Pinnacle's Knapp on wines and winemaking

You might say that April was just bubbly for Brad Knapp of Pinnacle Winery in Kutztown, after receiving the news a few weeks ago that the Finger Lakes Competition awarded he and his winery eight awards. This international competition gave his BRUT rosé a double gold. In addition, Pinnacle Ridge (see below) won two silver and five bronze medals. Knapp said you can't base your year on the awards you win. "I try not to get too wrapped up in the awards and try to not use them as a guide for how I'm doing," he said during a lengthy interview earlier this afternoon. Knapp talks about everything from the fun and drudgery of the winery work to the Day in the Vineyard program that will be held June 7 and June 8 at Pinnacle Ridge -- which will include Knapp and the winemakers from nearby Clover Hill Winery and Vynecrest Winery -- to naming three of his own favorite wines.

I have taken the release about the Pinnacle awards from the Pennsylvania Wine & Wineries Web site and have pasted it below:

Competing against over 2,300 wines worldwide, Pennsylvania, though considered neophyte in the wine community at large, once again proved itself as the serious albeit, upstart contender with this award shared only by 36 out of nearly 500 winning wineries. This year, 1600 medal winning wines in total were selected by the competition’s forty wine judges. The Finger Lakes Competition is one of a few US based International Wine Competitions and allows winemakers to not only show off their wines against the Californians and the New York wineries but those in Canada and abroad as well. This competition is nearly 10 years old; and this year, about 2300 wineries participated drawing from 44 United States and 14 countries worldwide.

Pinnacle Ridge Winery’s BRUT rosé is produced via the ‘methode champenoise’ the traditional French method for making sparkling wines, often casually referred to as champagnes. The use of this ‘methode’ is rather distinct because few wineries outside of Champagne, France produce bubblies in this traditional, classic style. Pinnacle Ridge, touching back to the cultural legacy of champagne making, opts to make its sparkling wines in a very, rustic and hand-made fashion including operating out of the historic farm’s old potato cellar, now champagne house, as it is essential to keep the pressurized bottles cool at all times. Pinnacle Ridge Winery’s proprietor and winemaker Brad Knapp has been producing these classically styled bubblies since 1993.

What makes a BRUT rosé? The style selected for the production of this vintage is a rosé produced out of black, Pinot Noir grapes harvested from the estate vineyard at Pinnacle Ridge Winery. The fruit is carefully hand-picked and whole berry pressed as per the “Methode Champenoise”. The delicate juice is cold fermented and allowed to settle for approximately six months prior to the second bottling. The wine ages for two years before being finished in the traditional way. The resultant wine shows a delicate, salmon-color and is crowned with a frothy wreathe of bubbles. Although the color and festive nature suggests that this indeed might be a sweeter bubbly, it is not. It is a true Brut and its light and delicately soft character makes it appealing to virtually any taste palate and a terrific partner to any meal or celebration.

Upon hearing the news about this extraordinary win, Brad Knapp responded, “We’re very pleased with this prestigious medal. Sparkling wines are receiving more and more accolades and were proud to be part of the Finger Lakes Competition and proud to receive this award.“

Pinnacle Ridge Winery could not just walk away with only the Double Gold for this bubbly from the competition, it was graced with additional accolades from this competition such as a pair of SILVER MEDALS, one for its 2005 VERITAS, which is a hearty red blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon and the other for its 2006 MERLOT. BRONZE MEDALS showered five of the winery’s other varietals: 2007 TRAMINETTE, 2007 NAKED CHARDONNAY, 2007 CHAMBOURCIN ROSé, 2006 CHAMBOURCIN as well as one of the winery’s other signature bubblies: CUVEE CHARDONNAY.

