We have a few cases of Spiced Winter Red and Spiced Winter White left to help take the chill off.
We have reopened after a quick break and are back to our normal hours:
Breinigsville - Open seven days a week, 11 am - 5 pm (Friday open until 5:30 pm)
Kutztown - Open Thursday - Sunday, noon - 6 pm
January Specials
- Wine of the Month - Nouveau Beaujolais, additional 10% off
- 3 Pack of the Month - 3 Spiced Winter White, $35
(*at winery only, 3 pack can't be combined with other discounts)
Upcoming Events
Vynecrest Piano and Wine Bar - Open every Saturday and Sunday, 1 - 5 pm
January 30 - Super Bowl Chili Saturday
We are celebrating a week early and will be sampling red and white Chili at Vynecrest Winery in Breinigsville made by Mr. Bill's from the Allentown Fairgrounds Farmers Market.
The red turkey chili is made with local grown, antibiotic free, skinless turkey meat blended with tomatoes, beans, and spices.
The white chicken chili is a blend of chicken breast meat and ground chicken with a puree of white beans and sautéed onions, garlic, celery and a unique spice blend.
The winery is open 11 am - 5 pm, and bowls of both chilis will also be available for purchase in the Vyneskeller Wine Bar along with wine by the glass and bottle. Admission is free and reservations are not needed.
January 31 - Jazz Sunday, Live Jazz music in the Vyneskeller, 1 - 4 pm
February 13 and 14 - Valentine's Day Weekend
Our Vyneskeller wine bar will be opening early Valentine's Day weekend. From 10 am to noon, both Saturday and Sunday, we will be selling $3 mimosas and pastries & croissants. Chocolate covered strawberries and Valentine boxes from Billy's Candies will be available for purchases as well. A great beginning to Valentines Day! Limited seating, please call ahead for a reservation. 610-398-7525
We will have live music in the Vyneskeller on Saturday from 10 am - 4 pm, and Sunday from 1 - 4pm.
In addition, we will be partnering with Sorrelli's Jewelry in the main tasting room on Saturday. They will be debuting their 2016 spring collection. Any Sorrelli purchase made at Vynecrest that day will entitle you to 10% off a 6 bottle purchase (normally a 5% discount).
February 6 - Super Bowl Saturday - Wear your favorite NFL gear and get an additional 10% off your wine purchase
February 28 - Jazz Sunday, Live Jazz music in the Vyneskeller, 1 - 4 pm
Glass Half Empty by Malachi Duffy
We are getting ready for our annual meeting to go over 2015, what went right, what went wrong, and what can we do better. We go over sales numbers, events, personnel, new wines and anything else we don't get a chance to really delve into throughout the year. Last year was great. Looking back on what made it great makes you realize how many pieces there are to this crazy Vynecrest puzzle.
Though it takes all of the pieces coming together to get the job done, the most important are the people in and around Vynecrest. Every facet of this business relies on the support of great people. We have friends and neighbors who are there to help us fix equipment and maintain the property. We have an awesome staff who go above and beyond and make Vynecrest a fun place to work. We also have great customers whom we love making all of this wine for.
So, cheers to all of you who helped make 2015 great. Here's to an even better 2016!
Showing posts with label vyneskeller. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vyneskeller. Show all posts
Monday, January 11, 2016
Thursday, December 10, 2015
Customer Appreciation Weekend at Vynecrest going on now!
Another great year is coming to a close and as our way of saying thank you from Thursday, December 10 through Sunday, December 13, Vynecrest will offer 25% off 12 or more bottles. Just mention the promotion when checking out to receive your discount. This discount is valid at the winery in Breinigsville or the wine shoppe in Kutztown only and cannot be combined with any other offers.
Beat the crowds and join us Thursday, December 10 and Friday, December 11 for extended hours. We will be open until 8 pm both days. Join us Friday evening for music in the Vyneskeller featuring Steve Myers playing Christmas tunes on the baby grand piano.
We will also have Steve Myers playing in the Vyneskeller Saturday & Sunday from 1-4 pm.
While you are visiting the winery don't forget to pick up a gift for the wine lover in your life. We have Cherry DiVyne packaged with chocolate (makes a great hostess gift), wine-scented candles, and many more gifts.
Beat the crowds and join us Thursday, December 10 and Friday, December 11 for extended hours. We will be open until 8 pm both days. Join us Friday evening for music in the Vyneskeller featuring Steve Myers playing Christmas tunes on the baby grand piano.
We will also have Steve Myers playing in the Vyneskeller Saturday & Sunday from 1-4 pm.
While you are visiting the winery don't forget to pick up a gift for the wine lover in your life. We have Cherry DiVyne packaged with chocolate (makes a great hostess gift), wine-scented candles, and many more gifts.
Friday, September 18, 2015
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.
Thursday, May 14, 2015
Vynecrest and Clover Hill plan annual Spring Fling event in early June
The vineyard is starting to come back to life after the harsh winter. The vines are pruned and buds are starting to open up. We planted an additional 800 Chardonnay vines last week and replanted 300 vines that were lost to winter injury.
The Vyneskeller is now open seven days a week from 1 - 5 pm. Monday through Friday it is self service. You can buy everything you need upstairs in the tasting room (wine, cheese, crackers) and take it with you downstairs to the patio or out to the picnic tables. Saturday and Sunday is business as usual with our full staff.
May Specials
* Wine of the Month - Naked Chardonnay - additional 10% off
* 3 Pack of the Month - 3 Autumn Gold for $25
(*available at winery only; 3 pack cannot be combined with other offers.)
June 6 - Third Annual Spring Fling
Spring signals new beginnings and new releases at the wineries. Join Clover Hill and Vynecrest Wineries in Breinigsville in celebrating with three wine pairings at each winery – with cheese at Clover Hill and with dessert at Vynecrest. Tickets on sale now at both wineries and the day of the event. Tickets are limited so call Clover Hill 610-395-2468 and Vynecrest 610-398-7525. (Ticket includes 10% discount on your purchase on the day of the event.)
Clover Hill:
Vidal Verde paired with Buche de Chevre. Vidal Verde is Clover Hill’s newest release, a dry white wine that is patterned after the Portuguese Vinho Verde wines. In the wine you will taste pineapple and citrus flavors with a hint of effervescence. The wine is complemented by Buche de Chevre, a goat’s milk cheese with a rich yet tangy taste.
2013 Cabernet Sauvignon paired with Collier’s Cheddar. The 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon is full of rich, ripe flavor and hearty tannins. This is a perfect partner to serve with an aged cheddar cheese like the Colliers.
DeChaunac paired with Red Dragon. DeChaunac is a semi-sweet red wine that shows both fruity and earthy characteristics. Red Dragon is a smooth, firm cheddar cheese made with mustard seeds. The hint of heat in the cheese is perfectly complemented by the bit of sweetness in the wine.
Vynecrest:
2013 Semi Sweet Riesling with coconut macaroon. Our Riesling is one of our staple grapes in our vineyard as well on our wine list. This wine exhibits a floral nose and clean, tart finish with a hint of sweetness which balances perfectly with the moist texture and rich decadence of the macaroon.
2013 Blueberry with frosted lemon pound cake. Made from 100% blueberries, we just get out of the way and let the fruit speak for itself… think roadside farm stand. While it can be difficult to pair with, we have found that it lends itself perfect when married with lemon and throw in the frosted exterior of the pound cake and you have yourself a homerun.
2013 Chambourcin with chocolate chip brownie.“The Jewel of the Lehigh Valley” our 2013 Chambourcin is no exception focusing on ripe, jammy fruit and soft delicate tannins on the back end. Because of that combination, you get the balance of the cherry flavors with the rich Brownie cake and the subtle French oak finish melding together perfectly with the semi-sweet chocolate chips.
Glass Half Empty by Sam Landis
We get questions all the time about the wine making process and how it works. For the most part, it is a very detail-oriented process. It starts in the vineyard as we look at blocks of vines and prune them and cluster thin so as to get the desired sugar and acids that we want reflected in those wines. Then we look at spreadsheet upon spreadsheet of sell out dates and projected sales and then crunch numbers and do trials and blends. We end up with wine plan after wine plan constantly updating, reallocating and finalizing.
But every once in awhile, we just wing it! That's what happened the other day when we were blending our 2014 First Blush. The blend was so unique (excess Riesling, Traminette and Pinot Grigio) that when we tasted it we said this is really, really good!
So on the spot we "stole" 300 gallons of that wine and said we are going to make a Dry Rose this year. Instead of finishing it off with some fruit-forward semi-sweet Chambourcin like we have in our First Blush, we added some dry, tannic, slightly oaked Chambourcin and presto... Dry Rose was born. While on paper the move does not make sense, I believe its things like this that keep you sane in the wine cellar and continue to push to make the best wines you can regardless of what a spreadsheet spits out. Winging it never looked and tasted so good!
So look forward to our new creation, Dry Rose, in June. An added plus is that my dog, Sadie, got on her first label, much to the happiness of my wife, who has been gently reminding me for seven years that my parents' dog Maizey is on three labels, and Sadie doesn't have any.
May Specials
* Wine of the Month - Naked Chardonnay - additional 10% off
* 3 Pack of the Month - 3 Autumn Gold for $25
(*available at winery only; 3 pack cannot be combined with other offers.)
June 6 - Third Annual Spring Fling
Spring signals new beginnings and new releases at the wineries. Join Clover Hill and Vynecrest Wineries in Breinigsville in celebrating with three wine pairings at each winery – with cheese at Clover Hill and with dessert at Vynecrest. Tickets on sale now at both wineries and the day of the event. Tickets are limited so call Clover Hill 610-395-2468 and Vynecrest 610-398-7525. (Ticket includes 10% discount on your purchase on the day of the event.)
Clover Hill:
Vidal Verde paired with Buche de Chevre. Vidal Verde is Clover Hill’s newest release, a dry white wine that is patterned after the Portuguese Vinho Verde wines. In the wine you will taste pineapple and citrus flavors with a hint of effervescence. The wine is complemented by Buche de Chevre, a goat’s milk cheese with a rich yet tangy taste.
