other things to mention about Allegro, located in The Brogue in southcentral Pennsylvania. A member of the Uncork York! trail, he will be participating in the trail's first Nouveau Weekend (or what they are calling New Wine Off The Vine) on Nov. 20-22. It will feature 10 of Uncork's wineries, including Allegro, which will be open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tickets are $10 per person and will include tours of the cellar and tastings, plus many of the wineries will pair with local restaurants for a wine and food extravaganza from Nov. 19-22.

In addition, Allegro's Bridge will be one of the wines features in my next Vintages column for In Central Pennsylvania magazine. A 2006 vintage, it's a Bordeaux-style Merlot blend with Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. He wrote in an e-mail that the wine, which sells for $27, pairs well with beef dishes and should hit its prime in 2011 (although you can certainly open it now). And if you're in a cellaring mood, he said it should keep its life anoter eight or nine years beyond its prime.

As for the name, Helrich wrote that "it was created initially in 2001 as a "bridge" between John Crouch's Cadenzas and mine. The 2001 Bridge was really nice, but not quite a Cadenza. In 2006, I felt that the wine wasn't quite Cadenza quality, but much better than our regular bottling. I brought back the name in 2006, and we bottled a 2007 as well. We may have one from 2009 . . . we'll see."

Encore: Piccolo back on Basignani shelves

2009-10-29T17:05:00.000-07:00

Always like to hear the stories about how wines that aren't named after a grape or region are named. Generally there's a good story there to tell, and that's the case with Piccolo, produced by Basignani Winery in Sparks, Md., about a 12-minute ride off I-83 just north of Towson.

I'm planning to use that as one of the featured wines in Vintages, something I've started writing for In Central Pennsylvania magazine, which is published by the Patriot-News of Harrisburg.

Piccolo is a medium-bodied 50-50 red blend of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon that's heavy on fruit and light on tannins. It could handle any type of meat dish, and also partner quite well with anything pasta. Had it down at Basignani during the eye-popping post-picking lunch that Lynne puts on, and you couldn't have asked for anything nicer to go with the lasagna and complementary dishes she served. Gotta also like the cost, at $11.75.

Asked Lynne by e-mail how the wine got its name and got an answer along with a bit of a history lesson.

"Originally we made this wine about 8 years ago, because we had a really bad vintage (1996) and didn't want to sell our Cabernet as Cabernet because of the reputation that we had built up with that wine," she wrote. "So we decided to 'declassify' the wine, sell it cheaper, and come up with a different name. At the time Boordy had a wine they called 'Petit Cabernet,' meaning a lighter Cabernet, of course, actually meaning 'little' Cabernet. We decided to 'borrow' the name from them, but use the Italian version of little, which is 'piccolo.' We made several vintages of Piccolo over the years. It actually developed quite a following. We haven't made it for several years, but Bert decided to release one this year. We already had a ready public that was familiar with it and would be thrilled to see it again. Probably more information than you wanted or needed, but there it is. In short, it means 'Little' Cabernet."

For those vested in growth of regional wine, DrinkLocalWine a site for sore eyes

2009-10-27T14:23:00.000-07:00

It's already a few weeks ago since the second Regional Wine Week, where bloggers from places other than the West Coast chimed in on wines and wineries in their region. All the content was linked to this DrinkLocalWine site.

Co-founder Dave McIntyre, who writes on wines on a blog called wineline, responded to an e-mail Tuesday morning about how it went by saying that that had more people involved this year and from more states. "We are thrilled to have some coverage of Michigan, more coverage of North Carolina and Georgia," he wrote. "We also have tremendous interest from Texas bloggers, many of whom attended our first DrinkLocalWine.com conference in Dallas in August."

The founders noted on their site that they welcomed more contributors to Regional Wine Week despite the economy, which has taken out some members of the mainstream media as well as other independent bloggers.

"So this year's output was as welcome as it was unexpected," they wrote. "But it shouldn't have been. We, more than anyone, should know that regional wine is an accepted, full-fledged member of the wine community. That people -- a lot of people -- want to write about it should not be surprising."

And next year's, the third annual, already is tentatively planned for Oct. 9-16. Planning also is under way on a second DrinkLocalWine.com conference. The first one earlier this year was held in Texas, in believe. Next year's seems targeted for a location in northern Virginia during the weekend of April 24-25.

Va La's Vietri: 'No predictions of doom or diamonds for either color of wine yet'

2009-10-24T11:38:00.000-07:00

Checked in with Anthony Vietri at Va La Vineyards in Avondale, Pa., for his early assessment of his harvest. Summed up, it's a little too early to tell.

"As far as the harvest to date," he wrote, "I can't speak for anyone else's experiences, as I have not really spoken to anyone else about their experience, but I will say that it has been highly unusual vintage for us here on the little hill. Whites are looking strangely good, for what we are looking for here. The jury is still out on the reds for us; I make no predictions of doom or diamonds for either color of wine yet. "

Two items of interest off his Web site.

