Vino in the Valley 2017 passport program introduces wine lovers to local wineries during weekends in March

The annual Vino in the Valley passport program introduces wine lovers to locally produced wine by encouraging them to explore all nine wineries that belong to the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail during the four weekends in March 2017.

An event that has become an annual tradition for many, it takes features wine and food pairings for passport holders at each of the wine trail’s member wineries. Passports are stamped at each winery, and after visiting at least eight wineries and collecting their stamps, the passport is turned in and entered into a raffle.

New for 2017 passport holders will be entered to win one of 10 Lehigh Valley Getaway Packages at a local inn or bed and breakfast that includes accommodations for two, dining, and other amenities.

How the Vino in the Valley Passport Program works:

1.     Wine lovers purchase a passport for $35, either at one of the wine trail’s nine member wineries, or online. (Passport program participants must be age 21 or older.)

2.     During the four weekends of March (Saturdays and Sundays), participants visit the member wineries to enjoy a food and wine pairing (tasting-sized) and have their passport stamped in the corresponding winery box on the front.

3.     Once stamps are obtained from at least eight of the nine wineries, they fill out their contact information on the bottom front side of the passport before tearing it off and turning it in at the last winery they visit in order to be entered to win one of 10 Lehigh Valley Getaway Packages in the Grand Prize Drawing.

Passports are now on sale for $35 each at all nine member wineries (cash or check only), as well as online via EventBrite.com (credit card only) - https://www.eventbrite.com/e/vino-in-the-valley-2017-along-the-lehigh-valley-wine-trail-tickets-29267831873. Online orders for holiday gift giving must be placed by Friday, December 16 to ensure enough time for delivery of the printed passports via First Class USPS. Only 1,800 passports are printed, so wine lovers are encouraged to purchase them early since they may sell out in advance of the event.

Visit the wine trail’s web site to review group guidelines, tips for traveling the trail, passport program rules, and other event details: www.VinointheValleyLVWT.com (Note: each winery sets its own house rules, policies and procedures.)

Lehigh Valley Wine Trail member wineries are:

• Amoré Vineyards & Winery, Nazareth
• Big Creek Vineyard, Kresgeville
• Blue Mountain Vineyards, New Tripoli
• Clover Hill Vineyards & Winery, Breinigsville
• Franklin Hill Vineyards, Bangor
• Galen Glen Vineyard & Winery, Andreas
• Pinnacle Ridge, Kutztown
• Tolino Vineyards, Bangor
• Vynecrest Winery, Breinigsville

The Lehigh Valley Wine Trail is a non-profit organization of wineries whose mission is to promote agri-tourism and to create a premiere wine destination and grape growing region while promoting Pennsylvania wines from the region. For more information, visit www.LehighValleyWineTrail.com.

MAKE YOUR HOLIDAY SEASON TWINKLE BRIGHTLY WITH LOCAL SPARKLING WINE

The following Lehigh Valley Wine Trail wineries have sparkling wines for sale this holiday season. Supplies are limited, so pick yours up soon!

– Amore Vineyards, Nazareth: Strawberry Mist – $14.99

– Blue Mountain Vineyards:
Sparkling Peach – made with 100% Pennsylvania peaches and embodies the juicy fresh sweetness of a peach. $24.50
2010 Brut Reserve – made in the traditional champagne method. It is composed of Chardonnay grapes, for elegance and delicacy, and Pinot Noir grapes, for roundness and structures. Warm gold in color, abundance of delicate bubbles. Floral aromas of fruit with subtle hints of white fruits: pear, almonds, apple, and hazelnuts. Fresh opening, smooth, pleasant, creamy, and balanced. $34.50

– Clover Hill:
Sparkling Chambourcin – This bubbly embraces the beauty of Chambourcin, showcasing fruity and berry characteristics with elegant bubbles. Produced using the traditional methode champenoise, this sparkling wine is finished with just a touch of sweetness. Serve well chilled in a tall champagne flute to enhance the tiny streams of bubbles. $16.99

Sparkling Vidal Blanc – A beautiful bubbly made using methode champenoise, which indicates this wine underwent a secondary fermentation in the bottle. Sparkling Vidal has crisp flavors of lemon and grapefruit with soft, yeasty undertones. $16.99

Sparkling Cayuga White – The bubbles are a perfect complement to the fruitiness of this sparkling wine. Cayuga is full of fresh grape characteristics and a soft, smooth finish. This sparkling wine is made as a demi-sec (semi-sweet) and is a real crowd pleaser. $16.99
(Due to the limited supply, there is a $3 tasting fee per each sparkling wine.)

– Franklin Hill Vineyards:
Midnight Rush – $6 a can or $20 for a 4-pack of cans.