2013 Cabernet Sauvignon paired with Collier’s Cheddar. The 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon is full of rich, ripe flavor and hearty tannins. This is a perfect partner to serve with an aged cheddar cheese like the Colliers.
DeChaunac paired with Red Dragon. DeChaunac is a semi-sweet red wine that shows both fruity and earthy characteristics. Red Dragon is a smooth, firm cheddar cheese made with mustard seeds. The hint of heat in the cheese is perfectly complemented by the bit of sweetness in the wine.
Vynecrest:
2013 Semi Sweet Riesling with coconut macaroon. Our Riesling is one of our staple grapes in our vineyard as well on our wine list. This wine exhibits a floral nose and clean, tart finish with a hint of sweetness which balances perfectly with the moist texture and rich decadence of the macaroon.
2013 Blueberry with frosted lemon pound cake. Made from 100% blueberries, we just get out of the way and let the fruit speak for itself… think roadside farm stand. While it can be difficult to pair with, we have found that it lends itself perfect when married with lemon and throw in the frosted exterior of the pound cake and you have yourself a homerun.
Glass Half Empty by Sam Landis
We get questions all the time about the wine making process and how it works. For the most part, it is a very detail-oriented process. It starts in the vineyard as we look at blocks of vines and prune them and cluster thin so as to get the desired sugar and acids that we want reflected in those wines. Then we look at spreadsheet upon spreadsheet of sell out dates and projected sales and then crunch numbers and do trials and blends. We end up with wine plan after wine plan constantly updating, reallocating and finalizing.
But every once in awhile, we just wing it! That's what happened the other day when we were blending our 2014 First Blush. The blend was so unique (excess Riesling, Traminette and Pinot Grigio) that when we tasted it we said this is really, really good!
So on the spot we "stole" 300 gallons of that wine and said we are going to make a Dry Rose this year. Instead of finishing it off with some fruit-forward semi-sweet Chambourcin like we have in our First Blush, we added some dry, tannic, slightly oaked Chambourcin and presto... Dry Rose was born. While on paper the move does not make sense, I believe its things like this that keep you sane in the wine cellar and continue to push to make the best wines you can regardless of what a spreadsheet spits out. Winging it never looked and tasted so good!
So look forward to our new creation, Dry Rose, in June. An added plus is that my dog, Sadie, got on her first label, much to the happiness of my wife, who has been gently reminding me for seven years that my parents' dog Maizey is on three labels, and Sadie doesn't have any.
Wednesday, April 8, 2015
Vynecrest invites wine lovers to join them for Brunch and a Ballgame on April 19
The weather is finally starting to warm up. That means the dormant buds on the vine will begin to swell and eventually open, signaling the start of the 2015 growing season.
April Specials
* Wine of the Month - Riesling, additional 10% off
* 3 Pack of the Month - 3 DiVyne Red for $25.
(available at winery only; 3 pack cannot be combined with other offers.)
Upcoming Events
April and May - Vynecrest Piano and Wine Bar - Open every Saturday and Sunday, 1 - 5 pm. Free admission.
April 19 - Brunch and a Ballgame
Come out and celebrate spring as we showcase Food, Wine and the Phillies on April 19 from 11 am - 5 pm. Highlights include the following:
* Signature sangrias on special for $3 from 11 am - 1 pm.
* FUD truck on site all day.
* Phillies vs. Nationals in the Vyneskeller starting at 1:35 pm.
* Patio will be open.
Pop on in, catch a few innings, grab a bite to eat and glass of wine, and kiss winter goodbye.
Sunday, April 26 - Jazz Sunday, Live Jazz music in the Vyneskeller, 1 - 4 pm.
May 16 and 17 - Spring Wine and Cheese Event
This event features the pairing of cheeses with local wines at each of the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail's nine member wineries. This year’s event theme is “Local Wine with Cheeses from Around the World.” Each winery will select one of its fine wines to pair with the perfect cheese and will offer complimentary tastings of the pairing to wine lovers who will explore how the texture, acidity, fat and tannin compliment or contrast each other.
Guests will also learn tips to help them skillfully develop their own pairings. Cheeses will be offered for sale so that guests can recreate the wine and cheese pairings at home.
Glass Half Empty
by Jim Hutchings
With the arrival of April, I look back on the busy month we leave behind. March is the true beginning of the year for me from a winery perspective. It’s when the vines start to awaken and the weather typically begins to turn from the blustery cold winter to the beautiful springtime.
Vino in the Valley is what brings many of our longtime customers out of hibernation as well. While I see many customers several times throughout the year, there are others who I look forward seeing on their annual pilgrimage each March. It’s a good time to reflect on what’s new on our wine list from their last visit and think about what’s in the works for the year to come.
This year we saw Cabernet Franc (a favorite grape of mine) taken off of the list but in its place is a real winner: No. 36, a Merlot-based blend which shows how great Merlot from the Lehigh Valley can be. Some of our Cabernet Franc has made it into this blend as well, so that old friend is not too far away.
The conclusion of March also officially kicks off our 2015 festival season - we’ll be setting up with some of our other winery friends this Saturday, April 4 at Bear Creek Mountain Resort for their Spring Wine Festival. That fun festival gets us chatting with our fellow winery workers and prepares us for the rest of the summer festivals including Split Rock in June, Penn’s Peak in July, and of course the many Lehigh Valley Wine Trail events hosted at each of the nine member wineries for the rest of the year. March is over, winter is over… we’re looking for the next new and exciting release out of our winery so bring on the summer and another fantastic growing season in the vineyard!
* Wine of the Month - Riesling, additional 10% off
* 3 Pack of the Month - 3 DiVyne Red for $25.
(available at winery only; 3 pack cannot be combined with other offers.)
Upcoming Events
April and May - Vynecrest Piano and Wine Bar - Open every Saturday and Sunday, 1 - 5 pm. Free admission.
April 19 - Brunch and a Ballgame
Come out and celebrate spring as we showcase Food, Wine and the Phillies on April 19 from 11 am - 5 pm. Highlights include the following:
* Signature sangrias on special for $3 from 11 am - 1 pm.
* FUD truck on site all day.
* Phillies vs. Nationals in the Vyneskeller starting at 1:35 pm.
* Patio will be open.
Pop on in, catch a few innings, grab a bite to eat and glass of wine, and kiss winter goodbye.
Sunday, April 26 - Jazz Sunday, Live Jazz music in the Vyneskeller, 1 - 4 pm.
May 16 and 17 - Spring Wine and Cheese Event
This event features the pairing of cheeses with local wines at each of the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail's nine member wineries. This year’s event theme is “Local Wine with Cheeses from Around the World.” Each winery will select one of its fine wines to pair with the perfect cheese and will offer complimentary tastings of the pairing to wine lovers who will explore how the texture, acidity, fat and tannin compliment or contrast each other.
Guests will also learn tips to help them skillfully develop their own pairings. Cheeses will be offered for sale so that guests can recreate the wine and cheese pairings at home.
Glass Half Empty
by Jim Hutchings
With the arrival of April, I look back on the busy month we leave behind. March is the true beginning of the year for me from a winery perspective. It’s when the vines start to awaken and the weather typically begins to turn from the blustery cold winter to the beautiful springtime.
Vino in the Valley is what brings many of our longtime customers out of hibernation as well. While I see many customers several times throughout the year, there are others who I look forward seeing on their annual pilgrimage each March. It’s a good time to reflect on what’s new on our wine list from their last visit and think about what’s in the works for the year to come.
This year we saw Cabernet Franc (a favorite grape of mine) taken off of the list but in its place is a real winner: No. 36, a Merlot-based blend which shows how great Merlot from the Lehigh Valley can be. Some of our Cabernet Franc has made it into this blend as well, so that old friend is not too far away.
The conclusion of March also officially kicks off our 2015 festival season - we’ll be setting up with some of our other winery friends this Saturday, April 4 at Bear Creek Mountain Resort for their Spring Wine Festival. That fun festival gets us chatting with our fellow winery workers and prepares us for the rest of the summer festivals including Split Rock in June, Penn’s Peak in July, and of course the many Lehigh Valley Wine Trail events hosted at each of the nine member wineries for the rest of the year. March is over, winter is over… we’re looking for the next new and exciting release out of our winery so bring on the summer and another fantastic growing season in the vineyard!
Thursday, February 12, 2015
Valentine's Wine Dinner and Kutztown Tavern Wine & Beer Dinner coming up at Vynecrest
▪ Wine of the Month - Late Harvest Vidal, additional 10% off*
▪ 3 Pack of the Month - Three Vignoles for $30*
*at winery only; 3 pack cannot be combined with other offers.
Upcoming Events
February 13 - Valentine's Wine Dinner at Camillo's Restaurant, 7 pm
Reserve your seats for our Valentine's Wine Dinner featuring Vynecrest Winery - call 610-683-5637.
Five courses paired with wine - $49 per person
MENU:
Appetizer - Eggplant Roulade (eggplant stuffed with feta cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic rolled and baked with our house tomato sauce) paired with Vynecrest Red
Salad - Burrata over mixed greens topped with balsamic glaze, paired with Naked Chardonnay
Pasta - Penne alla vodka, paired with Chambourcin
Second Dinner Course - Salmon pesto, paired with Pinot Noir
Dessert - Raspberry cheesecake, paired with Late Harvest Vidal
February 14 - Valentine's Day
Our Vyneskeller wine bar will be opening early for Valentine's Day. From 10 am to noon we will be selling $3 mimosas and featuring Frank Sinatra on our iPad baby grand piano. Pastries, croissants and chocolate covered strawberries will be available for purchase. Reservations suggested. 610-398-7525
We will have live music from Steve Myers in the Vynskeller later in the day from 1 - 4 pm.
February 22 - Jazz Sunday, Live Jazz music in the Vyneskeller, 1- 4 pm
March - Lehigh Valley Wine Trail Vino in the Valley Passport Program
There are still passports available for the annual wine trail March event at member wineries, though our winery is sold out. The winery will be open for tastings, but all food pairings are exclusively for passport holders. Tickets can be purchased online too.
