Blue Mountain wines wine more awards; store at Lehigh Valley Mall reopens

Blue Mountain Vineyard Wines Win International Awards!
Eastern International Wine Competition (East Meets West)

For the second year, Vineyard & Winery Management Magazine combined two of its oldest and most established wine competitions into one by creating the International "East Meets West" Wine Challenge.  The judging was held Feb. 10-11, 2015 in Sonoma County, California. A total of 1164 wines were awarded medals. 

Since 1982, the West Coast Wine Competition has annually recognized wines produced and bottled in the West. The International Eastern Wine Competition, started in 1975, is one of the oldest and longest-running wine competitions in the nation. 

This year, the competitions merged into one large event. Wines were simultaneously judged in two established regional divisions: International Eastern Wine Competition and the West Coast Wine Competition. Traditional awards were given in each division. Best of Show winners moved on to compete in the East Meets West Taste Off to see which wine was best overall. This afforded each entrant two chances to win medals: one in its own division and one in the Taste Off. A Riesling Championship was also held.

Blue Mountain Vineyards Winners:

2013 Shiraz (not yet released) - GOLD

2014 Riesling (not yet released) - SILVER

2012 Pinot Noir (available now) - SILVER

Join us for Vino in the Valley starting this weekend.
Passports for the Lehigh Valley' Wine Trail's annual event are sold out. But if you got yours early, we hope to see you soon. Check out our food and wine pairings for each weekend  here. 

Blue Mountain Vineyard will have live music every Saturday and Sunday this month. On Sundays, we require a reservation for the music ($5 cover charge), so call the winery or visit our website to reserve your table. The Sunday Blues schedule is:

• March 8 - Adam Motto
• March 15 - Arianne Rox
• March 22 - Connie Edinger
• March 28 - Jake Kalegis & Mike Rauscher 

Due to high demand, we ask that you are here by 2:30 pm, or we will release your table to the next group. Parking is extremely limited. Carpooling is appreciated. 

Our Lehigh Valley Mall location is now open!

Visit our newly remodeled kiosk in the Lehigh Valley Mall, located near Starbucks and Littman Jewelers on the lower level of the mall. 

We now offer wine tastings, wine by the glass, wine and cheese pairings, wine accessories, and more.

Annual Clover Hill Coat Drive happening this week; Ugly Sweater Party coming up next Friday

The holidays are upon us and we can’t think of a better time to pull the cork on a bottle of Clover Hill wine, pour a few glasses and enjoy the spirit of the season with good company.

One of my favorite holiday traditions is getting together with my mom and my sisters to bake cookies. We bake, we laugh, we occasionally fight, and the whole time we sip Sparkling Pinot Noir. The hurried pace of the holidays quickly slows down as we enjoy the simple moments of time together as a family. Of course the glass of bubbles helps to make everything more enjoyable!

I would like to wish you a joyous holiday season and many happy, simple moments enjoyed with a glass of wine.

- Kari Skrip

P.S. Schantz Road is officially opened! No more detours trying to visit the winery in Breinigsville. Cheers to that!

Owner’s Selection for December

Save 10% on your purchase of Niagara. Take a deep whiff of this wine and you will experience an unmistakably fresh, grapey aroma. This sweet white wine tastes like you are eating the grapes right off the vine. Serve well chilled and enjoy with good company.

Now only $8.55. Receive an additional 10% discount when included in a case purchase.

Coat Drive at all Clover Hill locations
December 8-14

Clover Hill Vineyards and Winery is hosting our annual coat drive. Give us your coat and we will give you a 10% discount on your purchase. We are collecting all size coats to be donated to The Caring Place in Allentown and Berks Women in Crisis in Reading. Coats can be donated at any Clover Hill location and as a thank you, we will give you a 10% discount on your purchase.

Ugly Sweater Party
December 19
The Winery In Breinigsville

Join us in wearing your favorite ugly Christmas sweater to the Winery in Breinigsville and you will be entered to win a $30 Clover Hill gift card. To help us celebrate, all wines by the glass will be only $4 (even if you are not wearing your ugly sweater).

Sparkling Wine Tasting at all Clover Hill locations
December 26-31

Stop in any Clover Hill location to sample any in stock sparkling wines. Why not pop the cork on a bottle of local bubbly for New Years Eve this year?

