Crossing Vineyards dinner draws full house

The menu from the dinner. Just click on it to peruse the particulars.

Crossing Vineyards and Winery in Washington Crossing, Pa., held a Winter Winemakers Dinner last Saturday night. It was a five-course gourmet meal that featured winemaker Tom Carroll Jr. He gave an insider's guide to the 2008 vintage. Dropped proprietor and marketing director Christine Carroll a note yesterday and she responded with the following:

"The dinner was GREAT!!!! A sell-out [in this economy, if you can believe it]. I am attaching a copy of the menu. Maybe the food had something to do with it.

The 'formal' topic for discussion was Insider Tips on Vintage 2008. Tom Jr. talked about the weather conditions throughout the season and at harvest. We compared 08 vintage to other recent vintages. We also discussed the pairings at each course and people voiced their preferences. It was so interesting. By the end of the evening we were shouting over each other to be hear over the 'conviviality.'

The introduction of the cheese course has been a real learning experience and a big hit."

The Event Grapevine: Jan. 23-25

This release involves a class scheduled for the week beyond the Super Bowl, but let me get it posted for anyone wanting to plan ahead:

Can drinking wine, as some studies suggest, lead to a longer, healthier life? What is the definition of “moderate drinking?” Which has lower carbs, wine or light beer? Should the elderly consume alcohol?
Crossing Vineyards and Winery in Washington Crossing, Pa. will offer answers to some often-asked questions related to the use of alcohol when physician and wine enthusiast Dr. David Mino offers a workshop “Wine and Wellness: Eat, Drink and Be Healthy,” on Wednesday, Feb. 4, at 7:30 p.m. at the winery, 1853 Wrightstown Road.
The one-hour course includes a wine-tasting.
Mino, an orthopedic surgeon from Washington Crossing, earned his medical degree from Temple University School of Medicine and his wine expertise – which began more than 30 years ago with a wine appreciation class at Moravian College - through his own studies and travels through Sonoma and Napa Valley, New York’s Finger Lakes, Switzerland, the Northern and Central regions of Italy, and the Champagne, Rhone, Burgundy and Loire regions of France. For the past 20 years, Mino, who holds an M.B.A. and also designs wine cellars, has been lecturing on the sensory evaluation and analysis of wine, proper pairings and the health benefits of wine.
Cost of the workshop is $25. Reservations may be made by calling 215.493.6500, ext. 19 or can be made online at www.crossingvineyards.com.

As for what’s going on elsewhere, both this weekend and beyond, take a look (event is this weekend unless otherwise indicated):

PENNSYLVANIA WINERIES

Adams County Winery, Orrtanna: Wine appreciation class ($$), Saturday, 6 to 8:30 p.m.; home wine-making ($$), Sunday, Feb. 22, 1 to 3 p.m., link to winery

Blue Mountain Vineyards & Cellars, New Tripoli: Sunday Blues Wine Tastings, music every Sunday ($$), 2 to 5 p.m., through April, except for Feb. 1, link to winery

Chaddsford Winery, Chaddsford: Taste of the Brandywine benefit at Hilton Garden Inn ($$), Friday, 6 to 10 p.m., members of the wine trail will showcase its newest releases along with hors d’oeuvres provided by the Hilton; Eric Miller wine and food pairing dinner at The Kitchen Shoppe in Carlisle ($$), Friday, 6 to 9 p.m.; Wine and Chocolate Reserve Tastings ($$), every weekend in February; Barrels on the Brandywine ($$), every weekend in March at any of the members of the Brandywine Valley Wine Trail, link to winery

Clover Hill, Breinigsville: Wine and Chocolate Weekend, Feb. 14-15, members of the Berks County Wine Trail; beginner tasting class ($$), Saturday, Feb. 21, 3 p.m., annual wine rack sale ($$), all Clover Hill location, Feb. 19 through March 8, link to winery

Country Creek Winery, Telford: Wine and Chocolate Tasting, Friday, Feb. 6, 6 p.m., Harleysville Books, 672 Main St., reservations requested, link to winery

