Lehigh Valley wineries in the news

A few of our Lehigh Valley Wine Trail wineries have been in the news this month, so we thought we'd share with you a few of the stories:

• Franklin Hill Winery was featured as the Business of the Week by Patch.com for its recently redesigned wine shoppe in the Nazareth area. Click here to read the online article.
• Pinnacle Ridge Winery received a nice write up on their Blues in the Barn event in Berks-Mont Newspapers. The last Blues in the Barn of the season is coming up on Sunday, October 9. Click here to read the article.
• Big Creek Winery and its owner Dominic Strohlein were the focus on this article by food and wine writer Marc d'Entremont for Culinary Travel. Click here to read the story.
• Clover Hill Vineyards & Winery was featured in an article in the The Morning Call on this year's winner of the Clover Hill Cooking with Wine Competition. Click here for the details.
• And while not technically "news," Vynecrest Winery recently unveiled its newest commercial on YouTube. Be sure to watch the spot all the way through to its humorous end!

Save the Date for Chambourcin Weekend

The Lehigh Valley Wine Trail will once again celebrate the region’s official wine grape during Chambourcin Weekend on Saturday, October 15 from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m., and Sunday, October 16 from noon – 5 p.m.

The Chambourcin is the only wine grape grown by all nine area wineries.

Wineries will feature wine tastings, live entertainment, food and wine pairings, and other activities. Event hours at all of the wineries are Saturday from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. and Sunday from noon – 5 p.m.

Chambourcin is a very versatile wine grape. Local wineries craft it into a wide range of styles, from rosé and sparkling, to dry barrel aged and port.  In the greater Lehigh Valley there are more than 40 acres of Chambourcin which will ferment into 150,000 bottles of wine. 

Details on each winery’s food and wine pairings for the event will be announced the week of 10/5.

The eight wineries of the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail include:

• Amoré Vineyards & Winery, Nazareth
• Big Creek Vineyard and Winery, Kresgeville
• Blue Mountain Vineyards, New Tripoli
• Clover Hill Vineyards & Winery, Breinigsville
• Franklin Hills Vineyards, Bangor
• Galen Glen Vineyard & Winery, Andreas
• Pinnacle Ridge, Kutztown
• Vynecrest Winery, Breinigsville

Yoga... in a vineyard?

Refresh your body, mind and spirit with a little yoga at two of our Lehigh Valley wineries. That's right, we said yoga. Sound like strange bedfellows to you? Well yoga at vineyards is all the rage right now, and both Clover Hill Vineyard in Breinigsville and Franklin Hill Vineyards in Bangor are getting in on it.

Each winery is offering their own yoga experience this coming Sunday, September 25. Details are as follows:

Yoga in the Vineyard at Clover Hill Winery, Breinigsville, Pa.
Sunday, September 25 from 10:30-11:30 a.m.
$5 per person

Join yoga instructor Jacque Porterfield (from Lehigh Valley Yoga ~ www.lvygoa.com) for a intro to Ashtanga yoga class. Beginners are welcome, but please bring a mat (if you have one) and water. This class will be rain or shine. Reserve your space on Clover Hill's Facebook page.

Yoga+Wine Fall Festival at Franklin Hill Winery, Bangor, Pa.
Sunday, September 25

Back by popular demand! Dalien from Kula Heart Yoga will return and take us on a journey into our hearts as we celebrate the harvest with music, sound, yoga. Followed by wine and cheese at Franklin Hill Vineyards.

This event will fill fast, please call to register and reserve your space - 610-746-5852 (Kula). Visit www.kulaheartyoga.com to find out more!

Lehigh Valley Wine Trail introduces a new promotional brochure

Wine tastings, vineyard tours and special events draw thousands of visitors to the eight family-owned and operated wineries that make up the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail in eastern Pennsylvania each year. To help them plan their visit, the Wine Trail has introduced a new promotional brochure that highlights the wineries and their special events.

Designed by Dina Hall of Dina Hall Graphic Design in Bethlehem and printed by Nacci Printing in Allentown, the new brochure features detailed listings on each of the wineries including hours of operation, driving directions, wine shop extensions, and amenities provided at each location. 

Also included is a map of the wine trail on which each winery location is plotted, and information on each of the organization’s six annual events. The events include:

• March Madness – also known as Passport Weekends
• Wine in Bloom – May
• Wine on the Mountain at Penn’s Peak – July
• Harvest Weekend – September
• Chambourcin Weekend – October
• Nouveau Weekend – November

A PDF version of the brochure can be downloaded on the home page of the Wine Trail’s web site: www.LehighValleyWineTrail.com.

