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Home , Concord grape, Pennsylvania wine, Winery

No. 74

JUNE 2019

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Pennsylvania : Fifty Years of Progress

Wines of the Atlantic Seaboard: Pennsylvania

From Concord to Vinifera The New Generation Top Rated

1 Table of Contents

Preface: Pennsylvania and the Transformation of East Coast Wine Acknowledgements Introduction A Brief History Principal Growing Areas The Pennsylvania’s New Generation The Wines In the light of these developments, the International Profiles & Tasting Notes Wine Review (IWR) is publishing a series of reports in Annex: Pennsylvania AVA Map 2019 on the wines of the Atlantic Seaboard. Prepared in collaboration with state wine associations and the Atlantic Seaboard Wine Association, each report in the series focuses on the , , , the regulatory framework and future prospects of the industry in each state. The reports also include extensive tasting notes and ratings of the principal wineries in each state. Preface: Pennsylvania and The reports are based on extensive field research, tastings the Transformation of East and interviews with local winemakers and industry leaders. Coast Wine This is the fourth in a series of report on the wines of the East Coast, from North Carolina in the south to ’s The wines of Pennsylvania and other states on the Atlantic 800 miles to the north. The states included Seaboard are on the rise. Noteworthy improvements in in the series—New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, the quality of East Coast wines and their unique character Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina—have about are attracting growing numbers of wine enthusiasts. Today, 20 thousand acres of wine , and New York has more than ever before, consumers along the Atlantic over half the total, as shown in the graph of wine Seaboard are interested in drinking local wines, and vineyards below. These states and the regions within liberalized wine laws and regulations make it easier for them differ in terms of , wine history, grape varieties them to do so. Their thirst for good wine and for learning grown, and development path of the wine industry. more about the wines made in their own states is driving However, they are in many respects more similar than a dramatic growth in wine and rising wine sales different. In this preface, we examine the similarities. The direct to consumers in tasting rooms and wine clubs. individual reports that follow explore the unique features of each growing area. The East Coast wine industry has also expanded rapidly in recent years. The number of East Coast wineries quadrupled between 2000 and 2017, increasing from 405 to 1720, surpassing the number of wineries in California in the year 2000.

