School bells' ringing at Crossing Vineyards

So we’ve written a lot about the grapes that are picked and the wine that’s made and the events that make a winery feel like home. But some also have turned their farm into a campus, offering classes on a variety of subjects related to wine.

Owner Chris Carroll of Crossing Vineyards & Winery in Washington Crossing, Pa., sent out the list for fall the other day. Temple U, where I teach as an adjunct, would be impressed.

And, like Temple, the winery has a satellite campus; it recently opened that in East Falls. Classes run the gamut, from the basic 101s that introduce students to all things wine to a few upper-level courses. All are taught by an experienced staff that deep roots in Philly’s wine and food community.

Carroll wrote in an e-mail that the makeup of the attendees is as diverse as the classes offered.

“The people who sign up for our classes represent a real mix of ages,” she wrote. “Some Sundays at Dummies, we'll have lots of ‘Millenials’ and ‘Boomers.’ We're a little light on the ‘Gen-Xers,’ who are probably too committed with family and don't have much free time. We see a pretty even mix of men and women. Couples often take classes together.”

Classes start soon after Labor Day at East Falls and at the winery, in what’s called The Wine Institute. One series returning is called Wine 101, which is broken down into six topics and held from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. every Monday starting on Sept. 8. These include an introduction to wine and the types of wine, instruction on storing, serving and tasting red and white wines, and then pairing wine with food. In this case, classes can be taken individually for $30 or as a complete course for $150.

Others back in the Institute’s curriculum are Wine Tasting for Dummies once a month on a Sunday afternoon, a one-hour workshop in November called the Wine List Survival Guide, and a wine and wellness class entitled Eat Drink and Be Healthy that’s also set for November. Wine Tasting: Old World vs. New World is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 2. Marika Vida-Arnold, sommelier at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Philadelphia, is planning what the winery’s release is calling “a fun, fast-paced hour of information on classic European wines and their casual New World counterparts. She will emphasize their differences in taste and style and explain how to pair them with food.” And, the best news as far as I’m concerned, I can still get into work in time to handle all assignments for the Eagles at Seattle game, which begins at 4:15. Hey, that’s for anyone out there not paying attention.

As you might expect, Crossing Vineyards wines are used in every class and there’s an emphasis on acquainting students with what’s around here rather than on the Left Coast. “We deliberately don't offer courses on California,” Carroll wrote. “Most people are more familiar with California than any other wine region. They think wine is synonymous with California, even more so than France or Italy. We want to do new and different classes, wines they might not get elsewhere. We feature CVW wine in every class we give; so we are educating on East Coast wines all the time and illustrating through our quality product that award winning wines can be produced in Pennsylvania.”

All suggestions for new classes are considered, she added. And, in fact, two are making their debut on Crossing Vineyard’s “main campus.” One is a wine and chocolate pairing course – Pairing Wine and Chocolate: How Sweet It Is -- featuring Lindt of Switzerland. Crossing Vineyards’ sommelier Eric Cavatore and Stacey Glynn-Brady, Manager of Lindt of Switzerland at Palmer Square in Princeton, N.J., will explain how both chocolate and wine are made and will offer advice on how to enjoy them together. This one costs $30 to attend.

The other is a French Wine for Beginners course that will target the varietals and appellations of Burgundy.

“We have an Italian Wine for Beginners class on the fire,” Carroll wrote, responding to a question about what else is planned, “[and] a Wine and Cheese Pairing Class, as we have recently opened a Wine and Cheese Shop in the Mohegan Sun Casino at Pocono Downs.”

Joining regulars Cavatore, Wine for Dummies instructor Tom Carroll Sr. and Vida-Arnold are Collin Flatt, wine writer for Phoodie.com, a Philadelphia-centric food magazine/blog. Flatt holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Temple, has trained at the Wine School of Philadelphia and then broadened that education with extensive wine travel and study in Italy.

He’ll teach three courses at The Marketplace at East Falls, 3747 Ridge Ave. They include:

Wine Tasting for Dummies, $25, Sunday, Sept. 14, 2 p.m.; Sunday, Oct. 26, 2 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 9, 2 p.m.
The ABCs of Wine Tasting, $20, Sunday, Oct. 5, 2 p.m.
Wine List Survival Guide, $20, Sunday, Nov. 16, 2 p.m.