The printing of the brochures was underwritten in part by Discover Lehigh Valley, the designated destination marketing organization of Lehigh and Northampton counties. The non-profit organization will also distribute the free brochure through its network of more than 60 brochure racks at local hotels and attractions. Brochures can be requested by mail on the tourism bureau’s web site: www.DiscoverLehighValley.com.

The Lehigh Valley Wine Trail is a non-profit organization of wineries whose mission is to promote agri-tourism and to create a premiere wine destination and grape growing region while promoting Pennsylvania wines from the region. All of the member wineries have won numerous awards at state, national and international levels.

 

The Lehigh Valley region is an official American Viticultural Area as designated by the Federal Alcohol Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau in April 2008. The Lehigh Valley AVA includes portions of Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Schuylkill, Carbon and Monroe counties in Pennsylvania. In order to receive the designation a least 75% of the grapes used to make local wines must be grown within the region. Wineries in the region are permitted to list “Lehigh Valley” as the growing region on their labels.

A harvest season update from Franklin Hill Vineyards

From our grapes to your glass - Harvest is in the air!  

2011 is turning out to be another wonderful vintage for Franklin Hill Vineyards. We're getting ready to head out to the vineyard to start picking those lush wonderful grapes whose juice will be soon filling your glass.  

Vines are looking great as usual. The birds would agree as we are seeing some signs of them feeding on the grapes. At this point we would like to see the weather dry out since grapes love dry weather in the weeks prior to harvest. The dry weather allows the sun to bring the grapes to the perfect ripeness.

Depending on the variety, we pick at at certain "brix." Measuring levels of "brix" allows us to determine the grapes' sugar levels.  We aim for our grapes to measure anywhere between 20 and 23 brix. Grape picking should begin by next week.

Meanwhile, our wonderful winery staff is busy bottling Cabernet Franc and Katie's Creek...and...for all of our dessert wine lovers, our Breathless has made its highly-anticipated return. We can tell you that the wait was well worth it.  This bottling is not only superb, there is no doubt that one sip will simply take your Breath away.  Come in to any of our locations for your own bottle.  

Get ready for some more wonderful wine coming your way from our 2011 Harvest.

Celtic Classic - Sept. 23, 24, & 25 in Historic Downtown Bethlehem

Don your kilts and ghillie brogues and be sure to visit Franklin Hill's Bethlehem Location for a complimentary wine tasting during Bethlehem's 24th Annual Celtic Classic Festival.  

Franklin Hill Vineyards - Bethlehem
Main St. Commons, 
567 Main St.
Bethlehem, PA 18018
(610)-332-9463

Yoga+Wine Fall Festival - Sunday, September 25 at the Winery    

Back by popular demand! Dalien from KULA HEART YOGA will return and take us on a journey into our hearts as we celebrate the Harvest with music, sound, yoga! Followed by wine and cheese at Franklin Hill Vineyards! This event will fill fast, please call to register and reserve your space. 610-746-5852 (kula) 
Visit  www.kulaheartyoga.com to find out more!          

Pennsylvania Wine Stories: There's a Story Behind Every Cork

Send in your story about visiting Franklin Hill Vineyards to win a Pennsylvania Wine Weekend Getaway or prize package. A story from each of Pennsylvania's seven wine regions will be selected as the finalists, and the grand-prize winner will be selected online via voting.

For every story submitted, $1 will be donated to the National Center for Family Literacy and a cork will be added to a sculpture created by a Pennsylvania based artist.

Vynecrest Winery weathers Hurricane Irene and wins new awards

Harvest has started at Vynecrest Winery! We are picking Traminette, Pinot Noir and a few others this week. Needless to say, it has been an interesting year in the vineyard. Irene caused some damage in the vineyard, more on that later, but the vines survived and we are excited to get the grapes into the cellar.

In the Vineyard:

The last month has been a whirlwind! The vineyard did sustain some damage from Irene but it could have been much worse. The wind knocked down five rows and snapped a few of the anchors at the end of the rows. Luckily the fruit was not damaged. We were able to get the rows propped up, the anchors back in place and we are back in business. We will do a complete fix in the late winter, after we prune, when the vines are not so heavy.

Harvest has begun and the fruit that is coming in looks great. Looking forward to another exciting vintage!

Recent Awards - Indy International Wine Competition:

• 2010 Chardonnay - Double Gold
• 2010 Chambourcin - Silver
• 2010 Cabernet Franc - Silver
• 2010 Cherry DiVyne - Bronze

September Specials:

• Wine of the Month - Blueberry, 10% off
• Three Pack of the Month - Double Gold Special - 3 Chardonnay for $30 

(at winery only; 3 pack cannot be combined with other offers.)

