Va La ready for sounds of 'play ball'

My 400th post. Thank you for all those who have returned my calls and given me your time during these past 11 months. I was reminded of that again today, placing a call to a Maryland winery that I'm sure would have found a minute to answer questions about its new red wine if had been Wine Spectator or Eric Asimov of the New York Times or, well, maybe even if they knew it was Gary Vaynerchuk. Congrats to all who have been talking wine and swilling the juice long, long before I came on the scene. As for a red wine called The Red Door, maybe I'll be surprised and get the call back tomorrow.


One person who has provided substantial help and support to this blog has been Anthony Vietri of Va La Vineyards, whose winemaking is surpassed only by his sense of humor. You've seen snippets of its in this blog before. Where is Va La? Well, according to his site, "Va La World Corporate Headquarters are located on RT 41 (Gap Newport Pike) in Historic Brandywine Valley, home to high sewer and school taxes, and right smackin the heart of the Mushroom Capital of the World. As the place to see and be seen, we invite you to come and experience the whole Avondale scene, the latest in farm fashions and celebrity watching, gossip, and culture from the world of Avondalia . . . "

In that world Vietri says he is content, "just living the life." For sure, the start of the baseball season can't come soon enough. But between now and then there's some pruning to do and several wines to release (the Zafferano, a cold-fermented 100 percent Pinot Grigio; and the Patina, a blend of red grapes that 98 percent of the American population probably has never heard of: Primitivo, Malvasia Nera, Charbono and Teroldego). Typical of most of Va La's vintages, between the small size of the vineyard and the amount of grapes they drop to improve the quality of the yield, what remains won't last long. In the case of the latter, the medium-bodied Patina has been aging in one barrel and will fill about 600 bottles. Anthony, the Philies would have gone through that amount by the end of the night that they clinched their title.

But there are more bottles to fill this month, some with the esteemed red called Mahogany and others with another red that the winery calls Cedar. Says the Web site: The intention of this wine was to createa Pietmontese-inspired, age-worthy red grown here in our region, to match to the flavors of wild game, local mushrooms,and other gifts of the forest. Four clones of nebbiolo and corvina veronese. Total production normally ranges from one to three barrels."

He also plans to bottle another mix of red grapes, all 2006 vintage, called Castana (which means chestnut in Italian), a blend of Barbera, Nebbiolo and Corvina that he says he's put together before, just not commercially. "I did that one back before we launched with our first vintage," he said. "I did a little experimenting with that one and it went over well, so we decided now and then that we'll mess with it when the year's right . . ."

Owner at peace with her wine lineup

It was an observation, not a criticism, that a majority of the wines that Peace Valley Winery in Chalfont, Pa., sells run from semi-dry to sweet. And while Susan Gross, the owner of the 25-year-old winery who first planted grapes there in 1968 admitted that she prefers very dry reds, many of her customers prefer the sweet wines.

And there’s nothing at all wrong with that, she said.

“My business partner [Robert Kolmus] likes the Merlot. I prefer the Excalibur [described on her Web site as full bodied, very dry, dark red wne, aged with a complex flavor and excellent with heavy meat dishes, all which sells for $14.49/bottle] and the wine of choice to take out to a BYOB/Italian restaurant is our New Britiain Red, and so it does well for us.

“But we are not snobbish about [carrying the semi-dry, semi-sweet and sweet wines]. When people come in and shyly say they love sweet wines, I say GREAT! Because we do, too, and [we tell them] don’t be intimidated. That’s our philosophy here.

“Dry wines sell very well, but my sweet wines sell very well, also. And we work hard at making very good sweet wines. We’re proud of our wines, and I think too many wineries don’t bother with the sweet wines, just buying cheap juice form brokers and throwing sugar in it and putting it in a bottle. We work hard at making at very good product and it sells well because of that.”

Gross said she originally developed the vineyard as a way to sell grapes to home winemakers. Meanwhile, she was working at a full-time job and, as she said, very happy with the way things were working. When her company moved out of the region in the early 1980s, that vineyard became something else: a lifeline.

“I had a huge vineyard of many different varieties,” she said. “I had enough time to prepare for this changeover, which gave me the opportunity to revamp my vineyard. There were a lot of varieties out there that I like very much that I wanted to keep, and I knew would work well in my selection of wines. Now, I’m a farmer. I wasn’t a wealthy doctor, lawyer, dilettante of some sort who was a wine connoisseur. I was trying to make a living and it means recognizing the fact that most of the people out there like sweet wines. and we make a very fine product.. I drink very dry reds, and some of my reds get a lot of attention, but it’s just part of my lineup as a business person.”

That business continues to thrive despite the recession. “We’ve had the best February we’ve had in along time,” she said. “The economy has never affected us one way or another except last December a year ago, 2007, when they first stated talking about bad news, and we were affected last December and so were a lot of other wineries. But since then people are rolling with the punches and we don’t have a problem.”

Peace Valley is one of eight members of the Bucks County Wine Trail, which will celebrate a Spring Fling on March 14-15. While not ostentatious, the winery’s Web site certainly is informative with a few touches of home that lend some insight into the person who has run this winery for so many years. Note this entry in the newsletter section:

"For newcomers: Moe is our winery cat. He is the sole survivor of a litter of 4 that was born on the back porch in March 2001. The mother cat is feral but stays close to keep an eye on Moe and to share his food. She is addicted to Pounce catnip treats and shows up every day begging for treats. Moe is a fair weather cat and is eager to come in during bad weather. We are hoping that his Mommie Dearest will follow him in some night and stay warm. Maybe I should leave a trail of catnip.”

And the note on the schedule that lists the Christmas Eve hours from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. “Don’t even think of coming in after 4 P.M.!” it says, capped by the exclamation point.

Gross was asked how much of the everyday work was still fun. Dealing with her longtime customers and those strolling through her winery doors for the first time . . . yes, that’s fun. Watching the vineyard blossom and produce its annual yield. There’s plenty of satisfaction there. The rest? “I just finished all the government paperwork,” she said, pausing. “It’s old hat. I want to retire." Anytime soon, she was asked? "As soon as I can get out, although not with the way the economy is now.”