Crossing Vineyards & Winery, Washington Crossing: Wine Tasting in Riedel Crystal ($$), Sunday, 2 p.m.; Wine & Wellness, East, Drink and Be Healthy ($$), Wednesday, Feb. 4, 7:30 p.m.; Wine Tasting for Dummies ($$), Sunday, Feb. 8, 2 p.m.; Champagne for Lovers ($$), Thursday, Feb. 12, 7:30 p.m., link to winery

Galen Glen Winery, Andreas: Half-case sale of Cellar White for case club members, 6 bottles for $42; St. Valentine’s Day Weekend, Saturday, Feb. 14, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, Feb. 15m noon to 5 p.m., link to winery

Hauser Estate Winery, Biglerville: New winery open, Monday to Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.; Candle Light Friday/Happy Hour, the last Friday of every month, 5 to 8 p.m., Voxology will perform Jan. 30; satellite shop opened at 17 Lincoln Square, Gettysburg; Valentine’s Day at Hauser Estate, Saturday, Feb. 14, 5 to 8 p.m., warm food and live music, link to winery

Kreutz Creek Vineyards, West Grove: Music at West Chester tasting room, 44 E. Gay St., Fridays and Saturdays, 6 to 9 p.m.; Valentine’s Day Celebration, Feb. 14-15; Barrels on the Brandywine ($$), every weekend in March at any of the members of the Brandywine Valley Wine Trail, link to winery

Moon Dancer Vineyards & Winery, Wrightsville: Music every Saturday (2 to 5 p.m.) and Sunday (2 to 5 p.m.); will close Fridays at 5 p.m. at least through February; vineyard hike and mulled wine ($$), Saturday, Feb. 21, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., link to winery

Naylor Wine Cellars, Stewartstown: Lovers Weekend Dinner White Wine Tasting ($$), Saturday, Feb. 14, 3 to 6 p.m., and Sunday, Feb. 15, 2 to 5 p.m., link to winery

Paradocx Vineyard, Landenberg: Valentine’s Day at the Vineyard, Saturday, Feb. 14; Barrels on the Brandywine ($$), every weekend in March at any of the members of the Brandywine Valley Wine Trail, link to winery

Penns Woods Winery, Eddystone: Barrels on the Brandywine ($$), every weekend in March at any of the members of the Brandywine Valley Wine Trail, link to winery

Pinnacle Ridge Winery, Kutztown: The Buy Fresh Buy Local Wine dinner ($$), at John J. Jeffries, Sunday, with Chardonnay, Chambourcin, Pinot Noir, and Late Harvest Vidal accompanying the four courses, $52 including tax and gratuity, sign up at www.johnjjeffries.com or call 717.431.3307; Chocolate & Wine Weekend, weekend of Feb. 14-15, Berks County Wine Trail event, link to winery

Rose Bank Winery, Newtown: Winter Wine Concert Series, Sundays through March 8, 1 to 4 p.m., at Shady Brook Farm, link to winery

Rushland Ridge, Rushland: Closed January and February; will reopen March 5, link to winery

Tamanend Winery, Lancaster: New winery open, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, noon to 5 p.m., classically styled premium wines in their bottled wine group, and premium sweeter styled wines in their Bag in Box group of wines, link to winery

Twin Brook Winery, Gap: Souper Saturday/Sunday ($$), soups & stew in fresh bread bowls available for sale, paired with a glass of wine; tickets on sale for Valentine’s Concert in the Vineyard ($$), Saturday Feb. 14; Wine, Cheese & Chocolate Weekend, Saturday, Feb. 14, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday, Feb. 15, noon to 5 p.m.; Barrels on the Brandywine ($$), every weekend in March at any of the members of the Brandywine Valley Wine Trail, link to winery

Va La Vineyards, Avondale: New holiday hours starting Dec. 1, weekdays, 12:01 to 5:27 p.m., Saturday and Sundays, 12:02 to 5:48 p.m., http://www.valavineyards.com/