– Galen Glen:
Quartz, Stone Cellar 2014 $17.99 – Brut made from Vidal blanc grapes.
Gruner Veltliner, Stone Cellar 2014 – $19.99 – brut natural made from Gruner Veltliner. Both are methode champenoise. The Quartz is brut (or dry) and the GV is brut natural (or brut zero/ bone dry).

– Pinnacle Ridge:
Cuvee Chardonnay – $19.99
Brut Rose – $17.99
Blanc de Blanc – $15.99

TASTE THE FIRST WINES OF THE 2016 VINTAGE DURING NOUVEAU WEEKEND

The nine wineries of the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail will debut their first wines from the 2016 vintage, along with other new wine releases, during Nouveau Weekend on November 19 and 20. It is the final Wine Trail event of the year.

Traditional nouveau wines are bottled very young, with limited barrel aging, and are light, fruity and semi-dry to dry red wines. The wine trail event is based on a tradition started in France and continued each year in which nouveau wines are released the third Thursday of November.

Each winery will feature its own activities including live music, food and wine pairings, vineyard tours, hayrides, food trucks, and more. Event hours at all of the wineries are Saturday from 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. and Sunday from noon – 5 p.m. Nouveau Weekend is a free event, however some wineries charge for wine tastings. Wine lovers can also take advantage of the event weekend to purchase wine to give as holiday gifts or to complement holiday meals.

Passports for the March 2017 Vino in the Valley event go on sale that weekend at the member wineries (cash or check only) as well as online via EventBrite.com (credit card only). Passports are $35 each. Only 1,800 passports are printed, so wine lovers are encouraged to purchase them early since they may sell out in advance of the event. More information can be found online:www.VinointheValleyLVWT.com

The Lehigh Valley Wine Trail is a non-profit organization of wineries whose mission is to promote agri-tourism and to create a premiere wine destination and grape growing region while promoting Pennsylvania wines from the region. For more information on the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail, visit www.LehighValleyWineTrail.com.

NOUVEAU WEEKEND HIGHLIGHTS

Amore – will have a new wine release called Cabaret Dolce paired with chocolate brownies.

Big Creek – will release Joi, a semi-dry Moscato, for Nouveau Weekend and the holiday season.

Blue Mountain Vineyards is releasing their 2016 Nouveau Beaujolais, produced from Gamay grapes grown in their vineyards. They are pairing their Nouveau with a ham and green bean soup from The Culinary Experience. In addition, they are offering complimentary live entertainment on Saturday with the Angela Evans Duo from 1-5pm. On Sunday, Christine & Company is performing live for Sunday Blues from 2-5pm. $5 admission includes wine tasting. Reservations are preferred and can be made online – www.bluemountainwine.com/sunday_blues

Clover Hill – Each year Clover Hill celebrates Nouveau Weekend with the release of their newest dessert wine. This year it is Strawberry Pinot Grigio, a sweet but light and fruity dessert wine. This wine is a limited release.

Franklin Hill – Their 2016 Seyval Blanc will be released for Nouveau Weekend. Its subtle hint of honey and crisp taste will be paired with butternut squash soup prepared by Social Still. Local vendors will be onsite all weekend. Hayrides through the vineyard will be offered at 1 & 2 pm. Hayrides include a mug of mulled wine for $15 per person. Kids ride free.

Galen Glen – Taste a spoonful of turkey taco soup with one of their aromatic white wines. The soup recipe will be posted to their website.

Pinnacle Ridge – “Growlers of Gruner and Gemutlichkeit!”

Experience the autumnal warmth and good cheer of an Austrian winemaker’s tavern (a “Heuriger”), with help from Kornfeind’s Market. The winery will convert its barn into a rustic Alpine restaurant where Kornfeind’s will supply the platters of Bratwurst and Knackwurst, and the winery will sell 32 oz. growlers of Gruner Veltliner – a citrusy, Austrian-style white wine. This wine, made from the fall harvest, comes straight from the tank. It is young, spritzy, and a good harbinger of what the rest of the vintage will soon bring. Free pairings will be available, as well as full-sized platters for sale.

Tolino – This weekend they will release new vintages of Papa’s Red, Vidal Blanc, and Cabernet Franc. There will be live music by Matt Wheeler on Saturday and Erin McClelland on Sunday. The Aioli Food Truck on Saturday and Blendlife Food Truck on Sunday will be onsite selling food to pair with wine. Walking tours of the vineyard will be offered at 2 and 4 pm.