Upcoming Events:

• September 17 - Live Music in the Vyneskeller, Connie Edinger, 1- 4:30 p.m.
• September 24 - Live Music in the Vyneskeller, Arianne, 1 - 4:30 p.m.
• September 25 - Taste of the Lehigh Valley, Melt Restaurant in the Promenade Shops. The freshest local ingredients. The finest local chefs. The most imaginative cuisine. Tickets for 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.: $30 in advance/$35 at the door. VIP hour from noon - 1 p.m.: VIP tickets $60 (limited to 150). Tickets available for purchase at the winery or online at www.BuyLocalGreaterLehighValley.org.
• October 1 - Live Music in the Vyneskeller, Jake Kaligis, 1 - 4:30 p.m.

Pinnacle Ridge Winery prepares for annual "Blues in the Barn"

On September 10 and 11, Pinnacle Ridge Winery will hold its annual two-day event “Blues in the Barn.” This free event is held rain or shine.

On Saturday, September 10, The James Supra Blues Band will perform from 1 - 4:30 p.m. followed by the Kelchner Brothers Blues Band from 4:30 - 6:30 p.m.

On Sunday, September 11, The Wallace Brothers will perform 1 - 4:30 p.m.  with the Kelchner Brothers performing again from 4:30 - 6:30 p.m.

Food will be available for purchase from local food guy Jack Sinnitz, a.k.a. Heaven on a Bun. He’ll be serving up his heavenly burgers and fries.

Pinnacle Ridge Winery’s tasting room will be open Saturday from 10 a.m. - 6 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 6 p.m. Its staff will be on-hand for wine tastings, and wine by the bottle or glass will be available for purchase.

Pinnacle Ridge Winery has plenty of room in its 1850's Pennsylvania German Bank Barn. With the barn's high ceiling and old wooden interior, the acoustics are amazing.

Pinnacle Ridge Winery is located in the heart of idyllic "Pennsylvania Dutch Country," along Old Route 22 outside of Kutztown, PA. The winery is one mile from the I-78 Krumsville exit and six miles north of the town of Kutztown.

If you are coming north on Route 737, the road is closed due to a bridge repair but the detour is easy. Travel time is about the same. For more information go to the Pinnacle Ridge web site: www.pinridge.com or call 610-756-4481.

Clover Hill celebrates 26th anniversary

Clover Hill Vineyards & Winery is turning 26 on September 11, and we are celebrating with an anniversary sale.

From September 8-11, we will be giving a 26% discount on all 750mL wines for 26 years of business at all Clover Hill locations and online orders (375mL and custom label orders excluded).

It has been a wonderful and wild 26 years of business and we strive for many more years of Clover Hill wines to come! Thank you for your support of our second generation family owned winery. We would love to hear from you on our Facebook page. Let us know how long you have been a Clover Hill customer!

Please remember that the anniversary sale is one of our busiest times at the winery. We appreciate your patience. 26% discount is the greatest discount available. Cheers!


The 2011 vintage is on its way and it has certainly been the year of extremes. July brought us extreme dry weather. August gave us a very wet month, huge flocks of birds who love eating our grapes, an earthquake, and a hurricane. September is off to a rocky start with heavy rainfall and more birds, and we are only a couple days into the month. Every year harvest comes with its challenges, but we have to wonder why this year is so extreme.

In the meantime, we will try to stay calm and hope Mother Nature settles down. If you would like to keep current with our 2011 vintage, be a fan on our Facebook page to hear what we are harvesting and see pictures from this beautiful time of year.

Labor Day Weekened at Galen Glen Winery

WINTER IS HERE! (Wait, what?)

There is no snow, cold or wind, just our two best selling winter wines! 
Winter Mountain White and Holiday Raspberry are available at Galen Glen Winery starting Friday, September 2.

Both are limited in quantity, and we expect to sell out!

Special Labor Day Hours & Tour Schedule:
Wine Tasting:

• Friday: noon - 5 pm
• Saturday: 10 am - 5 pm
• Sunday: Noon - 5 pm
• Monday: (Labor Day) 10 am - 4 pm

Walking Tours: One tour at noon on Saturday, Sunday & Monday.
 