Vynecrest Vineyards & Winery, Breinigsville: 8th annual Super Bowl Saturday party, Jan. 31, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; January white sale; Valentine’s Day weekend, Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., link to winery


MARYLAND WINERIES

Black Ankle Winery, Mt. Airy: Open for business, winner of Maryland Governor’s Cup in 2008; winter hours start Dec. 1, Saturday and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m., other times by appointment, link to winery

Boordy Vineyards, Hydes: Chili Winter Days ($$), this weekend and Jan. 31, 1 to 5 p.m.; Fond of You Fondue ($$), Saturdays in February, 1 to 5 p.m., winery link

Fridays Creek Winery, Owings: Wine & Chocolate Tasting United Way Fund-raiser ($$), Saturday, link to winery

Linganore Winecellars at Berrywine Plantations, Mt. Airy: Wine and desserts pairing ($$), through the month; Jazzin’ in January ($$), Saturday, noon, 2 p.m. and 4 p.m., http://www.linganorewines.com

Woodhall Wine Cellars, Parkton: Soups of the World ($$), every weekend in January,
all are served with bread from Stone Mill Bakery and Woodhall wine pairing recommendations, reservations are requested at 410.357.8644, link to winery

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

$$ – Admission charge

Self-taught Knapp now a teacher for others

I keep playing phone tag with the folks from the Pennsylvania Wine Society, so let me use some written comments from state-wide wine grape educator Mark Chien to describe a bit of what he saw at the society's excellent award last Sunday in Harrisburg. What could be called the wine Oscars (hey, that description no more timely than today with the nominations being released), 10 wines were recognized during a program at the Harrisburg Hilton where Chien served as guest speaker.

Of the 10, four were produced by Brad Knapp of Pinnacle Ridge, which has a Kutztown mailing address but could be considered out in the middle of nowhere except for the fact that I-78 happens to be located adjacent to the vineyards and winery. It's no more than a minute's drive from the Krumsville exit.

Chien said in a phone conversation we had yesterday that Knapp and his winery have set themselves apart, and he didn't quibble with my suggestion that no wines in the state carries more value overall than his line right now. Here's what Chien wrote in a newsletter that came out Tuesday:

The results of the PA Farm Show and PA Wine Society wine competitions are in and there is one winery that has excelled in both, Pinnacle Ridge Vineyards in Kutztown. To me, it is no surprise. Owner and wine grower Brad Knapp is as meticulous a grower as you can find anywhere. He farms his vineyard on a south slope visible from I-78 and also maintains a textbook grower-winery relationship with Round Ridge Vineyards. Brad sends me during the harvest with cluster number and weight information as he monitors the crop until moments before harvest. His vines are well-maintained during the growing season with good canopy balance and fruit zone treatments. He is very fussy about the quality of his viticulture. Chambourcin, for example, is thinned to one cluster per shoot on VSP and yields wines of vinifera-like quality and character. Like many winegrowers Brad is self taught but he exemplifies the unique characteristics that can take a vineyard and its wines to the next level... an insatiable curiosity and desire to learn - he's always asking why and seeking knowledge that will provide answers, a keen sense of observation and ability to collect data and translate them into management practices, a willingness to bring in outside experts for advice and help, a great passion for wine growing and finally the ability to execute in the vineyard and cellar. I would encourage fellow wine growers to taste Brad's wines, they are setting benchmarks for quality for Pennsylvania. In the interest of full disclosure, most of the wines that made the final round in the PWS tasting, including those from Pinnacle Ridge, contained fruit grown by Jan and Kim Waltz in Manheim. Their reputation for high quality grapes is well known and the results here simply help to acknowledge their tremendous efforts in the vineyard.

Wine, pizza pairing on Galen Glen schedule

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Galen Glen Vineyard & Winery in Andreas currently is offering a sale on its Cellar White to its case club members, whose who purchase at least one case formt he winery. They're selling six bottles of the semi-dry white, which took a bronze at the 2008 Finger Lakes International Wine Competition, for $42.

