Va La's Vietri: 'No predictions of doom or diamonds for either color of wine yet'

Checked in with Anthony Vietri at Va La Vineyards in Avondale, Pa., for his early assessment of his harvest. Summed up, it's a little too early to tell.

"As far as the harvest to date," he wrote, "I can't speak for anyone else's experiences, as I have not really spoken to anyone else about their experience, but I will say that it has been highly unusual vintage for us here on the little hill. Whites are looking strangely good, for what we are looking for here. The jury is still out on the reds for us; I make no predictions of doom or diamonds for either color of wine yet. "

Two items of interest off his Web site.

1, Their local friends, Andrea’s Best of Italy, are now offering bagged lunches for the Va La Nation. Each little sack of goodness includes a side, a bottled water, and authentic bag for $10 (US). All selections are dolphin-free. So if you feel like taking a little lunch at the vineyard after your tasting, you can pick up a bag on your way out to visit. Menu, directions, and info www.andreasbestofitaly.com

2, The Brandywine Book of Food features recipes, chefs, and winemakers of the Brandywine. (And yes, that's their little vineyard on the front cover). A special book signing will take place from noon to 4:01 p.m. on Nov. 14-15. Authors Roger Morris, Cathleen L. Ryan and photographer Ella Morris will be in the Galleria to celebrate the premier of their beautiful new book The Brandywine Book of Food. According to the site, the advance buzz promises this book to be a defining image of the Valley for years to come. "They will be available for these two days only to sign copies, answer questions, poke with sticks, or just stare at and whisper," the site says.

Vietri on Va La's La Prima Donna: 'Our initial goal was to create a white wine with some richness and complexity'

If you've read this blog you know the respect I have for Anthony Vietri and the work he and his staff are doing at Va La Vineyards in Avondale, Pa., as far as I'm concerned a must-see of wineries in suburban Philly. Asked Anthony on Friday what was going on in the cellar and he said that they just bottled the 2008 La Prima Donna, the 2008 Zafferano, and our 2008 Silk. All will be released at different times next spring, he noted.

I asked about La Prima Donna, a distinctive blend of grapes you mostly haven't heard of: Malvasia bianco, friuliano, viognier, pinot grigio and petit manseng. Wine writer/critic Roger Morris and esteemed foodie/critic Craig LeBan of the Philly Inquirer have put their stamp of approval on the wine. Wrtoe Morris, for Sommelier Magazine: “La Prima Donna…is perhaps the best east coast table wine that I have ever tasted — a beautiful blossom of aromas, exotic and spicy flavors of green figs, nectarines, with a crisp finish.” And LeBan wrote: “A flamboyant, showy white, with layers of aromatic grapes…that dance exotic on the palate.”

I asked Vietri to shoot me an e-mail with his thoughts about what he has tried to do with that blend and wine, and he sent me the following: "I actually first got the notion of wanting to create this wine when I was living with a family of fishermen in Campagne," he said. "I had made white wines with my family since I was a boy, but I wanted to do something different. The wines of that coastal region inspired me, and I wanted to take their ideas a few steps further. When we started this vineyard our initial goal was to create a white wine with some richness and complexity, and to have those elements come strictly from the grapes themselves, and without the aid of oak, so that the wine would directly translate our vineyard to the glass. When we taste it we smile and say 'that's our vineyard.' It is a horribly antiquated way to look at things, but it is now in its now in its ninth version, believe it or not."

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 . . ."