The event grapevine: July 9-10

On the eve of what will be the 30th anniversary celebration at Nissley Vineyards & Estate, in Bainbridge, Pa., just off Route 441, owner Judy Nissley spent some time on the phone reminiscing about how their signature concert series began and how it has since evolved. The gates tonight will open at 6, with the concert running from 7:30 to 10 p.m., interrupted by just one intermission. Big Band Nostalgia is the headliner, and the winery also will unveil its 2007 Seyval Blanc, the feature wine for tis 30th birthday.

“When we first started . . . this is our 26th season, so it was 1982,” Nissley said, “and we started with something we called Moonlight and Melodies, and we supplied the tents and put tables under the tents and we had only one dance area, but we get small bands and they’d play at one end of the dance patio, the one with the lights on it, and some of the people would dance there, and then they could reserve box suppers and we only did that format one year, because when it rained we had to eat a lot of box suppers [plus] all the time and effort it took to put the tables in place, the chairs, the covering for the tables.

“So we went the next year to bring-your-own-picnic format. One of our problems here, we can’t really do anything during the daytime because there’s not enough shade. We have to wait for the sun to go behind the trees. So the next year we did some on Sunday afternoon and some on Saturday evenings, and we realized Saturday evening were much better so the following year we did Saturday evenings and we gradually increased the number of concerts. And over the years then we finally settled on 10 concerts, which spanned July 4th weekend and Labor Day weekend. This year we backed off again; we’re only doing eight, primarily because it’s harder to get staff on the holiday weekend.

“And the thing that’s interesting about this series is I could see the audience, as soon as we would make an improvement, then the next year it would expand. Prior to doing an improvement, the audience didn’t know. They’d see it and say ‘This is nice,’ and then the next year bring more people the following year. So we did things to expand the audience. One of those things was we built regular restroom. That was one of the first things, and then we added dance patios and put the band under cover, in the barn, where it is now. Those 2 things really helped to increase attendance.

“When we first started, we started with jazz or big band, it was either big band swing or big band jazz, .and the audience at that time, which would have been now back 20 years ago, the audience was people in their 50s and 60s; those are the people who like that kind of music. As time went on, we realized there were fewer and fewer people to draw from in that group, so we started adding light rock, and so we started adding those. That means that now the people in the 50s and 60s, which is our target audience, those are the people who like the light rock, the classic rock, they like variety bands.

“Now we have mostly light rock and variety bands, and we have this year only big bands, and we keep those big bands because there is still some of the audience that likes to hear that, and I personally really like that music. I think big band music is really nice.

“We did try and experimented with some bands that were sort of esoteric, because they don’t play music that’s really melodic; it’s more experimental. Different, but our audience didn’t react well to that because they want to be able to dance and even if they’re not dancing they want to be able to hear the music that people like to dance to.”

Nissley said they even tried classical one year, but “we soon realized that’s done better in other places. In a theater the classical sounds better than it does outdoors, and the orchestra was too big for our bandstand. So we said, ‘OK, well now we’re not going to do that anymore.’

“So we pretty well have stayed with the format we’ve got; we’ve been doing that for a lot of years. Interestingly there are certain bands that really draw a lot of people. They don’t the first time they come here, but by the second or third time they tell their friends, and instead of just coming as a couple, the second year they bring two more couples and the next year they’re up to 20 people. So those are really, some of those bands really draw heavily, and we try to discourage large groups on those nights. Other nights we sell group vouchers for 20 or more, but on those nights we don’t.”

Two of those most popular bands are the SilverHawks (set for July 26) and Headliners (scheduled for Aug.16). “[For those] we try not to do too much promotion. I mean, people seem to have a good time, even when there’s a horde here. But, you know what, 2,600 people is really a lot of people. We’ve had 2,800, so the people are all the way out to the fence and the parking is really difficult, and then the people have to stumble around to find their cars.

"What’s really ideal, we think, is 1,800 to 2,000. If it gets too much over that [it’s too much]. We had [the 2,800] for the band [Nightwind] that played here last Saturday, and because of that there are people who come two hours early for that band because they want to make sure they get in.”

Among the improvements they’ve made on site, Nissley said, is expand the parking lot and streamline admission with the entrance through a tent at the back of the grounds. “The year we had that 2,800 we were taking admission on the roadway. We did a hopscotch thing, going from car to car, but it took too long. They just sat on the roadway too long, and then they got in and we said, “Oh, I’m sorry, we’re full.’ Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, that was terrible.

“I don’t book groups that specifically appeal to 30somethings, and its not for any other reason than the people who are most likely not to have young children -- we don’t admit children in
-- so those most likely not to have young children are people in their 50s or 60s. I know that young people come. In fact, there was a 30 something guy on Saturday night that said to me, he looked at me, and said, ‘You now what. In a three-county area this is still the best place to be on a Saturday night. And I looked at his age and I thought, you know, that’s really nice that he would say that. That’s really nice.”

MARYLAND winery events can be found at this link and
VIRGINIA events at this link. You can find events at the wineries of the BRANDYWINE VALLEY WINE TRAIL at this link, and details on the 11th anniversary celebration amng the wineries of the LEHIGH VALLEY WINE TRAIL at this link.