March 12 - Kutztown Tavern Beer and Wine Dinner
6:30 - 9 pm
Tired of the same old dinner, join us for a interactive beer and wine dinner at the Kutztown Tavern on March 12. Head Brewer Colin Presby from the Kutztown Tavern and Sam Landis from Vynecrest go head to head on a five course dinner asking you "who paired it better?" You will not only be exposed to a great evening of beer, wine and great food but a chance to win prizes and come away with some great take home gifts. Stay tuned to our website's "What's Happening" page for more information regarding menu, reservations and final details. Reservations must be made through Kutztown Tavern - 610-683-9600.
Glass Half Empty by Malachi Duffy
Why is the Lehigh Valley such a great place to grow wine grapes? Some people might say it's not. I would agree with them, if the goal is to create consistently reproducible vintages.
That's not what this area is about and that's what makes it so great. Every year is different and we get to shape the grapes we grow and the wine we make to best fit that particular year. Just because the grapes are different from year to year doesn't mean they are of lower quality. It just means some years are better suited for certain varieties than others. That's why we grow 24 different varieties of grapes with different clones and rootstocks within those varieties.
Don't get me wrong. Some varieties are a little frustrating some years. Pinot Grigio a couple of years ago comes to mind and it can be a huge pain in the ass in the vineyard. It is a small cluster variety and the grapes are tightly packed together in that cluster. With the right combination of time of year, temperature and rainfall, rot can be a big problem. But, you have to take the bad with the good. That same year produced a Lemberger that won a double-gold medal.
The Lehigh Valley is a great location because we do get variation in weather but it's not so extreme that it kills off the vine in the winter or creates such unfavorable growing conditions that we don't have anything worth picking come September. What it does create are conditions where everything we pick is going to be good, but a few varieties every year will be great.
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
Vynecrest makes plans for Valentine's Day weekend at the winery
We hope everyone enjoyed the holidays... with some Vynecrest wine, of course! We have reopened after a quick break and are back to our new normal hours. We listened to your feedback and have extended our Friday hours to 5:30 pm at the winery in Breinigsville. Hopefully this will give a few more people a chance to grab a bottle of wine and some bread on their way home from work.
Breinigsville - Open seven days a week, 11 am - 5 pm (Fridays open until 5:30 pm)
Kutztown - Open seven days a week, noon - 6 pm
January Specials
* Wine of the Month - Pinot Grigio, additional 10% off
* 3 Pack of the Month - 3 Dry Riesling, $30
(*at winery only, 3 pack can't be combined with other discounts)
Upcoming Events
January and February - Vynecrest Piano and Wine Bar - Open every Saturday and Sunday, 1 - 5 pm
January 25 - Jazz Sunday, Live Jazz music in the Vyneskeller, 1 - 4 pm
January 31 - Super Bowl Chili Saturday
Get ready for the Super Bowl on Saturday, January 31 by sampling red and white chili at Vynecrest Winery in Breinigsville made by Mr. Bill's from the Allentown Fairgrounds Farmers Market.
The Red Turkey Chili is made with local grown, antibiotic free, skinless turkey meat blended with tomatoes, beans, and spices. The White Chicken Chili is a blend of chicken breast meat and ground chicken with a puree of white beans and sautéed onions, garlic, celery and a unique spice blend.
The winery will be open 11 am - 5 pm, and bowls of both chilis will also be available for purchase in the Vyneskeller along with wine by the glass and bottle. Admission is free and reservations are not needed.
February 14 - Valentine's Day
Our Vyneskeller wine bar will be opening early for Valentine's Day. From 10 am to noon we will be selling $3 mimosas and featuring Frank Sinatra on our iPad player baby grand piano. Pastries, croissants and chocolate covered strawberries will be available for purchase. A great beginning to Valentines Day! Reservations suggested. 610-398-7525. We will have live music in the Vyneskeller later in the day from 1 to 4:30 pm.
February 22 - Jazz Sunday, Live Jazz music in the Vyneskeller, 1 - 4 pm
March - Lehigh Valley Wine Trail Vino in the Valley Passport Program
There are still tickets available for the March Passport Program. The winery will be open for tastings during this month-long event, but all food pairings are exclusively for passport holders. Passports are $35 each and can be purchased online or at the winery.
Glass Half Empty
by Jan Landis
Happy New Year! I’m a glass half-full kind of person, optimistic rather than pessimistic. And the start of a new year is a wonderful way to have new beginnings, plans, and hopes for the future. Maybe they won’t all come true or get done, but the promise of new things to come is exciting!
We’re excited about some new ideas here at Vynecrest. First of all, we will now be open Fridays till 5:30 pm, allowing customers to stop in on their way home from work to pick up wine. We always get a lot of last minute calls from customers on Friday afternoons and have been trying to stay open a few more minutes to allow for last minute purchases, so hopefully this change will help.
We’re excited to do Chili Super Bowl Saturday on January 31 once again. I must admit, we’d be more excited if the Eagles were in the Super Bowl, but hey - there’s always next year! For Valentine’s Day we're trying something different with an early start to the holiday in our Vyneskeller from 10 am -noon with $3 Mimosas and chocolate-covered strawberries. In addition to Jazz Sundays on the last Sunday of every month, we hope to add more live music to weekends this year. Number 36 wine was a big success, so look for Number 37 this year—perhaps a white wine? There will be more Spiced Winter White too, closer to the holidays. It was a great white wine year in the vineyard last year, so look for some great white wines this spring.
We hope you are excited about 2015 as well and we hope to see you all at some point at the winery. In the meantime, cheers to your good health and new beginnings!
Breinigsville - Open seven days a week, 11 am - 5 pm (Fridays open until 5:30 pm)
Kutztown - Open seven days a week, noon - 6 pm
January Specials
* Wine of the Month - Pinot Grigio, additional 10% off
* 3 Pack of the Month - 3 Dry Riesling, $30
(*at winery only, 3 pack can't be combined with other discounts)
Upcoming Events
January and February - Vynecrest Piano and Wine Bar - Open every Saturday and Sunday, 1 - 5 pm
January 25 - Jazz Sunday, Live Jazz music in the Vyneskeller, 1 - 4 pm
January 31 - Super Bowl Chili Saturday
Get ready for the Super Bowl on Saturday, January 31 by sampling red and white chili at Vynecrest Winery in Breinigsville made by Mr. Bill's from the Allentown Fairgrounds Farmers Market.
The Red Turkey Chili is made with local grown, antibiotic free, skinless turkey meat blended with tomatoes, beans, and spices. The White Chicken Chili is a blend of chicken breast meat and ground chicken with a puree of white beans and sautéed onions, garlic, celery and a unique spice blend.
The winery will be open 11 am - 5 pm, and bowls of both chilis will also be available for purchase in the Vyneskeller along with wine by the glass and bottle. Admission is free and reservations are not needed.
February 14 - Valentine's Day
Our Vyneskeller wine bar will be opening early for Valentine's Day. From 10 am to noon we will be selling $3 mimosas and featuring Frank Sinatra on our iPad player baby grand piano. Pastries, croissants and chocolate covered strawberries will be available for purchase. A great beginning to Valentines Day! Reservations suggested. 610-398-7525. We will have live music in the Vyneskeller later in the day from 1 to 4:30 pm.
February 22 - Jazz Sunday, Live Jazz music in the Vyneskeller, 1 - 4 pm
March - Lehigh Valley Wine Trail Vino in the Valley Passport Program
There are still tickets available for the March Passport Program. The winery will be open for tastings during this month-long event, but all food pairings are exclusively for passport holders. Passports are $35 each and can be purchased online or at the winery.
Glass Half Empty
by Jan Landis
Happy New Year! I’m a glass half-full kind of person, optimistic rather than pessimistic. And the start of a new year is a wonderful way to have new beginnings, plans, and hopes for the future. Maybe they won’t all come true or get done, but the promise of new things to come is exciting!
We’re excited about some new ideas here at Vynecrest. First of all, we will now be open Fridays till 5:30 pm, allowing customers to stop in on their way home from work to pick up wine. We always get a lot of last minute calls from customers on Friday afternoons and have been trying to stay open a few more minutes to allow for last minute purchases, so hopefully this change will help.
We’re excited to do Chili Super Bowl Saturday on January 31 once again. I must admit, we’d be more excited if the Eagles were in the Super Bowl, but hey - there’s always next year! For Valentine’s Day we're trying something different with an early start to the holiday in our Vyneskeller from 10 am -noon with $3 Mimosas and chocolate-covered strawberries. In addition to Jazz Sundays on the last Sunday of every month, we hope to add more live music to weekends this year. Number 36 wine was a big success, so look for Number 37 this year—perhaps a white wine? There will be more Spiced Winter White too, closer to the holidays. It was a great white wine year in the vineyard last year, so look for some great white wines this spring.
We hope you are excited about 2015 as well and we hope to see you all at some point at the winery. In the meantime, cheers to your good health and new beginnings!
Thursday, October 16, 2014
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.
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 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.
Tuesday, August 12, 2014
Paint with wine at Vynecrest's Kutztown wine shoppe this month
August is a great time of year to come out, taste some wine, and enjoy the view of the vineyard. The grapes are just about ready to go through veraison, where they stop growing and start ripening. The red grapes will turn from green to red and the sugar levels start to rise. This change in color is also a signal for the birds the grapes are about ready to eat.
Just a reminder, the Vyneskeller is open seven days a week. After you are done tasting you can grab a glass of wine and relax downstairs.
August Specials
* Wine of the Month - Blueberry - additional 10% off
* 3 Pack of the Month - 3 Vynecrest Red for $28.