This is not only tremendous acknowledgement of the quality winemaking by an individual winery in eastern Pennsylvania, but an exceptional representation of how far winemaking has evolved in both Berks and Lehigh Counties. PINNACLE RIDGE WINERY, located outside of Kutztown, is an active member of both the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail and the Berks Country Wine Trail and is a beloved destination to many customers per year - over half of whom are tourists who have come to see and enjoy this area of Pennsylvania and its burgeoning wine community.
PINNACLE RIDGE WINERY features many award-winning wines, but for the champagne lover, it is well-keep secret that it is one of the few wineries in the state of Pennsylvania that produces quality sparkling wines. PINNACLE RIDGE WINERY and winemaker Brad Knapp, winner of over two hundred wine awards at the state and international level, has been delighting wine lovers old and new since 1993. The Knapp family and staff are proud to be able to preserve beautiful countryside landscapes and the agricultural heritage of Pennsylvania farming through the growing of its own grapes in its nearly 15 acres of grapes from its Kutztown and Kempton vineyards.
For more information about the winery and its wines, please visit: www.pinridge.com or email: pinnacle_ridge_winery@yahoo.com

More Mondavi

Saw this testimonial to Robert Mondavi on the winedude's blog site linked off winebusiness.com. And my shout out to regional wine owners for reaction to his death brought this take by Carl Helrich of Allegro Vineyards in The Brogue, Pa.:

"Interestingly, Allegro had first-hand experience with the Mondavi Wine Machine. In the early, back when Opus One was just announcing what the name of the joint venture with Mouton-Rothschild would be named, Allegro was making a wine called "Opus 1". And neither entity had secured rights to the name in PA. Mondavi sent his lawyers to PA, and an agreement was struck. Allegro would stop using the name for a cash settlement. Additionally, there was a gentleman's agreement that Mondavi come to a press conference and taste Allegro's wines and say that they were good. The hope was that the guy who put CA on the map could do the same for PA. Mondavi never showed.

"Secondly, one of Mondavi's great business innovations was to make wineries a tourist destination by offering winery tours. This was a great business model for most wineries. Unfortunately, I curse his name every time I get a phone call from someone wanting a tour, knowing full well that they don't want to buy any wine.

"He was a great business man. Good wines, great marketer. Helped our industry more than any one individual. I just wish he had been less capitalistic and more wholistic.

Inside the Brandywine Trail's big events

We wound up unintentionally making this an all Chaddsford Winery weekend, but that's OK. After talking to Eric Miller late last week, we managed to grab his wife Lee on a wet and cool Sunday afternoon to go a little bit beyond the headlines. In this case, we talked about what's involved with the two major special events for the Brandywine Valley Wine Trail: the March Barrels on the Brandywine and the Harvest Festival. The latter, Lee says in the wide-ranging interview, will be expanded when it's time to pick the grapes and celebrate the harvest in late September.

Patriarch of California wine dies at age 94

Robert Mondavi died Friday at his Napa Valley home. He was 94.

Pulling a couple of praragraphs from the obituary that's running on forbes.com, Mondavi was the son of Italian immigrants had worked in the wine industry since graduating from Stanford University with a degree in economics the 1930s. He started at the Charles Krug Winery, in which his parents had invested after leaving Minnesota for California. A tempestuous relationship with his brother, Peter, led to a split from the family business and he opened his eponymous Napa Valley winery in Northenr California in 1966 at age 52.

Called in a bold innovator, Mondavi put his wines up against French vintages in blind tastings and championed the use of cold fermentation, stainless steel tanks and French oak barrels, which have become commonplace in California's $20 billion wine industry today. After beating some well-known French vintages in a 1976 blind tasting, Mondavi set up the first French-American wince venture, joining forces with Baron Philippe de Rothschild. The pair developed the ultra-premium Opus One at Oakville, producing their first vintage in 1979.

Mondavi turned over day-to-day control of the winery to his sons in the mid--1990s, but a second generation of sibling disagreements, intense competition from other New World wines and a glut of California production in the early 2000s took its toll on the business, which was bought out for $1.3 billion by Constellation Brands in 2004.

I've done a couple of things to add some depth to Mondavi. I've asked a select group of winery owners in this region for their reaction, good and bad, and included a link to today's New York Times story on the death and life of Mondavi and a link to the Mondavi Web site, which includes his biography, his lifetime achievements and quotes.

