The Event Grapevine: Sept. 5-7

Featured event

It’s safe to say that virtually all these events listed below are going to be subject to change with bad weather moving in Friday night and lasting through Saturday. One of those that could be moved to Sunday or another weekend is a public tour scheduled at Clover Hill Vineyards & Winery in Breinigsville, Pa., at 1 on Saturday. Admission is $8; but there is no charge for minors.

It includes a vineyard walk and guided tour through the production facility and barrel room. Admission includes wine tasting and a souvenir wine glass. Reservations are required. Call 610.395.2468 or 1.888.CLOVER HILL for information and to make sure the event is still scheduled. The closest hotel, The Hilton Garden Inn, is offering an $89 room rate for guests of Clover Hill Winery. You can make reservations by calling 610.398.6686 and asking for the Clover Hill Winery room rate.

This event will set the stage for a busy fall there. It will be followed next weekend, from Sept. 11-14, by the 23rd anniversary sale, where Clover Hill wine will be sold at a 23 percent discount.

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

PENNSYLVANIA WINERIES

Blue Mountain Vineyards, New Tripoli: Candlelight Concert ($$), Friday, 7 to 9 p.m.; Fall Foliage Tasting ($$), Sunday, 2 to 5 p.m., http://www.bluemountainwine.com

Chaddsford Winery, Chaddsford: Summer Night Under the Stars ($$), Friday, 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.; reserve tastings ($$), Saturday, sittings at 1, 2:30 and 4 p.m., http://www.chaddsford.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: Wine 101, first class of the semester, Monday, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., An Introduction to Wine, http://www.crossingvineyards.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., http://www.moondancerwinery.com

Naylor Wine Cellars, Stewartstown: “Summer Sounds” outdoor concert series ($$), Saturday, 7 to 10 p.m., music by Herm Miller Orchestra, http://www.naylorwine.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, Friday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., with a BBQ to follow, call to reserve a spot or go to the Web site

MARYLAND WINERIES

Boordy Vineyards, Hydes: last of the 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

4th annual Gettysburg Wine & Food Festival, Saturday and Sunday, noon to 6 p.m., rain or shine, click on this link

($$) – Admission charge

Wycombe reschedules a harvest day

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Wycombe Vineyards in Furlong, Pa., in Bucks County, has sent out an e-mail advising customers that the forecasted trek of Hanna through the region Saturday is moving one of its scheduled picking days to Friday. Sunday’s scheduled picking day remains intact, unless Hanna throws a curve at the region and takes its time coming up the coast.

Family member Lyndsay Jurema told me earlier tonight that every year they welcome friends, family and customers to the vineyard to assist in the harvest. This weekend they are planning to pick Chardonnay and Pinot grapes. It’s not the fact that Hanna’s rains or winds could ruin the crop that is pushing up the pick date a day, Jurema told me.

“Pretty much the grapes are ready,” she said. “If I leave them on, they’re going to get overripe. They’re ready to pick now.”

I’ve mentioned in several posts how much fun picking can be, so long as the day isn’t too hot. That certainly won’t be the case this weekend. f you’re interested in joining the group and need more information, call 215.598.WINE.

At Crossing Vineyards, How Sweet It Is

Mentioned this workshop a week or so ago in a story about the fall activities planned at Crossing Vineyards and Winery in Washington Crossing, Pa. Here are a few more details on "How Sweet It Is," a class on wine and chocolate pairing.

Crossing Vineyards and Winery in Washington Crossing, Pa. is inviting wine lovers and chocolate connoisseurs to “make their lives a little sweeter,” by learning to pair the flavors of each for the ultimate taste experience.

Crossing will partner with Lindt Chocolatier of Princeton, N.J. Sept. 14 for a workshop at 2 p.m. at the winery, 1853 Wrightstown Road, which will include samples of the vineyard’s award-winning wines and the world-renowned Lindt & Sprüngli chocolates.

The course, led by Crossing Vineyards’ sommelier Eric Cavatore and chocolate and confectionary aficionado Stacey Glynn-Brady, Lindt’s store manager, will share tips on the finer points of producing chocolate and wine, what creates the variety of flavors in both, and how to enjoy the two together.

Lindt chocolate still is made from a “top-secret” recipe, devised in the 1800s by Swiss Master Chocolatier Rodolphe Lindt, who invented the first melting chocolate with the creation of the “conching” machine, according to Lindt history. The delicacies produced by parent company Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprüngli AG also are influenced by the Sprüngli family, confectioners whose recipes date back to 1845

Cost of the course is $30 and includes wine and chocolate sampling and learning materials. Reservations may be made by calling 215.493.6500, ext. 19 or online at www.crossingvineyards.com.

Also planned at the winery:

Friday, Sept. 19, Wine Tasting For Singles, an evening of wine, cheese and music; Crossing Vineyards and Winery, 7 to 9 p.m.; $20. Contact the vineyard to sign up or for information.

Chaddsford owners write about the hailstorm

That note on the devastation of their vineyards that Lee Miller made reference to last Thursday was included in the Chaddsford Winery e-letter. You can read the full text from Lee and Eric Miller by clicking on this link. A couple of photos taken at the vineyards appear on this post, courtesy of the Millers. When you finish that, go back through the archives and read some of the past vintage reports. They go all the way back to 2001.