Seyval featured at Nissley's 30th fete tonight

A glimpse of the crowd at a recent Nissley evening concert.

Judy Nissley admits that she’s more a Vidal Blanc fan when it comes to that or the Seyval Blanc that Nissley Vineyards & Winery Estate in Bainbridge, Pa., produces. But this year’s Seyval is a special blend with a significant role: It will take a spot tonight as the feature wine for the winery’s 30th anniversary celebration when Music in the Vineyards 2008 rolls out its second show of the season. Big Band Nostalgia is the headliner.

Nissley said the anniversary designation fell to Naughty Marietta when the winery celebrated its 25th birthday in 2003.

“When we started years ago, in 1978, at the very first opening, we had seven wines on our list, and of those seven there are still two. And the list itself has expanded to 26 wines. Now, those two are the only ones we have. So five years ago for our 25th anniversary we featured the 25th vintage of Naughty Marietta,” she said Thursday night. “This year, we didn’t want to repeat that . . . [instead] we wanted to use a dry wine instead of a semi-dry or sweet, so we selected Seyval Blanc.

“So the Seyval Blanc this year now has a the label that says 30th vintage on it, and we were very particular how we made this blend. And we think we came up with a really super wine. I said, if we are going to really highlight it with a special label, it needs to taste really good, so we went through three or four trials on it to come up with the best wine we thought we could get. I think it’s really good.”

One of the reasons Nissley generally leans toward the Vidal, she said, is that it features less oak characteristics. But that wasn’t the case with the 2007 harvest, which found the wines come in with decreased acidity. “And so automatically it’s going to probably be a little more appealing to people because it doesn’t have that mouth-puckering characteristic that you get from the higher acids years. Some people really like that in a drier wine, other people want something that doesn’t have quite so much punch, something more in the California style. I’d say. This one doesn’t [have that mouth-puckering characteristic]. It’s smoother.”

That probably won’t put much of a dent in what’s typically the winery’s biggest seller at these concerts, which are among the region's longest running, now in their 26th season. They generally go through 60 to 90 cases a concert of Rhapsody in Blue, Nissley said. “That’s part of the reason we named it that way. Basically [it was] in honor of the concert series, and it’s a semi-dry white wine that’s very drinkable and is far and way our most popular wine.”

Birthday weekend becoming a gift for others

Anniversary weekend for the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail generally has leaned more toward the wine than the food, different from the March Madness tradition that’s laden with good things to eat and the proper pairings. But this is the second year that the anniversary has benefited someone besides those selling and drinking the many wines produced by the nine members of the trail.

What is called “Drink Pink Weekend” donates $1 to the Pennsylvania Breast Cancer Coalition (PBCC) for every bottle of pink purchased. Vickie Greff, of Blue Mountain Vineyards & Cellars, said earlier tonight that members of the trail got together before the 10th anniversary and decided they’d like to use the event to support a cause. The debut was a hit. “Now it’s a good thing, a very good thing,” she said, noting that this time of the year “the pink stuff is your popular stuff anyway. So it kind of goes hand and hand. Like blushes, thing like that go over well. I mean we have a range of wines; our other wines sell, too. But sometimes people will buy that wine just because they are supporting something. Or even if they don’t like blush they might buy it for their daughter or their brother or whoever they know likes blush.”

The wineries, Greff said, agreed this year to do “different kinds of fun stuff as far as wines.” With that in mind, Blue Mountain will be offering a Riesling punch. You can see what five other wineries are planning at this link to the trail’s Web site. Wine trail glasses are $1 a glass at all nine of the wineries, which will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.

Blue Mountain is one of the charter members of the wine trail, which was formed in 1997. Greff said the winery grows 13 varieties of grapes on 50 acres, producing about 30,000 gallons or 15,000 cases.

Asked what’s new there, Greff noted that it just released its ice wine and put its sangria back out on the shelf. But they’re not just sweet. “We’ve very known for our red wines,” she said. “Our Merlot in particular has taken a lot of international medals, and that’s kind of our [signature]. You have to have everything in the area we live in. You have to have the sweet wines, you have to have the dry wines, you have to have a little bit of everything; but I would say we like to feel that we go toward the red palate.”

Basignani touting its Chard, Lorenzino

The phone conversations yield plenty of story ideas and are a great way to break the ice, but the amount of information I want to pull into this blog will come only from the kind of exchange that I had in the last 24 hours with Griffen Taylor, the marketing director for Basignani Winery. Asked for tasting notes on a couple of wines they are pleased with this year, Taylor sent the following:

First the 2006 Chardonnay is one of the best Chards from us in years. A blend of two vineyards with complimenting characteristics, this wine manages to be both delicate and restrained (12.5% abv), while giving rich tropical fruit and a full mouth feel. French oak is used exclusively but only a few new barrels in the mix. This is a fantastic compliment to Maryland seafood.