1, Their local friends, Andrea’s Best of Italy, are now offering bagged lunches for the Va La Nation. Each little sack of goodness includes a side, a bottled water, and authentic bag for $10 (US). All selections are dolphin-free. So if you feel like taking a little lunch at the vineyard after your tasting, you can pick up a bag on your way out to visit. Menu, directions, and info www.andreasbestofitaly.com

2, The Brandywine Book of Food features recipes, chefs, and winemakers of the Brandywine. (And yes, that's their little vineyard on the front cover). A special book signing will take place from noon to 4:01 p.m. on Nov. 14-15. Authors Roger Morris, Cathleen L. Ryan and photographer Ella Morris will be in the Galleria to celebrate the premier of their beautiful new book The Brandywine Book of Food. According to the site, the advance buzz promises this book to be a defining image of the Valley for years to come. "They will be available for these two days only to sign copies, answer questions, poke with sticks, or just stare at and whisper," the site says.

2 days and counting to Sand Castle's store opening

2009-10-21T23:44:00.000-07:00

How 'bout some news you can use out of Sand Castle Winery in Erwinna, in suburban Philly. A member of the Bucks County Wine Trail, the winery's latest e-letter noted that it will be opening its new store called Taste this Saturday, Oct. 24. Hours that day will be noon to 6 p.m. Among the items for sale will be Sand Castle wines and olive oil, and cheese, chocolates and gourmet food from local producers.

Haven't had any of their wines yet. The distinctive mix of 12 wines using four varietals -- Riesling, Chardonnary, Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir -- are certainly priced well. It's an interesting mix, with many of the wines having a vintage from the early part of the decade back to 1999. I do like how they pair up foods on the wine list located on their site. Very helpful.

As for this year, the difficult harvest is almost finished, with only Cabernet Sauvignon left on the vine. The e-letter noted (lamented) that it was "the worst year for rain and weeds. Despite it, the quality of the grapes are great. The amount is about one third of the normal harvest, but we are grateful for what we got."

PWA 'very happy' with line in new state budget

2009-10-21T07:25:00.001-07:00

A couple of points from a phone chat late Tuesday afternoon with an elated Sam Landis, the assistant winemaker and marketing director at Vynecrest Vineyards & Winery in eastern Pennsylvania. The president of the Pennsylvania Winery Association had several reasons to be so cheery: the harvest is finished, the Phillies are one out away from the World Series, and the association over the last few days figured out that the budget for the fiscal year 2009-2010 WILL include $160,000 in funding. There was a time a couple of months ago where the PWA wondered if there wold be any money at all coming its way.

"We're very happy with that," he said. "In this economic climate, there were a number of projects that were completely cut out, so for us to . . . last year we got $240,000, but for us to still get a sizeable amount really kind of speaks to the fact that they look to our industry as pretty solid and pretty stable. This will definitely keep us going with all of our projects and all of our different balls in the air. We have a couple other grants we've been given as well, so we're feeling pretty good about the way it turned out."

One of the initiatives that will continue is Libation Vacation, funded by a $75,000 grant, that encourages bloggers to spread the word about Pennsylvania wineries by enticing them out to any of the state's 11 wine trails. Among the other programs that Landis and PWA are working on:

* In discussion with Penn State about filling the post of state oenologist, a post that was vacated several years ago. Right now that leaves wine grape educator Mark Chien as the primary resource for anything to do with grapes and grape-growing in Pennsylvania. Not a bad position to be in at all, but a second body with comparable knowledge would help all concerned.

* Talking with Harrisburg Area Community College "to put together classes for vineyards and wineries. We should have more something definitive," he said, "at least by the end of the year if not early 2010, getting some programs to go with HACC."

It's the law now: Maryland's St. Mary's County opens door for wineries to open

2009-10-20T21:21:00.000-07:00

Maryland wine's biggest supporter checked in around dinner time today by phone with news that St. Mary's County in southern Maryland had only hours before adopted zoning regulations to allow wineries. Association of Maryland Wineries executive director Kevin Atticks said that will allow a few to open over the next 12 months.

Outside of that, the festival season ended last weekend at Salisbury, where Atticks said around 2500 people came out amid torrential rains Saturday and chilly temperatures on Sunday.

We talked about some of the events being held at Maryland wienries, including the upcoming wine and food pairing at Black Ankle in Mt. Airy. Atticks noted that Elk Run, only a cow chip's toss away from Black Ankle, had what he called an amazing dinner on Oct. 13 as part of their harvest celebration. That one featured Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc and a five-course meal prepared by chef Bryne Voltaggio of Volt Restaurant in Frederick. I didn't ask Attick if he had heard how many attended; the cost was $165 per person, including tax and gratuity. That's by far the most expensive pairing I've written about in this blog, but the menu had a little bit of everything and contained local products and meats.

Among the events on Elk Run's list for the next couple months are a champange release on Sunday, Nov. 15, and an open house from noon to 4 p.m on Dec. 5-6.

Black Ankle's events for fall include unique family photo day at the winery

2009-10-19T08:19:00.000-07:00

Of the many activities planned at Maryland's Black Ankle Vineyards in Mt. Airy over the next month and a half include the following:

* Saturday, Oct. 24, a walk-along with co-owner Sarah O'Herron through the vineyard and winery in what's called "Winemaker for a Day," ending with a tasting paired up with cheeses, $30

* Sunday, Nov. 8, 2 to 5 p.m., a competition featuring Black Ankle's new Leaf Stone Syrah vs. seven others picked by Maryland wine merchants, with appetizers and a tour, $75

* Sunday, Nov. 15, 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., pasta and wine dinner, three courses, one of what has now become a wine and food series that's held every third Sunday at the winery, $35/adults/$8 kids

* Friday, Nov. 27, TBA, an interesting promotion I've never seen at a winery in these parts before: family photo day at the winery, where photographer Liz Hough will take pictures that you could use on your holiday cards or, well, as your personal screen saver; e-mail melissa@blackankle.com for pricing and times

Another one to Cross(ing) off the list

2009-10-19T04:15:00.000-07:00

Clockwise from top: one of several tasting bars in the winery, dessert awaits a knife; and a shot of the tasting room/winery from the walkway that leads in from the parking lot.

