Sand Castle delighted with Seven Springs festival

Had sent a note out to some of the participating wineries asking about how they made out at the Seven Springs Wine Festival on Aug. 23. Heard back today from Peter Ricci, the general sales manager for Sand Castle Winery in Erwinna, Pa. Ricci wrote the following

"Seven Springs was as usual a major success for Sand Castle Winery; our Alpine Spice was the star of the event. Sand Castle Winery averaging a sale of Alpine Spice to every 2.2 people who attended the event; if you think about it most people who attend are couples. We did taste our full line of wines and recieved very positive feedback; both in purchases and comments. Many of the comments were the best winery there for overall quality."

Mt. Felix welcomes its first customer

You could feel the excitement in an e-mail that Peter Ianniello of The Vineyards at Mt. Felix Manor in Havre de Grace, Md., sent earlier today:

"Yes, we literally just opened and has 1st retail customer pull down driveway today."

So another winery in Maryland has officially opened. Hoping to post some photos of the place in the next 24 hours.

'Dummies' course at CrossingV&W starts Sept. 21

Crossing Vineyards and Winery in Washington Crossing, Pa. will offer tips on savoring the flavors of wine with “Wine Tasting for Dummies” workshops each month through December, beginning Sept. 21.

As part of the course, scheduled for 2 p.m. at the winery, 1853 Wrightstown Road, participants will sample a selection of wines, cheeses, and fruit. Taught by Crossing co-owner Tom Carroll Sr., president of the Bucks County Wine Trail, the course has emerged as one of the most popular among the winery’s “Wine Institute” offerings, Carroll said.

The course also will be offered Oct. 19, Nov. 16, and Dec. 14. The fee is $25 and advance registration is suggested due to its popularity.

Information and registration: 215.493.6500, ext. 19 or http://www.crossingvineyards.com/

Five wine videos, one vote, one winner

Wanna spend 15 minutes you don't mind never getting back. Take a look at these five videos that readers sent in to Wine Spectator magazine. You can vote for the winner among these finalists through Sunday; second and third place winners will be announced Monday and the top prizewinner will be revealed on Tuesday. What will they get?

1. The creator of the winning video will receive two complimentary registrations to the Wine Experience in New York City on Oct. 16-18, 2008. The winning video may be shown as part of the official program.
2. The finalists, as chosen by our editors, will each receive two tickets to the Grand Tastings at the Wine Experience in New York City on Oct. 16 or 17, 2008. If they are unable to make that date, finalists may attend any one of the 2009 Grand Tour Tastings (dates and locations TBD). Finalists’ videos will be posted at WineSpectator.com.

What will you get? Some truly creative work to assess and enjoy and one tough choice.

The Event Grapevine: Sept. 12-14

Featured Event

Harvest Weekend: The Butcher, The Baker, The Winemaker
Lehigh Valley Wine Trail
Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.

Need to fill up your kitchen cabinet with wine glasses? That would be one reason to hit the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail for “Harvest Weekend: The Butcher, The Baker, The Winemaker,” where the nine participating wineries will be selling their promotional glasses for $1 apiece. Each one will have a logo of the wine trail on one side and the winery logo on the other. And it’s your job to fill them up with a sampling of what will be offered during this two-day event, running all day Saturday (10 a.m. to 5 p.m.) and then wrapping up from noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday.

Stopping by at any of these wineries in Eastern and Northeastern Pennsylvania won’t cost you a thing. All will be offering wine and a Pennsylvania food partner, so going home hungry isn’t an option. Some wineries are filling out the schedule with entertainment, education and/or tours; you can find the schedule at this link.

Vickie Greff, of Blue Mountain Vineyards and the president of the wine trail, said that while this doesn’t match the numbers that the monthlong March Madness draws, she expects a good crowd will make its way along the trail. “You can’t expect to see everyone who goes around the trail because they split it up among the trail members, between going to different wineries” she said last night. “We’re doing a lot of different things here, so hopefully they’ll come out for them. We’re doing a tank room tour on Sunday and on Saturday, if weather permits, we’re going to do a vineyard walk. Everybody is doing different things, but that’s what we’re doing, so hopefully people will be interested in that and come out. We all do our thing and see how it all goes, and we wish each other luck. We work well together as a trail and everybody gets along and is happy to give people a reason to come out and taste wine.”