*available at winery only
Upcoming Events at the Winery
Upcoming Events at Vynecrest on Main in Kutztown
Hair the Musical
Aug 8, 9, 10 & Aug, 15, 16, 17
Looking for a unique, comical, and musical theatre production and something to fill your evening with wine? August 8, 9, 10th and August 15, 16, 17th enjoy Vynecrest Wine during all of the showings of the production HAIR at Cedar Crest College’s Auditorium in Alumnae Hall. Tickets and more information on the shows can be found at: www.hairtickets40.com
“Painting with Wine: One more day of summer”
August 22 from 5-8 pm
Join us for one last painting session before the busy fall season starts up… or kids go back to school.
- arrive anytime between 5-8 pm - last painting session is at 7 pm
- $10 a ticket and you pick your summer design from our book
- includes a wine glass to paint, a glass of wine to drink (your choice) and materials.
- feel free to bring your own snacks
- RSVP are a must due to the materials. To RSVP email sheri@vynecrest.com or call 484-641-5149.
Glass Half Empty by Sam Landis
Well we are now Day 6 into my favorite month of the year.
* Wine cellar decisions from last year's harvest have all been made.....Check
* Vineyard is maintained and awaiting nothing more that 6 weeks of sun....Check
* Wine Festival Season is over for the year....Check
* Bottling is pretty much finished, just emptying out a few more tanks....Check
For me, August is the one and only month that it feels you can take a breath and exhale. The 2013 vintage is put to rest and the 2014 vintage is a month away. August means vacation, fairs, corn on the cob and ice cold beer... and wine!
But its also a great time to step back and look at all that we did right in 2013 and all that we did wrong. Which is what I love most about the wine business. Every year you get a shot to do it all over again and August is a time to sit back reflect and start laying out the plan for September. We have a worthy opponent in Mother Nature... she never runs the same plays twice. 25 days and counting...
August Specials
* Wine of the Month - Blueberry - additional 10% off
* 3 Pack of the Month - 3 Vynecrest Red for $28.
*available at winery only
Upcoming Events at the Winery
- August 14 - Macungie Farmer's Market, Memorial Park, 4 - 7 pm
- August 28 - Macungie Farmer's Market, Memorial Park, 4 - 7 pm
- August 31 - Jazz Sunday - Live Jazz music in the Vyneskeller, 1 - 4 pm; Vineyard and Winery Tour at noon, $5 per person
- Sept 2 - Labor Day - open 10 am - 2 pm
Upcoming Events at Vynecrest on Main in Kutztown
Hair the Musical
Aug 8, 9, 10 & Aug, 15, 16, 17
Looking for a unique, comical, and musical theatre production and something to fill your evening with wine? August 8, 9, 10th and August 15, 16, 17th enjoy Vynecrest Wine during all of the showings of the production HAIR at Cedar Crest College’s Auditorium in Alumnae Hall. Tickets and more information on the shows can be found at: www.hairtickets40.com
“Painting with Wine: One more day of summer”
August 22 from 5-8 pm
Join us for one last painting session before the busy fall season starts up… or kids go back to school.
- arrive anytime between 5-8 pm - last painting session is at 7 pm
- $10 a ticket and you pick your summer design from our book
- includes a wine glass to paint, a glass of wine to drink (your choice) and materials.
- feel free to bring your own snacks
- RSVP are a must due to the materials. To RSVP email sheri@vynecrest.com or call 484-641-5149.
Glass Half Empty by Sam Landis
Well we are now Day 6 into my favorite month of the year.
* Wine cellar decisions from last year's harvest have all been made.....Check
* Vineyard is maintained and awaiting nothing more that 6 weeks of sun....Check
* Wine Festival Season is over for the year....Check
* Bottling is pretty much finished, just emptying out a few more tanks....Check
For me, August is the one and only month that it feels you can take a breath and exhale. The 2013 vintage is put to rest and the 2014 vintage is a month away. August means vacation, fairs, corn on the cob and ice cold beer... and wine!
But its also a great time to step back and look at all that we did right in 2013 and all that we did wrong. Which is what I love most about the wine business. Every year you get a shot to do it all over again and August is a time to sit back reflect and start laying out the plan for September. We have a worthy opponent in Mother Nature... she never runs the same plays twice. 25 days and counting...
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
Vynecrest converting bottling line to screw caps this summer
Bread is now available on the weekends in the Vyneskeller from The Daily Loaf, a fellow vendor from the Macungie Farmers Market. Demi-baguette loaves with dipping oil and spices for $3 in the Vyneskeller and regular-sized baguettes for sale upstairs in the tasting room for $4 to take home. Made with 100% organic flour and delivered fresh every Saturday morning to us. More varieties will be available as the summer goes on.
The Vyneskeller is open seven days a week from 1 - 5 p.m. Monday through Friday it is be self service - you can buy everything you need upstairs in the tasting room (wine, cheese, crackers) and take it with you downstairs to the patio or out to the picnic tables. Saturday and Sunday is business as usual with our full staff.
June Specials:
Wine of the Month - Blueberry, additional 10% off
3 Pack of the Month - 3 DiVyne Red for $25.
*available at winery only; 3 pack cannot be combined with other offers
Upcoming Events and Farmers Markets
Happy Hour at Vynecrest on Main - every Friday from 4 - 6 pm. 10% off wine purchases and a free appetizer per couple.
June 12 and 19 - Macungie Farmer's Market, 4-7pm
June 21 & 22 - Split Rock Wine Festival
The Great Tastes of Pennsylvania Wine & Food Festival is held annually on resort grounds during the beautifully inviting summertime. This two-day, outdoor festival features musical entertainment, many of Pennsylvania's finest wineries, and a wide selection of food and craft vendors. Educational seminars are held during festival hours. Come experience everything you loved about wine fest past and all the great new things happening this year. Noon to 6 pm both days.
June 25 - Wine and Wholesome Food Cafe Event
Join us Wednesday evening in Kutztown for a wine and pairing from Wholesome Food Cafe from 5- 7 pm. $10 per person
June 26 - Macungie Farmer's Market, 4-7 pm
June 29 - Vineyard & Winery Tour
Jazz Sunday - Vineyard & 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 Malachi Duffy
I was just rereading the Glass Half Empty column I wrote for last June and it was about some of the projects we had recently completed or were underway. It ended with the last big project to be completed for the year, a new bottling line that would hopefully be twice as fast and use screw caps.
Well, 12 months later the new bottling line is in. We now have four wines under screw cap and have an aggressive bottling schedule in place to try to get the 2013 wines in the bottle before the 2012 vintage sells out.
We have had a lot of questions about why we chose to switch from a synthetic cork to screw caps. The answer is pretty simple. It is THE BEST closure for us and the style of wine we make. Every closure has its weakness. Natural cork can be tainted with TCA, so a certain percentage of your wine may be bad and there isn't anything you can do about it. To combat this inconsistency, we switched to a synthetic cork many years ago. Synthetic cork has been great for us but is does have a downside. It lets a little bit of oxygen into the bottle and over time the wine will oxidize. With synthetic corks we are able to guarantee our white wines for two-to-three years and our reds for five years (because red wines are better at protecting themselves against oxygen).
We wanted to have a longer shelf life for both our red and white wines. Screw caps solve all the above problems and offer an easier way to open the bottle of wine. While screw caps do let in some oxygen, it is MUCH less than that of a natural or synthetic cork. This will allow us to guarantee our whites for up to five years and reds up to 10 years (probably much longer).
Screw caps may diminish the drama and romance opening a bottle but it is well worth the sacrifice to ensure a taint-free wine that offers consistent aging, maintained flavor and freshness with optimum quality control. Quality is Vynecrest's number one concern when producing a wine and the switch to screw caps is another example of of that pursuit.
The Vyneskeller is open seven days a week from 1 - 5 p.m. Monday through Friday it is be self service - you can buy everything you need upstairs in the tasting room (wine, cheese, crackers) and take it with you downstairs to the patio or out to the picnic tables. Saturday and Sunday is business as usual with our full staff.
June Specials:
Wine of the Month - Blueberry, additional 10% off
3 Pack of the Month - 3 DiVyne Red for $25.
*available at winery only; 3 pack cannot be combined with other offers
Upcoming Events and Farmers Markets
June 12 and 19 - Macungie Farmer's Market, 4-7pm
June 21 & 22 - Split Rock Wine Festival
The Great Tastes of Pennsylvania Wine & Food Festival is held annually on resort grounds during the beautifully inviting summertime. This two-day, outdoor festival features musical entertainment, many of Pennsylvania's finest wineries, and a wide selection of food and craft vendors. Educational seminars are held during festival hours. Come experience everything you loved about wine fest past and all the great new things happening this year. Noon to 6 pm both days.
June 25 - Wine and Wholesome Food Cafe Event
Join us Wednesday evening in Kutztown for a wine and pairing from Wholesome Food Cafe from 5- 7 pm. $10 per person
June 26 - Macungie Farmer's Market, 4-7 pm
June 29 - Vineyard & Winery Tour
Jazz Sunday - Vineyard & 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 Malachi Duffy
I was just rereading the Glass Half Empty column I wrote for last June and it was about some of the projects we had recently completed or were underway. It ended with the last big project to be completed for the year, a new bottling line that would hopefully be twice as fast and use screw caps.
Well, 12 months later the new bottling line is in. We now have four wines under screw cap and have an aggressive bottling schedule in place to try to get the 2013 wines in the bottle before the 2012 vintage sells out.
We have had a lot of questions about why we chose to switch from a synthetic cork to screw caps. The answer is pretty simple. It is THE BEST closure for us and the style of wine we make. Every closure has its weakness. Natural cork can be tainted with TCA, so a certain percentage of your wine may be bad and there isn't anything you can do about it. To combat this inconsistency, we switched to a synthetic cork many years ago. Synthetic cork has been great for us but is does have a downside. It lets a little bit of oxygen into the bottle and over time the wine will oxidize. With synthetic corks we are able to guarantee our white wines for two-to-three years and our reds for five years (because red wines are better at protecting themselves against oxygen).
We wanted to have a longer shelf life for both our red and white wines. Screw caps solve all the above problems and offer an easier way to open the bottle of wine. While screw caps do let in some oxygen, it is MUCH less than that of a natural or synthetic cork. This will allow us to guarantee our whites for up to five years and reds up to 10 years (probably much longer).