Vynecrest – Vynecrest Winery will partner with Cibo food truck all weekend and will offer complementary tastings of the 2016 Nouveau Beaujolais, the first wine to be released from the 2016 vintage, with bite-sized slices of homemade white pizza with fresh spinach, ricotta cheese, sliced tomatoes and fresh mozzarella by Domenico Buonsante.

REGION’S CHAMBOURCIN WINE GRAPE STARS IN THIS MONTH’S LEHIGH VALLEY WINE TRAIL EVENT

Wine drinkers know Chardonnay, Merlot and Pinot Grigio, but do they know Chambourcin? The Lehigh Valley’s wine grape may be lesser known amongst the more popular varieties, but it grows so well in the climate and soil of this region that it has become the only wine grape grown by all nine wineries of the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail.

Local wine lovers can become familiar with it during the wine trail’s Chambourcin Weekend event on Saturday, October 15 and Sunday, October 16. Each winery will feature its own activities such as wine tastings, live entertainment, vineyard tours, or food and wine pairings (see detailed list below). Event hours at all of the wineries are Saturday from 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. and Sunday from noon – 5 p.m. (Chambourcin Weekend is a free event, however some wineries charge for wine tastings, tours, and/or entertainment.)

In the greater Lehigh Valley, there are more than 40 acres of Chambourcin that ferments into approximately 150,000 bottles of wine. Chambourcin is very versatile and the wineries craft it into several styles of wine including nouveau, rosé, semi- sweet, sweet, dry barrel aged, sparkling and port.

The Lehigh Valley Wine Trail is a non-profit organization of wineries whose mission is to promote agri-tourism and to create a premiere wine destination and grape growing region while promoting Pennsylvania wines from the region. For more information on the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail visit www.LehighValleyWineTrail.com.

CHAMBOURCIN WEEKEND WINERY HIGHLIGHTS

Amore will pair its Chambourcin with beef Stroganoff.

Big Creek will pair Millie’s 5 Star Chili with their hearty red wines.

Blue Mountain will have a mulled Chambourcin to sample and to purchase by the mug (and you get to keep the mug) and complimentary samples of baked ziti. Nick & Nikki Sandt from Culinary Experiences will have shepherd’s pie and baked ziti, both made with Chambourcin, available for purchase.

Live music will be provided free of charge on Saturday from 1-4pm with Jordan White (no reservations needed). Crafts for kids along with guided tours with the winemaker will be offered from noon to 5pm on Sunday every hour, on the hour, coinciding with the Lehigh County Open Gate Farm Tour. There will be Sunday Blues music featuring Connie Edinger from 2-5 pm (reservations preferred; $5 admission, includes wine tasting).

Clover Hill will partner with American Café on Tilghman Street in Allentown to present cooking demonstrations featuring autumn belly warming foods prepared and paired with Chambourcin and Turtle Rock Red (made with 100% Chambourcin grapes with a hint of sweetness). Cooking demonstrations will take place at 1, 2, 3 and 4 p.m. both days.

Franklin Hill – warm up with Chambourcin infused chili, hot mulled wines and creative fall cocktails featuring Social Still’s newly released Vanilla Maple Bourbon. And if there’s a chill in the air they’ll have samples of Spiked Pumpkin Pudding made with their seasonal wine Potion X. Kendra’s Buttercup Bakery, McCollians’ Farms, and CJ’s Gourmet Mystic Mustards will be onsite with their local products as well. Winery tours will be offered at noon and 2 p.m. both days and tastings will be available all day.

Galen Glen – enjoy a pairing of their 2016 Chili Cook Off Winner, Tripti Stashefski’s Sausage and Beef Chili with a taste of Chambourcin or Cellar Red. Her classic recipe will be available for customers to take home and recreate. Think you have what it takes to be our next chili competition champion? Request an application to throw your chef’s cap into the ring of fire in January 2017.

Pinnacle Ridge will feature Cavatelli pasta in a light garlic and butter sauce with a harvest vegetable medley of squash, zucchini, and mushroom. All ingredients will be fresh, in season, and sourced from local farmers’ markets. It will be paired with the customer’s choice of either the 2013 Chambourcin Reserve – a rich and spicy medium-bodied Dry Red; or 2015 Chambourcin Rosé – a crisp, light-bodied Rosé, featuring aromas of strawberry and a light tannic finish.

Tolino will pair its dry red Chambourcin with a sample of beef brisket on a baguette with barbecue sauce infused with Chambourcin from the Bob-B-Q food truck, which will offer food for sale all day Saturday. Enjoy live music by acoustic singers Chuck Schubert on Saturday and Erin McClelland on Sunday.