And if Harvest Weekend in the Lehigh Valley doesn’t quite fit into your plans, here’s what else is going on this weekend and in a couple of cases into the latter part of next week:

PENNSYLVANIA WINERIES

Adams County Winery, Orrtanna: Parrots on the Patio ($$), Sunday, noon to 4 p.m., http://www.adamscountywinery.com/

Amore Vineyards & Winery, Bath: Harvest Weekend: The Butcher, The Baker, The Winemaker, Saturday (10 a.m. to 5 p.m.) and Sunday (noon to 5 p.m.), http://www.amore-4u.com/

Big Creek Vineyard & Winery, Kresgeville: Harvest Weekend: The Butcher, The Baker, The Winemaker, Saturday (10 a.m. to 5 p.m.) and Sunday (noon to 5 p.m.), http://www.bigcreekvineyard.com/

Blue Mountain Vineyards, New Tripoli: Harvest Weekend: The Butcher, The Baker, The Winemaker, Saturday (10 a.m. to 5 p.m.) and Sunday (noon to 5 p.m.); Fall Foliage Tasting ($$), Sunday, 2 to 5 p.m., http://www.bluemountainwine.com

Chaddsford Winery, Chaddsford: Reserve tastings ($$), Saturday, sittings at 1, 2:30 and 4 p.m.; Wednesday, Sept. 17, the Chaddsford Challenge ($$), see how Chaddsford’s best wines stack up against wines of similar type & style from the world’s great wine regions, 7 to 9:30 p.m., reservations at 215.794.9655; Thursday, Sept. 18, Wine in Roman Times ($$), wine educator Frank Patterson gives a program and tasting on how wine making and wine drinking arrived (originally from Greece) and prospered in ancient Rome, http://www.chaddsford.com

Cherry Valley Vineyards, Saylorsburg: Harvest Weekend: The Butcher, The Baker, The Winemaker, Saturday (10 a.m. to 5 p.m.) and Sunday (noon to 5 p.m.), http://www.bigcreekvineyard.com/

Clover Hill Vineyards & Winery, Breinigsville: 23rd anniversary sale, 23 percent discount on all 750 ml of wine, Thursday, the 11th through Sunday, the 14th; Live Music on the Patio, Saturday and Sunday, 1:30 to 5 p.m.; Harvest Weekend: The Butcher, The Bakers, The Winemaker, Saturday (10 a.m. to 5 p.m.) and Sunday (noon to 5 p.m.); Fall Foliage Tasting ($$), Sunday, 2 to 5 p.m., http://www.cloverhillwinery.com

Country Creek Winery, Telford: Concert, Christine & Company, an acoustic act from the Philadelphia suburbs, Saturday, 6 to 9 p.m., http://www.countrycreekwinery.com/

Crossing Vineyards & Winery, Washington Crossing: Summer Under the Stars concert series ($$), Friday, 7 p.m., Fairmount Chamber Ensemble; How Sweet It Is: Pairing Wine and Chocolate ($$), sommelier Eric Cavatore and Stacey Glynn-Brady from Lindt of Switzerland, Sunday, 2 p.m.; Wine Tasting for Dummies ($$), East Falls location, Sunday, 2 p.m.; second class in Wine 101 series ($$), Monday, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Types of Wine, http://www.crossingvineyards.com

Franklin Hill, Bangor: Harvest Weekend: The Butcher, The Baker, The Winemaker, Saturday (10 a.m. to 5 p.m.) and Sunday (noon to 5 p.m.), http://franklinhillvineyards.com

Galen Glen Vineyard & Winery, Andreas: Harvest Weekend: The Butcher, The Baker, The Winemaker, Saturday (10 a.m. to 5 p.m.) and Sunday (noon to 5 p.m.), http://www.galenglen.com/