Screw caps may diminish the drama and romance opening a bottle but it is well worth the sacrifice to ensure a taint-free wine that offers consistent aging, maintained flavor and freshness with optimum quality control. Quality is Vynecrest's number one concern when producing a wine and the switch to screw caps is another example of of that pursuit.
Friday, May 2, 2014
Vynecrest plans for Mother's Day, Wine in Bloom and Jazz Sunday in May
The vineyard is starting to come back to life after the harsh winter. The vines are pruned and buds are starting to open up. We planted an additional 500 vines last week (Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon). Hopefully the cold weather didn't claim too many vines.
The Vyneskeller is now open seven days a week from 1 - 5 pm. Monday through Friday it is self serve - you can buy everything you need upstairs in the tasting room (wine, cheese, crackers) and take it with you downstairs, on the patio or out to the picnic tables. Saturday and Sunday it is business as usual with our full staff.
May Specials
* Wine of the Month - Naked Chardonnay, 10% off
* 3 Pack of the Month - 3 Vynecrest White for $25.
*available at winery only, 3 pack cannot be combined with other offers
Upcoming Events
May 10 - Mother's Day
We will have live guitar music in our Vyneskeller Wine Bar from 1 - 4pm, and will feature our Blueberry Pomegranate cocktail, made with Vynecrest Pinot Noir and Blueberry wines. We will also offer samples of Sugar 'n Spice Black Raspberry Dip with bite-size graham cookies. A great day out for Mom.
May 17 & 18 - Wine in Bloom along the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail
In addition to the beautiful potted petunias from Amore Greenhouses for the first 25 customers each day, Vynecrest will be doing Winemaker Tours of the vineyard and wine cellar free of charge for the public at noon both Saturday and Sunday.
We have a new PA Preferred Partner - September Farm Cheese from Honey Brook, PA - and we'll be offering samples of many of their delicious cheese in our tasting room along with complimentary wine tastings.
May 25 - Jazz Sunday and Vineyard Tours
In conjunction with Jazz Sunday, featuring live jazz music the last Sunday of every month in our Vyneskeller wine bar, our Winemaker Vineyard & Wine Cellar Tours will be held May 25, June 29, July 27, August 31, and September 28 at noon for $5 per person. Come tour the backlot of Vynecrest where the wine is grown and made, and then taste the finished product.
Glass Half Empty
by Sam Landis
Well we had quite a day yesterday as we christened our new screw cap bottling line. After a thorough five hour tutorial on Tuesday, Malachi and I were confident and primed to dominate 1,000 gallons of Blueberry Wine.
Ten minutes in I was holding five bottles of uncapped wine while the machine was spitting out capsules like a machine gun all over the floor. Suffice to say, we eventually figured it out and like most things around here, three months from now it will feel like it's always been there.
But it got me thinking how far this business has come. Growing up we used to bottle where the current Vyneskellar is. I used to have to recruit friends of mine to help alongside my parents and their friends. I believe we had two bottle washers, three manual hand corkers, two people using hair dryers to melt the caps, three hand labelers with glue, and two people putting away final cases. All told, it took 12 people all day to bottle 100 gallons of wine that looked like it was produced by a third grader.
So there we were yesterday, just Malachi and I, bottling 100 gallons every 25 minutes and it got me thinking: you can upgrade all you want but you can never replace the good old days.
May Specials
* Wine of the Month - Naked Chardonnay, 10% off
* 3 Pack of the Month - 3 Vynecrest White for $25.
*available at winery only, 3 pack cannot be combined with other offers
Upcoming Events
May 10 - Mother's Day
We will have live guitar music in our Vyneskeller Wine Bar from 1 - 4pm, and will feature our Blueberry Pomegranate cocktail, made with Vynecrest Pinot Noir and Blueberry wines. We will also offer samples of Sugar 'n Spice Black Raspberry Dip with bite-size graham cookies. A great day out for Mom.
May 17 & 18 - Wine in Bloom along the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail
In addition to the beautiful potted petunias from Amore Greenhouses for the first 25 customers each day, Vynecrest will be doing Winemaker Tours of the vineyard and wine cellar free of charge for the public at noon both Saturday and Sunday.
We have a new PA Preferred Partner - September Farm Cheese from Honey Brook, PA - and we'll be offering samples of many of their delicious cheese in our tasting room along with complimentary wine tastings.
May 25 - Jazz Sunday and Vineyard Tours
In conjunction with Jazz Sunday, featuring live jazz music the last Sunday of every month in our Vyneskeller wine bar, our Winemaker Vineyard & Wine Cellar Tours will be held May 25, June 29, July 27, August 31, and September 28 at noon for $5 per person. Come tour the backlot of Vynecrest where the wine is grown and made, and then taste the finished product.
Glass Half Empty
by Sam Landis
Well we had quite a day yesterday as we christened our new screw cap bottling line. After a thorough five hour tutorial on Tuesday, Malachi and I were confident and primed to dominate 1,000 gallons of Blueberry Wine.
Ten minutes in I was holding five bottles of uncapped wine while the machine was spitting out capsules like a machine gun all over the floor. Suffice to say, we eventually figured it out and like most things around here, three months from now it will feel like it's always been there.
But it got me thinking how far this business has come. Growing up we used to bottle where the current Vyneskellar is. I used to have to recruit friends of mine to help alongside my parents and their friends. I believe we had two bottle washers, three manual hand corkers, two people using hair dryers to melt the caps, three hand labelers with glue, and two people putting away final cases. All told, it took 12 people all day to bottle 100 gallons of wine that looked like it was produced by a third grader.
So there we were yesterday, just Malachi and I, bottling 100 gallons every 25 minutes and it got me thinking: you can upgrade all you want but you can never replace the good old days.
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
Vynecrest looks forward to spring, bud break on the vines, and Wine in Bloom
The weather is finally starting to warm up. That means the dormant buds on the vine will begin to swell and eventually open, signaling the start of the 2014 growing season. Road work begins this week on the main road used to get to the winery (Schantz Road). Please see below for detour information.
April Specials
* Wine of the Month - Dry Riesling, additional 10% off
* 3 Pack of the Month - 3 First Blush for $25.00
*available at winery only, 3 pack cannot be combined with other offers.
Upcoming Events
April and May -
Vynecrest Piano & Wine Bar in the Vyneskeller - Open every Saturday & Sunday from 1 - 5 p.m. (free admission)
Sunday, April 27 -
Jazz Sunday - live Jazz music in the Vyneskeller from 1 - 4 p.m. (free admission)
May 17 and 18 -
Wine in Bloom - a Lehigh Valley Wine Trail event. We'll be offering vineyard and wine cellar tours at 1 p.m. both days. The first 25 customers each day gets a potted flower plant courtesy of Amore Greenhouses. Vynecrest will have free samples of cheese and dips available for tasting.
June 7 -
2nd Annual Spring Fling event with Clover Hill Winery & Vynecrest Winery - Ticket holders receive samples of three cheeses and three wines at Vynecrest, and three sweets and three wines at Clover Hill. Additional details to be announced later this month. $10 per person. Tickets available at both wineries.
Local Roadwork
We wanted to give everyone a heads-up regarding a roadwork project that began on April 7. A stretch of Schantz Road will be closed until Spring 2015. This will not affect anyone visiting Vynecrest from Rt. 22/78 and Rt. 100. You will still be able to get to our winery by traveling west on Schantz Road and making a right onto Arrowhead Lane.
For those visiting from the south (Reading/Berks/Kutztown areas) you have two choices to get to us:
1. Follow detour signs, continue on Rt. 222 to the bypass and follow our winery signs in that way.
2. Continue on Schantz Rd. up to where road closure begins and take a left on Adams Road. Once on Adams Road, continue 3/4 of a mile to Arrowhead Lane, make a right onto it and proceed 1 mile. Vynecrest will be on your right.
The section of Schantz Road that will be closed is right after Arrowhead Lane and stretches to the top of the hill where it intersects with Adams Lane. We apologize for any inconvenience.
Glass Half Empty
by John Landis
SPRING!
Today I threw the last piece of ice off my driveway. I look forward to waking up listening to birds chirping, the sun shining, and putting on short-sleeve shirts and shorts.
I look forward to sitting on the patio sipping wine and watching the flowers bloom and the Lehigh Valley turn from white to green. I look forward to the spring planting of grapes and seeing bud break in the vineyard. I look forward to the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail’s Wine in Bloom Weekend when I can give tours of our vineyard.
SPRING!
It is the start of our 2014 grape growing season and brings excitement and anticipation of another great harvest.
Cheers!
April Specials
* Wine of the Month - Dry Riesling, additional 10% off
* 3 Pack of the Month - 3 First Blush for $25.00
*available at winery only, 3 pack cannot be combined with other offers.
April and May -
Vynecrest Piano & Wine Bar in the Vyneskeller - Open every Saturday & Sunday from 1 - 5 p.m. (free admission)
Sunday, April 27 -
Jazz Sunday - live Jazz music in the Vyneskeller from 1 - 4 p.m. (free admission)
May 17 and 18 -
Wine in Bloom - a Lehigh Valley Wine Trail event. We'll be offering vineyard and wine cellar tours at 1 p.m. both days. The first 25 customers each day gets a potted flower plant courtesy of Amore Greenhouses. Vynecrest will have free samples of cheese and dips available for tasting.
June 7 -
2nd Annual Spring Fling event with Clover Hill Winery & Vynecrest Winery - Ticket holders receive samples of three cheeses and three wines at Vynecrest, and three sweets and three wines at Clover Hill. Additional details to be announced later this month. $10 per person. Tickets available at both wineries.
Local Roadwork
We wanted to give everyone a heads-up regarding a roadwork project that began on April 7. A stretch of Schantz Road will be closed until Spring 2015. This will not affect anyone visiting Vynecrest from Rt. 22/78 and Rt. 100. You will still be able to get to our winery by traveling west on Schantz Road and making a right onto Arrowhead Lane.