Uncle Matt uncovers a few bargains

As someone who likes to provide a bit of content per day, I feel like I've been struggling the past few weeks. Sigh. The real job always gets in the way. While I put together a local story to post in about an hour, here's a column from author Matt Kramer, a Portland, Ore., wine critic who contributes to the Oregonian. It ran earlier this month.

In it, Kramer offers his suggestions on some reds and whites to buy that provide a lot of BANG for the buck.

'G' fits Galen Glen's needs to a 'T'

If you follow these postings you read that the Traminette has been the best seller in the early going for Terrapin Station Winery in extreme northeastern Maryland, near the town of Elkton. Seeing Traminette on the list at Galen Glen Vineyard & Winery prompted me to ask proprietor Sarah Troxell how that wine is rolling off the shelf there. It’s rolling, all right, down the hill and out of sight.

“Our Traminette sells very well, but there’s good news and bad news about that,” she said the other day. “The good news is that we planted Gewurztraminer as a replacement and will have our first commercial harvest [with it] this fall. The bad news is that the grower we were purchasing the Traminette from sold his property and the new owner is putting a tremendous house on it, ripped out vineyards. It’s a 6,000 square-foot house, so a lot of vineyard came out.

“We were very uncertain as to what would happen with the Traminette, so [that] will fall off our wine list as we sell out of this vintage and be replaced with Gewurztraminer, grown right here. We had a small amount last year and we blended that into the Traminette, just a couple percent, but we’re really excited. It’s going to be a beautiful crop, and we’re hoping to a real true Germanic Gewurztraminer coming next year.”

Troxell called Traminette the “easier-to-grow version of Gewurztraminer.” But that’s only if you have the grapes. They weren’t sure what they’d have once that house went up and the vines came down. “We just decided to take the bull by the horns and try the harder-to-grow one,” she said. “It seems to be doing well here. They’re four-year-old vines this year and we should get close to a commercial harvest. So, we’re really excited; looking forward to it.”

Galen Glen: A taste of Austria, Germany

You can tell the region where Sarah and Galen Troxell have their farm and winery by the wines on their list. There’s Riesling and Traminette, Auslese and Gruner Veltliner, and then there’s that dessert wine with the long name that starts with a B.

“Beerenauslese?” Sarah asked after I fumbled with the name. “It’s a dessert wine, a preview to the ice wine. We just released our ice wine this past weekend. It’s sweeter than late harvest. The grapes were picked cold, but not frozen. We actually for the ice wine follow true Canadian etiquette. We pick and press bbelow 17, the fruit is frozen. We pick as cold as 2 degrees. Last year it wasn’t quite that cold, but it’s a very rich, sweet ice wine.

“We also do Alsace, which I again that Germanic stock fermentation, it’s a blend of all things grown here. Big fragrance. It’s called Erin’s Alsace [pronounced AL-slay-sa]. Beautiful bouquet, but more of a table wine. There again, not late harvest, but one step backward closer to the table wine. A big, fragrant white. Semisweet.”

One wine that won’t be on the list after this year is the Traminette. That’s because the producer decided to tear out most of their vines to provide the space for a big house.
So the Gruner Veltliner, still in its infancy in the Troxell’s vineyard, will make a greater impact after this harvest and those to come.

“It’s a big Austrian white wine, huge bouquet,” Sarah said. “The finish is dry. I don’t even know if there 10 vineyards that grow it in this part of the country. That and our Riesling are probably two of our most famous whites. They both have the classic big Germanic fragrance and the Riesling is finished half dry without fermentation and the Gruner is dry.”

Both, she said, are crisp whites that can stand a year or so wait before opening. Or you can be impatient and pour a day after purchase. Maybe all that depends on what you are planning for dinner. “The Riesling,” she said, responding to a question about what foods go well with both, “with pork or some lightly [seasoned] Old Bay shrimp. The Gruner is a little heavier taste. That you can do with more light meats, sausage, also pork, turkey, all sorts of poultry, heavier seafoods as well. It has a little bigger taste so it can stand up to more foodwise.”