Finally made it to Crossing Vineyards & Winery on Sunday, where a steady stream of visitors were heading up the steps and across the landscaped path to the cozy tasting room during the hour and a half we were there. It's a striking juxtoposition, the parking lot and tasting room and new warehouse sitting there, vineyards stretching as far as you can see to one side with a housing development pressing in from the other. All in all, a gorgeous setting amid the changing leaves in rural Bucks County, about 7 miles south of New Hope.

Folks were heading in for a dummies class that started around 2. Others were there tasting at one of two tables set up back in the winery itself. It was the winery's sixth birthday party, so a four-piece band was playing in one spot and a sheet cake was awaiting a few candles and a knife in another spot. Crossing Vineyard & Winery's standard tasting is 12 wines for $8, an assortment of whites and reds and what they call their original series. The one out of the latter that was opened on Sunday was Wild Berry, a delectable blend that would work well as a summer sipper and quite well on, say, a scoop or two of ice cream. Got a chance to sample their recent award winners in the Sommelier Challenge held in San Diego: the 2007 Merlot, its grapes are imported from Waltz Vineyards over in Manheim, Pa., by the way; their 2007 Cabernet Franc, really what amounts to their signature wine; and their '07 Viognier. All excellent choices among many that we sampled.

Price range, by the way, is $12 for the blush and $13 for a few of the other fruit and berry wines, into the low $20 for their award-winning reds, topping off at 28 bucks for the Pinot Noir Reserve and Cabernet Franc Reserve.

Crossing celebrating birthday, awards

2009-10-17T12:09:00.000-07:00

There's a party atmosphere at Crossing Vineyards in Washington Crossing, Pa., these days, and only part of its has to do with this weekend's sixth anniversary party. The Bucks County winery, founded by the Carroll family, will lure a who's who of local and state government officials and folks from the wine industry for a ribbon-cutting on a new energy-efficient warehouse. Meanwhile, there will be tastings, live music and a chance to enter a drawing for tickets to a Nov. 14 wine and food pairing sit-down as the birthday party runs today and tomorrow from noon to 6 p.m.

Actually, the toasting began a few weeks ago when word came back on the results from the Sommelier Challenge International Wine Competition that took place in San Diego on the last weekend in September. Of all the wines entered, 49 made it to the final round of voting for best of show in five broad categories -- sparkling, red, white, rose and fortified. All wines put forward by the judges for the best-of-show vote were elevated from gold to platinum. And when the final assessment was made, Crossing Vineyards' Merlot 2006 earned a platinum medal, Cabernet Franc 2006 scored a gold and the Viognier 2007 took a silver. That's half of the total number that Crossing entered.

Christine Carroll, who directs PR and marketing for the winery, said there was a particular appeal to entering that competition. "It was sommeliers from the country's top restaurants," she said. "And we thought, this would be fun. This is not really a wine judge, per se, but this is someone who's on the front line, selling wine, knowing what people are liking, and they're not with their head in the clouds so much. So we thought, this might be good, and this might be a real taste test of where we stand because it's not an academic who's cutting us slack but it's the guy who's selling it who's judging it."

Crossing's Cab Franc has won the lion's share of awards since the winery opened in 2003, so the gold medal simply added another trinket to the winery's trophy case. But the showings of the Merlot ("a sleeper") and Viognier ("a very elegant wine") did catch them a bit by surprise.
A nice pleasant surprise. "The platinum means that it won a gold medal and that any wine that was being considered for best of show was granted a platinum medal," Carroll said. "There were five best of show medals . . . so we would have been running with [California's] Cakebread [Cellars] for the best red in this competition."

I haven't tasted the wines yet, but hoping to tomorrow. Still, what I have seen is their list of events, from workshops and seminars to wine and food pairings to other events done in conjunction with the Bucks County Wine Trail. Carroll said there's a reason that Crossing ranks among the top two or three in the region, along with Chaddsford, in activities. "Here's the reason we do it," she said. "And it's not always about Pennsylvania wines. We're doing a new class this fall called Italian Wines. That is because people hold the Pennsylvania thing against us, they don't know what they're talking about, they've never tasted Pennsylvania wines. So they'll say, 'I don't like Pennsylvania wine.' Oh, well, whose wine have your tried? 'Well, I've never really tried it, but i don't like it.' Or 'I like California Cabernet.' Well, that's good, that's a start. Have you ever tried a Cabernet from Pennsylvania? 'Oh, no, I don't like a Cabernet from Pennsylvania.' Would you try. 'No, no, no, I don't need to try it because I already know what I like.' So this is what we're faced with. So I think with more . . . I think it's like when a person goes to college, her mind opens up. Educaton opens people's minds. And it's the same with wine as it is with anyone else. So we're trying to get people off the defensive. We're trying to get them on to the open-minded. And we'll always throw one of our wines in and we'll identify it. We're not sneaky. We don't even do a blind tasting. We'll say, 'Here's a Crossing Vineyards Viognier' if we're doing Rhone varietals. Try it. Tell us what you think about it in comparison.