Also on tap is a St. Valentine's Day Weekend that will feature a pairing of truffles and raspberry wine. Their home-made truffles use Oreo cookies, cream cheese and chocolate. The following weekend, Feb. 21-22, will be a toast to Presidents Day and the new president. They will pair their red wine with pizza, Chicago style. On both weekends the winery, a member of the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail, will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday.

While Obama began working, Sugarloaf rested

After writing several entries about the big to-do at Maryland's Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyards, I sent an e-mail down to Jim McKenna this morning to ask how things went. One of the partners who also has been a good friend to this blog, McKenna quickly responded on how the four-day tasting room dedication and inauguration bash went at the winery, located at the border of Montgomery and Frederick counties. McKenna wrote the following:

"The weekend was a smashing success, especially on Sat and Tues, when we had a singer and an engraver for the bottles, glasses and/or just about anything else made of glass. She, Jennie, has become a real favorite and the concept of engraving the wine bottles as gifts has caught on. We had some snow on Monday and football on Sunday which tended to keep attendance down, although not nearly so much as we had feared. Tuesday (not a holiday everywhere) started fairly quickly before the inauguration speech, went quite quiet while the speech was on (we suspended all business while the new President was talking) and then hit a lull for a couple of hours. At about 3:30 or so, people started to pile in.

"My personal theory is that the people of America, after mulling over the speech and the activities for a few hours, became revitalized and then joy started to gallop back into our collective psyche, causing, at least for Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard, an upsurge in hope (a familiar word these days) and a willingness to breath a collective sigh of relief. We sure had a joyous last couple of hours at our place, and people sure were willing to use the credit card weapon again. Many thanx for your continued interest in SMV."

March the month for hitting the trails

Received my tickets in the mail yesterday for the 2009 Tour de Tanks, which begins Feb. 28 and runs weekends through the end of March. That's the event that really opened my eyes to how many wineries had opened in the area. This is a chance, for a comparatively low passport ticket of $15, to spend time at all 12 wineries that make up Tour de Tanks, stretching from Lancaster County across York County and into Adams County, in addition to Cullari Vineyards & Winery in Hershey and West Hanover Winery outside Harrisburg. You can stop in, get your ticket stamped, sample the wines that are out, and generally nosh on a wide variety of foods. And, believe me, everyone has their own idea of what to pair with the wines. The times are noon to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and 1 to 5 p.m. on Sundays. Tickets, which can be purchased online and at participating wineries, will get you 10 percent off any wine purchases and a chance to win prizes once the event ends.

Tour de Tanks is unusual in that its the one time each year these wineries all do something together as the Uncork York wine trail; they're not officially part of the same trail although it does make you wonder why they don't get together and plan other events. A few of the wineries are members of a Mason-Dixon trail with wineries in Maryland, but that relationship lost much of its vigor in the past couple of years.

Meanwhile, other trails do their own version of Tour de Tanks. The six members of the Brandywine Valley Wine Trail, located in Philly's western burbs, will hold their successful Barrels on the Brandywine every weekend day in March. Tickets are $25 per person. Same with the nine members of the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail, in and around Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, which charges $30 apiece for its March Madness passport program.

No matter where you go, you won't find a cheaper way to get acquainted with the wines of the region.

We interrupt this local programming ...

This IS a blog on regional wineries, after all, so I try to steer away from other wines in other parts of the country or world. But I do make exceptions for the right story. Deb Harkness, whoose daily smatterings of info, wisdom and wit make Good Wine Under $20 one of my favorite blogs on wine, posted yesterday on a Romanian wine made with Fetească Neagră grapes. As Deb is wont to do, she dived into some resource books and provided some history on the country, its wine making, and those particular grapes, and then added her comments on the wine itself. A good read, one worth sharing.

You can also find her writing about wine and food at seriouseats.com.