Regional Wine Week, Day 1: Chaddsford

Eric and Lee Miller, top right, and some scenes takes at Chaddsford during the just completed Brandywine Valley Wine Trail's Harvest Fest Celebration.

If there’s one recognizable winery outside Pennsylvania, chances are it’s Chaddsford. Located around 20 miles west of Philadelphia, it’s a member of the Brandywine Valley Wine Trail. That encompasses six working wineries and one that should have its doors open in the next month or two.

You’ll find them along the Route 1 corridor that runs west to east from the farm country of Chester County toward the western suburbs of Philly. It’s along that four-lane highway that Chaddsford Winery suddenly appears, a few miles west of the well-known Longwood Gardens. You can visit all of them in a weekend, if you’re really pushed. No more than 30 miles on the road will allow you to enter them all, and that number is probably on the high side.

When winemaking took root on this side of the state, in the shadow of the Philly skyline, the first seeds fell at Chaddsford. Co-owner Lee Miller said she remembers that there weren’t any nearby models to follow when they began making wine in 1982. “When we came here,” she said by phone on Friday, “we didn’t have any vineyards. Our goal was to develop winemaking in a region that really didn’t have any background or wasn’t known for anything. We’re talking 26 years ago in Pennsylvania, we were one of the first 10 [in the state]. I would say most of the wineries were up in the Erie region and they were doing Concord grapes. There was very little history of anybody really trying to try to do high quality vinifera.”

In that time she and husband Eric have won their share of awards, planted an estate vineyard a stone’s throw (OK, only if an NFL quarterback is doing the throwing) away, and developed an extraordinary Web site that provides as much personality as it does information. Take a few minutes and, if you do nothing else on there, check out the archived winemaker’s notes. Those offer a revealing peek at their thinking during this long journey.

As for two wines to introduce you to, there’s the 2006 Pinot Noir and the 2005 Due Rossi. They also sell a high-end Pinot, vintage 2005.

PINOT NOIR
Notes
Vintage: 2006
Size of Lot: 2655 cases
Components: 80% Pinot Noir and 20% Chambourcin
from Southeastern Pennsylvania
Date Picked, Processed: September 11- October 19, 2006
Characteristics of Vintage: 2006 had a split personality.
On one hand the extremely dry spring caused very small
berries and chlorosis in vine leaves. On the other hand,
mid-season inundated us with ten days of rain that saturated
the ground 100%. During the early harvest, except in a
couple of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir vineyards, flavors
were diluted and picking was a long slow process. So we
decided to wait it out. Until the ground was dry, berries
tasted lush and ripe, and seeds went from green to brown.
We were paid off by an outstanding end-of-the-season
comeback that delivered Merlot, Cabernet Franc,
Chambourcin and Cabernet Sauvignon we thought we
might have to die for.
Fermentation Temperature: 85° F peak, 68° F at finish
Residual Sugar: 0.4%
Total Acidity: 0.57
Alcohol: 13.8%
pH: 3.73
Finishing: In contact with toasted French oak chips in primary
fermentors and briefly during stainless tank storage.
Winemaker Notes: Light varietal nose showing brown sugar,
smoke, vanilla and a hint of cherry. A light delicate red.

Lee Miller: “Pinot Noir has just been incredibly good to us . . . . we are just absolutely delighted with it. It just has been kind of universally accepted across the board. People react to it, because even as a young wine it’s just got a big, lush fullness to it for a delicate wine. We just love the flavor, the softness.” Calling it accessible and user-friendly, she said that “a lot of time people think when they get into wines they have to drink Cabernet and some of the bigger wines; they just think that’s what they should drink, and when you then kind of take that next step and start exploring you find out that all wines don’t have to be big and tough and hard and flavorful as Cabernet. You can have these lighter, more delicate wines, but they can still be rich.”