Sausage would figure to be on a lot of menus in the vicinity of the hill in northeast Pennsylvania where the Troxells grow their grapes. Asked what trends she has seen in tastes recently, Sarah said: “I probably think they are drinking a little more red. We’re slowly transitioning from a very fruit-driven Germanic area to dryer wines. It’s a slow process. These people are very comfortable with fruit, so to get them to try dryer wines [takes some time].”

What won’t take much time is the transition to harvest. Troxell said all winemakers in this region can hope for at this point is a close approximation of last year, when there was no rain to speak of through the entire harvest.

“I mean, we live in Pennsylvania. There are hurricanes normally that time of the year,” she said, “and we didn’t really have any. It’s the first time in all the years we’ve been picking that you could pick any day you wanted. We didn’t have to worry about some potential storm and are we going to get inches of rain and will it change the flavor profile or dilute the sweetness. . . . We just picked when we decided it was time.”

This weekend they're putting on sale their holiday raspberry, what they call their fall wine release. In an area where they sell a lot of fruit, this is the only fruit wine that Galen Glen sells, "so when it's release it arrives with huge fanfare," Troxell said. On the horizon is harvest, and she didn't have to wait more than a moment to answer a question about where it ranks among the full cycle of events in the vineyard? Top of the list, she said. “How can you not? You do all the work to get here so then when it arrives . . . it’s truly something to look forward to.”

SaSyr opened . . . and gone

Received a bottle of SaSyr as a gift recently and just opened it. Produced in Tuscany, it's a 60-40 blend of Sangiovese and Syrah that's exceptionally smooth and just envelops your mouth with a big kiss of fruit. Again, prefer to stick to writing about the regional wines, but this one was so good and the blend was so unique that I wanted to share it.

The Event Grapevine: Aug. 23-24

Call this weekend the calm before the storm, as the event calendar is dotted with the conclusion of the summer concert series but certainly not overloaded. That changes next week with a number of Labor Day festivals and then revs up with the beginning of harvest season.

The sixth annual Brandywine Valley Wine Trail will be held on two weekends for the first time: Sept. 27-28 and Oct. 4-5. Both weekends will include the festivities you’d expect to find at what amounts to the granddaddy of events on the annual wine trail calendar: tastings, concerts, picnics, hayrides, vineyard tours, art exhibits and other special activities. A list of activities will be posted closer to the event.Harvest Fest Passports are $25 and can be purchased online at BVWT member wineries. You can also leave your name and number at 610.444.3842 or 866.390.4367 (toll free). This Passport entitles the holder to one tasting at each winery during Harvest Fest. If you are unable to visit all the BVWT members during the Harvest Festival, the passport can be used through Dec. 30.

That said, here’s what set for this weekend:

PENNSYLVANIA WINERIES
Adams County Winery, Ortanna: Free summer concert, Saturday. 1 to 5 p.m., food and wine available, bring along a lawn chair and blanket, http://www.adamscountywinery.com
Blue Mountain Vineyards, New Tripoli: Sangria Sunday wine tasting ($$), Sunday, 2 to 5 p.m, http://www.bluemountainwine.com

Chaddsford Winery, Chaddsford: Reserve Tasting ($$), Saturday, sittings at 1, 2:30 and 4 p.m., http://www.chaddsford.com

Crossing Vineyards & Winery, Washington Crossing: Wine Tasting for Singles ($$), Friday, 7 p.m.; Summer Concert Series ($$), Friday, 7 p.m., www.crossingvineyards.com

Moon Dancer Vineyards & Winery, Wrightsville: Music Friday (6 to 9 p.m.) and Saturday and Sunday (2 to 5 p.m.); Summer Concert series Saturday (7 to 10 p.m.) ($$), http://www.moondancerwinery.com

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

Nissley Vineyard & Winery Estate, Bainbridge: Music in the Vineyards 2008 ($$), Saturday, 7:30 to 10 p.m., music by JumpStreet, http://www.nissleywine.com/lawn_concerts.htm