For those visiting from the south (Reading/Berks/Kutztown areas) you have two choices to get to us:
1. Follow detour signs, continue on Rt. 222 to the bypass and follow our winery signs in that way.
2. Continue on Schantz Rd. up to where road closure begins and take a left on Adams Road. Once on Adams Road, continue 3/4 of a mile to Arrowhead Lane, make a right onto it and proceed 1 mile. Vynecrest will be on your right.
The section of Schantz Road that will be closed is right after Arrowhead Lane and stretches to the top of the hill where it intersects with Adams Lane. We apologize for any inconvenience.
Glass Half Empty
by John Landis
SPRING!
Today I threw the last piece of ice off my driveway. I look forward to waking up listening to birds chirping, the sun shining, and putting on short-sleeve shirts and shorts.
I look forward to sitting on the patio sipping wine and watching the flowers bloom and the Lehigh Valley turn from white to green. I look forward to the spring planting of grapes and seeing bud break in the vineyard. I look forward to the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail’s Wine in Bloom Weekend when I can give tours of our vineyard.
SPRING!
It is the start of our 2014 grape growing season and brings excitement and anticipation of another great harvest.
Cheers!
Friday, February 14, 2014
Vynecrest wines win honors as the winery prepares to celebrate two anniversaries
Last month the 2012 Lemberger won a double gold at the PA Farm Show. This month Lemberger won Wine Excellence XII, an annual competition that's organized and judged by the Pennsylvania Wine Society. This is the second time in three years Vynecrest has taken top wine at this competition, our 2010 Chambourcin won in 2011.
Share some love with a gift from Vynecrest this Valentine's Day. For February we are featuring our 2013 PA Farm Show Bronze Medal winning Cherry DiVyne and Wilbur Buds gift set for $19.99. In addition, we will have our Spiced Winter Red and Rip Rap Cinnamon Crackers gift set for $13.99.
Vynecrest will also be debuting our new Adult Sippy Cups, a perfect gift for the man or woman on the go.
▪ Wine of the Month - Pinot Noir, additional 10% off*
▪ 3 Pack of the Month - 3 Spiced Winter Red for $25.00*
*at winery only, 3 pack cannot be combined with other offers
Upcoming Events
February 15 - Valentine's Day Jazz in the Vyneskeller, 1 - 4 pm. Free.
February 23 - Jazz Sunday in the Vyneskeller, 1 - 4 pm. Free.
March weekends - Lehigh Valley Wine Trail March Passport Program
There are still tickets available for the March Passport Program. The winery will be open for tastings but all food pairings are exclusively for passport holders. Passports can be purchased online or at the winery.
Weeks 1 & 2 Paring: chicken, apple, bacon sliders with gouda cheese on slider rolls paired with Summertime Red Wine.
Weeks 3 & 4 Pairing: chipotle pulled pork sliders with provolone cheese on slider rolls paired with Traminette White Wine.
Glass Half Empty
by Jan Landis
Every once in awhile I work at the register on weekends. Our employees I’m sure must shutter when I do, since I usually spend more time chatting with the customers than I do actually ringing up their purchases. I enjoy it; hearing firsthand what they like, maybe what they’d like to see more of at the winery, that kind of thing. Last weekend, a gentleman at the register said to me: “So what are you going to do to celebrate your 40th anniversary?” As he said it, he pointed to our lovely carved plaque saying Vynecrest est. 1974. Wow, I thought! It hadn’t even occurred to me that it was our 40th year as a vineyard, nor that it was our 25th anniversary as a licensed winery.
Boy did that go quickly! Seems like just yesterday John and I moved out here to what we considered the country (and it was then), planted 50 vines on the crest of the hill and named it Vynecrest. And the changes through the years—we started in an unheated area, where the Vyneskeller is now, with six wines and a small tank or two. But we kept acquiring more land and planting more vines, and John kept making more wines. Then we moved upstairs in 1998, Sam joined us in 2002, Malachi joined us a few years later, and we built onto the existing barn, built another building, and here we are making about 20,000 gallons of wine a year.
And what an adventure it’s been! It's great fun thanks to most of you who come and buy our wine. So what are we going to do to celebrate? Something fun and you’re all invited. Not quite sure what yet, so stay tuned.
Share some love with a gift from Vynecrest this Valentine's Day. For February we are featuring our 2013 PA Farm Show Bronze Medal winning Cherry DiVyne and Wilbur Buds gift set for $19.99. In addition, we will have our Spiced Winter Red and Rip Rap Cinnamon Crackers gift set for $13.99.
Vynecrest will also be debuting our new Adult Sippy Cups, a perfect gift for the man or woman on the go.
▪ Wine of the Month - Pinot Noir, additional 10% off*
▪ 3 Pack of the Month - 3 Spiced Winter Red for $25.00*
*at winery only, 3 pack cannot be combined with other offers
Upcoming Events
February 15 - Valentine's Day Jazz in the Vyneskeller, 1 - 4 pm. Free.
February 23 - Jazz Sunday in the Vyneskeller, 1 - 4 pm. Free.
March weekends - Lehigh Valley Wine Trail March Passport Program
There are still tickets available for the March Passport Program. The winery will be open for tastings but all food pairings are exclusively for passport holders. Passports can be purchased online or at the winery.
Weeks 1 & 2 Paring: chicken, apple, bacon sliders with gouda cheese on slider rolls paired with Summertime Red Wine.
Weeks 3 & 4 Pairing: chipotle pulled pork sliders with provolone cheese on slider rolls paired with Traminette White Wine.
Glass Half Empty
by Jan Landis
Every once in awhile I work at the register on weekends. Our employees I’m sure must shutter when I do, since I usually spend more time chatting with the customers than I do actually ringing up their purchases. I enjoy it; hearing firsthand what they like, maybe what they’d like to see more of at the winery, that kind of thing. Last weekend, a gentleman at the register said to me: “So what are you going to do to celebrate your 40th anniversary?” As he said it, he pointed to our lovely carved plaque saying Vynecrest est. 1974. Wow, I thought! It hadn’t even occurred to me that it was our 40th year as a vineyard, nor that it was our 25th anniversary as a licensed winery.
Boy did that go quickly! Seems like just yesterday John and I moved out here to what we considered the country (and it was then), planted 50 vines on the crest of the hill and named it Vynecrest. And the changes through the years—we started in an unheated area, where the Vyneskeller is now, with six wines and a small tank or two. But we kept acquiring more land and planting more vines, and John kept making more wines. Then we moved upstairs in 1998, Sam joined us in 2002, Malachi joined us a few years later, and we built onto the existing barn, built another building, and here we are making about 20,000 gallons of wine a year.
And what an adventure it’s been! It's great fun thanks to most of you who come and buy our wine. So what are we going to do to celebrate? Something fun and you’re all invited. Not quite sure what yet, so stay tuned.
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Vynecrest brings home awards from PA Farm Show Wine Competition
The results of the 2013 Pennsylvania Farm Show wine competition are in, and Vynecrest received a medal for all eight wines that were entered.
January Specials
Wine of the Month - Spiced Winter Red, additional 10% off
3 Pack of the Month - 3 Vynecrest White - $25
(at winery only; 3 pack can't be combined with other discounts)
Upcoming Events
January & February - Vynecrest Piano & Wine Bar - Open every Saturday & Sunday, 1- 5 pm
January 26 - Jazz Sunday: Live Jazz music in the Vyneskeller, 1 - 4 pm
February 1 - Super Bowl Chili Saturday: Once again, Vynecrest will be pairing chili and wine on the Saturday before the Super Bowl. A popular yearly event, this year we will feature Mr. Bill’s Chili from the Allentown Fairgrounds Farmers Market paired with our recent PA Farm Show award-winning wines.
Mr. Bill’s Turkey Chili (red sauce) is made starting with local grown, antibiotic free, skinless turkey meat from Koch’s Turkey farm, a local Tamaqua premium turkey grower. This recipe has gone through many improvements over the years and it is a great blend of tomatoes, beans, lean turkey and spices. It will be paired with our Gold Medal Chambourcin red wine.
New to Mr. Bill’s is their White Chicken Chili. A blend of Bell & Evans chicken breast meat and ground chicken are the base for this chili. Mr. Bill does not use a cream-based sauce, but instead they puree the white beans and add sautéed onions, garlic, celery and a unique spice blend as well as whole white beans. This slightly spicy chili lends well to a pairing with our Bronze Medal winning Traminette, a white Gewurztraminer hybrid with a flowery bouquet and seductive spicy finish.
Customers will have a chance to sample both of these delicious chili and wine pairings and the chili will be available for purchase by the bowl to eat in our Vyneskeller Wine Bar or for take out. A great start to your Super Bowl weekend.
February 23 - Jazz Sunday, Live Jazz music in the Vyneskeller, 1 - 4 pm
March - Lehigh Valley Wine Trail March Passport Program: There are still passports available for sale. The winery will be open for tastings but all food pairings are exclusively for passport holders. Tickets can be purchased online or at the winery.
Weeks 1 & 2 Pairing: Chicken, apple, bacon sliders with gouda cheese on slider rolls paired with Summertime red wine.
Weeks 3 & 4 Pairing: Chipotle pulled pork sliders with provolone cheese on slider rolls paired with Traminette white wine.
Hours of Operation
Breinigsville - 7 Days a week, 11 am - 5 pm
Kutztown - Tuesday - Sunday, noon - 6 pm
Glass Half Empty
by Sam Landis
Many days at Vynecrest are spent doing rote, repetitive, mindless tasks. Whether it is bottling, cleaning tanks, or pumping wine, these jobs require very little skill and provide very little reward. That's why our winemaker Malachi and I really enjoy the next few months. People may think wine making is simply the process of adding yeast to juice and fermenting it into wine. By definition yes this is true. But the real trick of the trade is the process of taking 30 different tanks of wine and combining them into 18-20 final blends. So how do you do this you ask? We drink a lot!