Our blockbuster 2005 Lorenzino Reserve recently won a silver medal in the Los Angeles County Fair. It is a "Bordeaux blend" of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Merlot. We barrel select the very best of each of our vineyard lots to create this "Maryland First Growth." Although aged for two years in oak, first sip reveals youthful tannins and tar. Mid-palate yields tremendous fruit of plum and boysenberry. In the extremely long finish you'll find the oak, pencil lead, and more tannins that show its structure from beginning to end. Great with your sirloin or with aged cheese.

Take a look at the Vynecrest icons

My apology for slowing down on the postings. Directing an Urban Journalism Workshop for aspiring high school journalists at the Philly Daily News, so my available time has gone kaput for a couple of weeks. But left over from my recent conversation with John Landis of Vynecrest Vineyards & Winery was his answer to my observation about his Web site, which is characterized by icons identifying their wines as dry, semi-sweet and sweet.

“From waiting on our many customers in our tasting room, one of the things I observed is that most people, the first thing that distinguishes what they like and don’t like is the sweetness,” he said. “So we tried to give some guidelines to people who are trying to buy wines. We make 20 wines and we try and do it in such a way . . .we have complimentary tastings and we limit it to six . And so we try and focus on six that are within the range of what they like.”

Some know what they like, he said. But not everyone.

“The more sophisticated do, but most who come in don’t. So through the process of the tastings they learn what they like. That’s one of our jobs is to educate people in wines, particularly in Pennsylvania, where we have a state store system that fails on that part of the process very badly.”

This list is Prime territory for regional wines

You don’t find too many restaurants that even put Pennsylvania wines on their menu. An exception is Brandywine Prime in Chaddsford, where general manager Michael Majewski says there are seven regional wines among a list that includes about 100.

“I probably do a little bit more in trying to promote the wines from the area than most places do,” he says, talking by phone late last week. The restaurant, he says, has been open around 18 months. “I have Paradocx, Chaddsford and Va La, right now and at some point I’ll put some Penns Woods wines on the list, too. You know, I feel like we’re kind of located in the middle of Pennsylvania wine-growing area and if restaurants don’t take the time and effort to acknowledge it, at least a little bit, then I think we’re doing the area a disservice. The wine-growing area is becoming enough to drive people to the area.”

Not only do they carry the wines but they’ve also become active with the wineries of the Brandywine Valley Wine Trail. Several weeks ago they hosted a dinner for the trail’s first wine camp; that paired the food with wine from one of the wineries the campers had visited during their three-day “drink-over.”

Majewski says that price isn’t generally a problem in pushing the wine. They are on par, he said, with those from outside the region in the same class. But the recognition factor is another story, especially as diners peer at the list and other more familiar names jump out at them. So what tips them toward the regional wineries?

“We sell most of the local wine to people who have been to the wineries at some point or another and have enjoyed the wines,” he says, “and then they come into the restaurant and see if we have them and get one. Or the person that asks, ‘Hey, I’m not from around here, I see you have some wines from the area, what do you think?' And then we just kind of go from there.”

They don’t go from there blindly, for sure. Majewski says some members of the staff already have taken a trip to Chaddsford Winery. “Not everybody went,” he says, “but, I don’t know, there were eight or nine of us that went over. [Owner and winemaker] Eric [Miller] did a little tour, the whole dog and pony show for the staff . It was good. Va La’s a little far for us to do a staff trip, and Paradocx just opened their winery. We’re doing an event at Paradocx this weekend, so we’ll actually get some staff out there.”

Once you get to know Lemberger ...

You would be accurate in referring to the Lemberger wine that Vynecrest Vineyards & Winery in Breiningsville, produces as unique. John Landis and his wife Jan, who bought the five-acre lot back in 1973 and planted their first vines a year later, said he first tried the wine out West and it made enough of an impression to make room for it on his Eastern Pennsylvania plot.

“I liked the finish on it,” he said recently. “It was a cool climate red that we thought would grow well here in our climate. We tried it out and its done well for us. The hardest part of that was name recognition. A lot of people have never heard of it. They wonder, ‘What am I buying?’ So that’s why you need to have the people on site to try it, and then if they like it, they like it.”

On the Vynecrest site, Lemberger is listed as the winery’s flagship red, with its “big, bold flavors and rich tannis finish.” Growing it, he said, isn’t a big problem. The late-bloomer is susceptible to powdery mildew, but Landis said no more so than other vinifera. He produces about 300 gallons, which converts to more than 100 cases. The 750 ml. bottles sell for $13.99. Vynecrest is a member of the Wine Trail of the Lehigh Valley, which will be celebrating its 11th anniversary with a fete on the weekend of July 12-13 at all the wineries.

A wine with its roots in the Danube River Valley, which originates in the Black Forest of Germany, Landis notes that it goes by two names: the Germans call it Lemberger and the Austrians call it Blaufrankisch. “So you’ll see different wine lists with the two different name," he said. "On the East Coast, there are maybe four of us [that grow it]. There’s one up in Pennsylvania, Presque Isle Wine Cellars. We’re the only ones that grow it in our region. And there’s a couple wineries in the Finger Lakes [of New York] that are grow it, but the majority of it is grown in Washington state. That’s where I first had it.”