Upcoming Event Sept 10 & 11:
•    Free Tractor & Wagon Tours departing at 1, 2, 3 & 4 p.m. Our tour route travels through the heart of the vineyard, down the hillside to our wine cellar in the " little glen" and, of course, back up the hill to the Tasting Room.
•    Sinfully scrumptious European desserts by famed baker Marlis. Available to purchase with a glass of wine. (Warning: looking at her website will cause cake cravings!)
•    Renowned local wild life artist Dave Hughes will have his art on display.  deertrailstudio.weebly.com

Details on Harvest Weekend announced

On Saturday, Sept. 10 and Sunday, Sept. 11, the eight wineries of the LehighValley Wine Trail in eastern Pennsylvania will celebrate the start of harvest season with a special event. Harvest Weekend will welcome wine lovers for tastings, vineyard and winery tours, food and wine pairings, and live entertainment.

The wineries will also proudly promote the state’s “Pennsylvania Preferred” program by partnering with manufacturers of other Pennsylvania products to showcase their high level of quality. Event hours are Saturday from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. and Sunday from noon - 5 p.m.

The Lehigh Valley Wine Trail is a non-profit organization of wineries whose mission is to promote agri-tourism and to create a premier wine destination and grape growing region while promoting Pennsylvania wines from the region.

Amoré Vineyards & Winery, Nazareth - Amore will be serving bourbon chicken, assorted breads and dipping oils, along with a selection of cheeses from Goot Essa Farms. They will also feature a new wine, Cabaret Amore.

Big Creek Vineyard and Winery, Kresgeville - Harvest Weekend at Big Creek traditionally means freshly picked, tree-ripened apples from their friends at nearby Heckman Orchard along with local artisan cheeses.

Blue Mountain Vineyards, New Tripoli - Stroll through the vineyard and witness the last few days before the grapes of 2011 begin the process of becoming wine on a self-guided vineyard tour. Back by popular demand, sample the products of Tait Farms that are grown and produced in Pa. Di Bruno Brothers from South Philly will be sampling some of their incredible cheeses that have kept them in business for over 70 years. The winery will be releasing its 2008 Merlot, which was an excellent vintage. On Sunday, join them for Sangria Sundays with Scott Marshall & The Hillbilly Souls on the deck ($5 admission).

Clover Hill Vineyards & Winery, Breinigsville - During this harvest celebration, Clover Hill will partner with Unique Pretzel Bakery, Inc. of Reading, Pa. Like Clover Hill, Unique Pretzels is a family-owned business that has grown for six generations. The family from Unique Pretzel Bakery will be on site to sample and sell their scrumptious pretzels. There is nothing tastier than a Unique chocolate covered pretzel paired with a glass of Turtle Rock Red.

Franklin Hill Vineyards, Bangor - invites guest to help them celebrate the harvest with walks through the vineyard and tours of the winery. There will be local cheeses by Klein's Farm, cider and apples for sale, and light snacks for purchase. Try a glass of apple wine.

Galen Glen Vineyard & Winery, Andreas - Free tractor and wagon tours will depart on the hour from 1 - 4 p.m. Tours travel through the heart of the vineyard, down the hillside to the wine cellar in the little glen and back up the hill to the tasting room. Sinfully scrumptious European desserts by famed baker Marlis will be available to purchase with a glass of wine. Renowned local wild life artist Dave Hughes will also have his art on display. 

Pinnacle Ridge, Kutztown - Pinnacle Ridge will be celebrating the beginning of the 2011harvest with live music all weekend. On Saturday, the Wallace Brothers will play their mix of Blues and Country from 1- 5 p.m. On Sunday, the day of music starts at 1:30 p.m. with the Kelchner Brothers. Jacob, 15, is an excellent guitar player while younger brother, Janson, 11, plays harmonica and sings. The Wallace Brothers will be back on Sunday from 3 - 6 p.m. There will be wine by the bottle or glass for purchase all weekend. The food vendor for the weekend is Jack Sinnitz and his friendly Heaven on a Bun crew.

Vynecrest Winery, Breinigsville - Vynecrest has asked fellow vendors from both SteelStacks and Macungie farmers markets, as well as Eagle Point Farm Market, to join them from 1:30 - 4:30 p.m. both days to celebrate PA Preferred and Buy Fresh Buy Local Lehigh Valley. There will be fresh produce available for sale from Bleiler's Fresh Produce Patch (locally grown, pesticide free), delicious baked goods from Lisa Morton of Hereford Country Store, and mums for sale from Eagle Point Farm Market. In addition Vynecrest will be pairing samples of its Blueberry wine with Lisa's lemon poppy seed pound cake. On Saturday at 1 p.m., will be the final winemaker's tour of the season with an emphasis on the upcoming harvest ($5 per person). Live music will entertain in the Vyneskeller Wine Bar from 1 - 4:30 p.m. by Art's Acoustic Oldies (no charge).