Behind each finished wine is on average 8 to 10 different versions that we put together on a small scale and blindly taste and make notes on. Sometimes we differ on opinions, sometimes we agree, but most of the time we pick and choose and tinker until we both feel like we finally have it. You would be amazed at the subtle nuances of what 5% of this or 10% of that makes in the overall make-up of a wine, but when you put them all blindly side by side it's a really fun and creative process - one that makes us realize why we do all of those other crappy jobs the rest of the year.
So next time you sit down with a bottle of our wine remember how hard we worked drinking sample after sample after sample after sample after sample after sample so you could enjoy it.
- 2012 Lemberger - Double Gold
- 2012 Chambourcin - Gold
- 2012 Dry Riesling - Bronze
- 2012 Riesling - Bronze
- 2012 Pinot Grigio - Bronze
- 2012 Vynecrest Red - Bronze
- 2012 Traminette - Bronze
- 2012 Cherry DiVyne - Bronze
January Specials
Wine of the Month - Spiced Winter Red, additional 10% off
3 Pack of the Month - 3 Vynecrest White - $25
(at winery only; 3 pack can't be combined with other discounts)
Upcoming Events
January & February - Vynecrest Piano & Wine Bar - Open every Saturday & Sunday, 1- 5 pm
January 26 - Jazz Sunday: Live Jazz music in the Vyneskeller, 1 - 4 pm
February 1 - Super Bowl Chili Saturday: Once again, Vynecrest will be pairing chili and wine on the Saturday before the Super Bowl. A popular yearly event, this year we will feature Mr. Bill’s Chili from the Allentown Fairgrounds Farmers Market paired with our recent PA Farm Show award-winning wines.
Mr. Bill’s Turkey Chili (red sauce) is made starting with local grown, antibiotic free, skinless turkey meat from Koch’s Turkey farm, a local Tamaqua premium turkey grower. This recipe has gone through many improvements over the years and it is a great blend of tomatoes, beans, lean turkey and spices. It will be paired with our Gold Medal Chambourcin red wine.
New to Mr. Bill’s is their White Chicken Chili. A blend of Bell & Evans chicken breast meat and ground chicken are the base for this chili. Mr. Bill does not use a cream-based sauce, but instead they puree the white beans and add sautéed onions, garlic, celery and a unique spice blend as well as whole white beans. This slightly spicy chili lends well to a pairing with our Bronze Medal winning Traminette, a white Gewurztraminer hybrid with a flowery bouquet and seductive spicy finish.
Customers will have a chance to sample both of these delicious chili and wine pairings and the chili will be available for purchase by the bowl to eat in our Vyneskeller Wine Bar or for take out. A great start to your Super Bowl weekend.
February 23 - Jazz Sunday, Live Jazz music in the Vyneskeller, 1 - 4 pm
March - Lehigh Valley Wine Trail March Passport Program: There are still passports available for sale. The winery will be open for tastings but all food pairings are exclusively for passport holders. Tickets can be purchased online or at the winery.
Weeks 1 & 2 Pairing: Chicken, apple, bacon sliders with gouda cheese on slider rolls paired with Summertime red wine.
Weeks 3 & 4 Pairing: Chipotle pulled pork sliders with provolone cheese on slider rolls paired with Traminette white wine.
Hours of Operation
Breinigsville - 7 Days a week, 11 am - 5 pm
Kutztown - Tuesday - Sunday, noon - 6 pm
Glass Half Empty
by Sam Landis
Many days at Vynecrest are spent doing rote, repetitive, mindless tasks. Whether it is bottling, cleaning tanks, or pumping wine, these jobs require very little skill and provide very little reward. That's why our winemaker Malachi and I really enjoy the next few months. People may think wine making is simply the process of adding yeast to juice and fermenting it into wine. By definition yes this is true. But the real trick of the trade is the process of taking 30 different tanks of wine and combining them into 18-20 final blends. So how do you do this you ask? We drink a lot!
Behind each finished wine is on average 8 to 10 different versions that we put together on a small scale and blindly taste and make notes on. Sometimes we differ on opinions, sometimes we agree, but most of the time we pick and choose and tinker until we both feel like we finally have it. You would be amazed at the subtle nuances of what 5% of this or 10% of that makes in the overall make-up of a wine, but when you put them all blindly side by side it's a really fun and creative process - one that makes us realize why we do all of those other crappy jobs the rest of the year.
So next time you sit down with a bottle of our wine remember how hard we worked drinking sample after sample after sample after sample after sample after sample so you could enjoy it.
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
Vynecrest celebrates the Big Game with a chili and wine event February 1
Vynecrest Winery will pair chili and wine on Saturday, February 1, the day before the Super Bowl.
A popular annual event, this year they will feature
Mr. Bill’s Poultry Market's chili from the Allentown Fairgrounds Farmers Market paired with their recent PA
Farm Show award-winning wines.
Mr. Bill’s turkey chili (red sauce) is made with locally grown, antibiotic-free, skinless turkey from Koch’s Turkey
farm, a Tamaqua premium turkey grower. The recipe has gone through many
improvements over the years and is a great blend of tomatoes, beans, lean
turkey and spices. It will be paired with the winery's gold medal Chambourcin red wine.
New to Mr. Bill’s is their white chicken chili. A blend of
Bell & Evans chicken breast meat and ground chicken are the base for this
chili. Mr. Bill's does not use a cream-based sauce, but instead purees the
white beans and adds sautéed onions, garlic, celery and a unique spice blend as
well as whole white beans. This slightly spicy chili lends nicely to a pairing
with their bronze medal-winning Traminette, a white Gewurztraminer hybrid with a
flowery bouquet and seductive, spicy finish.
Customers will have a chance to sample both of these chilis and wine pairings. The chilis will also be available for purchase
by the bowl to eat in the Vyneskeller Wine Bar or for take out.
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Nouveau Weekend = the start of the holiday season at Vynecrest Winery
The 2013 harvest is pretty much over (except for our Late Harvest Vidal) and it feels good to take a breath before the busy holiday season begins. Passports for the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail's March Passport Program go on sale November 16 (during Nouveau Weekend) for $35 each.
Christkindlmarkt starts Nov. 21 and runs through Dec 22 and is open Thursday 11 am - 6 pm, Friday and Saturday 11 am - 8 pm, and Sunday 11 am - 6 pm (closed Thanksgiving Day).
Our winery's gift area has locally made products that make wonderful gifts for teachers, hostesses, family and friends. Soy candles, crackers, dips, cheese. Remember we have make-your-own baskets ($5 for basket and wrapping) where you add whatever wine, candles, cheese, crackers, dips, wine gifts you want and we'll make it up for you.
November specials
* Wine of the Month - Summertime Red, additional 10% off
* 3 Pack of the Month - Vynecrest Red, 3 for $27
(Wine of the month and 3 pack available at winery only; 3 pack can't be combined with other discounts.)
Upcoming events
Glass Half Empty
2013 Harvest Recap
by Malachi Duffy
Where do I go with all of this wine? That question is a good description of how the 2013 harvest went for Vynecrest this year. The vintage did not start off that way. We had a later-than-usual bud break, unpredictable weather during fruit set, and a rainy summer. Things were not looking good until late August. Then, the rain stopped, the humidity dropped, and the weather took a complete 180. The weather starting in late August could not have been much better to turn a sub-par vintage into one for the record books.
Not only did the weather cooperate, but the birds did as well. If you have read this newsletter for awhile you are aware of the battle we go through every year with birds. In August we got ready for the war to begin. We loaded up on ammo and had a patrol schedule set up morning and night. We decided to be preemptive and start the patrol even though we didn't see any birds yet. We figured if we scared them away as they came in we could keep them away. But they never really showed up. We had a couple flocks of starlings here and there but they didn't do much damage. We have a couple of rows of early ripening grapes we have never been able to harvest because the birds ate every berry on every plant before we could get to them. This year we pulled 130 lugs out of those rows. That is 230 gallons of wine we were never able to harvest before. Not a bad start to the 2013 Harvest.
As we continued bringing grapes in, the yields were higher than expected on every variety. Sometimes a little higher, sometimes a lot higher. There is always a balance of quantity vs. quality. That is why on many of our varieties we cut off as much as half of the fruit off the vine in order to fully ripen the remaining fruit. Even with the high yields, the quality of the fruit we brought in was amazing. The grapes were ripe, clean, and the sugars and acids were right where we wanted them.
That leads me back to the problem of where do I go with all of this wine? With every variety coming in with higher than expected yields, our tanks filled up quickly. We are re-purposing our white wine fermentation tanks as wine storage tanks until we can make some more room, or buy more tanks. Not a bad problem to have, it just makes life in the cellar a little more interesting for the next couple of months.
Christkindlmarkt starts Nov. 21 and runs through Dec 22 and is open Thursday 11 am - 6 pm, Friday and Saturday 11 am - 8 pm, and Sunday 11 am - 6 pm (closed Thanksgiving Day).
Our winery's gift area has locally made products that make wonderful gifts for teachers, hostesses, family and friends. Soy candles, crackers, dips, cheese. Remember we have make-your-own baskets ($5 for basket and wrapping) where you add whatever wine, candles, cheese, crackers, dips, wine gifts you want and we'll make it up for you.
November specials
* Wine of the Month - Summertime Red, additional 10% off
* 3 Pack of the Month - Vynecrest Red, 3 for $27
(Wine of the month and 3 pack available at winery only; 3 pack can't be combined with other discounts.)
Upcoming events
- Nov. 16 & 17 - Lehigh Valley Wine Trail Nouveau Weekend - For Nouveau Weekend, we will be releasing a new vintage of our estate-grown Gamay Beaujolais, the traditional grape of Nouveau wine. Young and fruity with a promise of even greater expectations to come, this wine is meant to be enjoyed now, during the holiday season. And, to help make entertaining this holiday season easier, we at Vynecrest will feature during Nouveau Weekend vegetable and fruit dip appetizers made by our local partner, Sugar ‘n Spice from Coplay. Ann Moeller will be serving samples of her products such as festive vegetable, cucumber onion and dill, tomato ranch and jalapeno to pair with our Gamay Beaujolais wine. We will also have pumpkin dip and strawberry fruit dip available for sampling.
