Kreutz Creek, Manatawny Creek both looking for volunteers to assist with the harvest

It's getting to that time of the year to pick grapes. If yo haven't done it, you have your choice of a handful of wineries looking for help across Pennsylvania and Maryland. I wouldn't call it backbreaking work; depending on how warm a morning it is you likely will break a sweat. And you might have to brush away a bee or two, but even those aren't as disruptive as they once were. But generally what awaits -- usually a lunch or dinner that includes the uncorking of more than several bottles of wine -- makes you forget about any hardships in the vineyard.

Two wineries looking for help include Kreutz Creek Winery in West Grove and Manatawny Creek Winery in Douglassville. Carole Kirkpatrick in her e-mail said that Kreutz Creek will harvest sometimes on weekends and sometimes during the week, depending upon the ripeness of the grapes. If you want to help, let them know when you're available by calling Carole at 610.869.4412.
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In fact, they enlist help several times during the year, including coming up on Labor Day when they'll do some bottling. If you missed that deadline, they'll give you another shot next Memorial Day.
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Joanne Levengood of Manatawny Creek said in her e-mail that they'll pick grapes from the last week in August until the end of October and ask for volunteers on five or six days during that time period. Since they do not know when the grapes will be ready, they'll call people on their picking list only a few days before the picking day. If interested in being on the volunteer picking list, email (manatawny@aol.com) or phone (610.689.9804) in your:
1. Name,
2. Phone number,
3. Whether you can pick on weekdays or weekends only, and
4. Any lunch preferences (i.e. vegetarian).
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"We will make every attempt to contact everyone on the list at least once," Joanne said.

Kreutz Creek Winery plans wine-bottling day on Labor Day Monday

A look at what the last wine-bottling day looked like, a photo courtesy of the winery.

Two of my favorite people in the industry -- Carole and Jim Kirkpatrick -- of Kreutz Creek Winery in West Grove, Pa., will be holding another wine bottling day on Labor Day Monday, Sept. 7. But it's not all work. You'll get to learn more about the wine-making process and at the same time bond with others who are there. It's one of several unique events they're holding this year at Kreutz Creek, including a vine-planting day in the spring and a grape stomp in the fall. Basically they'll go from around 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. for the wine bottling If you're interested for something different on what's generally a pretty slow day on the calendar, call Carole at 610.869.4412.

'Yappy Hour' among Kreutz Creek events of note

Here's some news you can use.

Kreutz Creek Winery in West Grove noted today in its e-blast that co-owner Jim Kirkpatrick is planning a Vineyard Day for April 25. Weather permitting, he'll be planting the new vines. If you're interested in getting dirty and having a little fun while you're at it, call to schedule the day. It will be from 9 to 5 and lunch is included. They're limiting the number of people, so call early to reserve your spot. You can reach Carole Kirkpatrick at 610.869.4412 to schedule.

The e-blast continued: "We're also going to have our bottling work day on Memorial Day again this year. You won't get too dirty but it could be a little warm. If you're interested in learning more about the process this is a great way to learn. It will be May 25 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Carole will be cooking her famous Vineyard Burgers so you won't want to miss it. Numbers are limited so call Carole right now to reserve your spot at 610.869.4412."

They also noted that in their West Chester tasting room, 44 Gay St., they're planning to start having "Yappy Hour" in May. "Every Thursday from 6 to 8 in May bring your good mannered, house-broken pup to the shop. All bottles of wine will be $1 off and each pup will get a free dog treat! What a great way to spend a little extra time with your best friend."

E-letters, Web sites, vary in style, substance

Perhaps nothing shows the wide disparity in how serious regional wineries take communication than their Web sites and e-letters.

It could take hours just reading through all the info contained on the Chaddsford and BlackAnkle Web site, and few organize their events page as well as CrossingVineyards. Several, such as Terrapin Station, have an altruistic endeavor as part of their mission statement and include a link to that. Perhaps none are more fun than Va La, as distinctive for its humor as it is for the information it carries. Some recently have freshened up their sites, such as Paradocx and the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail's Big Creek Vineyards in Kresgeville.

On the other end of the scale, a few wineries don't have active Web sites right now. Some haven't updated the news or events on their site in months or, in a couple case, more than a year. This difference also extends to the vigor they put into their communication, and it runs the gamut from returning calls or e-mails within 24 hours to some that have never responded. Ever. Even to questions about their wines or winery, and they exist on every trail in every part of eastern and central Pennsylvania and Maryland. It just seems that the way it is. Head-scratching, to say the least, for businesses that are in the public eye.

All of this prefaces the bevy of e-letters that landed in my mailbox in the past 24 hours, each one unique and carrying bits of news. Sand Castle Winery in Erwinna, Pa., puts out a one-page sheet that lists upcoming events (see Thursday's Event Grapevine for what's on their schedule), a little news from the vineyard ("Pruning continues in the Riesling. Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon are the last ones to be done. If anyone would like to have the cuttings for their private vineyard, please contact the winery.") and a few impressions of the latest vintage ("2008 young wines are performing beyond our expectations. Last bottling of Pinot Noir 2005 has been done and any lovers of this vintage should know there are only 200 cases in stock.")

