Spiced Winter Red is back at Vynecrest; fall can now officially begin!

It's back! Spiced Winter Red is now available at Vynecrest.

The 2014 harvest is going great. We've picked Riesling, Chardonnay and Chambourcin so far. Just a few more weeks and all of the grapes will be in (we just need this great weather to hold out until then).

It is just about time to set our sights on the holidays. Christkindlmarkt opens in just a few weeks on November 21.

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Vynecrest is donating $1 for every bottle of First Blush sold to the Pennsylvania Breast Cancer Coalition.

October Specials 

- Wine of the Month - First Blush, additional 10% off 

- 3 Pack of the Month - 3 Autumn Gold for $25

(offers available at winery only; 3 pack can't be combined with other discounts.)

Upcoming Events

October 16 - Macungie Farmer's Market, Memorial Park, 4 - 7 pm

October 18 and 19 - Lehigh Valley Wine Trail Chambourcin Weekend
Vynecrest will be pairing our 2013 Chambourcin estate-grown wine with wild rice and chickpea salad. This healthy big grain and bean filled salad virtually works anywhere - at a picnic, dinner party, on a buffet table - from Hereford Country Store at the Macungie Farmers Market.

October 23 - Macungie Farmer's Market, Memorial Park, 4 - 7 pm

October 26 - Jazz Sunday, Live Jazz music in the Vyneskeller, 1 - 4 pm

October 30 - Macungie Farmer's Market, Memorial Park, 4 - 7 pm


Glass Half Empty 
2014 Harvest/cellar update by Malachi Duffy

We are about halfway through harvest with most of the white varieties picked and we are moving on to the reds. What looked to be a difficult vintage a few weeks ago has completely turned around with the recent sunny, warm, dry weather.

The weather usually favors white varieties or red varieties any given year but not both. This year is unique in that so far it looks great for both. The lower temperatures and really low night time temps are great for whites but don't do much to produce that ripe red fruit we look for in reds. That last few weeks have been warm and sunny enough to really ripen the remaining red grapes so things are looking good for 2014.

In the cellar we are bottling the remainder of the 2013 wines to make room for the incoming fruit. We are also putting the finishing touches on a new dry red wine to be released in November.

Vynecrest begins grape harvest

The grapes are coming in! Recently we picked Geisenheim that we use for our Riesling blend, as well as Vignoles and Seyval Blanc. The harvest has been great so far. Next week we will likely pick Pinot Grigio. We started off a little slow this year in terms of ripening but the weather is finally cooperating.

September Specials 
* Wine of the Month - Dry Riesling, additional 10% off
* Three pack of the month - 3 First Blush for $30

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

Upcoming Events
September 18 - Macungie Farmer's Market, Memorial Park, 4 - 7 pm

September 25 - Macungie Farmer's Market, Memorial Park, 4 - 7 pm

September 28 - Jazz Sunday - Live Jazz music in the Vyneskeller, 1 - 4 pm, and Vineyard and Winery Tour at noon, $5 per person

Glass Half Empty

Is summer over? Really over? It went by so quickly. 

It’s September, back to school and work, and around here that means Harvest with a capital H. And it’s already started. Yes, we harvested our Geisenheim grapes on August 28. Geisenheim who? It’s a German Riesling hybrid grape which, when blended with our Riesling, adds that necessary bit of acidity which gives our Dry Riesling and our semi-sweet Riesling wines a special added tartness and grapefruit taste.

Also, being one of the earliest grapes to ripen, it attracts those nasty black birds who come looking to spoil our harvest. So by harvesting this grape early, we hope to encourage them to go elsewhere to eat. Meanwhile the rest of the vineyard has a chance to ripen even more.

This is a very special time of year for us as we kick off vintage 2014! We hope to see you soon.

For more information, visit www.vynecrest.com

Winery in Breinigsville - Open seven days a week, 11 am - 5 pm
Vynecrest on Main in Kutztown - Open seven Days a week, noon - 6 pm

Vynecrest celebrates Christmas in July

Christmas in July
It is that time of year again: July 18-21 mention this blog post and get 25% off the purchase of 12 or more bottles.

For customers who can't make it to the winery, we are offering free shipping on six or more bottles during the same time period. No discount code needed at checkout, you just need to have six or more bottles in your cart. (This discount applies to online orders only; phone-in orders will be subject to normal shipping prices.)