Taste of Pennsylvania set for inaugural

The debut of what organizers hope will be an annual event will be held May 31 and June 1 at the York Fairgrounds. The Taste of Pennsylvania Wine and Music Festival will feature three bands on Saturday, the 31st, and three more on Sunday, the 1st. A total of nine wineries will be represented. Tickets are $15; at the gate the cost is $20 and it's $10 for a designated driver. They are available at Nell's, Saubel's and Wtzel's Shurfine locations. More on the event can be found at yorkwinefest.com.

Spokesman Brian Dudley was kind enough to respond by e-mail to a few questions about the event. Here is the exchange:

Q: Give me a quick overview of what came together to move this from an idea into a reality?
A: I was Commander of the Sons of the American Legion for seven years and over that time we made donations each year to many organizations, however the donations were usually $100 and I wanted to do more. So with my interest in wine, wine making and festivals I determined that a wine festival in York would be a great way for the SAL to make money to allow us to make bigger donations.

Q: What kind of demographic are you expecting? Who's going to these things these days?
A: Well, the typical crowd is the 30-to-55-year-old crowd of middle to upper class wine drinkers, however I think that many people enjoy wine and that is why Sunday's musical entertainment is more classic rock, something for the late 20s and early 30s crowd. I personally am 33 and I began drinking and making wine in my early 20s, so I do not think wine has to be for a certain crowd, you just have to enjoy wine to enjoy our festival.

Q: I know there's wine and I know there's music. Break down some of the things that visitors will get a chance to do?
A: For the admission price you will receive a wine glass that allows you wine tastings from all wineries throughout the day. So bring your chair or blanket and stay for the day of great music and wine. Next year I hope to add food demos from local cheifs, as well as an amatuer wine compitition.

Q: Will there be wine for sale there?
A: Wine is for sale at the event and we will be offering a wine check system, meaning that you can buy wine at a winery, have it marked; it will then be sent to the wine pickup area and when you leave you can go pick up all your wine. This will help those who want to buy several bottles to several cases, as they do not have to carry the wine around and they can take their car right to the pick up station when they are ready to leave.

Q: Tell me about the response, both from the public and the wineries? Looks like you did well in getting a mix of wineries from all over the region.
A: I am hearing from a lot of people that they are coming and hearing our commecials so I hope for a good turn out. I have been told that PA just doesn't have the same number of wine drinkers as Northern Maryland and I just do not think that is true and I hope our event shows that York knows its wine and will turn out for a festival. As for the wineries, I have gotten a great response, especially from the local wineries who want to see an event like this in York County. It can only help to showcase their wine by bringing wine drinkers to York County. As for wineries from out of the area, they have also been great and this will be a good chance for them to showcase their wine. The selection of wineries was very intential. I wanted to showcase the "Taste of Pennsylvania" by bringing together wine from across Pennsylvania. Wine grown in the soil and climate of the Lake Erie area will taste very different from wine grown and made in York Co. and I wanted to show that to everyone. Pennsylvania is a great wine region with a lot of promise and I hope to continue this event for a long time, to help the SAL and the Pennsylvania wineries.

Chaddsford's Eric Miller checks in

Eric Miller of Chaddsford Winery describes the business of making wine in Pennsylvania as evolving, comparing some parts of the state to how he remembers New York 35 years ago when he and his father were just starting out. No doubt, he agrees, it's encouraging that each year brings the opening of new wineries. As for national respect? "We're not ready for national recognition," he says in an interview that touches on several subjects. "The American consumer just learned how to say Pinot Noir and Pinot Grigio. They cannot say Pennsylvania yet."

York Uncorked, Year 3

So how do the folks who plan and execute the annual Tour de Tanks/Uncork York Wine Trail event top what happened this March?

Easy. Alison Smith, public relations coordinator for the York County Convention & Visitors Bureau, said earlier this week that they’ll look at the feedback and consider ways to improve this now established prelude to spring.

