Tolino Fall Fundraiser happening this Saturday, Sept. 26

Tolino Vino Fall Fest and Fundraiser 
September 26 - noon - 7 pm
$10 in advance or $15 at the door

With five bands, two food trucks, grape stomps, and wagon rides to the vineyard, this day is guaranteed to be fun! A percentage of sales will be donated to the Cancer Support Community of the Greater Lehigh Valley in honor of Anna Mae Becker, who passed away from cancer. Anna Mae was an amazing member of the Tolino family who liked nothing better than sharing a glass of wine with  her family.

Purchase tickets for the Tolino Vino Fall Festival and Fundraiser.
 
Artist lineup:

Cherry Hill Duo - country/top40
Scott Marshall and Marshalls Highway - Americana/southern rock/country
Brummy Brothers - bluegrass
Matt Wheeler and Vintage Heart - folk/indie
Tom Vicario - oldies/country/top40

Food Trucks:
TAZA Truck - Egyptian inspired cuisine
Aioli Truck - American cuisine

WINE & SWINE PIG ROAST & GRAPE STOMP
October 3 at 1 pm
$29.95 per person.

A fresh local pig will be roasted on site by Little Creek BBQ. We will also be offering guests the chance to stomp grapes barefoot. Succulent pork sandwiches, okra, baked beans, potato salad and award winning bread pudding smothered in a Tolino wine glaze will be served from 1-3 pm. Enjoy live music by the Jay Players.

Tickets are $29.95 and include dinner, tasting six wines, and a souvenir glass.

FOOD TRUCKS & GOOD TUNES
 
September 26--Taza Truck and Aioli Truck at the Music Festival
October 10--Bad Bones BBQ @ 1pm with live music by Tom Vicario
October 17--Trixies Treats @ 1pm with live music by Blue Hearts Revelry
October 24--Stuffed to the Grills @1pm with music by Sage
October 31--Taza Truck @ 2:30pm with music by Brummy Brothers at 1pm.

EASTON PUBLIC MARKET

We are excited to be part of the new Easton Public Market!

In late fall 2015 the Easton Public Market will be opening at 325 Northampton street in Easton.  Tolino Vineyards will selling wine by the bottle and the glass among the vendors that include a chocolatier, butcher, coffee roaster, a fish monger and many more.

Taste the Grape, Taste the Wine this weekend at Galen Glen

It's harvest time. Have you ever thought about the grapes that make your favorite wines? Join us this weekend for a unique opportunity to taste a grape varietal being harvested this week along with the last vintage of the wine made from that grape.

Weekends during the harvest season, Galen Glen Winery is offering a unique tasting experience for their visitors.  On Saturdays and Sundays in late-September and early-October, the winery is inviting customers to "Taste the Grape, Taste the Wine" by sharing the fruits of their harvest with winery visitors.

Tasting Room Manager Kathy Matson notes, "often when drinking wine one does not think about the actual grape varietal that makes the wine. Not only are we giving our visitors the opportunity to think about the grapes, but we are offering the grape as part of the tasting."

Each weekend during harvest, the winery will offer a sample grape of the varietals being harvested that week along with a complimentary taste of the wine that is produced from that varietal.  

Tour Time

Join us Saturday and Sunday at 3 pm for a guided walking tour of the vineyard. Walking tours are about one hour and one mile in length. You will meander through the vines, to our crush pad and wine cellar and then return to the tasting room. Tours are complimentary and reservations are not required.  We do suggest sturdy footwear.  Tours are given weather permitting. Tours are complimentary, and no reservations are required.

Future tour dates -  October 3 & 4 and 10 & 11

Galen Glen Winery
255 Winter Mountain Drive, Andreas, PA 18211

Are you following on Facebook? Enter our "Fan Friday" contest by Saturday, September 26 to win a new Evolution of Wine T-shirt.  Winner and some big news to be announced on Sunday, September 27.

Vynecrest September wine specials, new wine releases, and harvest update

Harvest update - Traminette has been picked and is in the winery fermenting, and we’ve also finished picking the Pinot Gris and Cayuga. We picked Pinot Noir and crushed it to become a Pinot Noir Dry Rose.

What's new - We have recently released the 2014 Lemberger, Vynecrest White, Vynecrest Red and Riesling.

September Specials 

* Wine of the Month - Summertime Red, additional 10% off 

* Three pack of the month - 3 First Blush for $25

*at winery only, 3 pack can't be combined with other discounts.