Beginner Wine Tasting Class
Saturday, January 10 and 25 at 2 pm
Tickets are required - $25 per person

Join us in a beginner wine tasting class. This 1.5 hour-long class will teach you the basics of wine tasting, give you tips on wine and food pairing and help to answer any wine questions you may have. This class is limited in seats and tickets are required. Tickets are $25 per person and attendees must be 21 years or age or older. Call 610-395-2468 or visit the winery in Breinigsville to reserve your ticket. Tickets make a great holiday gift idea.

Blues in the Barn to rock Pinnacle Ridge this weekend

Blues in the Barn Weekend

Pinnacle Ridge Winery will host the annual Blues in the Barn Weekend on Saturday, September 6 and Sunday, September 7. On Saturday, beginning at noon, The James Supra Blues Band will take the stage to kick off the weekend led by the best harmonica player in the Lehigh Valley. For more information on the James Supra Blues Band and to hear some of their tracks, check out their website  www.jamessuprabluesband.com/

Later that day, Dugan Thomas will take the stage with their blues/jam band style. So, come on out and enjoy some of the Valley's best live performers and some award-winning loacl wines! For more information on Dugan Thomas and some of their tracks, check out their website  www.mikedugan.com/dugan-thomas-2/

On Sunday, we will pick right up where we left off with The BC Combo. This group of Lehigh Valley legends will bring years of performance experience and their signature blend of blues styles to our stage in the barn from 2-5 pm. We will also feature slow-cooked full pigs, compliments of Windy Acres BBQ from nearby Fleetwood, PA all weekend long. Parking will be limited, but there is additional parking available on Jay Ln. and alongside Old Rt. 22.

**Please Note: We have changed some of our policies for Blues in the Barn. This year, the Tasting Room will operate normal hours and with our normal $5 refundable tasting fee. However, for those wishing to stay and enjoy some wine on the property and check out the bands, we will have a $5 cover fee that will include a souvenir Blues in the Barn glass that will serve as your ticket to the event.

Case Club Members who show their Case Club Membership Card will have the $5 fee waived and receive a complimentary Blues in the Barn glass. Case Club Members are also invited to welcome guests to this special event weekend. *Limit four glasses for the Blues in the Barn Event*

New wine release

This month we will be transitioning into some new vintages of some of your favorite wines. We will be saying good-bye to the 2012 Naked Chardonnay and introducing the 2013 Naked Chardonnay this week. The 2013 is an excellent vintage and is displaying ample fruit notes.

Open House Concert Series

We are pleased to announce that we will be hosting Serene Green on Saturday, September 20. The group will bring the mix of folk and bluegrass tunes to the barn from 2-5 pm. Come out and enjoy the show with some award-winning local wines. No cover charge. Call for details (610) 756-4481.

Harvest Weekend – The Butcher, The Baker and The Winemaker
September 13 & 14

When fall rolls around, it’s time to kick off harvest season. The members of the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail will celebrate with their annual Harvest Weekend event. The nine wineries will welcome wine lovers for tastings, as well as food and wine pairings.

The wineries will also proudly promote the state’s PA Preferred program by partnering with producers of other Pennsylvania products to showcase their high level of quality. At Pinnacle Ridge, we will be featuring our 2013 Traminette paired with a local bratwurst smothered our Apple Cranberry Chutney. We will also be featuring our always popular 2013 Quaff with a toasted baguette, local cheese and our Tomato Herb Bruschetta topping.

Tolino holding while wine sale and end of summer sangria event with recipes

Stop in to see us any day of the week. We are open Monday through Friday from 3 - 7 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from noon - 6 p.m. Visit us online at www.tolinovineyards.com or call us at 610.588.9463 for more information and to inquire about hosting your next event at Tolino Vineyards.

Carl Jr. and Carl III are famous again. Check out the Discover Lehigh Valley video "Live Like a Local with George" as he visits Tolino Vineyards, Galen Glen, and Vynecrest.

Join us for End of Summer Sangria Sunday

Visit the Winery to enjoy a glass of sangria, live music, and some tasty salsa on Sunday, August 24 from noon - 6 p.m. We will be serving glasses and pitchers of sangria all day.

White Citrus Sangria 
2 bottles of Tolino Vineyards 2010 Pinot Grigio
or 2012 Vidal Blanc for a sweeter version.
1 lemon
1 orange
½ a pineapple
2 oz of fruit punch vodka
2 oz of triple sec
24 ounces sparkling water
¼ cup of sugar

Minty Margarita Sangria
2 bottles of Tolino Vineyards Pinot Grigio
2 lemons
2 limes
4-5 mint leaves
2 oz of lime gin
2 oz of triple sec
24 ounces sparkling water
¼ cup of sugar

Red, White & Blue Sangria
2 bottles of Tolino Vineyard 2011 Chardonnay
½ lb of strawberries
1 sliced pear
1 sliced plum
2 oz of triple sec
2 oz of vanilla vodka
24 ounces sparkling water
¼ cup of sugar

Summer White Sale
We are having a sale on our 2010 and 2011 White and Rosé wines. Purchase 1 bottle for 15% off, 6 bottles for 25% off, and a case is 50% off. What a great deal on delicious wine that is perfect for summer sipping.

