Pinnacle Ridge's Knapp: 'We have sacrificed terroir to make a better wine'

Wrote the other day about the collaborative wine called Trio that has been produced by three Pennsylvania wineries. Just to supplement what was in that post, here's some additional explanation that appeared in the newsletter produced by Pinnacle Ridge, a gem of a winery that sits in the shadow of Route 78 about a half-hour's drive west of Allentown.

THE BIG GRAPE
TRIO

WINEMAKERS and FRIENDS, Brad Knapp (from Pinnacle Ridge Winery,) Carl Helrich (from Allegro Winery in Brogue) and Joanne Levengood (from Manatawny Creek Winery in Douglassville) are three of the finest winemakers in the state of Pennsylvania. How good are they? Between the three of them, they walked away with SIX out of the BEST TEN wines selected by the judges at the Seventh Annual Wine Excellence Awards. (Affectionally known as "Oscar Night.") Cabernets, Merlots, and Meritage; the best vinifera wines are entered in this competition run by the PENNSYLVANIA WINE SOCIETY, a 22 year old organization.

According to legend, about six years ago, Brad contacted Joanne and Carl and suggested that they get together to review each others wines. The response was positive. Since that time, the three winemakers meet twice a year, bringing tank and barrel samples of wine aging in their cellars, prior to bottling. They taste similar wines from each of their cellars, side-by-side and critique and discuss how the fruit was grown and the wines were made.

During one of the tasting sessions, our fabulous trio was reviewing barrel samples of red wines from the 2007 vintage. The concept of producing a wine in COLLABERATION came up. The idea was kicked around for about a year and finally, our friends came up with a new wine: TRIO.

Each winemaker contributed four barrels to the final blend; twelve barrels total. Manatawny Creek brought Merlot and Syrah, Allegro brought Merlot and Cabernet Franc, and Pinnacle Ridge brought Syrah and Cabernet Franc. The wines were aged at the individual wineries in Hungarian, Pennsylvania, and French oak barrels and blended before bottling.

Brad, Joanne, and Carl created the TRIO blend from the best of the very excellent 2007 vintage. Come taste and find out what all the excitement is about!

I haven't tasted it yet, so if my co-workers look around for me late next week and can't find me, here's a clue: I'll be on my way to one of the wineries to try it out. I asked Pinnacle Ridge winermaker and owner Brad Knapp about the significance of this unique marriage and he, as usual, got back to me by e-mail in a couple of hours. Here's what he had to say:

"I guess the way I look at Trio is that it is a "best of the best" effort," he wrote. "Joanne, Carl and I have been tasting each other's wine in a constructively critical environment for around six years. We get together twice a year to evaluate barrel and tank samples (and some bottled examples as well). The goal being to get different viewpoints on wines that we believe are problematic or exemplary or ordinary. It is always good to get as many informed opinions as possible when making decisions on how to handle a particular wine. Additionally we learn from each other just because we are sitting down and talking for hours (marketing, production, viticulture etc.). 2007 was a fabulous vintage and this was seen as we looked at each other's barrel samples from 07. We stumbled across this idea about doing a collaborative wine during one of our tasting sessions. We then each brought what we felt were the best from each of our cellars and started blending. That's how we came up with the syrah, merlot, cabernet franc blend. In my opinion blended wines are nearly always better than a singular wine. Blends can mean the same variety from different vineyards or different varieties, different years etc. So Trio is definitely not a terrior purist wine since it blends three different vineyards together. We have sacrificed terrior to make a better wine."

Three Pennsylvania wineries blend talents into new wine called Trio

Thanks to those who have written to say they miss these entries and the evolution of this post. Time to get it started again, albeit with shorter posts, a little more on the wine and winemakers and less on the events, and with plans by the end of the month to be Twittering on a regular basis.

So what have I missed?

1, A co-op by Allegro, Manatawny Creek and Pinnacle Ridge that has produced a wine call Trio. Blended with grapes from 2007, it combines Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Syrah and was aged for approximately 18 months, then blended at Manatawny Creek. You couldn't ask for a marriage of three better Pennsylvania wineries, two members of ther Berks County Wine Trail and the other (allegro) a member of Uncork York! and part of the reinvigorated Mason-Dixon Wine Trail. “What started as just an off-the-wall idea has matured into an imminently drinkable and ageable wine,” Allegro owner/winemaker Carl Helrich said in a press release. I hope to talk to all three winemakers sometime this week, “2007 was a wonderful vintage, producing some of the best wines of this decade.” The three wineries thought it would be an interesting concept to take the best of what they did and blend it together. Said Helrich, “It turned out the blend is about as different as we are.”

2, One of my favorite new wineries, Serpent Ridge in Westminster, Md., recently trumpeted a gold medal for its 2007 Vintner's Cabernet in the Indy International Wine Competition.That competition included more than 3,000 commercial entries from 12 countries and 39 states. We are proud to have achieved such a wonderful achievement with one of our first releases. Their tasting room is open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Find a table outside and plan to relax and enjoy the view for an hour or two.

3, The Virginia Wine Association recently added a new look to its Web site and introduced a monthly newsletter that includes a list of events, pairing tips and wine education opportunities.

4, Finally, nice to finally have a chance to meet and dine with spokesperson Jennifer Eckinger of the Pennsylvania Wine Association, which continues to add a handful of new wineries to its list every year.