2 History Growers are learning where to plant grapes and how to match varieties to terroir. Many of the original vineyards Wine production has a long and colorful history in the in the East were plantings of convenience. Farmers East. Up and down the coast, one of the first things who could no longer survive off tobacco or dairy cattle European settlers tried to do was grow grapes and make planted grapes instead. Or couples looking for a change wine. They saw a profusion of wild grapes, from the of lifestyle would build a home and plant a vineyard in a Muscadines of the south to the Labruscas of the north, location for its beautiful views. The original plantings were giving hope they could grow the European varieties also often to popular varieties like familiar to them. They all failed: Lord Baltimore in better suited to a warmer, drier climate. Today, most new Maryland, Thomas Jefferson in Virginia, William Penn in vineyards are being sited only after careful soil analysis Pennsylvania, etc., and soon began making wine from and with the advice of experts, and growers are native grapes (e.g., Concord, , Scuppernong) replanting with varieties better suited to their terroir. and chance hybrids (e.g., , ). Later on, in response to phylloxera, French agronomists developed . large numbers of French-American hybrids, several (e.g., , , , ), There have always been outstanding winemakers in of which are still widely grown throughout the East, the East like Jim Law and Michael Schapps in Virginia, thanks in part to a Baltimore journalist, Philip Wagner, Hermann J. Weimer and Peter Bell in the Finger Lakes, who advocated on their behalf throughout the East. Dave Collins and Ed Boyce and Sarah O’Herron in The European grape, vinifera, only took root with Maryland, Anthony Vietri and Jan Waltz in Pennsylvania, the advent of modern fungicides and the development and Chuck Jones and Mark Friszolowski in North Carolina, of techniques to prevent winter kill, popularized by Dr. and the numbers are growing fast. The region is also Konstantin Frank in the Finger Lakes in the 1950s. beginning to attract young winemakers from all over the world. Jacques van der Vyver of Chateau Bu-De in Legal and Financial Framework Maryland and Stephen Bernard of Keswick in Virginia hail from South Africa; Gabriel Rubilar of 1723 Vineyards in After Prohibition, the states sought to regulate the wine Pennsylvania is from Mendoza, Argentina; Matthieu Finot industry by discouraging entry and prohibiting single of Virginia’s King Family and Morten Hallgren of Ravines ownership of all three tiers—production, distribution, and in the Finger Lakes come from ; Luca Paschina of . Wineries were thus prohibited from selling wine Barboursville in Virginia and Davide Creato of Penns at the winery and from directly distributing wines to retail Woods in Pennsylvania hail from ; and Aneep Pradhan stores. Wineries could only sell through distributors, which of Mazza Vineyards in Pennsylvania is a native of India. were often uninterested in selling the products of small Other winemakers come from Germany, Portugal, and, of producers. Some states, like Pennsylvania, set up a state course, California. monopoly to distribute and directly sell wines. With a vested interest in the three tier system, distributors and The homegrown winemaking talent is also getting better state monopolies were politically successful in preventing and better thanks to first rate enology and viticulture reforms for decades. training offered at universities and community colleges throughout the East. Of particular note is the viticulture and Beginning in the 1960s and 70s, states passed Farm enology program at Cornell University and the degree Winery Laws to reduce license fees and permit grape programs offered at Surry Community College in North growers to sell their own wine at tasting rooms, farm Carolina and the Community College of the Finger Lakes markets, and retail stores. Pennsylvania passed the first in New York. In addition, the prestigious Food Science such law in 1968, followed by North Carolina (1973), departments at Virginia Tech and Penn State house New York (1976), and Virginia (1980). As part of their enology and viticulture training and research programs, reforms, most states allowed their wineries to sell direct to too. These and other land grant universities like Rutgers in consumers, but out of state wineries were prohibited from New Jersey and the University of Maryland are home to doing so. In 2005 the US Supreme Court ruled that in state agricultural extension services that provide assistance to and out of state wineries had to be treated equally. One growers. by one, the states responded by adopting legislation to allow direct shipping from wineries anywhere. Even more important, perhaps, is the growing number of agricultural extension agents like Molly Kelly in Viticulture Pennsylvania, Joe Fiola in Maryland, and Tony Wolf in Virginia offering advice on growing grapes and making Over the past decade or more, East Coast wineries have wine and the viticulture consultants like Lucie Morton begun to put the focus on the vitis vinifera grapes that and Joyce Rigby and winemaking consultants like Lucien originate in Europe rather than hybrids and the grapes Guillemet and Stéphane Derenoncourt. In addition, native to North America. Hybrid grapes have also played winegrowers have formed their own, often informal an important role, one that may increase with the changing groups to exchange ideas and taste wines with the goal climate. of learning from experience to improve winemaking. Virginia’s recently created Winemakers Research Exchange

3 is an especially noteworthy effort to engage winemakers grape varieties successfully grown as well as changes in in practical research to improve grape growing and where they’re grown. winemaking. The Future Climate and Grapes All the stars appear to be in alignment for continued The climate of the East is, in general, humid with rainfall improvement in East Coast wine. In another decade throughout the growing season and the threat of hurricanes we may very well look back and say there has been a around time. This puts a premium on grape “revolution” in the quality of wines coming from the Atlantic varieties that have the thick skins and loose clusters that Seaboard. What’s clear at the present is that each state give good disease resistance. Vinifera varieties like has some outstanding winemakers making world quality Albariño, Petit Manseng, , and show wine. At the same time, most wineries are still producing excellent promise among the whites, and wines of average quality. Raising the average quality and are especially promising among the reds. of wine depends on many factors: enlightened public French hybrids like , Chambourcin, , policies and support on the part of the states; continued and Vidal Blanc do especially well and may be the only strengthening of extension services and university-based varieties than can make good wine in a wet year like viticulture and enology programs; new investment to 2018. increase the supply of high quality grapes and state of the art winemaking; and more retail distribution of wines The climate is warming throughout the Atlantic Seaboard to increase their visibility in the market and to strengthen as it is everywhere else in the wine world. This presents incentives to raise quality and value. As indicated above, problems like heavier rainfall and more frequent extreme we think all of these factors are currently moving in the weather events, but it also extends the growing season. As right direction and promise a very bright future for the a result, over time we can expect continued changes in the wines of Pennsylvania and the East Coast.