Easton Farmers' Market Weyerbacher Wednesdays
It was so much fun (and so delicious!) to participate in Weyerbacher Wednesday at the Easton Farmers' Market. We are at the market from 4 - 8 p.m., June through September in Centre Square.  We love being a part of the local food movement.  Hope to see you next week.

Blind Tasting: California Vs. Pennsylvania at Nectar in Berwyn
Pennsylvania wines won four out of eight awards in a blind tasting against California wines at Nectar Restaurant in Berwyn, PA.  We were honored that our 2012 Chardonnay was accepted into this competition.  See event photos here.

Pinnacle Ridge in the news and April events for Case Club members

April's Case Club Members-Only Event: Barrel Tasting

Join us on Sunday, April 13 or April 27 for a very special event. Beginning at 5 p.m. come into the tasting room and take a trip to the cellar with our owner/winemaker, Brad Knapp. This event is complimentary for Case Club Members and will be a special tasting to showcase some of the potential in our cellar. We hope to give you an idea of how our wines are progressing and share with you some information about the winemaking process and all that goes into this labor of love. Reservations are required, and space is limited. Call (610) 756-4481 for reservations and details.

The Philadelphia Inquirer comes to Pinnacle Ridge!
 
On a recent snow-covered day, we were very fortunate and pleased to welcome a group of experienced tasters, including Mr. Craig LaBan. LaBan is an esteemed food and wine critic for the Philadelphia Inquirer, and this trip was his first to the Lehigh Valley in the pursuit of tasting local wine. The trip was inspired by Mr. Clark Smith, a highly regarded winemaker, consultant and professor, whose claim that "They [wineries in the Lehigh Valley] make some of the best aromatic white wines in America" pushed LaBan to investigate further. Mr. Mark Chien, the Penn State Extension viticulture educator, joined the pair.
   
We had a wonderful time pouring for these gentleman while discussing all aspects of wine: regions, terroir, grape varieties, blends... you name it! In an article that Mr. LaBan wrote about his experience, he had very kind things to say about our wines. He described the new 2013 Dry Riesling as a "whip-crack dry Riesling" and remarked that the new 2013 Oasis was a "terrifically quenching French-style rosé.” Read the article here.

Everyday Oenophile: A Winemaker Uncorked
   
In this edition we are stepping out of the cellar and back into our past. Specifically, we will be discussing a little bit of the history of the land that makes our estate vineyard a Berks County Historic Site. The property located in Greenwich Township on old Rt. 22 is steeped in local history. We can trace back the ownership of the land to the Hensley family, who owned the property in 1758. The property, which was then called "Salvador,” would later shift hands to the Laib family in 1788 for the price of 43 pounds and 19 shillings (less than $73 today).
   
Over time, the property was portioned off and sold or donated as designated school and church lands, particularly for the Lutheran Congregation of Greenwich. Eventually, the property became Abraham Leichty's, and he sold it to the Rabenhold (or Rabenold - some members of the family dropped the 'h' from the spelling) family. At this point, the property was in substantial disrepair and required many improvements. In addition to improving many of the surrounding structures on the property, in 1851 the Rabenhold family built the barn where the winery stands today. The property remained in the Rabenhold family until World War I.
 
In 1914, Morris Schucker purchased the property from Louisa Rabenhold for $11,000. The property remained in the Schucker family until the fall of 1990, when Brad Knapp purchased it with the intent of starting a winery. The property had ample land (roughly six acres at this point) that could be used for an estate vineyard, as well as buildings that could be repurposed for winemaking and storage. Brad converted what was previously a potato cellar into a room dedicated to making sparkling wines, and he gradually expanded the tasting room by adding a second and third bar, as well as a cold room in the cellar.

Pinnacle Ridge Winery opened to the public in 1995 and has been welcoming wine drinkers ever since. The estate vineyard is three acres under vine and features Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Chambourcin and Cabernet Franc. The Kempton vineyard site is up to roughly 19 acres, with an additional three acres of vineyard located on property belonging to Dean Scott.