Fifth Brandywine dinner pulls in record crowd

The Brandywine Valley
The Brandywine Valley Wine Trail held its fifth annual Vintners’ Dinner Celebration on Saturday night at lush Longwood Gardens and every shred of evidence pointed this to be the most successful one to date.

Trail PR director Karen Cline said yesterday that 179 attended the black-tie optional affair, 40 more than have ever come to this full-evening event. “We are encouraged by this increase in attendance and we see this as a real indicator that Pennsylvania wineries are being recognized as producers of quality wine,” she wrote in an e-mail. Considering all that’s happening with the economy, it’s a number that can only tickle trail members. Maybe the only problem comes down the line as more people become familiar with local wines and what also serves as a fund-raiser for The Little Rock Foundation, a resource center for parents and children who are visually impaired or blind. As it was, the dining room looked packed. Assuming they use the same room in the future, maybe the number gets capped at 200.

Attendees paid $135 per person for the event, and you felt like you got your money’s worth just walking along the path that wound its way past hibiscus flowers bigger than the dinner dishes used for the meal. Held in the East Conservatory and Ballroom, it opened with what amounted to an almost 90-minute reception, where six of the trail’s seven wineries had tables set up and their wines out ready for tasting. Everywhere you looked there were bottles sitting in tubs, waiting to be opened. Cline said the member wineries – Black Walnut, Chaddsford, Kreutz Creek, Paradocx, Penns Woods and Twim Brook (only Va La was absent) – each brought an average of five different wines and an average of eight total cases. Servers carried hors d’oeuvres and tables were set up with Italian meats and cheeses. The proprietors poured the wine and answered questions.

From there, the group moved on to dinner, where the menu went from mushroom strudel to a salad to the main course of Maryland crab cake with medallions of pepper crusted filet. Dessert was a lemon curd tart with berries. Wines from all of the wineries were represented at dinner, as a red and white was paired with the first three courses and Twin Brook’s Esperanda, a sparkling wine, was paired with the rich finale. There were 19 tables, with the proprietors sitting out among their guests. CBS3’s Pat Ciarrocchi, a Chester County native and award-winning newscaster who devotes a chunk of her time to charities, was the emcee. Once dinner was finished, Ravenswood president and winemaker Joel Peterson addressed the attendees. More on what this Sonoma, Calif., wine icon said will be included in another post, along with additional (and professional) photographs. Took one look at his camera and decided I’d let the guy who knew what he was doing provide the images for such a grand event. But I couldn’t help but share one photo I took, a cornucopia of glass pumpkins arranged in one of the adjoining rooms.

A presentation on the Little Rock Foundation ended the sit-down portion of the evening. What followed was a chance to walk off dinner, sign up for almost 20 items being auctioned off, and listen or dance to the Brass Ensemble of the Kennett Symphony of Chester County.

Cline said that the trail included corporate sponsors for the first time this year; they had a private reception with the winemakers before the event started.

This is the third year the event was held at Longwood Gardens after being hosted by a winery the first two years. Chaddford Winery’s Lee Miller explained that all the wineries have their own events, and they also hold a few trail activities such as Barrels on the Brandywine every March, but this is an opportunity to come together as a group in a gorgeous setting, share their wide variety of wines, and do something charitable at the same time. A moneymaker? No, not at all. But despite all the work, it’s an evening where everyone leaves feeling good (no, not just because of all the wine) and an industry that many still consider fledgling shows itself in its best light. Val and Lance Castle, owners of the not-yet opened Black Walnut Winery off Route 30 in Sadsburyville were given the job of organizing the event. Hey, when you’re the rookies ….


Everything came together very well, so congrats to those two for pulling together those loose ends while trying to get the last bit of renovating done on their 200-year-old barn/winery. And to Cline, who was buzzing around from the moment she stepped into the place.

Could other trails pull this off? Certainly could see something like this from the Bucks County or Lehigh Valley trails, and the same down in Maryland. No doubt the template has been created, and it’s one that assuredly works.