“I think we always want more options,” Smith said. “We’re thinking about changing the wine and dine a little bit, [to] more BYOB. We’ve seen people want to be able to sample what they’ve purchased [at the wineries]. So we’re looking at that trend.”

Among the other considerations is tweaking the food component that’s part of the winery tour and tastings. As unique as the wineries and their owners and winemakers are, so is the food that sits aside the tasting area. Some have their finger foods catered; others prepare it themselves.

“That is something I will tell you we are working on, kind of revamping,” Smith said. “I think that’s one of the personality things that come through . . . [but] it’s not just about what you like, and I think that’s what we have to try to convey. We’re just kind of reassessing the way we do some of the thing sin the program, and I would say the food is an important part of the program.

“Since we are a bureau, the wineries do have a relationship with us, but they also all kind of work together and they decide as a group what they want to do. And so it’s kind of more about getting them all in the same place and deciding as a collective what’s best for everyone, not just the individual. It is something we’re looking into for next year. … to try and figure out the best way to do it for the audience.”

Otherwise, the ingredients are all in place for this event to continue to expand. More interest. A widening demographic, Smith said. And additional wineries getting set to open, potentially adding to the 11 now that are part of the wine trail.

“We have heard of a few new ones popping up,” Smith said. “Nothing definite on any of them joining our trail at the moment. But I think because you have such great committed vintners that they’ve shown other people who, five, 10 years ago, might have been intimidated. I think the Tour de Tanks event has a lot to do with that … bringing lots of different kinds of people to wine.”

It all began in 2006 as a Saturday-only event, but it made sense for several reasons – you try and compress stops at four or five wineries into one day, for one – to add Sundays the following year. Planners continued that schedule this year, once again through the month of March.

“Sundays also generated additional overnight visits for us, which kind of gets at the heart of what we do here at the bureau,” Smith said. “This year, we actually had an increase of almost 2500 visits overall. That was really good for us. And we had more of an extended draw. We saw visitors from Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York state, and the ever-popular DC metro area. I think it’s convenient for them. They head north, and we’re about an hour and a half to two hours, and they feel like they’re in a different country.”

No exaggerating there. And what they find when they arrive is a succession of what could be termed open houses. “Something I think is really unique about our trail is that they are family-owned wineries,” Smith said. “What’s really interesting is that you get to see the personalities of the winemaker come through in the wine; the sophistication of a European- influenced blend comes through with Allegro, with Carl Helrich and just his wealth of knowledge on not only his own vineyard and not just the scientific composition of the soil in the area but just the way he talks about everything, not just wine. With Charles Aldinger and his friends [Buck Mortorff and his brother Junior, whjo are Aldinger’s partners] from Four Springs, they’re very kind of jovial joking guys, and that comes through in their wine, which is very well-balanced, very clean, crisp flavor, but you always kind of get that fruit in the background, that variety of fruit in the background.

“And Dick Naylor [of Naylor Wine Cellars in Stewartstown, Pa.], he likes to talk about that he was told many, many moons ago that grapes grow where peaches grow, and in York County, especially southern York County, there are areas that all you see in the summer are peach trees,” she added. “So if that says anything about the quality of the wine in the area, we really kind of have something unique.”

That’s paid off in bigger numbers, in visitors to the wineries and the restaurants for the wine-and-dine aspect, and the overnights. For instance, increasing from four to 10 days in 2007, the bureau saw an increase of 3,054 visits, and since 2006 has seen a hike of 5,475 visits at all wineries. All these numbers come from the bureau. Smith said that during the first year, 2006, one winery saw an increase in wine sales of 469 percent from the previous March without the event.

It’s very likely the event will remain in March. Smith said that month makes sense, well after the holidays and presumably after most of the winter weather, but before the chores in the winery and vineyard get too numerous.

“We might bring on another event in the year,” Smith wrote in an e-mail, “but Tour de Tanks will stay in March.”