"It's pretty ballsy, I'll give you that. But, again, we're a young winery and we want to get better. And if they hate us, we're going to get better next year, because we're going to figure it out next year."

Allegro's Helrich: Maybe all my fears about the vintage will be for naught

2009-10-16T20:26:00.000-07:00

Get wet these past couple of days? Or were you shoveling? It already feels like winter and it's only mid-October, this coming on the heels of what has been a spring through fall where the heavens have opened up more often than not. Sunny and dry? Hmmm. Trying to remember when.

That has put a lot of regional winemakers on the verge of a conniption. Carl Helrich of Allegro Vineyards down in The Brogue, in southcentral Pennsylvania, had a doom-and-gloom blog entry a few weeks ago. With the Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon still hanging on the vines and the temperature parked around 40 degrees and rain pounding on the window, you'd think he was starting to panic. Instead, talking by telephone late yesterday afternoon, he sounded anything but anxious.

"The grapes are out there, I'm sure they're sucking up water," said Helrich, whose winery's extensive line of more than 30 wines leans fairly heavily toward dry reds and ranges in price from $11 to $35 (for the Cadenza, a Bordeaux blend). "But if we get a good week here of no rain, like they are calling for next week, all that [water] will work its way out again. Throughout all this . . . there's going to be some physiological development of the flavors and stuff in those berries. I'm a firm believer, we've gotta let that stuff hang to the bitter end. I've picked in November before, so if you have to do that, you do that."

Persistent rain like this year's can squeeze all the life out of a vintage, but Helrich's encouraged by the fact that there were still enough summer days where the temperature reached into the high 80s, "which is optimal for flavor development and color development. We had that throughout this summer. I've been preparing for the worst and preparing for the worst and I've haven't seen it yet in the tanks or the bins. That's the amazing thing. The whites are real nice, the aeromatics are just amazing on them. And the reds, we've got mostly just Merlot in right now, and the color's great . . . everything is coming together. All my stressing out for the last three months might have been for, worrying's not good for anything and I think I spent a lot of extra energy worrying about things that I didn't need to worry about."

Make way for newest Maryland winery: Galloping Goose to start welcoming visitors in 2 weeks

2009-10-16T20:07:00.000-07:00

Some people spend a summers visiting all the baseball stadiums in the country, or all the minor-league parks in their area.

Me? I keep a scorecard that allows me to record how many wineries I can visit in a year, and I see where another one will be put into play later on this month.

Galloping Goose Vineyards in Hampstead, Md., notes on its Web site that it will give visitors a first peek at the premises from noon to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31, and Sunday, Nov. 1. There will be wine tastings, light fare and winery tours, along with a barrel tasting of wine that will be released next year. Some of you might already have tasted wines from the northern Carroll County producer when you attended the Maryland Wine Festival. And maybe you tasted so many wines that day that they all blended together.

The winery is located on 27 acres of rolling countryside. Directions from I-83 seem simple: Get off at Mt. Carmel Road, then head toward Hampstead. Travel 6 miles to the light at Falls Road. Turn right onto Falls Road and then left onto Brick Store Road. Take that to the second road on the left, which is Maple Grove Road. You'll see the vineyards on the right.

Rose sales 'blooming' nicely at Hauser Estate

2009-10-15T21:31:00.000-07:00

Winemaker Michelle Oakes welcomes several visitors to the winery during the 2009 Tour de Tanks in March.

Wrote a day or two ago about Seattle native and Cornell educated Michelle Oakes, who joined the then soon-to-open Hauser Estate Winery in Pennsylvania's Adams County in the late spring of 2008. That winery is now open and pulling visitors to its hilltop spot overlooking the rolling terrain that borders Gettysburg's Civil War battlefield. If you're visiting Hanover or Gettysburg, or driving through the area on Route 30 or Route 15, it's a stop you need to make.

Oakes was asked if the sales of any one wine that Hauser Estate produces has surprised her.
Yes, she answered, there was one, the Cabernet Franc Rose.

"I guess one I personally wouldn't to be shocked by, but just based on what people usually prefer I'm shocked by, is the sales on the rose," she said. "Rose is a hard sell. It's one of those wines that just based on its repuation is a hard sell. You're dry wine drinkers think blush when they see it and they think it's sweet, and your blush drinkers assume it's going to be sweet as well. So when you put a Rose on the market your blush drinkers get excited about a wine that they're probably not going to care for much and your red wine drinkers don't want to touch it.

"But the rose has been really well received. I think initally it was getting the people to try it, and then the word kind of spread that it's not a blush style; it's actually a fairly heavy rose, it's got a lot of earthiness to it. It was actually on the skins a little bit longer than you usually would do a rose."

Given the winemaker's background in food, the obvious followup was a question about pairing. In her mind, it matches up with almost anything.

"Rose is a great food-pairing wine because you can do it with lighter fare, but if it's a heavier rose it will still hold up to some heavier dishes," she said. "I mean, it comes about perfect when you're thinking things like pork or chicken in a heavier sauce, where you're like, I could go white but if I wanted red, it's a good crossover. I always say rose is a good picnic wine."

Also a good wine for a feast, such as Thanksgiving, where you're likely to see it recomended as one of the perfect wines to place around the food-laden table. Oakes agreed, noting that "it doesn't overshadow your turkey but it holds up to your gravy and your stuffing, all those things."