Linganore's Nouveau already on shelves

Nouveau Weekend is approaching on several regional trails. It's the first taste of the recent harvest, beginning a vines to bottle sequence that in this case takes a few weeks and in others could take two to three years, including a period of aging in the bottle. This note on the wine that will find its way to many dinner tables throughout the holidays comes from Linganore Winecellars/Berrywine Plantations in Mt. Airy, Md.

Thanksgiving dishes created from autumn-harvested potatoes, apples, squash, corn and nuts have been perennial favorites since President Washington officially decreed the holiday in 1789. However, there is another edible harvested in September – the grape – that has the potential of enlivening the flavors of these and other menu items when transformed into wine. On November 1, Linganore Winecellars released its 2008 Nouveau, produced with a special variety of red grapes, grown this summer at the winery’s 60-acre Frederick County, MD vineyard. While most wines require a 1-2 year aging process, nouveau is produced in just 6 weeks, resulting in a flavor that is both floral and fruity – atypical of most red wines that are bolder and dryer.

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“Many people are unaware that there are so many styles of wines,” says Anthony Aellen, Linganore’s vintner. “Nouveau is a very different stage in the wine life. Because it is aged a short period of time, it has a low tannin level, resulting in a milder, fruitier flavor.” Not surprisingly, many white wine drinkers have enjoyed their first glass of red when introduced to a nouveau.

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Accordingly, nouveau encompasses dinner menus that traditionally are reserved for white wines. “There is a misconception that only white wine should be served with poultry and fish, and red wine served with heartier meats such as beef, pork or lamb,” says Aellen. “I believe such decisions should be based on the individual preparation of the food as opposed solely to the selection of the meat. Whites should be paired with milder recipes and reds with those that are bolder.”

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Perhaps more so than any other wine, nouveau can bridge the widest range of dinner menus – ultimately, proving to be a great conciliator among red and white wine drinkers. And, yes, Aellen says nouveau pairs well with turkey. Linganore Winecellars makes a case for Aellen’s philosophy with a special wine tasting that is paired with several inspired Thanksgiving recipes. Throughout the month of November, the public can sample Linganore wines, including Aellen’s 2008 Nouveau with cranberry fig relish, sausage cornbread and chestnut dressing, sweet potato casserole, and cheesecake with plum sauce. “Each of the recipes offers an interesting twist on its traditional preparation with the infusion of savory meat, herb, and spice flavors.”

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Recipes of each of the dishes, are included in the tasting that is offered for $5.00 a person. Aellen also refutes another common myth among wine consumers – ‘that all wines get better with age.’ “Not so with nouveau,” which, Aellen says, should be consumed within 6 months of its release. “Beyond that point, nouveau begins to loose its distinctive fruity character.”

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Linganore Winecellar’s 2008 Nouveau, produced using a hybrid grape bred by Cornell University, is a limited bottling. Being a limited bottling, this wine is available only at the winery.

A look at Bush, Obama, through the wine glass

I've tried to make this blog a mix of posts, ranging from my interviews to commentary I see throughout the blogosphere or in print. Saw this note from Jim Tresize of the New York Wine and Grape Foundation about what's ahead under a new adminsitration. Or at least some thoughts on what's ahead for the wine industry at what ultimately amounts to this crossroad Americans are approaching.


FEDERAL GOVERNMENT will soon include a new President and Administration, larger Democratic majorities in both the Senate and House of Representatives, and a New York delegation which also grew in Democratic Representatives. What will a President Obama and his Administration be like in terms of grape and wine policy, and how about the Congress? During the eight years of George W. Bush’s presidency, there have been a few positive developments for grapes and wine—repeal of the Special Occupational Tax (SOT) on wineries, a law allowing consumers to ship wines back home that they couldn’t take on airplanes, the dramatic expansion of interstate direct shipment, a new and improved Farm Bill.