DUE ROSSI
Notes
Vintage: 2005
Size of Lot: 688 cases
Components: 63% Barbera from the Miller Estate Vineyard
and Flowing Springs and 37% Sangiovese from Rohrer.
Date Picked, Processed: October 6-October 19, 2005
Characteristics of Vintage: Simply put, the 2005 season
was superb. We started the spring with a modest crop and
very invigorated vines, then things got dry and we had to
watch the vines suffer a bit. But as leaves began to wilt all
the energy went into the fruit. In the final month we had
perfect warm sunny days and cool dry nights (which
allowed for extended hang-time), translating into intense
flavors - something we have not seen for a couple of years.
I am very very excited about the 2005s!
Fermentation Temperature: 85° F, and finish at 68° F
Residual Sugar: 0.060%
Total Acidity: .62
Alcohol: 14.1%
pH: 3.53
Finishing: 10 months in French Oak, 100 malolactic
fermentation.
Winemaker Notes: In the nose there is slight smoke, violets,
blackberry, licorice and some red candy. This medium-full body
wine is laden with uncountable flavors and just bursts in the
mouth with sweet vanillans, a big bouquet of flowers, ripe
jammy fruit and licorice.

Lee Miller: She calls it their Italian blend, a mix of Barbera and Sangiovese. “They are the other grapes; Eric’s just in love with them right now. He has said that he thinks that [2005] wine is the best he has ever made. We’ve made interesting Cabernets and Merlots, and we like them, but there’s a lot out there . . . but the Due Rossi is so unique. There’s nothing quite like it, because people don’t typically blend those two grapes and nobody’s ever had them from this region. It’s really unique; it’s a powerhouse. People love it, fruity flavors, but not as over the top as a Zinfandel, not that kick-ass kind of high alcohol.”

My goals, motives for writing on regional wines

Welcome to those of you visiting this Web site and reading about Pennsylvania wines for the first time. Happy to have you poking around in here.

I started this site six months ago as a way to spotlight wines and wineries within driving distance of where I live in central Pennsylvania. It’s been a labor of love and an education to cover this diverse region that occupies the rolling terrain east of the Appalachian range. And I’ve met a number of proprietors, winemakers and those connected to the business who not only have been great instructors but become acquaintances whom I respect and admire for what they do and the passion with which they farm the land.

I consider this a beat, covering more than 50 wineries in parts of Pennsylvania and Maryland. But with a couple other folks covering Maryland wineries, it made no sense to overlap. So I’ll stick with Pennsylvania wineries, at least the ones I know in southcentral, southeastern and eastern parts of the states. Officially, they make up three Pennsylvania wine regions – Lower Susquehanna, Philadelphia countryside and Lehigh Valley/Berks – and four wine trails – Uncork York, Brandywine Valley, Bucks County and Lehigh Valley.

While the wineries in those three regions account for more than half of the wineries in the state, the other four are spread out across a much larger footprint of the state. Jennifer Eckinger is the spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Wine Association and has been a big help to me in getting my blog, if you will, off the ground.

Dave McIntyre, who helped create this ambitious project at www.drinklocalwine.com, didn’t give the group of us specific parameters on how to go about publicizing what’s in our state. He just laid out the mission: expose what’s out there to people who think that American wine begins with California and ends with . . . California and Oregon and Washington. To do that, I’ll write thumbnails on six wineries representing the four wine trails. All have got out of their way to field my calls and welcome me into their winery. Others have, too. But these guys and gals have gone above and beyond, perhaps no more so than now, sitting through interviews during the busiest weeks on their calendar, better known as harvest.

But while six wineries and two of their best wines will fall under the spotlight during the next six days, you can read bit and pieces on at least 25 to 30 others by just perusing my archive. All should give you a sense of who these people are and why they've chosen winemaking.

From the '46' to 26 acres of paradise

Among the images are Terry's wife Jennifer, a couple of views from the winery, and Terry and Jennifer strolling through their vineyard.

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Been delaying the post of this story on former Eagle-turned-wine-entrepreneur Terry Hoage until it first ran in the Philly Daily News. He’s part of a series of Where They Are Nows that is focusing on former defensive standouts for the NFL franchise.

Hoage and his wife Jennifer run Terry Hoage Vineyards out of Paso Robles, Calif., a Central Coast community that is increasingly luring the marketing folk’s from the state’s Liquor Control Board. His slight build as a player was deceptive; few players in the history of the franchise put more into giving a wide receiver or running back a licking than Hoage, who was among the team’s leading tacklers in 1986 and ’87 for Buddy Ryan and his famous “46” defense.