Wines & Vines updates readers on Md. fight

2009-10-15T21:20:00.000-07:00

The head of the organization pushing to allow direct shipping of wine in Maryland noted in a Thursday e-mail that the publication Wines & Vines just published a story documenting the fight. Adam Borden, executive director of Marylanders for Better Beer & Wine Laws, told that magazine that "our goal is to get a majoity of members in both the House and the Senate to co-sponsor the legislation,” Borden said. “We have worked with legislative services to draft our legislation so that when it goes to the committee, the members will debate the merit of the bill, and not become immersed in technicalities.”

The article noted that the showdown will come during the period between Jan. 12 and April 12, covering the 90-day period each winter and early spring that the Maryland General Assembly meets. You've been following this initiative on my blog for almost a year now and read much of what was in the article. Still, here's a link to the Wines & Vines story.

Pennsylvania study: Impact of industry has risen 31 percent over the last three years

2009-10-15T20:59:00.000-07:00

What better time than Regional Wine Week for the state of Pennsylvania to tout the findings of a study commissioned by the state's Wine Marketing Research Board (PWMRB), which found that the total impact of the wine industry at ore than $870 million in 2007. That's the last year that data was available.

The last such study was done three years ago, which found an impact of $661 million based on the figures from 2005. This year's results represent a 31 percent increase. Economic impact is measured in total revenue from tourism, wine sales, taxes, and employee wages.

According to a release from the Pennsylvania Winery Association, wine production is also up by more than 13 percent over 2005 totals with 920,000 gallons produced in 2007. That ranks the state seventh among the country's top wine makers. The Commonwealth was previously ranked eighth in wine production.

The study confirmed that Pennsylvania’s wineries are growing in number – from 104 wineries in 2005 to 114 wineries in 2007 – but it also showed an increase in winery output. Although 71 wineries are classified as small, producing less than 5,000 gallons annually, the number of wineries producing 20,000 or more gallons has doubled since 2005 to include 14 wineries throughout the state. Though these larger wineries represent just 12 percent of the Pennsylvania winery industry, their production represents 59 percent of the state’s total wine output.

Here are a few other facts:

* Pennsylvania’s grape juice industry, fueled by the 140-plus vineyards that serve the wine industry, has an impact on the state economy totaling $1.48 billion.

* In 2007, the Pennsylvania wine industry contributed $252.5 million in taxes to the state and collected $179.6 million in tourism expenditures.

* Wine, winegrapes and related industries account for 5,286 jobs in Pennsylvania, with an associated payroll in excess of $210 million.

Tourism and Pennsylvania winery income is expected to rise in 2009 as the PWA continues to work with the Pennsylvania Office of Tourism on a marketing campaign designed to boost tourism to state wineries and wine trails.

I'll add that no one from the association is ready to say just how much the state will fund its planned activities in 2010. That figure is expected to be released in the next few weeks as more becomes known on the specificis of the recently passed state budget.

Serpent Ridge seeks hands to help harvest

2009-10-14T21:59:00.000-07:00

A shot of the outside of the tasting room on opening day in April, and one of the bar inside the tasting room with owner Greg and Karen Lambrecht (background) serving up samples.

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Serpent Ridge Vineyards in Westminster, Md., is a case of another recent start-up that has impressed from the get-go. Its Vintners Cabernet won gold at the Indy International and Winemaster Choice competitions and a silver in the state's Governor's Cup competition. A red blend called Basilisk took a gold in the Governor's Cup contest and its Albarino took a silver in the Governor's Cup and a gold in the Winemaster Choice.

All better than you'd expect out of a winery that opened only a few months ago.

Saw where the winery is planning its harvest for Saturday, Oct. 24, and is looking for volunteers. If you are interested in helping, call them at 410.848.6511 to find out more.

It also reports that its first food and wine dinner done in conjunction with L'Ecole Culinaire School of Cooking was so successful that it's already planning another for 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 13. The cost is $75 /person. Call the above number for reservations for the event, which will be limited to 20 guests. Rumor has it, the latest e-mail said, that the winemaker will be pouring a few samples of the 2008 Cabernet.

What's on the menu? See below.

First Course
Maryland Seafood Chowder with Rockfish, Crab, and Shrimp
Seyval Blanc

Second Course
Onion Pie with Firefly Farms Blue Cheese, Country Ham and Walnuts
Albarino

Third Course
Pan Seared Salmon Medallions with Blended Chicken Liver Sauce
and Braised Collard Green
Basilisk

Fourth Course
Turkey Roulade stuffed with Oyster and Country Sausage Dressing with Sweet
Potato Puree and Giblet Gravy
Grenache Rose

Fifth Course
Chocolate-Ginger Truffle Tart with Pear Caramel Sauce
Vintner’s Cabernet

It's a season of contrasts for winermakes: loads of work blended with a splash of patience

2009-10-14T08:42:00.000-07:00

Sneaked in a phoner last Wednesday with the lovely and talented winemaker of Hauser Estate Winery, one of Pennsylvania's start-ups this year. It's a winery with as much upside as the hill it sits on, offering a stunning view of the surrounding countryside that stretches almost to the Civil War battlefield. Michelle Oakes was looking forward to maybe her first day off in three weeks this past Saturday. Hey, it gets that way September through November, so you can't be in the business and gripe about it. "Well, you can complain, but nobody wants to hear it anymore," she said, breaking into a laugh.