- Nov. 21 - Christkindlmarkt opens.
- Nov. 24 - Jazz Sunday - Live Jazz music in the Vyneskeller, 1 - 4 pm
Glass Half Empty
2013 Harvest Recap
by Malachi Duffy
Where do I go with all of this wine? That question is a good description of how the 2013 harvest went for Vynecrest this year. The vintage did not start off that way. We had a later-than-usual bud break, unpredictable weather during fruit set, and a rainy summer. Things were not looking good until late August. Then, the rain stopped, the humidity dropped, and the weather took a complete 180. The weather starting in late August could not have been much better to turn a sub-par vintage into one for the record books.
Not only did the weather cooperate, but the birds did as well. If you have read this newsletter for awhile you are aware of the battle we go through every year with birds. In August we got ready for the war to begin. We loaded up on ammo and had a patrol schedule set up morning and night. We decided to be preemptive and start the patrol even though we didn't see any birds yet. We figured if we scared them away as they came in we could keep them away. But they never really showed up. We had a couple flocks of starlings here and there but they didn't do much damage. We have a couple of rows of early ripening grapes we have never been able to harvest because the birds ate every berry on every plant before we could get to them. This year we pulled 130 lugs out of those rows. That is 230 gallons of wine we were never able to harvest before. Not a bad start to the 2013 Harvest.
As we continued bringing grapes in, the yields were higher than expected on every variety. Sometimes a little higher, sometimes a lot higher. There is always a balance of quantity vs. quality. That is why on many of our varieties we cut off as much as half of the fruit off the vine in order to fully ripen the remaining fruit. Even with the high yields, the quality of the fruit we brought in was amazing. The grapes were ripe, clean, and the sugars and acids were right where we wanted them.
That leads me back to the problem of where do I go with all of this wine? With every variety coming in with higher than expected yields, our tanks filled up quickly. We are re-purposing our white wine fermentation tanks as wine storage tanks until we can make some more room, or buy more tanks. Not a bad problem to have, it just makes life in the cellar a little more interesting for the next couple of months.
Friday, August 2, 2013
August means grapes ripening on the vine... and birds ... at Vynecrest
August is a great time of year to come out, taste some wine, and enjoy the view of the vineyard at Vynecrest. The grapes are just about ready to go through veraison, where they stop growing and start ripening. The red grapes will turn from green to red and the sugar levels start to rise. This change in color is also a signal for the birds the grapes are about ready to eat (more on that later).
Just a reminder, the Vyneskeller is open seven days a week so after you are done tasting you can grab a glass of wine and relax downstairs.
August Specials
* Wine of the Month - Pinot Noir - 10% off
* 3 Pack of the Month - Autumn Gold - $25.
*available at winery only
Upcoming Events
Birds and grapes - by John Landis
As Vynecrest prepares for harvest the word "bird" slips into our memory. The season has progressed nicely and our vineyard is in great shape. Fruit quality and quantity are excellent. In a couple of weeks the grapes will start to ripen and then the birds will arrive.
I like most birds. Who cannot admire cardinals, bluejays, mockingbirds, and hummingbirds. However flocks of starlings and grackles remind me of Alfred Hitchcock's famous movie “The Birds." These birds are ugly, smart, aggressive, have no natural enemies, and can devour a vineyard of grapes in an afternoon. Vineyards utilize firing blanks, cannons, falcons, balloons, fireworks, bird distress calls, and netting to help keep them at bay, but nothing is foolproof. Each year it's a challenge to outsmart these birds. Let's hope this year it's Vynecrest 1, Birds 0!
Just a reminder, the Vyneskeller is open seven days a week so after you are done tasting you can grab a glass of wine and relax downstairs.
August Specials
* Wine of the Month - Pinot Noir - 10% off
* 3 Pack of the Month - Autumn Gold - $25.
*available at winery only
Upcoming Events
- August 8 and 15 - Macungie Farmer's Market, Memorial Park, 4 - 7 pm
- August 22 - Local Wine Pairing Dinner at the Historic Bower’s Hotel, 7 pm.
- Reserve your seat now for a fantastic four-course dinner paired with the area's finest wines. Each course, created by executive chef and Mertztown native Cody Musser will be paired with local wines carefully selected by a representative of a Tastings and Tours, the areas premiere VIP winery and brewery touring company. Prepare your palate for a combination of fresh, local ingredients and allow your taste buds to be transported to wine and food paradise! Please make your reservations today by contacting Bonnie at the Bowers Hotel at (610) 899-0183 or Rich with Tastings and Tours at (484) 274-2517.
- August 25
- Jazz Sunday - Live Jazz music in the Vyneskeller, 1 - 4 pm
- Vineyard and Winery Tour with the winemaker, 1 pm, $5 per person
- August 29 - Macungie Farmer's Market, Memorial Park, 4 - 7pm
- Sept 2 - Labor Day - winery open 10 am - 2 pm
Birds and grapes - by John Landis
As Vynecrest prepares for harvest the word "bird" slips into our memory. The season has progressed nicely and our vineyard is in great shape. Fruit quality and quantity are excellent. In a couple of weeks the grapes will start to ripen and then the birds will arrive.
I like most birds. Who cannot admire cardinals, bluejays, mockingbirds, and hummingbirds. However flocks of starlings and grackles remind me of Alfred Hitchcock's famous movie “The Birds." These birds are ugly, smart, aggressive, have no natural enemies, and can devour a vineyard of grapes in an afternoon. Vineyards utilize firing blanks, cannons, falcons, balloons, fireworks, bird distress calls, and netting to help keep them at bay, but nothing is foolproof. Each year it's a challenge to outsmart these birds. Let's hope this year it's Vynecrest 1, Birds 0!
Friday, June 14, 2013
New bottling line and upgrades to the wine cellar and winery entrance on tap this summer at Vynecrest
We had a close call a couple of weeks ago when the temperature dropped to 28 degrees, but it looks like all of the vines made it. The temperature only dropped for a short time and not long enough to cause any damage.
The Vyneskeller is now open seven days a week from 1 - 5 p.m. Monday through Friday it is self service and you can buy everything you need upstairs in the tasting room (wine, cheese, crackers) and take it with you downstairs to the patio or out to the picnic tables. Saturday and Sunday is business as usual with our full staff.
June Specials at Vynecrest:
* Wine of the Month - Lemberger, additional 10% off
* 3 Pack of the Month - 3 First Blush for $25
*available at winery only, 3 pack cannot be combined with other offers
Upcoming Events
June 22 and 23 - Split Rock Wine Festival
The Great Tastes of Pennsylvania Wine and Food Festival takes place June 22 and 23 at Split Rock Resort located in beautiful Lake Harmony, Pa. This two-day outdoor festival, located on resort grounds in the Poconos, features continuous musical entertainment on three separate stages, over 30 of Pennsylvania's finest wineries, and a wide selection of food vendors to tempt your taste buds.
June 30 - Jazz Sunday and Vineyard Tour
July 27 and 28 - Wine on the Mountain
Hit the road and head to Penn’s Peak in nearby Jim Thorpe for this festival which includes wine samplings from our wineries in your own commemorative glass. Relax with a glass of wine on the panoramic outdoor deck with a view of Beltzville Lake and the Pocono Mountains. Or stay inside in air conditioned comfort while listening to live musical entertainment.
Browse through the displays from local artisans and crafters selling handmade décor, accessories, and food items. Or purchase food to pair with your wine from the Penn’s Peak kitchens. Live musical entertainment will be provided by the Billy Bauer Duo on Saturday and Jake Kaligis Dynamic Duo on Sunday.
Tickets are required for this event and are $15 in advance or $20 at the door the weekend of the event. The event is noon - 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Advance tickets are now for sale online as well as at all 8 wineries.
*Wine on the Mountain is an adults-only event. Attendees must be 21 years of age or older to attend. Designated Driver tickets will be sold for $8 each at the door only the weekend of the event and not in advance.
July 28 - Jazz Sunday
Glass Half Empty
While we stay busy with the day-to-day stuff in the vineyard, wine cellar and tasting room, we are always asking ourselves what can we do to make it better. Better experience for our customers, better equipment or processes in the vineyard or cellar to increase efficiency and increase wine quality.
This question ultimately leads to buying more stuff and projects. I thought I would share a couple of our more recent projects.
My favorite project so far this year is the addition of a mezzanine in our wine cellar. The mezzanine holds 1 pallet (64 cases) of each wine and has a door leading to the tasting room. This solved a couple of problems. First, it opened up some much needed space in the cellar by moving 22 pallets of wine up and out of the way. Second, it allows easy access to wine to keep the shelves stocked. Prior to the mezzanine we would do an inventory see how many cases of each wine we needed in the tasting room, load up a pallet of wine and use a forklift to drive it around to the front door to be unloaded. This was done every Friday and Sunday of busy weekends, usually by Sam and myself. Now the shelves are stocked everyday by whoever is working. My future self's back is thankful for the mezzanine.
The next big project of the year was the widening of the front entrance. We have finished phase 1 of the project. The road is widened and a retaining wall is in that matches the retaining wall at the picnic area. We also added stairs to get from the front entrance to the Vyneskeller patio without having to walk on the road. We have gravel in the widened area for now. Phase 2 will be completed over the next month or so. We will rip up all of the pavers in front of the winery and remove the black top driveway. We will bring the grade up to match the front door. That means no more tripping into the winery and a much easier experience trying to wheel a case of wine out of the door and to your car. Once started, the work should only take a few days so the winery will be open as always.
The last last big thing we have planned for the year is a new bottling line. Hopefully it will be up and running for the next vintage. We will be able to bottle twice as fast. We will also switch to screw caps instead of synthetic cork. Screw caps have come a long way in recent years. Not only are they easier to use, but they now offer the same oxygen diffusion as a synthetic closure, allowing the same "ageability" as our current synthetic cork.
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