These changes weren’t because of him—he vetoed the Farm Bill, for example, but was overridden by Congress; and direct shipment resulted from a landmark Supreme Court decision—but in general the theme seemed to be “do no harm.” By contrast, the first President Bush, who pledged “no new taxes,” raised wine excise taxes from 17 cents to $1.07 per gallon, immediately putting an end to true “wine” coolers because the producers (including major wineries) switched to a beer base which was much less expensive because that tax rate did not go up. That excise tax increase hurt the American grape industry significantly. Given the huge issues of this election cycle—the economic meltdown, two wars, health care, and so much more—wine (and even agriculture) was understandably not a focus, so there are very few clues (other than a few generalities on the Obama Web site) as to how the President-elect will approach these areas.

So to a great extent, we will be relying on Senators Clinton and Schumer, and the agricultural advocates in our Congressional delegation, to make sure the new Administration is well aware that New York is a major farm state; agriculture is a major part of our economy; the New York grape and wine industry generates $3.4 billion for New York’s economy annually; wine is now made in all 50 states; and the American grape, grape juice, table grape and wine industry generate over $162 billion for the U.S. economy each year. Fortunately, we have WineAmerica—the national organization of American wineries—to keep a close eye on developments in Washington and interpret them to us. WineAmerica’s fall meeting is next week, and should be interesting. As I have said many times before, every American winery should be a member of WineAmerica.

STATE GOVERNMENT in New York State also experienced a major shift of its own, with the State Senate now controlled by Democrats for the first time since the New Deal. That means, as at the federal level, one party will control the executive branch and both legislative branches. This has huge implications for the New York grape and wine industry. We’re fortunate to have a Governor, David Paterson, who understands the importance of our industry; a great Commissioner of Agriculture, Patrick Hooker; and Chairman of the Assembly Agriculture Committee Bill Magee who has been a great champion of grapes and wine. But the Senate has also been key: Virtually all Senators representing grape and wine regions have been Republicans, creating a solid statewide coalition of support on legislative and budget matters.

In Albany, perhaps even more than in Washington, the difference between being in the majority versus minority is enormous in terms of legislative initiatives and access to money. Our annual budget process has for decades been widely known as “three men in a room”. Since the Governor, Speaker of the Assembly (Sheldon Silver), and likely Senate Majority Leader (Malcolm Smith) are all from New York City, there is concern in some quarters that much of the program funding will be shifted to The Big Apple, with little left for upstate or eastern Long Island. There is also the question of attitude and strategy: Will this be “payback time” for Senate Democrats, relegated to minority status for decades, to even the score with their Republican colleagues?

ECONOMICS is probably the clearest but also the scariest part of the current situation. The economic meltdown is global, not local, even though New York (Wall Street) is at the epicenter of the financial earthquake.

Politicians everywhere are desperately looking for solutions, often including counterproductive measures: This week, Governor Arnold Schwarzenneger of California—which produces 90% of American wine—unveiled an emergency budget proposal that included the revival of a simplistic and ill-conceived “nickel a drink” excise tax increase on alcohol. That doesn’t sound like much until you do the multiplication into bottles and cases; and unfortunately, “sin taxes” are often an easy sell politically.

Our Governor, David Paterson, has called a second emergency legislative session for November 18 to discuss New York’s budget crisis this year, next year, and beyond. The headlines are not pretty: Global Meltdown; Wall St. Crisis; 401k’s Plunge; Widespread Layoffs Across the Economy. Are we in a recession leading into a depression? What are the solutions, and who has them? For the New York wine industry, this has been a roller coaster year.

We haven’t had the resources to commission a formal economic impact study, so what I say here is based on daily conversations with wineries across the state. At the beginning of the year, it seemed pretty much like last year (neither up nor down) in terms of numbers of visitors and their spending habits per person; as gas prices went up, fewer people came but they spent more, suggesting they were on a pleasurable wine-buying mission; when gas climbed to $4 a gallon, people disappeared; as gas prices went down, people came back, especially this fall which seems even bigger than last year.