One bit of news that advances the story a bit is their thanks to Phil Roth and the Waltz family of Lancaster for their help in perhaps giving the winery a chance to produce a couple of Portfolio wines.

Chaddsford closes its Springfield Mall store

Saw this item in the Chaddford Winery e-letter that popped into my mailbox overnight:

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Good customers of the Chaddsford Wine Shop at Springfield Mall (dating back to the mid 90s!) may have noticed that the store closed in mid-August when our lease expired. With the limited number of “satellite locations” allowed us under PLCB regulations, it is inevitable that we will sometimes close older locations to move on to new opportunities. At this juncture, we wish to thank our loyal Springfield customers for your many years of support.... and hope you won’t find it too hard to visit us at the winery in future. We’ll look forward to seeing you here!"

My note: State regulations limit wineries to no more than five satellite stores (in addition to their winery stores), all of course with PLCB approval.

Woodhall challenge heads to Gertrudes

Among the number of items covered in the Woodhall Wine Cellars newsletter for September was this one on the Eat In Season challenge:

Next up, the Eat In Season challenge moves to Gertrudes at the BMA, located in the Baltimore Museum of Art, 10 Museum Drive, Baltimore, where Woodhall has Gunpowder Falls White and Gunpowder Falls Red on the wine list. A special Farmstead Dinner menu will be featured Sept. 16-21. The main ingredient of each course is sourced locally. Experience it – we will! For reservations, call 410.889.3399.

Hanna's path starting to look ominous

While the country's eyes today follow the path of Hurricane Gustav, another tropical system is beginning to catch the attention of grape growers throughout this entire region. Hanna was upgraded to a hurricane earlier today and seems bound for the East Coast, with its eventual destination being somewhere in the mid-Atlantic region. It's still five to six days and hundreds of miles from here, but just the fact that the National Weather Service is showing a projected track that takes it in this direction is worrisome for winery proprietors and winemakers who who are girding for the three to five weeks of harvesting that will start this week.

It's been a fine growing season to date; not perfect, perhaps a bit cooler than last year. But it has remained fairly dry throughout the region and a continuation of that pattern for another few weeks would have capped another better than average vintage.

In some cases you can spot the vintages that fell short by the harvests waylaid by a tropical system that had long since blown itself out but remained laden with rain. One recent year that won't be forgotten anytime soon was 2003, when Henri and Isabel dumped torrents of rain across the region in early and mid September. In general, that harvest was a disaster.

I sent a note earlier this afternoon to several wineries asking how much attention they were giving Hanna. So far, I heard from Brad Knapp at Pinnacle Ridge Winery in Kutstown, Pa. I'll post his comment, and any others that follow tonight and tomorrow.

Knapp
"I'm checking projected paths of both hurricans about 4-5 times daily trying to figure out where their going to head. Hannah looks like it has a reasonable probability of hitting us towards the begining to middle of next week. We may try and grab some of our fruit for sparkling wine prior to the rain hitting.

"Heavy rains at this point in the season obviously dilute the fruit but cause splitting and rots and mildews. We really would like for these storms to miss us. As of right now the harvest looks fantastic for us. We're dry and hot and the fruit is beautiful."

Anthony Vietri, Va La Vineyards, Avondale, Pa.
"I'll keep an eye on it to be sure, but tend to see fall tropical systems and three day rain events as just par for the course in these parts. We don't really have anything ready enough to strip off before the weekend, so not much for me to think about."

Rob Deford, Boordy Vineyards, Hydes, Md.
"We watch the weather very closely this time of year, but do not pull the harvest trigger unless there is an absolute threat like a hurricane or severe hail, which might destroy the crop. Heavy rains can dilute the sugars and acids, so we would need to wait for the fruit to recover before picking."

Carl Helrich, Allegro Vineyards, The Brogue, Pa.
"I am paying close attention to it. I have a couple hybrid varieties close to being ready to pick, and may need to back them off till after the water works its way back out of them. Most vinifera are still a ways off, although our Pinot is at 19 Brix already. I am watching the tendency this year is going to have for spawning more hurricanes than normal. Keeping my fingers crossed and saying the standard prayers. We're on a dynamite year so far, and if we can just get these hurricanes to miss us this next month, we have a year to rival 2007 and 1995 and 1991. The grapes right now have really advanced flavorand sugar levels while still retaining acid. Amazing stuff. We'll just hope for the best and plan accordingly."

Chris Carroll, Crossing Vineyards and Winery, Washington Crossing, Pa.
"We always have our eyes riveted on the weather forecasts at this time of the year. The effects are so unpredictable. The rain is one thing. Winds are another.
"We will be starting to check the sugar levels of the whites this week and will be weighing risk vs ripeness. We will also be in close contact with our growers and making these same decisions.
"Winemakers have a tendency to push the risk part a bit more, always hoping for better grape quality. Growers only are more likely to pull the fruit short of optimal ripeness in order not to jeopardize their crops.
"The storm names may be different each year, but the balancing act is the same."