Paradocx Vineyards, Landenberg: Debut of Barrel Wine Tasting Dinner at the winery ($$), teaming up with Brandywine Prime Seafood & Chops; call 610.388.808 for reservations, http://www.paradocx.com/

Twin Brook Winery, Gap: Gazebo Concert Series ($$), Saturday evening, 6:30 to 9:30; music by Lil Ragu Band, http://www.twinbrookwinery.com/

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

MARYLAND WINERIES

Boordy Vineyards, Hydes: Summer Concert Series ($$), Saturday, 7 to 9:30 p.m.; gates open at 5:30 and there’s a dance instruction session at 6:30, http://www.boordy.com/events.html

Other MARYLAND winery events can be found at this link and VIRGINIA events at this link.


FESTIVALS

Seven Springs Mountain Resort, Seven Springs, Pa.: Wine & Food Festival ($$), Saturday, beginning at 11 a.m.

($$) – Admission charge

New line has Woodhall toasting its good fortune

Reserve wines aren’t anything new for Woodhall Wine Cellars in Parkton, Md. I have about a dozen of them stashed away in my cellar and wine refrigerator (the Vidal Blanc) along with several bottles from the library sale they hold late in the fall that clears out some of their older stock. One that I purchased last year, a 1981 Cabernet Sauvignon, was just "shouting" at me to uncork it. So I did. It hadn’t lost any of its structure or taste, and it was fun as hell opening a bottle of wine with grapes that were growing while I was still working my first job out of school.

Anyway, Woodhall has bolstered its reserve line with a series that they are calling Vintner’s Prestige and offering for tastings every weekend. All of them have co-owner Al Copp and winemaker Chris Kent beaming.

“People have really come on to them,” Copp said yesterday. “We do a tasting at the winery where you can do all six [wines in the line] for $10 and we find that people are impressed enough that they buy mixed cases when they go home.”

It’s a group that’s anchored by a 2005 Copernica Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, the fifth time that a harvest produced a Cab grape superior enough to be given the status of reserve. They date as far back as 1991, with the others coming out in 1995, 1997 and 2002. Similarly, Parkton Prestige has its roots in the early ’90s and is back in the line. It’s a Bordeaux blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (70 percent), Merlot (25 percent), and Cabernet Franc (5 percent). Joining the group of reds are the 2007 Barbera and 2007 Merlot. Both were big hits at the barrel tasting in the spring and were recently bottled.

“I am really happy with the Merlot,” Kopp said. “It’s the best Merlot we’ve ever made and we think that it’s one of the better East Coast Merlots.”

Kopp said this batch of Merlot grapes was grown at Jubilee Farm in St. Mary’s County, in southern Maryland, and that the best might turn out to be the last in terms of using that distributor. “We’ve been using them for three years. We knew when we started that they were going to start a winery, but they weren’t ready yet. They needed an outlet for their grapes, so we were working with them. [Now they’ve] decided to do the winery, so we won’t be getting their grapes this year, so the Merlot may be a one-time shot. The Barbera, we have another source on the Eastern Shore that we’re going to get some from this year.”

Completing the reserve series is what they’re calling a Golden Run Reserve Vidal Blanc (“It’s an illustration of a Vidal Blanc that has a lot more character than a lot of the Vidal you see on the market,” Kopp said) and a late-harvest Vignoles, “which we think is a pretty nice dessert wine.”

Two more wines – a 2007 Cabernet Franc and another Cabernet Sauvignon – seemed destined for a reserve label. It’s a line that sells for you’d probably consider moderately priced, and definitely at the high end of the 20 or so wines that Woodhall offers.

“Our wines start at probably 12, 13 dollars in the store, then we go 13 to 18 or so, and then there’s this line,” Kopp said. “The [reserve line] are all 25 [dollars] to 30 [dollars]. I think Copernica is 30 dollars at the winery. We didn’t feel we wanted to go any higher than that until we understand what the market thinks of these wines.”

Available at the winery, Kopp said he’s starting to pitch the line to selected stores. “It’s not for all stores,” he added. “It’s pretty pricey wine. You’ve got to have a top shelf that they can go on, or nearly top shelf.”