To the extent these are accurate portrayals, they suggest that there is now an acute sensitivity of economic circumstances which directly affect wine. Another measure of the impact is the devastating effect on lower Manhattan restaurants which used to count on free-spending Wall Street executives who often chose the most expensive bottle of wine—because they could (and it also fed their egos). Those days are gone. Is wine recession-proof, as some have suggested based on past data? I guess we’ll see over time.

Fall Tour: Terrapin Station Winery

It didn’t seem like a summer of violent weather, but talk to enough wine growers and you find out that even what seemed like a fairly tame season was cantankerous enough to wipe out some crops.

Maybe Terrapin Station Winery in Elkton, Md., didn’t get bashed like, say, Chaddsford in southeastern Pennsylvania did this year. But it only took a few minutes of hail to rob some of the vintage of its potential, prompting owner Morris Zwick to summarize the season as a mixed bag.

“About two weeks before we harvested our first variety, which was Cayuga, we had about a four-minute hailstorm,” he said by phone. “And hail’s bad, bad., bad. It goes through the canopy and if your fruit is ripe it will split the fruit open and stuff like that. So it was within a week and a half to two weeks before the Cayuga was ripened. The harvest of the Cayuga was really slow because we had to be deliberate in pulling off berries that had been affected by the damage. The crop that came in was fine. It just took so long to harvest it.

“And it did reduce our Traminette harvest a little bit, although the Traminette also came in fine. We just didn’t get as much of it because of the hail damage, and then, really took it to the Vidal in the old vineyard. So that was one problem, and then the tropical storm that came through in mid-September. There were things on the verge of us picking, so when that thing was on the way we hurried out there and harvested I think it was the St. Vincent a tad earlier than we had wanted to because of the impending weather. So it was a mixed bag. Some things did very well, some things not so well.

“We had some varieties that did exceptionally well. We picked the Cabernet Franc at 26 brix, which is just the highest sugar as we’ve ever gotten out of grapes on the property before.” Zwick said that was harvest on Oct. 11. “It was dry for the most part and we were also pretty maniacal with the reds this year in getting the fruit exposed, and I think it made a huge difference. That was because way back in March, at the annual meeting of the Maryland Grape Growers and Winery Association, some folks from Cornell were talking about the problem with herbaceousness and eastern reds and the chemical compound that caused it and all this other stuff. And their recommendations based on their experiments was to do a lot of leaf pulling way earlier than has classically been done. We don’t know about the herbaceousness yet, but one of the consequences is certainly that the sugar levels, or ripeness levels came up. And we had a pretty heavy crop load, too, so I think we demonstrated that crop load and sugars not necessarily related.

Zwick said overall he was pleased with the crop. “We’ve harvested I want to say probably twice as much as we did last year. We were on track to do about three times as much, but with crop reductions we wound up having to eat some it. And we have a little bit more to go. We’re doing a late harvest, a combination Vidal and Sangiovese that will be interesting. We’ll have to see how that works out.”

What has set Terrapin Station wines apart is that it’s packaged in boxes rather than bottles. You can find their distribution locations on the Web site; one not included is the winery itself. “We’re working on different way of doing it earlier rather than later,” he said. “We have a lot of plans, but cash is the issue so we may make it much simpler next year. So we’d like to be open next year. Then there’s some legislative stuff that I’m waiting on, too [when the legislature convenes in January]. I’d like to see this legislative session. There’s going to be some changes that are proposed . . . and I want to wait until after that occurs until I apply for a license for on-site sales.”

The Event Grapevine: Nov. 7-9

I wanted to get the word out on this promotion at Chaddsford Winery that appeared in their November e-letter.

During November, up through the Thanksgiving holiday, Chaddsford Winery will be organizing a food drive to benefit Philabundance and those in need in the Philadelphia region. To encourage generous giving during this season of abundance, we are offering our customers a free tasting anytime you bring in 3 canned or boxed goods . So get involved in the fight against hunger -- invite your friends and family, gather some canned goods to share with those less fortunate, and enjoy a complimentary tour & tasting at the winery! For more information on Philabundance, the region’s largest hunger relief organization, see www.philabundance.org.

