A wine blogger visits the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail

Our friend and wine blogger Paul Vigna recently visited the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail which he has been writing about for years but not really visited.

On a recent Saturday in June, Paul informed us that he would be driving through our region of eastern Pennsylvania on his way to visit family in New Jersey and would have a limited amount of time for winery visits, tours and tastings.

So he chose to visit Clover Hill and Vynecrest wineries which are located just a mile apart from each other in Breinigsville. At Clover Hill he joined a group on a walking tour of the vineyard and winery followed by tastings with co-owner Kari Skrip.

Then he visited with Jan and John Landis of Vynecrest for a peek downstairs in their Vyneskeller, followed by a round of wine tastings at the upstairs tasting bar and a little soccer match watching in the background. All-in-all we think Paul enjoyed his visit and will come back as soon as possible to visit the other seven wineries on the trail.

Paul's main profession is as the sports editor for Harrisburg's Patriot-News daily newspaper. But his love is wine. So his blog, The Wine Classroom, has its home on the PennLive.com web site of his employer. Here's a link to his first blog post about his recent visit, one on Vynecrest entitled "It's the battle of the Chardonnays at Vynecrest Winery." Give it a read and tell us what you think of it.

An update from Vynecrest Winery

Here's the latest from Vynecrest in Breinigsville, as borrowed from their newest e-newsletter.

Did you receive it in your inbox today? If not, then sign up for it here.

New Releases - The 2009 Pinot Noir and Riesling where released this week.

In the Vineyard - Lemberger 6/24/10
2010 continues to be a great year in the vineyard. The weather seems to be cooperating this year...so far.
Currently, we are pulling some leaves from around the grape clusters. This exposes the clusters to sunlight and increases the airflow around the grapes. Next, we will go through and remove some of the grape clusters. This will allow the remaining clusters to ripen properly. We will also hedge the top of the vines that have grown a little too much.

Competition Results - The results for the 2010 San Francisco International Wine Competition are in and Vynecrest received three medals:

• 2009 Chardonnay - Silver Medal
• 2009 Dry Riesling - Silver Medal
• 2008 Chambourcin - Bronze Medal

Specials

• June Wine of the Month: Riesling (10% off)
• June Three Pack of the Month: 3 Autumn Gold for $25
• July Wine of the Month: Late Harvest Vidal (10% off)
• July Three Pack of the Month: All American Three Pack - Any combination of Niagara or DiVyne Red for $25

There are few additional places to find Vynecrest wine in the region:

• Cab Frye's Restaurant - Palm, PA
• Spectators Bar & Grill - Kutztown, PA
• Macungie Farmers Market - Macungie Memorial Park, every Thursday, June through October from 4pm to 7pm.

Upcoming Events

• June 26 - Music in the Vyneskeller with Rob & Marty
• July 10 & 11 - Christmas in July - 25% off a case or more. This special is usually only offered once at the end of the year. Come out and enjoy music both Saturday and Sunday (Art on Saturday; Arianne on Sunday). After enjoying an afternoon of live music, come upstairs and take advantage of the 25% discount off a case or more.
• July 17 - Music in the Vyneskeller with Rob & Marty
• July 24 & 25 - Wine on the Mountain - The 9 wineries of the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail will again be holding their annual festival at Penn's Peak in Jim Thorpe. This event will include wine tastings, local artisans displaying their arts and crafts, light fare available for purchase, and live entertainment. Tickets are required for this event and can be purchased in advance at each winery for $10 or at door for $12. This wine festival is inside will be held rain or shine!

For more information Visit www.vynecrest.com
Open 7 days a week. 11 am - 5 pm. Vynecrest will be open July 4 from 10 am - 2 pm.

Be part of history with The Great Pennsylvania Wine Toast

Want to be part of a history-making event right here in the Lehigh Valley? Then mark your calendars for Saturday, August 14 and plan to attend the "The Great Pennsylvania Wine Toast!" Coordinated by the Pennsylvania Winery Association, this first-time event will attempt to set a world record for the largest wine toast in history. Wineries across the state have been invited to participate and several of our own wineries here in the Valley will be taking part.

But first and foremost, the Winery Association needs a toast to be recited at the big event. They're holding a competition for the best toast,which is no longer than 100 words, on their web site. All entries must be received by Tuesday, July 6, just two weeks away! Then on July 7, the Winery Association will choose the five best toasts and a public poll will be used to determine the Ultimate Pennsylvania Wine Toast.

Each finalist will receive a passport to a wine trail of their choice or a free ticket to a winery event if that wine trail doesn’t have a passport program in place. Each finalist will also receive a PWA t-shirt, corkscrew and wine bag. The Grand Prize will be a 2-night stay in a wine region of choice, dinner with a winemaker and private tour of a winery. This prize will be for two people – the winner and his/her guest. (The grand prize does not include travel costs.)

During the big celebration on August 14, the winning toast will be read by lifelong Pennsylvanian, winery owner, and auto racing legend Mario Andretti, and aired simultaneously at wineries across the Commonwealth!


So if you decide to enter a toast into the contest, please let us know by posting a reply comment on this blog post or on our Facebook fan page.

Have you been watching the "Making of a Vineyard" video series?

Have you been following the series of videos that Franklin Hill Vineyards in Bangor has been making and posting to their YouTube account to document their new vineyard?

They've entitled the video series "Making of a Vineyard" and it documents their process of installing a new vineyard where they will grown the region's signature Chambourcin grape.

So far there are seven videos in the series as well as a few others in the YouTube channel. Most of them averages 2- 3 minutes long and are set to music.

You can also watch a short interview on the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail's YouTube Channel with Adam from Franklin Hill taken during AVA Weekend in April in which he talks about the winery's plans for the new vineyard.

You can also follow the winery on Twitter and become a member of their group on Facebook.

Taste Lehigh Valley wines in the Poconos this weekend

Looking for something to do this weekend? Want to get out of town?

Then head north to the Poconos for Split Rock Resort's Great Tastes of Pennsylvania Wine & Food Festival. Several of our wineries will have booths there and would love for you to stop by and visit them.

The event runs June 12 & 13 from noon - 6 p.m. both days.

Lehigh Valley WIne Trail wineries in attendance include:

• Amore
• Blue Mountain
• Clover Hill
• Franklin Hill
• Sorrenti Cherry Valley
• Vynerest