His vineyards spread out over 17 of the farm’s 26 acres, and Terry and his wife pretty much do it all: from the work in the vineyards to the label design to getting the word out on their eight wines. They produce between 2,000 and 3,000 cases a year, all of the names of the wines having some connection to his playing days. “The Hedge” refers to his time in college at the University of Georgia, “Skins” to his days with a Washington Redskins franchise that won the Super Bowl, and “46,” a Grenache-Syrah blend that recognizes what Hoage calls “one of the most complicated, dominant defenses I’ve ever played in.” Several you can find stores in Pennsylvania state stores. But not “46.” “I was kind of bummed that Pennsylvania didn’t pick up the ‘46,’” he said by phone. “I thought it would be a nice fit.”

What has turned out to be a nice fit is where they’ve wound up, Hoage said, coming out of his career in the NFL.

“We’ve very, very lucky that we landed unbeknownst to us when we came into a really wonderful wine region with a fantastic climate to produce really great wines of a different types of grapes. There’s a lot of Bordeaux grown here that does very well. It was originally known for Zinfandel. The Rhones were planted in the region , I’m guessing, for the first time in the ’80s maybe, in small plantings. Those have done well. We even have a couple of Pinot producers in the area, some of which do a nice job. So we kinda run the gamut with grape varietals. There’s Tempranillo, there’s all kinds of different varieties that do well here.”

Hoage called it probably the “fastest-growing region and getting the most acclaim. [Wine critic] Robert Parker kind of made the announcement a couple of years ago that this was the next biggest best wine region in the world and people have kinda started to jump on board with that. It’s nice to be in an area that even though it has been producing grapes for a long, long time and people never knew about it. Quality grapes have been coming out of this region for years. It’s kinda nice to be here doing this when there’s kind of a wave of recognition coming over the entire appellation.”

That, Hoage noted, is creating a bit of a dilemma for what has been always cultivated a laid-back personality. It’s not Napa -- and all the problems that brings – yet. “You know agri-tourism is definitely growing,” he said. “We’re not like Napa . . . our area is not to that point yet. We certainly we get a lot of tourism because of the wine industry. There’s a battle here in our county between pro growth and no growth and really kind of controlling the tourism, try to keep it sane. It’s really kind of the double-edged sword.. You want to invite people to certainly share in the experience that is the Central Coast, but in doing that not disrupt what makes this area quaint. I live on a dirt road. I’m a half mile from town but I live on a dirt road. I have wildlife all around me. I’ve got sweeping vistas and views from my property and I have a small tasting room. It’s just all kind of quaint and very agrarian, and if you were to pave everything and put in a bunch of stoplights, it kind of changes the atmosphere. So we’re trying to find a balance here. But, yeah, tourism is a very important aspect of making this a viable business. People enjoy coming to my winery, tasting my wines on-site, looking at the views and seeing the vineyard. It is a very pastoral setting.”

He talked some about his memories in Philly: the 1988 playoff game vs. the Bears that’s better known as the Fog Bowl; playing on one of the NFL’s best-ever defenses; looking up, he said, to see everyone in the stands watching a fight in the corner of the stadium and ignoring the game for the moment.

He’s has been back since; once, five years ago, his son came to Philly as a member of a wheelchair basketball team that was based in Los Angeles. The national tournament that year was being held at Saint Joseph’s. Hoage said he arranged a tour for the boys through the Eagles’ NovaCare Center – “which was really nice, it wasn’t quite like the dungeons of the Vet” -- and Lincoln Financial Field. Then they headed down to get a steak in South Philly.

“I was a little worried about taking these, probably 12 kids, in wheelchairs. These guys in the cheesesteak places are a little impatient sometimes. ‘Whaddya want, whaddya want?’ These [kids] had never even had cheesesteaks. But it was amazing. We pulled the vans up and we’re trying to unload these kids and people just started coming out and helping and stopping traffic. Lined them all up there and they all got their cheesesteaks and they all had a great time . . . It wasn’t necessarily the experience that I got everytime I was down there. But people went out of their way to make sure these guys have a good time.”

Wine Week to school you on regional labels

I wrote a month or so ago about the dream of two wine writers to bring recognition to wines and wineries outside the West Coast. That dream is about to be realized, as the site Drink Local Wine has been developed and activated. Regional Wine Week is officially under way.

Beginning this weekend and continuing through next week, around 30 writers will introduce you to wines you’ve probably never heard about. What all will have in common is that these wines are produced in the back yards of these writers and that none are made in what’s accepted as American wine country: California, Oregon and Washington.

