New Pa. wine blog checks in, flavored by hands-on knowledge of the tasting room

Can I have your attention, everyone. Mind a bit of applause for C.J., who recently gave birth to the Girlfriend's Guide to Vinification blog. OK, maybe giving birth is a little strong. She knows about giving birth, with three boys who sound like they're into a million activities. But you can tell in a couple of postings that she has just the right touch: a blend of education and humor that puts the reader at ease and slowly brings him/her up to speed on understanding many of the basics of the winery and wines.

She's using her experience gleaned from working the past four years at Twin Brook Winery in Gap, Pa., where I've visited numerous times and treated like a friend at every turn. Assistant winemaker Jason Price has been a huge supporter, so have Melissa and Tim Jobe, who have their hands in a number of tasks at the winery. So, I'm delighted to see C.J. venturing into the blogosphere and wish her all the best . . . and recommend you follow along hers as you check in occasionally with mine.

Here's a sample from her newest post, made on Oct. 4. I just copied and pasted this, explaining the reason for the change in the color of the type.

So, getting back on track here - in the grand scheme of things, an evening out at your favorite eatery you will pay on average $8 for a 5oz. glass of wine from a member of the waitstaff who doesn't even remotely like wine and has absolutely no clue of what you should have with your chicken parmesan. At your local winery, you can pay an average of $1 per ounce (at Twin Brook, you will get a one ounce pour each of 7 different wines for $5) and some even pair wines with a cheese, chocolate, or specialty bread. Currently, we have released our Chardonnay Reserve, and are pairing it with a raspberry ale infused cheese. Mmmmm, heavenly! Also, some wineries offer tours for free! Just ask. Locally, about half of the tasting rooms are located on the growing and production premesis. As I said before, we love wine, and we LOVE to tell you about it!

Rest, relaxation become a thing of the past for winemakers once harvest season gets started

Sometimes I'll rag on winery owners for not calling me back right away.

Then there's the other side; not posting information for a week or two from winemakers and owners who DO call me back. That's the case with Jason Price at Twin Brook Winery in Gap, Pa., where large crowds are expected these next two weekends as part of the Brandywine Valley Wine Trail's Harvest Festival.

He called me a few weeks ago in response to an e-mail about the harvest, one he noted can begin as early as late August and continue into November. They grow 12 varieties of grapes at Twin Brook; the earliest to come off the vine are the Foche and Cayuga grapes and the latest are the Cabernet Sauvignon.

"Not the case for this wonderful vintage," Price said about the timeliness of the ripening, which has been delayed several weeks by all the rain. "That's not the case everywhere. Southeastern Pennsylvania there seems like there are all these microclimates that have their own thing going on, but we're experiencing some real delay in ripening."

It hasn't quite provided the same number of horror stories as the 2003 vintage, the worst this decade."I wasn't here then," he said, " but I know that was a real challenging year and I think this year is really giving '03 a run for its money."

Price said the days are long during the several months of harvest, up and picking with the sun and then into the cellar to crush and press the grapes and get them into the tanks. "It can be a 16-hour day," he said. "Last week, Tim [Jobe] and I ran 22 hours straight. We were doing Cayuga, some grapes we got in Gettysburg, and by the time we got all the grapes back and cleaned up the press and locked the door, it was 22 hours straight."

But, like accountants during tax season, there's no sense griping about it. "You realize [the hours are going to be long this time of the year]," Price said. "You can't complain about it because you know about [the long hours during harvest] when you went into it."

Twin Brook to release Chard Reserve in a few weeks

Been trying to no avail to actually talk to winemaker Jason Price at Twin Brook Winery in Gap, Pa. But he has an excuse, with harvest season just beginning, increasing the hours in the field and in the cellar. We'll eventually catch up.

He did give me enough to post with a short e-mail earlier this week. Twin Brook, a member of the Brandywine Valley Wine Trail, produces eight dry wines, three off-dry wines, and nine sweet wines, including a 2006 Vidal Reserve. The tasting notes describe the Reserve as a sweet, fruity white with hints of guava and pineapple. It sells for $15/bottle.

As for Jason, he writes: "Hey Paul, doing well. Getting geared up for harvest, so we are wicked busy. Chard Reserve is still a couple weeks away. This wine will be perfectly balanced with just the right reduction in acidity, a soft mouthfeel without tasting like a stick of butter and everyone that has tasted it agrees the oak aging was more than agreeable with this Chard. Just like the Naked, this barrel aged Chard is something we are going to be proud to pour. We are everyday (as long as it isn't raining) in the vineyard . . ."

Needless to say, the periods of rain, some heavy, forecast for tonight and tomorrow is the LAST thing that waterlogged regional wineries need at this point.

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.

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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.

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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.