As a wine connoisseur, educator and all-around aficionado, I take pride in being ahead of the curve, so to speak, as best I can, when it comes to discovering and getting the word out on regions or trends in wine that are worthy of further exploration. Case in point - Pennsylvania wines. Three years ago, I featured local PA wines in my class as the quality from certain select wineries had progressed to the point that they merited a full review on their own. Now Philadelphia Magazine has seen fit to grace the most recent issue (October 2022) with a cover story on Pennsylvania wines and wineries.
https://www.phillymag.com/foobooz/pennsylvania-wine/?utm_campaign=PHI%20EDIT%3A%20Sunday&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=227936863&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_jXIUCIlGrdH_5_OJ64pUbEREq9WHeq3BvmnEB3siT4plMA82kdFiL8MIwxTGt8m2LlJ-zmw1bCyYuIoEZOQIyIYWSUg&utm_content=227936863&utm_source=hs_email
Excerpt:
When you think of Pennsylvania, wine likely doesn’t come to mind. Farmland, sure. But wine? And good wine, at that? Yet the beverage has been part of our landscape since at least the late 1600s, when William Penn planted what’s thought to be the first vineyard in Philadelphia, in Fairmount Park. In the centuries that followed, the state became known for sweet wines and those made with fruits other than grapes. Native grape varieties, some of which are sweeter, prevailed because they’re easier to grow here. Prohibition plus a lack of funding contributed to Pennsylvania’s stagnated standing on the national and international wine stages.
While the state hasn’t entirely left that sweet status behind — in fact, many wineries thrive off well-made dessert wines today — there’s been a change in our reputation in the past two decades. That’s due in large part to the groundwork laid by the late industry pioneer Doug Moorhead, whose Presque Isle Wine Cellars was one of the first two licensed wineries in the state. He was instrumental in the passage in the late 1960s of the Limited Winery Act, which allowed the creation of wineries to produce and sell the beverage, and he was a founding member of the Pennsylvania Winery Association, a trade group representing the industry.
Other initiatives led by the government, the industry and universities have helped promote the state’s wine production and quality, while the types of grapes grown and the styles produced have expanded — including drier, more classic iterations. The Pennsylvania Wine Marketing & Research Program Board, an initiative of the Department of Agriculture that’s made up of industry and non-industry members, was established in the early aughts. Since 2011, Penn State’s wine and grape team has been researching and experimenting with new approaches to everything from vineyard management to ways to meet consumer demand.
I've tasted wines from most of the wineries featured in the magazine spread on visits throughout the last several years, and can vouch for the overall quality of the wines and the pleasant ambiance and service at the sites. Of special note are Galen Glen, Wayvine, Penns Woods, Stargazer and Waltz. A glaring omission in the magazine feature was Karamoor, right outside Philadelphia near Ambler. In any event, be sure to pick up a copy as soon as you can for a handy guide to some of the better juice now being produced in the Keystone State.
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