Vynecrest will partner with Cibo food truck all weekend. Vynecrest will offer complementary tastings of the 2014 Chambourcin with bite-sized homemade pizza squares by Domenico Buonsante, or as most people know him, Nico. Nico has been a mainstay at various wine festivals as well as Christkindlmarkt for years, and this will be the first time his brand new food truck will be debuting along the Wine Trail.  The truck, named Cibo Pizza and More, will be selling food all weekend.

Lehigh Valley Wine Trail's Annual Harvest Weekend event celebrates viticulture, winemaking and farming

As summer winds down, harvest season begins at the nine locally owned and operated wineries of the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail. It’s the time of year when all of spring and summer’s hard work pays off for these farmers. The grapes they have grown are removed from the vine and their juices extracted for fermenting into the 2016 vintage.

On Saturday, Sept. 10 and Sunday, Sept. 11, the wineries will celebrate the grape harvest with the Wine Trail’s annual Harvest Weekend event during which they will welcome wine lovers for a variety of different activities at each winery such as tastings, vineyard and winery tours, food and wine pairings, and live entertainment. They will also proudly promote the state’s “Pennsylvania Preferred” program by partnering with manufacturers of other Pennsylvania products to showcase their high level of quality. (See below for a list of activities.) Visit www.HarvestWeekendLVWT.com for complete event details.

Event hours are Saturday from 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. and Sunday from noon - 5 p.m.  Harvest Weekend is a free event, however each winery sets its own fee policy for wine tastings, live music, and vineyard and winery tours. Please refer to each winery’s web site for details.

The Lehigh Valley Wine Trail is a nonprofit organization of wineries whose mission is to promote agri-tourism and to create a premier wine destination and grape growing region while promoting Pennsylvania wines from the region. For more information, visit www.LehighValleyWineTrail.com.

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HARVEST WEEKEND 2016 HIGHLIGHTS

Amore Vineyards, Nazareth - will pair cheese tortellini in a tomato and basil sauce with Cabaret Amore.

Big Creek Vineyard, Kresgeville - will showcase locally grown fruit from Heckman Orchards as well as will have a cheese selection for tasting.

Blue Mountain Vineyards, New Tripoli – now that fall is in swing, the winery will feature food and wine pairing ideas for the big football game. Culinary Experience Catering will offer homemade mac and cheese bites and mini meatball sliders paired with their 2015 White Merlot. On Saturday, Jordan White will perform live from 1-4 pm (no reservations needed; free). For Sunday Blues, the Sarah Ayers and James Supra Quartet will perform from 2-5 pm (reservations preferred; $5 admission). Guests are welcome to take a self-guided tour through the vineyard.

Clover Hill Vineyards, Breinigsville - Bleiler's Produce Patch will have a farm stand with a supply of farm fresh, organic produce for purchase. In addition, the winery will be celebrating its 31st anniversary and offering a 31% discount on all wines from September 8-11.

Franklin Hill Vineyards, Bangor – will welcome back fall with the return of its spiced pumpkin wine Potion X to the wine list, and will also be releasing a brand new cinnamon hard cider called Fire. Pumpkin-Rumtini's featuring Potion X and Social Still’s brand new Spiced Rum will be available to sample or to enjoy by the glass. Kendra’s Buttercup Bakery’s brand new food truck will sell their fantastic baked goods. Other local products such as honey and apple butter will be for sale as well. Tours will be offered at noon and 2 pm all weekend.

Galen Glen, Andreas - will feature “Taste the Grape, Taste the Wine.” Experience the flavors of their featured grape and follow it up with a taste of the finished wine. Walking tours will occur both days at 1 pm. Plus, locally sourced gourmet cheese, honey, and fruit plates will be available for purchase.

Pinnacle Ridge, Kutztown - will partner with La Cocina Mexicana from Kutztown. Sal will prepare chicken chimichangas with either salsa verde or salsa rojo and sour cream and guacamole. This savory delight will be paired with either the winery’s newly released Dry Rose (75% Chambourcin and 25% Cabernet Franc), or its slightly sweet Traminette.

Tolino Vineyards, Bangor - will highlight their partnership with Two Rivers Brewing Company of Easton, a farm-to-table restaurant, and their squash bisque, which will be paired with their 2015 Lilly wine. A seasonal beer from Two Rivers will be for sale by the pint and free samples of beer brewed at Tolino Vineyards will be available to taste. The Chris Cummings Jazz Trio will perform on Saturday, and The Moon Dogs will perform on Sunday.  

Vynecrest, Breinigsville - Stuffed to the Grills, a PA Preferred food truck, will be at Vynecrest 11 am – 5 pm Saturday and Sunday with their delicious menu including brie bites with raspberry sauce. In addition, the winery will have samples of pumpkin whoopie pies paired with their Autumn Gold wine, and also available for purchase.