Otherwise, here’s what’s happening this weekend and next.


PENNSYLVANIA WINERIES

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

Chaddsford Winery, Chaddsford: Reserve tastings ($$), Saturday, sittings at 1, 2:30 and 4 p.m.; Sommelier’s Secrets of Holiday Wine and Food Pairings ($$), Friday, 7 to 9 p.m., taught by wine educator Marnie Old, reservations at 610.388.6221; Brandywine Valley Wine Trail Vintners’ Dinner ($$), Longwood Gardens, Saturday, 6:30 to 11:30 p.m., Special Guest Speaker Joel Peterson, Winemaker, president and founder of Ravenswood Winery in Sonoma, Calif., make online reservations for $135 per person at bvwinetrail.com or call 610.444.3842 or 866.390.4367; Brandywine Prime Barrel Tasting and Dinner, Saturday, Nov. 14, http://www.chaddsford.com

Clover Hill, Breinigsville: Lehigh Valley Wine Trail’s Nouveau Weekend, Saturday, Nov. 15, and Sunday, Nov. 16; March Passports also will go on sale for 2009, www.cloverhillwinery.com

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

Country Creek Winery, Telford: Squirrel Tail Breakfast, Saturday, 6 to 9 p.m., light fare will be for sale along with wine by the glass or bottle, http://www.countrycreekwinery.com/

Hauser Estate Winery, Biglerville: New winery open, Monday to Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.; satellite shop opened at 17 Lincoln Square, Gettysburg, http://www.hauserestate.com/

Galen Glen Vineyard & Winery, Andreas: Lehigh Valley Wine Trail’s Nouveau Weekend, Saturday, Nov. 15, and Sunday, Nov. 16, http://www.galenglen.com

Kreutz Creek Vineyards, West Grove: Music at West Chester tasting room, 44 E. Gay St., Fridays and Saturdays, 6 to 9 p.m., http://www.kreutzcreekvineyards.com/

Marburg Estate Winery, Spring Grove: Will be pouring at St. Vincent Christmas Bazaar, South Street, Hanover, Pa., Saturday, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., www.marburgwine.com

Moon Dancer Vineyards & Winery, Wrightsville: Music every Saturday (2 to 5 p.m.) and Sunday, 2 to 5 p.m.; Vineyard Hike & Mulled Wine ($$), Saturday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., fee includes hike/tour/lunch/wine tasting, http://www.moondancerwinery.com

Naylor Wine Cellars, Stewartstown: Home for the Holidays dinner ($$), Saturday, 3 to 6 p.m., and Sunday, 2 to 5 p.m., reservations required, http://www.naylorwine.com/

Rose Bank Winery, Newtown: Bucks County Nouveau Wine Festival, Friday, Nov. 14, 5 to 8 p.m., Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., http://www.rosebankwinery.com/

Twin Brook Winery, Gap: Wine, Cheese and Chocolate Weekend, Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m., http://www.twinbrookwinery.com/

Wycombe Vineyards, Furlong: Bucks County Wine Trail’s Nouveau Release, Saturday, Nov. 15, and Sunday, Nov. 16, http://www.wycombevineyards.com/

Vynecrest Vineyards & Winery, Breinigsville: Lehigh Valley Wine Trail’s Nouveau Weekend, Saturday, Nov. 15, and Sunday, Nov. 16, http://www.vynecrest.com


MARYLAND WINERIES

Black Ankle Winery, Mt. Airy: Open for business, winner of Maryland Governor’s Cup in 2008; hours: Wednesday - Friday: noon to 5 p.m., Saturday: noon to 6 p.m., Sunday, noon to 5 p.m., information on winery at this link

Berrywine Plantations / Linganore Winecellars, My. Airy: Nouveau “Summer in a Glass,” Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sunday, noon to 6 p.m., www.linganorewines.com

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

$$ – Admission charge

For Clover Hill, six sites work for now

Call Clover Hill Vineyards & Winery the Jupiter of the Pennsylvania wineries, its five satellites and winery the maximum that the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board allows. In the midst of an all-encompassing conversation with marketing manager Kari Scrip last night, she was asked about whether that ceiling would ever be raised. The accurate answer is whether anyone would take advantage if that maximum was raised.