Any break she got on the weekend was going to be short-lived, with Merlot grapes arriving Sunday to be processed. Once a field for apples in Adams County, west of Gettysburg, now supports vines bearing, among others, Vidal and Chambourcin grapes. Fall is the transition season for wineries, with juice in the barrels and tanks getting bottled to make room for the new grapes either coming in from the field or other suppliers.

Oakes said she was expecting to do a lot of bottling over the coming week: Pinot, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. "Those will probably sit in the bottle a couple of months before I release them," she said. "I'd like to release them before Christmas," but it depends on how much they settle after undergoing the jarring process of being transferred from where they've been sitting for a good part of the past year.

At the same time she's nurturing the reserve reds that will age some more before seeing the light of day. We tasted several -- the Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet France and Meritage -- when we stopped last March during Tour de Tanks. They were yummy then. So how does Oakes keep from just emptying the barrels and getting those out, too?

She starting laughing. "It's the one thing in the world that I'm patient about," she said. "No one would ever tell you I'm a patient person, but I'm patient with wine. That's about it. I'm sure other people would tell you they wished I were more patient about other things."

It's too crazy now, frankly, to do anything with them, with all the other requirements of the job, including an occasional blog entry on the Hauser Estate site. By January, she said, they'd probably be ready to bottle, with this winery's first full line of reserved wines ready by Tour de Tanks in March 2010 or maybe a few weeks afterward.

So how will she know when they're ready to sell?

"You really don't," she responded. "When I say they'll be released, it me being optimistic." She noted that the Reserve Chardonnay was bottled a month ago and that ideally it would be ready for the holiday season. She related a recent conversation she had with her boss. "My boss was asking me, 'oh, well, we'll have it for Christmas hopefully?' [I said] I want to have it for Thanksgiving, but it all depends on what it does in bottle. I said all I can do is walk by it and inspire it that it wants to be turkey wine, but beyond that I have no control. The power of positive thinking. Some things just react to bottling differently than others and you never really know how it will be, how long it will take to come back together in bottle."

This weekend's activities run gamut from grape stomp to wine trail celebration

2009-10-13T20:32:00.000-07:00

This is a busy weekend coming up for winery-based activities in the Pennsylvania-Maryland region. One is what's now become the annual grape stomp down at Sugarloaf Mountain Winery in Dickinson, Md., on the way to Washington D.C. Activities will run Saturday and sunday from noon to 5, with everything from music to tours to tastings and, of course, the stomp, with prizes awarded to the fastest (and most accomplished) on their feet. Love the photo I've attached on here of the toddler in the barrel; borrowed it off their Web site. Online advance tickets are $12; they will be $15 at the gate.

Across the Mason-Dixon Line in Pennsylvania will be the celebration of the harvest on the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail, an event called Chambourcin Weekend. All nine wineries will feature special tastings and food pairings, entertainment, seminars and more. You can hit the trail site for specifics. Expect things to commence Saturday at 10 a.m. and running until 5 p.m., with maybe a little more room to move around on Sunday once the NFL kicks off. Wineries that day are scheduled to be open from noon until 5 o'clock.

Down the road a bit will be the sixth anniversary bash at Crossing Vineyards & Winery. There's a new building dedication on Saturday, in addition to tastings and a birthday drawing that can win you two free tickets to a wine and food dinner on Nov. 14.

These are just a taste of what's going on. You can do a wider search by stopping by the Web sites of the Association of Maryland Wineries or the Pennsylvania Winery Association and clicking on the individual winery sites.

Dry spell offers ray of hope for vintage

2009-10-13T20:12:00.000-07:00

You've seen some of the correspondence from Pennsylvania wine grape educator Mark Chien to his many clients regarding issues in the vineyard. His assessment a month ago was that the persistent rain, particularly in the southeast part of the state, could really make this harvest and vintage tough to salvage. His update sounded more optimistic, as the spigot has been tightened, at least over the past couple of weeks.

He writes: "I'm always delighted to have to eat my words even though it happens more requently that I would care to admit. The rain has not abated entirely but certainly lessened around the region recently and that means that grapes are hanging on and, well, sort of ripening. A lot of growers are calling me asking me when they should harvest their grapes. The simple answer is that I can't decide from my office. But there are some pretty standard guidelines for determining grape maturity, even in a crazy vintage like this one. I'm really encouraged by positive reports about fruit quality from Long Island, the Finger Lakes and Virginia.

"Once again, if you minded your viticultural Ps and Qs during the growing season, now is when you reap the rewards. It wasn't easy. Frost could be in our future and that may force some harvest decisions, but as long as the fruit is clean and not being picked clean by birds, deer, raccoons, etc. it will probably benefit from some 'hang time' even if the temperatures are in the 50s. I have heard of beautiful Chambourcin on the vines but they have a way to go. It's still a low sugar year but that doesn't mean it has to be low flavor. The numbers are a bit wacky and wine makers will have their palates and imaginations tested but hopefully the wines will find a good balance by springtime. Just about any maturity index but sugar should be used as a guide this year. pH will hold more sway as an indicator of physiological ripeness. Acids will almost always be on the high side.