Ome of the cofounders of tis project, Dave McIntyre, writes out of the Washington D.C./northern Virginia area. It’s his feeling that “local wines - broadly defined as any wines not from the West Coast - are getting better. This is especially true in New York and Virginia, but increasingly so in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and unheralded spots such as North Carolina's Yadkin Valley and the mountains of northern Georgia. The Ohio River Valley produces Pinot Blanc of surprising finesse, and Michigan's Old Mission and Leelanau peninsulas are increasingly known for their spritely Riesling and perfumed Gewürztraminer.”

All that said, his partner Jeff Siegel – a Texas wine columnist and blogger – insists that regional wines continue to get overshadowed by that monster that’s known as the West Coast. Not that they don’t deserve their due, but …

“It’s time,” he writes, “that regional wine got the respect it deserved. Yes some of its still tastes like it was made from grapes strained through sweaty socks, but much of its is as competently made as anything from California. I regularly do blind tastings with regional wine; the people who drink it think the stuff they’re drinking is from California or Australia.”

Wines from 16 states plus California will be featured, and there’s every reason to think this will be a successful harbinger of bigger things to come. I’ll be featuring a winery and two of its wines every day, from each of the major wine trails that fan out from Gettysburg east to Philly and north to the Lehigh Valley. And it will be fun to read how others handle their “beat” and what they unearth.

Enjoy. It should provide an eye-opening education.

Crossing Vineyards to celebrate fifth birthday

Once in awhile I'll let the public relations folks do their job. So I'll just post this release from Rebecca Feldman about an anniverary at Crossing Vineyards & Winery next week. This will be a winery featured during Regional Wine Week, which begins Monday. More on that to come.
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Crossing Vineyards and Winery in Washington Crossing, Pa. has a lot to celebrate when it marks its fifth birthday Oct. 11 and 12 with an open house, live music and a chance to win a private wine tasting for eight and a VIP tour.

The celebration, which will be held from 1 to 6 p.m. (live music 1-5 p.m.), both days at the winery, 1853 Wrightstown Road, will cap five years of achievement and growth for Crossing, which opened two new ventures this summer and, in the past year, expanded its summer concert series, added 18 medals to its trophy case, was listed in an international wine guide, featured in US Airways Magazine, and installed a solar energy system.

In June, Crossing opened a second retail location at the Marketplace at East Falls in Philadelphia and the following month launched “Crossing Vineyards Wine and Cheese Shop,” one of only six retail outlets selected for “Project Sunrise,” a $208 million, 300,000 square-foot gaming and entertainment complex at Pocono Downs in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.

Also this summer, the winery expanded its “Summer Under the Stars” outdoor concert series to 13 performances, adding newcomers like Opera New Jersey to old favorites which brought jazz, pop, classical music and Irish dance to the 200-year-old estate.

Awards in national and international wine competitions this past year brought Crossing’s five-year total to 68, including “Best of Class – Top Gold” in the 2006 Starwine International Wine Competition for its ’05 chardonnay. The reputation of Crossing’s award-winning wines and its setting on 20 acres situated less than a mile from where Washington crossed the Delaware, earned the winery a spot on The Style Network’s popular destination wedding series “Married Away” and in US Airways Magazine’s September edition as a “must see” attraction in Bucks County. Tom Stevenson's 2008 Annual Wine Report, a well-respected international guide to the wines of the world, ranked Crossing Vineyards and Winery number five on its top 10 list of new, up and coming East Coast producers.

The decision of winery owners Tom and Christine Carroll and their son, Tom Jr. to “Go Green” marked another milestone in Crossing’s brief history. Wanting to protect the environment by reducing fossil fuel consumption, the family installed phase one of a state-of-the-art solar energy system and hopes eventually to use solar power to
supply 100 percent of the vineyard’s energy needs.

Crossing continues to expand the offerings of its “Wine Institute,” which presents educational programs and workshops. In conjunction with a new series on “French Wine for Beginners,” the Carrolls in May hosted a private tour of The Rhône Valley and Provence. This fall, Philadelphia wine writer and blogger Collin Flatt joins the Wine Institute faculty, which includes Crossing’s French sommelier Eric Cavatore, and Marika Vida Arnold, sommelier at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Philadelphia.

For additional information about Crossing’s birthday celebration or its programs, visit www.crossingvineyards.com or call 215.493.6500, ext. 19.