September 27 - Vineyard & Winery Tour and Jazz Sunday

Vineyard and Winery tour begins at noon. $5 per person. Tour should wrap up just in time to enjoy some live Jazz music in the Vyneskeller from 1 - 4 pm.

Glass Half Empty by Sam Landis

We started our 39th harvest here at Vynecrest this week and let me tell you there is nothing so romantic, poetic and inspiring as picking, pressing and fermenting the first grapes from a new year's vintage....booooooring.....let's take a quick peak into what "harvest" really is.

Yes, of course there is some inner beauty of growing and producing a future wine right from your own soil. There is the change of seasons and the maturation of the vines from spring through fall. There is the reward of all the hours spent in trying to fine tune 25 acres of grapes each plot of vineyard needing its own specific blueprint. There is the marrying of minds between the Vineyard Manager John and the Winemaker Malachi. There are notes, numbers, graphs and data to ensure the when that stem is clipped and that bunch of grapes falls into our press we have done the best we can for that future wine.

Then there is the other 90 percent of harvest which entails doing the same thing over and over and over. Once all of the intellectual capital is expended harvest really is all about shutting your mind off and becoming a robot. Set up, pick up, lift up, stack up, clean up, repeat. Mind you, this is not that terrible a thing in the least. You would be amazed at how quickly 10-12 hours disappears when you are not tethered to your iPhone, iPad or laptop (which I am as guilty of as anyone). It's actually incredibly liberating and lends itself to the best eight weeks of every year.

When a telemarketer calls to try and set up a meeting I tell them "Sorry, it's harvest season." 

Trash night at my house... "Sorry, it's harvest season." 

Can you do a special free tasting for our club, you will get such great exposure... "Sorry, it's harvest season." 

Sam, you are up on this month's newsletter write up... "Sorry, it's harvest season."

60 percent of the time it works every time.

Tolino Vino Fall Fest and Fundraiser set for September 26 in Bangor

Tolino Vino Fall Fest and Fundraiser – an inaugural festival and fundraiser featuring Tolino Vineyards’ wine, spectacular live music and tasty treats from local food trucks – makes its debut on Saturday, September 26 from noon to 7 p.m. at Tolino Vineyards. Enjoy wine tasting, live music, and wagon tours, and purchase wine and sangria by the glass and food from the TÄZA Truck and the Aioli Truck. Take in the fall sights and sounds of the vineyard while stomping grapes barefoot.  

The musical lineup will start with the Cherry Hill Duo at noon, followed by Scott Marshall and Marshall’s Highway, The Brummy Brothers, Matt Wheeler and Vintage Heart, The Wallace Brothers  and ending with Tom Vicario. Each artist brings their own signature musical style ranging from bluegrass, to singer-songwriter, to rock n’ roll.

A percentage of all wines sales will be donated to the Cancer Support Community of the Greater Lehigh Valley in the name of Anna Mae Becker. Mandy Tolino said "The reason we’re having the event is to honor Anne Mae Becker, our cousin who passed away from cancer. Anne Mae loved sharing a glass of wine with her family and would have loved this event.  It’s going to be a great day.”

Tolino Vino Fall Fest and Fundraiser tickets are now on sale starting at $10 per person and include a seven-hour music experience from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m, a wine tasting and hayride tour. Now through Friday, Sept 25, save $5 on all tickets purchased in advance. Guests under 5 years of age are free, and ages 5-20 and designated drivers are only $5. Advance tickets are encouraged as there will be an additional $5 charge on all tickets purchased on the day of the festival.

To purchase tickets visit www.tolinovineyards.com/specevent.html, call 610-588- WINE, or visit Tolino Vineyards during normal business hours (Monday-Friday, 1 - 6 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, noon - 6 p.m.)

Guests are encouraged to bring a blanket or chair for lawn seating. In the event of rain, the event will be moved inside the tank room and under a tent.
 
Artist lineup:
• Noon:  Cherry Hill Duo - country/top40
• 1:10     Scott Marshall and Marshall’s Highway -  Americana/southern rock/country
• 2:20     Brummy Brothers - bluegrass
• 3:30     Matt Wheeler and Vintage Heart - folk/indie
• 450      Wallace Brothers - folk/country
• 6:00     Tom Vicario  - oldies/country/top40
 
Food truck vendors:
• TÄZA Truck -  Egyptian inspired cuisine
• Aioli Truck - American cuisine

Tolino Vineyards offers a unique setting for this outdoor festival with majestic views of the vineyard and mountains. The winery has won numerous awards for wine, including Double Gold and Governor's Cup at the Pennsylvania Farm Show for their Cabernet Franc. Parking is complimentary.

