Open House Concert Series, Case Club Member Event, and Syrah on Sale at Pinnacle Ridge this month

Syrah on sale
Our 2013 Syrah is marked down to $13.99. Taste this zesty, peppery red - it pairs beautifully with cheese, mushrooms, and lamb.

We took home more medals!
This May marked the 77th year of the Los Angeles International Wine Competition - a world-famous event where almost 100 wine writers, viticulturists, sommeliers, and educators come together to sample and critique a wide array of wines.

The competition spans several continents, and welcomes vintages from such famous wine regions as Australia, France, Germany, and Argentina. All entries are blind-tasted, each glass marked only with a number. This is to ensure that the judges are completely objective in their assessments.

This year, Pinnacle Ridge is proud to announce that of the five wines we sent to LA, all of them returned with awards. We received two Gold Medal wins: Cuvee Chardonnay (93/100 points), and Late Harvest Vidal Blanc (90/100 points). The other three wines all garnered silver medals: the Sparkling Brut Rose and Blanc de Blanc, as well as the Chambourcin Rose.

This continues our streak of medalling every wine that we have sent out so far in 2016. First we swept the PA Farm Show, then the Finger Lakes Wine Competition, and now Los Angeles.

Case Club Event: Think Pink! "Rosés from around the world"
July 10 - 3 pm

Join winemaker Brad as he takes you on a tour of a style of winemaking known as rosé. While rosés might be similar in color, they offer a world of varieties in texture, mouthfeel, flavor profile, and body. Case Club members are welcome to bring up to 3 guests! (Please present your card at the door.) Reservations required: 610-756-4481 or pinnacle_ridge_winery@yahoo.com

Open House Concert Series

Saturday, July 9 - 2 - 5 pm
Scott Marshall and the Hillbilly Souls
Licensed2Grill food truck

"The Hillbilly Souls have been paving a reputation for themselves by delivering authentic doses of true, heartfelt, real life, get it right, feel good, foot stompin', Northern grilled and lil' Southern fried Americana spiced roots music."

Saturday July 16
2 - 5 pm: Big and Bad Rockabilly Cats
Food Truck: Bob-B-Q

With Eddie Bluestone on guitar, Dog House Dave on upright bass, and Steady Eddie on the skins, their rockabilly style will transport you right back to the era of big cars, root beer floats, and sockhops.

Saturday July 30
2 - 5 pm: Tim Harakal
Food Truck: The Taza Truck

"Tim Harakal's hands are at one with the guitar strings, they have become an extension of his heart, soul, and spirit. Playing from a cache of 40+ original tunes with a nice balance of popular current and classic covers. He was recently awarded 'Best Singer/Songwriter' and 'Best Lyricist.'"

Pinnacle Ridge to release three new wines in February

February Special:
Syrah -$12.99

This will be the last vintage for our Syrah. With an earthy, fruit-driven nose and a soft velvety mouth feel, this wine is enhanced with notes of plum, pepper and a touch of vanilla. This sale is only until February 28, so grab a bottle before it's gone. Not in the area? Purchase anytime online.

Case Club Event:
How to Pair a Sparkling Wine
February 12 at 5 pm

Due to its massive popularity, we will once again be hosting a class for Case Club members - How to pair a sparkling wine with appetizers. Winemaker Brad Knapp will give you pointers and samples of the many things you can do with a bubbly. We will be showcasing three sparkling wines: Brut Rose, Blanc de Blanc, and the brand new Cuvee Chardonnay.

Reservations are required: call 610-756-4481 or email pinnacle_ridge_winery@yahoo.com.
Case Club members may bring up to three guests. Sign up early; seats are going fast.

BEING RELEASED IN FEBRUARY:

Cuvée Chardonnay

Made with 100% Chardonnay, this will be the driest option for our Sparkling Wine. The Cuvée Chardonnay was released February 6. Stop in for a tasting and pick up a bottle for your Valentine's Day celebration.

2015 Cayuga

Fresh pear and peach aromas, followed by some wonderful fruit cocktail flavors.

2014 Chardonnay

New Vintage. Barrel fermented in 100% French Oak. In the nose are hints of toast and apples followed by a round and soft buttery body. A perfect pairing for rotisserie chicken or a selection of good cheeses.

Keep an eye out for these new wines:

Grüner Veltliner 

Subtle notes of white and green peppercorn are balanced by ripe citrus on the nose, inviting new aromas with each intake of breath. A rich texture, coupled with a lingering finish, make this wine a perfect pairing for light appetizers and white meats.