Still some openings for Wycombe picking

A couple of short follows to the schedule posted the other day.

The harvest planned at Basignani Winery in Sparks, Md., is filled, but there is still room for more volunteers at the one scheduled at Wycombe Vineyard & Winery in Furlong, Pa. That one will begin at 10 a.m. tomorrow and requires an RSVP, preferably by tonight so they know how much food to prepare. The number is 215.598.9463. This harvest at Wycombe is one that was just added, thus the openings for pickers. They have one scheduled for next week that already is filled.

That’s also the case at Basignani, as more and more people find out about all the benefits of picking. It’s a few hours of work in exchange for a lovely meal, some wine and some great fellowship with people from all walks of life. Close to 30 people helped at the one I was at several weeks ago; around 50 have committed to helping tomorrow and next Saturday. Still, if you are in the area, you are encouraged to stop by during the winery’s Saturday visiting hours from 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. to taste some wines and watch the grapes being crushed.

Meanwhile, expect a full house at Adams County Winery in Orrtanna, Pa., as the nearby National Apple Harvest Festival takes place for the 44th time. Winery co-owner Katherine Bigler noted yesterday in an e-mail that they expect to be hopping with a lot of visitors who either are on their way to or back from the apple festival.

The Event Grapevine: Oct. 3-5

Here’s what’s on the schedule this coming weekend:

PENNSYLVANIA WINERIES

Blue Mountain Vineyards, New Tripoli: 13th annual Picking Party and Grape Stomp ($$), Saturday and Sunday. 9 a.m. through the entire day; Fall Foliage Tasting ($$), Sunday, 2 to 5 p.m., http://www.bluemountainwine.com

Chaddsford Winery, Chaddsford: Harvest Festival ($$), Saturday and Sunday, noon to 6 p.m.; Reserve tastings ($$), Saturday, sittings at 1, 2:30 and 4 p.m.; Wine & Cheese Pairing ($$), Oct. 9, 7 to 9 p.m., call for reservations, with wine educator Michael Theiss and special guest Michael Ramondo of Cheese!, http://www.chaddsford.com

Clover Mill Farm Vineyards & Winery, Chester Springs: Open again, Sunday, 1 to 5 p.m., http://www.clovermillfarm.com/

Crossing Vineyards & Winery, Washington Crossing: Fifth class in Wine 101 series ($$), Monday, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., red wine; http://www.crossingvineyards.com

Galen Glen Vineyard & Winery, Andreas: Octoberfest Tours of the Vineyard & Cellars, Sunday, tractor and wagon tours depart at 1, 2, 3 & 4pm., http://www.galenglen.com

Kreutz Creek Vineyards, West Grove: Harvest Festival ($$), Saturday and Sunday, http://www.kreutzcreekvineyards.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., George Wesley, http://www.moondancerwinery.com

Naylor Wine Cellars, Stewartstown: Grape Harvest Festival ($$), Saturday and Sunday, noon to 6 p.m., http://www.naylorwine.com/

Paradocx Vineyard, Landenberg: Harvest Festival ($$), Saturday and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m., Saturday night concert, 5 to 9 p.m., Rory, http://www.paradocx.com

Penns Woods Winery, Eddystone: Harvest Festival ($$), noon to 5 p.m., music both days, http://www.pennswoodswinery.com

Twin Brook Winery, The Gap: Harvest Festival ($$), Saturday and Sunday,
http://www.twinbrookwinery.com

Va La Vineyards, Avondale: Harvest Festival ($$), Saturday and Sunday, noon to 6 pm., http://www.valavineyards.com

Wycombe Vineyard & Winery, Furlong: Public picking of Riesling grapes, Saturday, 10 a.m., www.wycombevineyards.com

MARYLAND WINERIES

Berrywine Plantations/Linganore Winecellars, Mt. Airy: Celebration of Colors, Saturday (10 a.m. to 6 p.m.) and Sunday (noon to 6 p.m.), information at this link

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

FESTIVALS

Riverside Winefest at Sotterley ($$), Hollywood, Saturday and Sunday, noon to 6 p.m., information at this link

44th annual Apple Harvest, 10 Miles northwest of Gettysburg at South Mountain Fairgrounds on Route 234 near Arendtsville, Pa., Saturday and Sunday, information at this link

$$ – Admission charge