"Flavors are the most important wine quality indicators. For reds, skin and seed tannins are critical and in this cool and extended season may be quite well resolved. Other indices such as seed and stem color (brown is better) and the onset of shelling of berries are all signs of ripeness. The best thing to do is to spend time in the vineyard with someone who really understands the nature of ripe fruit and knows how to balance these traits with other conditions that influence a picking decision. Tasting berries is such a refined skill. I always tasted juice samples after an overnight settle for color, texture, acid, sweetness, balance and flavors.

"It really makes a big difference where your vineyard is located this year. Some area got a lot less rain than others this summer. Yields are completely unpredictable. A grower told me about a block of Seyval that normally yields 8 tons and this year they only got one. My sense is that most of the grapes will come off in the next week or two, except on Long Island, of course, where they like to harvest in the morning and then enjoy their Thanksgiving feast.

Locavore program scheduled at Chaddsford on Thursday has to be put on back burner

2009-10-13T16:06:00.000-07:00

I had intended to tout the "Lessons from a Locavore" that co-owner/winemaker Eric Miller had planned at Chaddsford Winery on Thursday night, Oct. 15, but learned today that the event has been postponed. Just not enough folks signing up, Lee Miller wrote by e-mail earlier today. She noted that there was a lot of interest in the concept, but it appears the sour economy might have made this event a casualty.

"This is a bad season for classes," she wrote. "Most of ours, and others I hear about, have not been fully subscribed."

Attendees were being charged $40 for the two-hour program. Miller had invited four four local food growers -- fourth-generation mushroom grower Anthony Ianni, Green Meadow Farms' Glen Brendle, cheese producer Sue Miller from Birchrun Hill Farms, and beef-producer Buckrun Farms -- to discuss what they do and pair their foodstuffs with the wines of Chaddsford. It was also to include a plate for each attendee made up by Pace One Restaurant & Country Inn.

Instead, this one gets put off for another time. Still, lots of other activities are scheduled at Chaddsford, featuring everything from reserve tastings to Spiced Apple Sundays during October to a "Taste of Pennsylvania" wine and food dinner at the Tom Quick Inn in Milford, Pa., on Oct. 30. For more on the events planned at Chaddsford, click on the Web site.

Southcentral Pa. winery, vineyard both for sale

2009-10-13T05:59:00.000-07:00

Been following the progress of a winery for sale in southcentral Pennsylvania, called Seven Valleys. Been up for over a year, with the asking price for the 79-acre lot and boutique winery at $2.3 million. You can find out more on the property at this link.

Meanwhile, Pa. grape educator Mark Chien sent out an e-mail on Monday that another southcentral Pennsylvania property, called the Stewart vineyard in Stewartstown, Pa., is on the market. The asking price for the 22-acre lot, including the vineyards and buildings, is $475,000. Chien noted that the property, located at 14110 Clark Road, "has an excellent
reputation and have been selling grapes to some of the best wineries in the state for many years." Serious inquiries should be directed to Susan Anderson at 410.925.1618.

See more information below.

FOR SALE

22 acres of rolling farmland with an established 5-acre vinifera vineyard, historic 1884 farmhouse in excellent condition, large barn dating to the 1830’s, also in excellent condition, and outbuildings. A nearly 2-acre building lot overlooking the vineyard is included. The vineyard produces some of the premier wine grapes in the state of Pennsylvania.

The property includes 2 lots. “Lot 1” is vineyard, house, barn and outbuildings and is approximately 20 acres. “Lot 5” is the building lot with about 1.45 acres overlooking the vineyard plus .5 acres for driveway access.

Vineyard: Established in 1993 as Stewart Vineyard by Nelson and Susan Anderson Stewart, the vineyard includes a front lot of 3 acres planted as 1.75 acres of Cabernet Franc, and .75 acres each of Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. This vineyard is currently under the operation of Allegro Winery. A rear vineyard of just under 2 acres was planted in 1997 and contains 1 acre of Cabernet Franc, .5 acre of Merlot and .25 acre of Chardonnay. This vineyard is farmed by property owner Susan Anderson. The vineyard is planted on 3309 rootstock at 10x5 spacing. Average annual yield is approximately 12 tons.

House: Built in 1884, this 4 level 1800 square foot home has been fully renovated and well maintained.

Lower level: walkout to backyard patio, family room, historic stone fireplace, laundry room, ½ bath. 1^st level: kitchen , sitting room and dining room, all with original wood floors, and porch.

First level: Kitchen, sitting room dining room, porch

2^nd level: full bath and master bedroom

Top level: In attic – two-room guest room or office. Large closet plus storage space.

General:

· New roof 2009

· Updated septic 2008 and 2009

· Modern electric (circuit breaker box) and plumbing (pvc and copper pipes)

· Well pump installed 2006

· Efficient ETS Heating units in kitchen/sitting room and on lower level

· Nearly all rooms of house renovated – repainted, floors refinished, plaster repaired or replaced, electric updated – since 1997.

· Energy efficient 50 gallon hot water heater

Barn: Historic building dating from establishment of farm in approximately 1830. Beautiful log construction with stone foundation. Lower basement level was winemaking area. Has cement floor with drain, ceiling insulation, electric including 220v. Upper level is divided into 3 areas: office/wine storage area, open equipment central storage area with garage door, and a partitioned 3^rd area which was begun as an apartment unit but not finished.

Attic level of barn has storage on 2 ends, accessed by steps or ladder.