New Releases 
2012 Cabernet Franc

July Specials 
* Wine of the Month - Sparkling Vidal - additional 10% off
* 3 Pack of the Month - DiVyne Red or Niagara, any combination $25
*available at winery only

Upcoming Events

• July 6 - Vynecrest Winery will be conducting a wine tasting at Evergreen German Club in Fleetwood at 7 pm. Open to the public, $10 per person, includes six wine tastings accompanied by cheese and meat, and one glass of wine. Email mthdmom@comcast.net for reservations.
• July 11, 18 and 25  - Macungie Farmer's Market, Memorial Park, 4 - 7 pm
• July 27 and 28 - Wine on the Mountain, Penn's Peak  - Lehigh Valley Wine Trail's annual wine festival. Tickets in advance (sold at the winery and on line at www.lehighvalleywinetrail.com) $15 in advance, $20 at the door. Noon to 5 pm both days. Air conditioned venue, live music, local artisans and vendors. All eight Lehigh Valley Wine Trail wineries will be there!
• July 29 
• Jazz Sunday - Live Jazz music in the Vyneskeller, 1- 4 pm 
• Vineyard and Winery Tour with the winemaker, 1 pm, $5 per person
• August 1 and 8 - Macungie Farmer's Market, Memorial Park, 4 - 7 pm

Glass Half Empty by Jan Landis

No Farms, No Wine

As a kid coming back from the Jersey shore, stopping at a farm stand on the way home was part of the vacation experience, almost like picking up souvenirs - tomatoes, corn, peaches, etc.

In the past 20 years, in the name of progress, we seem determined to pave over and develop every acre of farmland. However, the farm-to-table movement has now become popular and small truck farmers gather in local farmers' markets to sell their produce.

For the past five seasons, we have been fortunate to be a part of this groundswell at the Macungie Farmers Market every Thursday from 4-7 pm in the Macungie Memorial Park. It's a terrific group of farmers and vendors, all offering local foodstuffs - from freshly picked vegetables and fruit in season, to quiches, cupcakes, baked beans, and of course wine!

Buy Fresh Buy Local Greater Lehigh Valley is a grass roots country-wide organization promoting local farm products. It promotes various farmers markets in the Lehigh Valley, as does the PA Preferred program. When our family goes to Maine in the fall, we always visit the local Brunswick Farmers Market on Tuesdays and Fridays, but unfortunately they don't have wine.

Come out and support these local markets, and bring home souvenirs from your staycation this summer. Believe me, you and your family will benefit by eating these wonderful, fresh, local products. Now that's progress!

Veraison comes to Vynecrest

The year is flying by. It is hard to believe we will be picking grapes by the end of the month. We have some great music lined up this month with some of the Vynecrest favorites as well as a couple of new artists.



August Specials

Wine of the Month - Blueberry, additional 10% off
Three Pack of the Month - 3 Autumn Gold for $25
**at winery only; 3 pack can't be combined with other discounts

Upcoming Events

• August 9 - Macungie Farmer's Market, Memorial Park, 4 -  7pm
• August 11 - Live music in the Vyneskeller, Jake Kaligis, 1:30-4:30 pm
• August 16 - Macungie Farmer's Market, Memorial Park, 4 - 7 pm
• August 18 - Live music in the Vyneskeller, Connie Edinger, 1:30-4:30 pm
• August 25 - Live music in the Vyneskeller, Valerie Borman, 1:30-4:30 pm
• August 26
• Jazz Sunday, Live music in the Vyneskeller, Body & Soul, 12:30-3:30 pm
• Tour of the vineyard & wine cellar with the winemaker, 1 pm, $5 per person
• August 30 - Macungie Farmer's Market, Memorial Park, 4 - 7 pm
• September 1 - Live music in the Vyneskeller, Mallon Hill, 1:30-4:30 pm

In The Vineyard

It's an exciting time in the vineyard. Veraison has started and the grapes are beginning to change color. While this change in color means harvest is getting closer, it is also a signal to the birds that the grapes are ready to eat.

So if you stop by the winery and see someone chasing after the birds on a 4-wheeler and yelling, we aren't crazy (yet), we are just trying to scare the birds away so we have something to pick next month.

Glass Half Empty

By Jan Landis

John and I go to Maine on vacation every year. This year, the sailing camp we go to twisted our arm to do a wine tasting. Usually we don’t mix business and pleasure, but agreed to do it on a small scale by mixing chocolates in to the deal.

As some of you know if you have visited the winery in the past few months, we now have wonderful chocolate bars available from Sweet Indulgence by Christina from Bethlehem. We have developed a flight of five chocolate bars paired with our wines. We took three of these to Maine, including a white chocolate with lemon to pair with our blueberry wine. Maine is known for lobsters and blueberries, so it seemed like a no-brainer to do a wine pairing with blueberry wine in Maine.

Everyone loved the fun idea of pairing the wine and chocolate. People naturally think of red wine paired with red meat and white wine paired with chicken or fish, but the idea of wine and chocolate is more unconventional, but a great treat!

I’m hoping to do a similar type of pairing here at the winery some Friday night this fall. The boys are all very busy in the fall with harvest, but I thought this is something I could do on my own once the weather cools down. So look for an announcement perhaps in the next newsletter about a fun event of a flight of wine and chocolate.

Celebrate Christmas in July at Vynecrest, July 19 - 22

Christmas in July

It is that time of year again at Vynecrest! July 19 through July 22 mention this promotion, and get 25% off 12 or more bottles. For our customers who can't make it to the winery, we are offering free shipping on 6 or more bottles during the same time period, July 19 through 22. No discount code needed at checkout, you just need to have six or more bottles in your cart. This discount applies to online orders only; phone-in orders will be subject to normal shipping prices.