Hauser Estate Winery, Biglerville: Official grand opening, Monday through next Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday, and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. next Saturday, http://www.hauserestate.com/

Moon Dancer Vineyards & Winery, Wrightsville: Music Friday (6 to 9 p.m.), Saturday (2 to 5 p.m.) and Sunday, 2 to 5 p.m., Blue Light Special concert ($$), 7 to 10 p.m., http://www.moondancerwinery.com

Naylor Wine Cellars, Stewartstown: “Summer Sounds” outdoor concert series ($$), Saturday, 7 to 10 p.m., music by Sound of Roses, http://www.naylorwine.com

Pinnacle Ridge Winery, Kutztown: Harvest Weekend: The Butcher, The Baker, The Winemaker, Saturday (10 a.m. to 5 p.m.) and Sunday (noon to 5 p.m.); Blues in the Barn, Saturday (10 a.m. to 7 p.m.) and Sunday (noon to 5 p.m.), http://www.pinridge.com/

Sand Castle Winery, Erwinna: First Crush Festival, open house and picking, Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., http://www.sandcastlewinery.com/

Vynecrest Vineyards & Winery, Breinigsville: Summer Tours With the Winemaker ($$), Saturday and Sunday, 2 p.m., about 1 ½ hours long, http://www.vynecrest.com/whatsnew.htm

Wycombe Vineyards, Furlong: Harvest Weekend: The Butcher, The Baker, The Winemaker, Saturday (10 a.m. to 5 p.m.) and Sunday (noon to 5 p.m.),
http://www.vynecrest.com/


MARYLAND WINERIES

Basignani Winery, Sparks: Harvest Saturday, second of a series of volunteer pickings that last into October; picking usually starts around 9 a.m. and finishes around 1 p.m., followed by a homemade spread (that is outstanding) and wine tasting, RSVP at 410.472.0703, http://www.basignani.com/

Other MARYLAND winery events can be found at this link, VIRGINIA events at this link and New York events at this link


FESTIVALS

12th annual Neptune Wine Festival ($$), Virginia Beach, Va., Saturday and Sunday, more information at this link


($$) – Admission charge

Wycombe labels give new life to family snapshots

The original intent for the labels that would affix to the Wycombe Vineyards bottles was a series of photographs of the historic buildings and scenes that dot the area around Furlong in Bucks County, Pa. “But there just didn’t seem to be enough,” said Lyndsay Jurema, the daughter of owner Richard Fraser. “Whenever I went to take pictures there was construction or it was somebody’s house or something like that.”

Those thoughts about a distinctive image on the label still percolating, Jurema said they were next store at her grandparents’ house repainting the lower level when they discovered some old documents and pictures. “We just started coming across some of these fun photos of the farm from the ‘30s and ’40s, even before the ’30s of my great grandparents. And we thought, ‘This is perfect,’ so we picked through them and found one that would go with the wines we were making.”

What resulted was a distinctive series of photos that make up the 13-winee Wycombe line, from shots of the farm to lovely family scenes. “All of the photos had people in them, which actually made it more interesting,” Jurema said. “It was really the people in the photos that made it more interesting for me.”

One of the most memorable of the photos graces one of the winery’s top sellers, the Naked Chardonnay. “It has a picture of my grandmother and two of her best friends,” Jurema said, “and they’re kind of dancing, hiking up their skirts above their knees. It’s cute.” And it’s as original as the crisp taste and elevated acidity of the liquid inside the bottle. “It’s not a wine you find locally very much. It’s more of a Chablis style.”