Additional features of property: In addition to the house and barn, the 22 acres includes vineyard, large yard, woods and creek. Also 2 original out-buildings: the original house, dated to the 1830’s still stands on the property and is structurally stable but unoccupied and unfinished. (3 floors of 20x20 ft). Also standing and stable is the smokehouse.

PHOTOS AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST

Regional Wine Week off and running

2009-10-13T05:13:00.000-07:00

Before I begin my cycle for the week, let me remind my followers that this is Regional Wine Week, with somewhere around 50 bloggers from around the country writing all week about wines and wineries in their region.

To access their blogs, just click on this link.

For those of you visiting mine for the first time, I use it to introduce folks to the wines, wineries and winemakers of the Pennsylvania-Maryland region, probably 70 or more all told now. And, like a lot of areas, continuing to grow annually in size and scope.

Limoncello, grappa add some spirit to diverse wine list at Fiore Winery

2009-10-11T14:46:00.000-07:00

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Some glimpses of the Fiori landscape: clockwise from top, the bottles of grappa for sale at $25/bottle, one of Fiore's stills, and the dining room in the process of being set up for a reception.

Paid a visit to Fiore Winery and Distillery in Pylesville, Md., on Sunday. It's one of the oldest in the region, dating back to an opening in 1986. It's around 10 miles from the Pennsylvania-Maryland line, easy accessible via several back-woods scenic roads from York and Lancaster to the north and Baltimore to the south. Probably about 20 minutes, give or take a couple, off the Shrewsbury exit of I-83.

My only disappointment was not getting to meet Mike Fiore, the owner/winemaker and someone I've talked to several times on the phone.

Tastings are $2 per person for a flight of six wines, and a vast majority of them were opened. There were a few exceptions: the Prosecco wasn't; neither was the Caronte, a special blend of Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot that's made only in years where the winemaker feels he's had an optimal season. 2007 was as good a season as it gets, and that's the vintage he's selling now for $25.99/bottle, one I brought home and will rest in the cellar for the next 5 to 10 years. Fiore began making and selling limoncello this year, that distinctive chilled Italian liquor that's magic on the tummy after a multi-course meal. He's charging $3 for a taste, partly to bring in some income to purchase a new still. I attached a photo of one of his old stills that sits in the corner of a building that also houses several of his holding tanks on another part of the property.

Fiore -- a member of the Piedmont Wine Trail -- sells more than 25 dry, semi-dry, semi-sweet and sparkling wines in addition to the limoncello and grappa, a far more potent Italian "digestive" elixir.

It grows all of the grapes for its red wines on the property, in addition to Chardonnay grapes that you can see from the driveway that leads to the tasting room. The 2007 vintage of those grapes made an award-winning batch of juice that was recognized as a gold-medal winner and best of class for white wine at the recently announced 2009 Governor's Cup competition.

That black-topped roadway that leads into the winery off Maryland Route 136 was a busy entrance during the middle part of Sunday afternoon, as the third wedding of the weekend at the winery was just wrapping up and heading into Fiore's dining area for the reception.

Lots to see, taste and smell at Logan's View

2009-10-11T07:41:00.001-07:00

The Logan's View tasting room is loated at the far end of the farm market. It's a warm, cozy setting back there, away from the bustle in the store. At some point I'm guessing they'll put a table and a few chairs under the hanging light.

Any time of the year is worth a trip to Brown's Orchards & Farm Market in Loganville, Pa., but there's no better time than fall. Pumpkins galore. A full shelf of bagged candy corn. Every possible color you can want in a mum. And apples, loads of em, in the store and in the back, where you can get a great deal on seconds.

Wasn't sure what to expect from the wines, but they were good. Priced right, in the $15 range. And you have to think that once they bottle their reds next year, that with 22 or more selections of dry and sweet reds and whites plus fruit wine that it will become a one-stop shopping for a lot of folks who pop in there anyway for the fabulous salads, fruits and baked goods.

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It cost $3 for a tasting of five wines. The only twist is that the mix of wines changes each week. Most wineries you can pay for a flight and get whatever you want. Here, you taste the five assigned wines that are offered on a rotation. Yesterday we sampled Traminette, Vidal Blanc, both with 2 percent residual sugar, and a wine called Scheurebe (6 percent residual alcohol) that's made out of a German grape, a cross between the Riesling and Silvaner. Lots of florals and aromas out of the Traminette; the other two provided more sensation on the tongue than the nose. Our server, by the way, was well-versed on the wines and what to pair them with, always a value when you get into a tasting setting.

We also tried two fruit wines I've never had before: cherry and blueberry. Both were clean, lovely to look at. Not my cup of tea, so to speak, although that cherry was delicioous on top of a couple of chocolates I popped into my mouth, and I wouldn't mind pouring that blueberry wine on a bowl of premium vanilla ice cream. The orchard cherry and strawberry are selling for $12 for a .375 liter bottle, the blueberry for $14 and the wild cherry for $18.
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I'll have to revisit, which we normally do anyway, during a week when some of the drier whites -- Chardonnay, Riesling and Gewurztraminer -- are being poured. Along with selling wine made out of the Scheurebe grape, they also produce another one unique to this area, at least from what I've seen, called Kerner. Logan View's wine list refers to this German grape as a cross of the red grape Trollinger and the white grape Riesling, terming it as one with a "unique flavor and lingering finish" that will bring you back for more. It's residual sugar content is 2 percent.