Joanne Levengood at Manatawny Creek includes news on their February sale ("our 2006 Cabernet Franc Port at 10% off."), their holiday hours ("We will be open on Monday, 2/16 from 10-6 for the President’s Day holiday.") and a wine update ("The Blue Bear Ease will hopefully be back on the list in a few weeks. I will send out another email to announce its release.") After filling in readers on next weekend's Berks County Wine Trail's wine and chocolate festival, she finishes with a segment that answers a question. And it's far from a one-sentence answer. The question? What exactly is Port?

"Port is a sweet, fortified wine that is typically served after a meal. The process to make port differs from the typical winemaking process for table wines in that the fermentation is stopped about halfway by the addition of grape neutral spirits. This results in a wine with an alcohol content between 18% and 20% with a lot of the natural sweetness from the grape remaining. Port originated in Portugal’s Douro Valley and the name comes from the fact that historically, these wines were shipped out of the city of Oporto.

"There are three basic categories of port made with red grapes – vintage, ruby and tawny (white port is made with white grapes but is much less common). Vintage ports, the expensive type, are made from grapes of a single vintage and are typically bottled with only a little more than a year of aging in barrel. They are only made in declared years in Portugal and the consumer is expected to do most of the aging since Vintage port gets better with age and often needs many years to become drinkable. Ruby port can be made from grapes of different vintages and is aged for about 2 years before release. It is typically ready to drink when released and is simpler and less expensive than Vintage port. Tawny ports are made from grapes of different vintages and aged in barrels to purposely undergo slow oxidation; this turns the color of the red wine to a tawny color and gives it a unique character. The label of a Tawny port will often show the average number of years of aging - typically 10, 20, 30 or over 40 years.

"The grape varieties used in port in Portugal are numerous and varied and do not include anything that we grow in Pennsylvania. At Manatawny Creek, we make our port from Cabernet Franc, one of the red varieties that grows very well in our area. We produce it in the vintage port style, using grapes from a single vintage and bottling the wine after 1 year of aging in neutral oak. Our port definitely benefits from several years of aging and, just like true Portuguese Port, is the ideal beverage to pair with chocolate!"

Carol and Jim Kirkpatrick at the Brandywine Valley trail's Kreutz Creek Winery adds some folksiness to their e-letter with several photos of their 7-year-old dog, Fetzer, plus a schedule of their entertainment schedule at their West Chester tasting room, and their own winermarker's notes.

"Winter is the time for pruning, yes even during these frigid temperatures we're outside prunning. We're about 60% completed so we're right on schedule. If you're feeling crafty and want some of the prunnings, let me know soon and I'll save some. They make beautiful wreaths and the price is right...free! Last week I pumped over the 2007 Kordeaux and WOW!!!!, it was fabulous. Needless to say, I'm very excited about it and hope to bottle it in 2 weeks. It should be ready for Barrels on the Brandywine in March where we'll be doing the popular vertical Kordeaux tasting. This year it's 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 Kordeaux. I think this is the best yet and I hope you agree!!! The 2008's are coming along nicely. We really had a great season and I can't wait to get some of these wines in the bottle. Stay tuned for more information next month! See you in the tasting room!"

Home winemaker Patone about to take plunge

If you haven’t heard of Mario Patone and you’re at all into regional wineries, you will soon. Off the conversation with Roger Morris last week I got ahold of Patone, a longtime home winemaker, late last week. With his roots in the Abruzzo region of Italy, Patone followed in the footsteps of a number of family members. Only now he has some grander ideas.

By fall, he hopes to have his winery operating in Chester County, no more than a comfortable walk on a pretty day between the Kreutz Creek and Paradocx wineries that will bookend his operation. So close, I joked with him, that visitors attending that Brandywine Valley Wine Trail’s Barrels on the Brandywine could walk to the three wineries rather than drive. “I’m in the middle of them by a mile each,” he said. “They could walk between them; they’d probably burn off a little wine during the walk.”

At the same time, he’ll look to build a combo boutique winery and house on Route 841 in Lancaster County, capping off these past few years in which he decided to become more serious about what has been a hobby up until now.

“I always wanted to be in an entrepreneurial business, “said Patone, a CPA, “and food and wine are an absolute passion of mine. I’ve been with big firms, traveled all over. At this point [I] turned 40 last year, and we’re just trying to head for something a little more simplistic, a little more back to basics. So we decided to try to take the plunge and try to head that way with the food and the wine.”

For now, Patone will continue to source grapes from wineries such as Paradocz, Penns Woods and Waltz Vineyards in Manheim, Lancaster County, until he can begin pulling them out of his own vineyards. He sees the glass half full in terms of whether this is a good time to open a new business.

“Quite honesty, we’re in some interesting economic times and I’m not sure what the recovery is going to b,e but I think regardless there’s going to be a stronger focus on local economies and local tourism,” he said. “I think people will kind of look a little more inward and enjoy the region where they live." And taste a quality of wine that will continue to improve.

"I belong to the [Brandywine Valley] wine trail and I spend time with all the other winemakers. Everybody is very, very motivated to really improve the quality, to really hit the books, so to speak, and crack down and really trying to study and understand what’s going on and really trying to make the region come alive," he said. "As we both know, California was laughed at when it came on line, Washington was laughed at, and people 10 years ago said, ‘Wine from Pennsylvania, you’re nuts.’ But I think that, I know Penns Woods is doing a real nice job and Va La is doing a nice job . . . and they’re making some wines that are starting to turn people’s heads, and they saying ‘Wow, they’re coming from Pennsylvania.’”