Another favorite is the Traminette, a semi-dry wine that you'll also tend to find in vineyards north and south of Pennsylvania. “It’s such a different varietal; usually you find it in upstate New York and down toward Virginia, too," she said. "It has a really flowery aroma to it. That’s a white wine grape that I think, that and a Riesling, it’s easy to just smell it and go ‘that’s what that is.’ ”

Wycombe, a member of the Bucks County Wine Trail, is producing around 500 cases annually. Vines grow on 10 of the farm’s 60 acres; among those grapes are Traminette and Riesling. It’s a plot that has been in the family, Jurema said, since the turn of the last century. A working farm up until the late 1950s, it was rented out for the next couple of generations. Jurema then picked up the story. “In 1998 they decided to put the land in preservation, so when they did that, we, I guess it just kind of came up and, you know, talking about what to do with it, we just decided to turn it back into a working family farm . . . just being centered around a family farm. Everyone who works here is family.

“We make everything in small batches," said Jurema, whose skills in graphic and Web design have helped the two-year-old winery make its mark on prospective buyers. "We just want to make the best; [I'm sure] most wineries are going to say they just want to make the best wines that they can. But we also want to focus on making sure that we utilize this land. If we had to buy that to start a vineyard, it never would have happened. So, you know, it was really a blessing for us to do that.”

Reporting from all precincts ...

I sent a scattershot note to a group of regional wineries asking if Saturday’s tropical storm had any effects on their harvest. What follows if their replies. And, as always, my public thanks to everyone who responded.

Jerry Forest, Buckingham Valley Vineyards: No serious issues in Buckingham. We harvested 15 tons of Cayuga on Friday before the pending storm; clean fruit, good sugar, Ph and acid. We mechanically harvest, so we can pick 6+ tons per hour day or night with one person. It’s great for bringing in the crop before a storm. We got 4” of rain on Saturday, but no high winds, and great drying on Sunday. We netted some reds today (to hang for 2+ more weeks), and plan to pick Chancellor tomorrow morning. All varieties are doing well and ripening somewhat earlier than normal this year. Overall, another great harvest! Thanks for asking.

Brad Knapp, Pinnacle Ridge: We harvested Cayuga for our sparling Blanc de Blanc on Friday in order to beat the rain. Cayua have a tendency to split when they get rained on at harvest so we wanted to avoid that situation if possible. We got 2.25" (could have been worse) and things look reasonable. We will be picking Chardonnay and Pinot Noir for sparkling wines this week.Vickie Greff, Blue Mountain Vineyards: Thank you for the contact regarding our harvest. Fortunately we did not plan to harvest this past weekend so the weather was not a factor. Although it did put a damper on our Annual Adopt a Vine Ceremony, which took place on Saturday, September 6th. We still gave out the plaques, however the adoptive parents were not able to go into the vineyard to place their plaques on the vines. They took a rain check for next year's Ceremony. Regardless of weather we still had a wine tasting accompanied by snacks and our seasoned parents were given their commemorative bottle of wine! We will most likely begin our harvest next week, of course weather permitting. Due to the predominately dry summer it looks to be a great harvest. We did need the rain this past weekend, but we are hoping for very little rain during harvest and a long lasting warm fall.

Carole Kirkpatrick, Kreutz Creek Vineyards: We had no problems from the storm, we did not yet start harvesting.

Anthony Vietri, Va La Vineyards: All is well here. Par for the course and all. I try not to get either too anxious or too excited; it just all plays out the way it's going to play out, and all I can do is applaud.

Carl Helrich, Allegro Vineyards: I haven't started picking yet, so, yes [we got through it OK]! We'll start this week with some hybrids. Chard will be toward the end of the month along with Merlot. Cab and Riesling in October.

Morris Zwick, TerrapinStationWinery: We got through OK. We picked second block of Cayuga on Friday instead of Saturday [obviously[ as it was ripe and ready to go. Everything else seems unaffected. We already had some downy mildew problems in one field, so the storm did not help that, but we put a spray down and should be able to manage it. We are likely to pick our Traminette this weekend since it was fairly close last week and the weather looks favorable for some catch up ripening.

Jason Price, Twin Brook Winery: Yes we made it out okay. We were concerned some of the hybrids might swell and burst. Biggest annoyance was crushing in the rain. We crushed and pressed 3 tons of Cayuga Saturday morning. tried to hurry and get the grapes in the press before the heavy rains started. Almost made it. Made clean up a whole lot easier.