July Specials

Wine of the Month - Chardonnay - additional 10% off
3 Pack of the Month - 3 Vynecrest Red for $25.00
(specials available at winery only)

In The Vineyard

The 2012 vintage started for Vynecrest with our annual delivery of Montmorency sour cherries from Peter's Orchard in Carlisle, Pa. The cherries are fermenting in the cellar now.

In the vineyard, we are busy removing excess leaves and shoots from the vines. Soon we will have to start hedging and dropping some of the fruit from the vines.

Upcoming events

• July 19 - Macungie Farmer's Market, Memorial Park, 4 - 7 pm
• July 21 - Live music in the Vyneskeller, Billy Bauer, 1:30-4:30 pm
• July 26 - Macungie Farmer's Market, Memorial Park, 4pm - 7 pm
• July 28 & 29 - Wine on the Mountain, Penn's Peak
• July 28 - Live music in the Vyneskeller, Gary Reed, 1:30-4:30 pm
• July 29 - Jazz Sunday - Live Jazz music in the Vyneskeller with Andy & Dan, 12:30-3:30pm; Vineyard & Winery Tour with the winemaker, 1 pm, $5 per person
• August 2 - Macungie Farmer's Market, Memorial Park, 4 pm - 7 pm
• August 4 - Live music in the Vyneskeller, Billy Bauer, 1:30-4:30 pm

Glass Half Empty

Starting this month, our newsletter will feature a quirky inside look at the wine business from one of the the four partners. We sometimes get so bogged down in the day-to-day duties that we forget to mention some of the most interesting things that go on around here. Some of these things are insightful, some are depressing and some are just downright funny. So here is the first installment of "Glass Half Empty" which is aptly titled since our best ideas usually occur at the end of the day after a glass or three...


By Sam Landis

We were just at the Split Rock Wine Festival in the Poconos a few weeks ago and I am always shocked at not only the outfits I see (or lack there of), but the wide range of consumer preferences of wine. Red, white, sweet, dry, blah blah blah... but as we get into the dog days of summer and the thermostat starts rising, wine temperature has always intrigued me.

We try to serve our white wines and sweeter reds as cold as possible for obvious reasons during the summer. I even know of some people (actually a lot) who put ice cubes in their wine. Some would scoff at this idea, but from my point of view if that's your preference, go for it. Who cares what people think? It's YOUR wine.

I wanted to share a little tidbit I have with one wine in particular, Chardonnay. I was in the wine cellar a few weeks ago talking with Malachi and we both got into how, for whatever reason, we enjoy drinking our Chardonnay and other Chardonnays room temperature. Because of the fact that most Chardonnays go through Malolactic fermentation and are usually aged on oak, when they are chilled down they get stripped of a lot of these unique characteristics.

So give it a shot next time you're at a barbeque or having friends over. Try some Chardonnay head-to-head - one chilled and one room temp - and see what you think. It might just be something that you're missing out on....or you might just go grab some ice cubes immediately! Either way who cares? It's YOUR wine!

Vynecrest Winery joins Macungie Farmer's Market

The Macungie Farmer's Market is up and running for the season. You can find Vynecrest and many other vendors every Thursday from 4 - 7 p.m. at Memorial Park in Macungie. The Farmer's Market runs through October. We look forward to seeing you there!

Wine on the Mountain tickets are now on sale at the winery for a discounted price of $14. This festival located at Penn's Peak in Jim Thorpe will feature wineries from the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail, live music, and various local artisans on July 28 & 29 from noon - 5 p.m.

June Specials

• Wine of the Month -Cherry DiVyne, additional 10%**

• Three Pack of the Month - 3 Niagara for $25**

**at winery only, 3 pack of the month cannot be combined with other discounts

In The Vineyard

The recent rain and warm weather has the vines growing like, well, vines. It won't be long before we will need to do our first hedging of the season. We hedge because if the vines get too tall they will fall over and cover the fruit, reducing the amount of sun and air in the fruit zone.

Upcoming Events

• June 21 - Macungie Farmer's Market, Memorial Park, 4 - 7 pm
• June 23 - Live music in the Vyneskeller, Jake Kaligis, 1:30-4:30 pm
• June 24 - Tour of the Vineyard & Winery with the winemaker, 1 pm, $5 per person; Jazz Sunday - Live Jazz Music with Andy & Dan, 12:30 - 3:30 pm
• June 28 - Macungie Farmer's Market, Memorial Park, 4 - 7 pm
• June 30 - Live music in the Vyneskeller, Chuck Schubert, 1:30-4:30 pm
• July 5 - Macungie Farmer's Market, Memorial Park, 4 - 7 pm
• July 7 - Live music in the Vyneskeller, Rob & Marty, 1:30-4:30 pm

Holiday Hours: July 4 - open 10 am - 2 pm.