Brandywine Valley Wine Trail switching to a holiday open house for its December celebration

Hearing there won't be a Brandywine Valley Wine Trail vintners dinner this fall is disappointing but understandable. It's a lot of work and has to be costly, considering that the wineries involved not only provided the wine served at dinner but poured far more during an hour-plus time frame that preceded the dinner, as folks arrived and hors d'oeuvres were being served. All of this took place amid the spectacular backdrop that Longwood Gardens offers.

Instead, the wine trail this year will hold a holiday open house on the weekend of Dec. 5-6, according to communications chair Karen Cline. She noted that the trail is "doing an open house this year as a coordinated event to bring attention to the idea of gifting wine for Christmas---local/regional wines in particular. I don’t have all the particulars yet from each winery but so far, I see a trend of no tasting fees and wine pricing specials. Stargazers is introducing some new wines. Festive holiday atmospheres, including music and holiday sweets, will be the standard."

More details will be forthcoming on that and the annual Harvest Festival, scheduled for the last weekend in September and the first weekend in October. That will include a grape stomp at Kreutz Creek Vineyards in West Grove, something you're beginning to see at more wineries around the region..

The last two stops: Stargazers and Twin Brook

Three shots taken at a busy Stargazers Vineyard & Winery on Saturday, including the outside and inside of the press pad that has been newly enclosed and a shot of Brian Dickerson (light blue shirt) offering samples out of a barrel. Standing along in the cellar of Twin Brook, in his dark blue shirt, is assistant winemaker Jason Price.

-
Running out of time, but wanted to say thanks to the winemakers and proprietors at the last two wineries we visited. Stargazers Vineyard & Winery, with a street address of Coatesville, Pa., has had its grapes in the soil since 1989. Their wines ranged in price from $12 to $19, and they also have pieces of cheese and chocolate out to accompany the walk along the tables. Ownership of the wine is slowly being turned over from Alice and John Weygandt (Alice, thanks for all your insight yesterday) to Brian and Jennifer Dickerson.

-

I've now made five or six visits to Twin Brook Winery in Gap, Pa., where one couldn't find better hosts than Melissa and Tim Jobe and assistant winemaker Jason Price. Down in the cellar, Tim and Jason let us taste a delicious Cabernet Franc that should finally find its way into the bottle and onto the shelves by 2011, and a Chardonnay that will be ready for purchase a lot sooner than that.