LEHIGH VALLEY WINE TRAIL’S ANNUAL HARVEST WEEKEND EVENT CELEBRATES VITICULTURE, WINEMAKING, & FARMING

As summer winds down, harvest season begins at the nine locally owned and operated wineries of the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail. It’s the time of year when all of spring and summer’s hard work pays off for these farmers. The grapes they have grown are removed from the vine and their juices extracted for fermenting into the 2015 vintage.

On Saturday, Sept. 12 and Sunday, Sept. 13, the wineries will celebrate the grape harvest with the Wine Trail’s annual Harvest Weekend event during which they will welcome wine lovers for a variety of different activities at each winery such as tastings, vineyard and winery tours, food and wine pairings, and live entertainment. They 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.  Visit www.HarvestWeekendLVWT.com for complete event details.

Event hours are Saturday from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. and Sunday from noon - 5 p.m.  Harvest Weekend is a free event, however each winery sets its own wine tasting fee policy. Please refer to each winery’s web site for specifics.

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. For more information, visit www.LehighValleyWineTrail.com.

HARVEST WEEKEND 2015 HIGHLIGHTS

Amoré Vineyards & Winery, Nazareth - will pair beef barbecue and Cabaret Amore.

Big Creek Vineyard and Winery, Kresgeville - will showcase lemon squares and sugar cookie fruit tarts from MMM...  Cookies. Pair their treats with Moonlight White for the drier wine enthusiast, or Dulcinea for those who prefer something a little sweeter.

Blue Mountain Vineyards, New Tripoli – will partner with Sweet Finesse who will offer samples of their unique artisan chocolate treats to pair with Victoria’s Passion wine, as well as items for purchase. They are also partnering with Trixie’s Treats, award-winning baked goods and savory treats. On Saturday, they will have complimentary live music by Adam Motto from 1-5 pm. For Sunday Blues, award-winning musician Scott Marshall will perform live from 2-5 pm ($5 admission – advance reservations required). Guests should feel free to bring a picnic lunch and enjoy the breathtaking views from the outdoor deck.

Clover Hill Vineyards & Winery, Breinigsville – sample its newly released 2014 Pinot Noir. They will have a farm stand selling vegetables from Bleiler’s Produce Patch, an organic farm, which is located only minutes from the winery in Breinigsville. This weekend is also their anniversary sale. As a thank you for 30 years of business they are offering customers a 30 percent discount on wine purchases.

Franklin Hill Vineyards, Bangor – on Saturday join head winemaker Bonnie Pysher for a Harvest Hike through the vineyard at 1 pm. Bonnie will talk about how they harvest from vine to wine. Then return to the winery and enjoy an outdoor tasting under their new pavilion and a complimentary tour of the facility.  In celebration of the harvest they’ll offer cranberry apple sangria and apple cider spritzers by the glass all weekend, and they’ll have local products such as Klein Farms apple butter, McCollians honey, and fall treats and baked goods from Kendra’s Bakery in Nazareth. 

Galen Glen Vineyard & Winery, Andreas – will offer a complimentary pairing of Late Harvest wine with Mycella blue cheese drizzled with apple caramel sauce. Janet Derkits, renowned cheese monger of Seasons in Bethlehem, will sell cheese plates to enjoy with a glass of wine. Walking tours of the vineyard will be offered each day at 1 and 3 pm.

Pinnacle Ridge, Kutztown - will feature Dry Riesling or Vidal Blanc with fresh, locally grown tomatoes. The tomatoes will be sliced and served with extra virgin olive oil, sea salt and fresh goat cheese from Kirchenberg Farms.

Tolino Vineyards, Bangor - will welcome wine lovers for wine tastings, wagon tours of the vineyard, and live entertainment by the Boiled Owls on Saturday and Tom Vicario on Sunday. They will also offer guests local apples from Scholl Orchards paired with delicious dips, accompanied with their wine.

Vynecrest Winery, Breinigsville - will partner with PA Preferred food truck Stuffed to the Grills both days from 11 am - 5 pm. They will serve up their tasty sandwiches plus their signature dish of Irish nachos - homemade potato chips covered in cheddar cheese sauce and topped with crumbled bacon and green onion, which can then be paired with Vynecrest’s Autumn Gold wine. Vynecrest will also offer free tours of the vineyard and wine cellar each day at 1 pm.