Late Harvest Vidal Blanc

This dessert wine is a decadent treat! Aromas of tropical fruits and honey make this wine a perfect pairing for Crème Brûlée or for after dinner sipping.

Open House Concert Series

Our open house concert series will begin again on May 21.

Late-summer at Pinnacle Ridge

PINNACLE RIDGE WINERY'S SUMMER CONCERT SERIES CONTINUES WITH THE HANNAH VIOLET TRIO
Saturday, August 4 from 2 - 5 p.m.

During the Saturday portion of the Berks County Wine Trail's Christmas in August event the third installment of Pinnacle Ridge's Summer Concert Series  will be taking place.  We thank the Wallace Brothers Band for performing last month, but if you missed them, there is still time to sit back and relax with great tunes and cool wine.  

We are happy to have The Hannah Violet Trio performing on August 4th!  This very talented musician, singer-songwriter plays the fiddle, guitar, piano, and sings her heart out!  She has toured through out Europe with the American Music Abroad Choir and sang in Austria and Switzerland.  Hannah has also created a Music Therapy program for Heartland Hospice in Reading.  She is currently back in the studio of Jim Heffernan, dobro player/guitarist who toured with Brad Paisley and Joe Diffie, to record her upoming CD "Violet Sky". Check out Hannah's blog and music schedule at http://www.hannahviolet.com.rom.

There is no cover charge for this event.  Chef Ben Underwood will again have his delicous creations for sale and of course there will be Pinnacle Ridge wine available for purchase.

Upcoming Music:

September 8 from noon -5 p.m. - Blues in the Barn - The Wallace Brothers Band - Mighty Manatees - www.themightymanatees.com

September 9 from noon - 5 p.m. - Blues in the Barn - James Supra Blues Band - Kelchner Brothers Band - www.kelchnerbrothers.com

October 6 from 2 - 5 p.m. - Jack Murray and the Midnight Creeps
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jack-Murray-the-Midnigh-Creep

NEW RELEASES

We recently released a variety of new wines in the past month including our 2010 Chambourcin and 2010 Syrah. The new 2011 white offerings are crisp and fruity. The 2010 Veritas and 2010 Chambourcin Reserve will be released in either late August or early September. These are exciting wines and are definitely worth the trip to the winery.

LATE SUMMER 2012

As the summer lumbers along, the days get shorter, the nights longer, those lazy afternoons with sweltering heat, katydids, cicadas, frog sounds. A delicious melody indeed. During this time of year activity in the vineyard also starts to slow down. The vines begin the process of focusing on ripening fruit. The green shoots start to turn brown and harden. The shoot tips stop growing. Canopy management activities stop. Basically we wait for the vines to ripen their crop. So it’s a time for the winemaker and other winery personnel to kick back and relax, right? Wrong!

This is the time of year that we start to think very hard about the upcoming harvest. Harvest, of course, is the most active time of the year at any winery. Everything has to be operational - the destemmer, crusher, press, clarification equipment, pumps, refrigeration equipment, hoses, tractors, etc. Everything has to be clean and ready for the receipt of this year's vintage. Do we have enough tank space for the whites? Are there enough bins for fermentation of the red grapes? Do we have enough barrels? Have we bottled everything that we have to in order to get through the fall without running out of wine? Do we have enough supplies, yeast, enzymes, and bacteria? It's a complex process planning for a small winery that produces over 20 types of wines. There are many small lots of grapes that are treated as individual batches until it is time to blend. We will be processing something like 80 tons of grapes and most of the batches are no larger than four tons. So we will end up with over 30 "batches" of wine in the cellar during harvest. It can get very confusing remembering what is what and where everything is. If you get behind on record keeping, it's a lost cause.  What yeast strain for Dry Vidal? What enzymes for the new Chambourcin?

It is also the most exciting time of the year. Every vintage is optimistic at this point in time and, as a winemaker, looking at the New Year is always a glass half-full (half-full of what you might add). I personally get very optimistic and fired up to tackle any problem thrown at me. I can't allow myself to get beaten down by the sheer magnitude of the harvest. I have to keep going, I have to get up, spread the lugs, meet the pickers, and orchestrate the picking so everybody is harvesting the right vines, in the right way. If there is rot, it must be picked out in the field. It all just has to be done - no excuses, just get it done.

Oh, and some of you might have noticed a rather large (6' 2"), young man running around the winery the last few weeks. My son is visiting while on break from his studies in enology (winemaking) at California Polytechnic State University (otherwise known as Cal Poly) at San Luis Obispo. He has to head back soon so I don't get to abuse him this harvest. Two years down and two to go.