“That has gone back and forth,” she said. “Actually, with legislation regarding shipping in and out of Pennsylvania, they have been tacking on . . . all sorts of stipulations. So they’re gonna raise the number of retail stores in exchange for not letting us ship out of state. So there’s been a lot of that going on. But I don’t really foresee it changing too much and I don’t really know that any wineries are interested in too many more than that. I mean it’s always nice to have the flexibility to do what you want. But at this point I don’t see anyone pushing to say I want to have 10 stores.”

Scrip said that while the winery in Breinigsville remains the biggest in terms of space and busiest year-round of the six locations, the shops at the Lehigh Valley Mall and The Plaza at King of Prussia Mall lure in loads of shoppers during the holidays. And Scrip noted she and her family, with their roots in agriculture, have a personal interest in the health of the farm market. Clover Hill has locations at the Boscov’s Fairgrounds Farmer’s Market in Reading, Pa., and the Allentown (Pa.) Fairgrounds Farmers Market.

“Those stay very even keel year-round,” she said. “We’ve definitely noticed an increase in the farmer’s markets, the whole buying local, we see a lot more people shopping the farmers markets and that it’s really grown quite a bit. So we’re really been pleased with our two farmer’s market stores.”

So while the question was directed toward expansion, the answer pointed more toward possible reductions in the number of outlets. “The stores have been good for us and they are still doing very well,” she said. “We have just grown so much through the state store system. We’re pretty much distributed statewide, not all of our wines are, but we’ve grown so much through there. Initially the stores got us recognized and people could come in and taste. But now people know us, so we’re hoping over the next couple of years that maybe we’ll pare down the number of stores and do more distribution.”

Two events on tap at Crossing Vineyards

Flatt (left) and Mino

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These two workshops loom on the horizon at Crossing Vineyards & Winery in Washington Crossing, Pa., one of the most active of the regional wineries for educational opportunities.

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For anyone overwhelmed when the waiter presents a leather-bound wine list, Crossing Vineyards and Winery in Washington Crossing, Pa. is offering some help from wine writer Colin Flatt.

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The winery is presenting a “Wine List Survival Guide” workshop with Flatt from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 10, at the winery, 1853 Wrightstown Road.

Participants will learn how to navigate intimidating restaurant wine lists and choose a great, reasonably-priced wine.

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Flatt, who holds a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from Temple University, learned to appreciate wine while living in Italy, he said. He continued to collect wine when he returned to the states and began studying its culture and history. Realizing, he said, “that reading books can only teach you so much,” Collin began attending classes at the Wine School of Philadelphia. Under the tutelage of Keith Wallace and Brian Freedman, he says, he discovered he had a “sharp palate” and was ready to devote his time fully to wine culture.
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Cost of the course is $20 and includes wine tasting and printed material.

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The day before, on Sunday the 9th, Crossing Vineyards 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.” It's scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.

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The one-hour course, which will include a wine-tasting, is based on Gene Ford’s best-selling book, “The French Paradox,” which explores the connection between daily wine consumption in France and the lower rate of heart disease among the French.
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Mino, an orthopedic surgeon from Washington Crossing, earned his medical degree from Temple University School of Medicine and his wine expertise – which began 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.

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For the past 20 years, Mino, who also designs wine cellars, has been lecturing on the sensory evaluation and analysis of wine, proper pairings and the health benefits of wine.
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Cost of the workshop is $20.

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Reservations for either event can be made by calling 215.493.6500, ext. 19, or by accessing the winery's Web site.