Acknowledgements. First and foremost, our thanks go to the Association and the Atlantic Seaboard Wine Association (ASWA). Special thanks go to Grant Crandall, President of the ASWA, and Paul Vigna of PennLive.com who helped us obtain wine samples and organize a tasting with several wineries held at Kar- The i-winereview.com is published by the International amoor Wine Estate outside Philadelphia. Nick and Wine Review, LLC. Our office is located at 6625 Old Athena Karabots and Victor Ykoruk graciously hosted Chesterbrook Road, McLean, VA 22101. Our email that event. We also owe a debt of gratitude to Hudson Cattell and Linda Jones McKee for their excellent book, is: [email protected] Rates for individual online Pennsylvania Wine: A History (Arcadia Publishing, subscriptions are $89 annually. Commericcal online 2012). Unfortunately, Pennsylvania and the East Coast subscriptions for wine companies and member of the lost one their greatest advocates when Hudson Cattell wine trade are $149 annually. Subscriptions include passed away in 2018. Another valuable source of in- exclusive access to all online resources of i-winereview. formation for this report is Penn State’s Wine & Grapes com. Contact us about eligibility and rates. Subscriptions U. blog. A special thanks also goes to Mario Mazza may be purchased online at www.i-winereview. for his assistance and advice. Finally, we express our gratitude to writers who provide outstanding coverage com Individual reports are also available for $25. of East Coast wines, Lenn Thompson (The Report), Reproduction of the material contained herein, including Carlo DeVito (East Coast Wineries), and Paul Vigna copying, without written permission is prohibited by law. (PennLive.com). Thanks to Karamoor for the vineyard Media, wine importers, distributors and retailers may photo shown on the cover. Photos in this report were use brief portions of this material in its original form if also provided by the Pennsylvania Wine Association. attributed to the International Wine Review.

4 Introduction A Brief History Pennsylvania wine is in the middle of a major transformation abetted by a series of legislative changes that have made it one of the Eastern states most hospitable to small, quality-oriented wineries. Just 50 years ago Pennsylvania passed its Limited Winery Act, and the state’s first post-Prohibition, farm wineries were established near Lake Erie, a large grape region hitherto famous for producing Concord and other native grapes. By 1976, there were 11 limited wineries in Pennsylvania. Today, the state has over 250 wineries making increasingly fine wine from vinifera and hybrid grapes grown throughout the state.

Act 39, passed in 2016, is just the most recent legislative action benefiting the state’s small wineries, which can now self-distribute to licensed grocery stores and wine shops in addition to maintaining several ancillary tasting rooms. As a result, several vintners, like Brad Knapp at Pinnacle Ridge, report an increasing percentage of wine is in distribution. In addition, wineries, breweries and distilleries The in Pennsylvania begins with William enjoy reciprocity, meaning each can serve and sell wine, Penn’s arrival in 1683 along with cuttings of Bordeaux beer, and liquor in their tasting rooms. The Act also vines, which he planted in what was then called Penn’s authorized the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) Woods. That vineyard failed, but it did manage to to approve up to $1 million annually for wine marketing produce a cross hybrid called the , which and research with funding coming from direct shipping became popular in the late 18th century. Most European fees. This is in addition to the 20 cents/gallon charge the immigrants to America made wine from native grapes, industry assesses itself for marketing and research. The which Benjamin Franklin promoted in his 1743 edition of marketing and research program is administered by the Poor Richard’s Almanack. Pennsylvania Wine Marketing and Research Board. In 1787, after the American Revolution, Pierre Legaux Pennsylvania would now appear to have in place all the emigrated from France to America and established elements for further developing a quality-oriented wine Pennsylvania’s first commercial vineyard and nursery, industry. In addition to a liberal regulatory framework based on the Alexander grape. By the mid-19th century, and increased funding, the state’s wine industry enjoys Pennsylvania was the 3rd largest producer of wines in the the research and extension support of a major, land US, mostly made in Eastern Pennsylvania. However, the grant research university, Penn State, and a growing locus of winemaking soon moved to the northwest where cadre of young, well trained winemakers and vineyard Lake Erie provided a temperate climate along its shoreline. managers. In this report, we explore in more detail each of these elements. We begin with a brief history of wine Erie’s first winery, the South Shore Wine Company, was in Pennsylvania and end with profiles of the state’s top established in 1864 and survived until Prohibition. By wineries and reviews of their wines. 1900 the 67 counties of Pennsylvania were producing about 82 thousand cases of vine, but the discovery of the soon put the focus of Erie’s viticulture on table grapes instead of , and Prohibition effectively killed off the local wine industry, including the South Shore Wine Co. After Prohibition, Erie County continued its focus on table grapes, and in 1948 Penn State’s Erie County Field Research Laboratory was established with a research focus on table grapes.

After Prohibition’s repeal, politicians put in place the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board which established state owned stores with a monopoly on the sale of wine and liquor. The PLCB was also responsible for regulating wine production and distribution in the state and put in place regulations that had the effect of hindering the development of small, local wineries. Conestoga Vineyards in Chester County was the first to open in 1953 but never made more than one thousand gallons of wine. Finally, in 1968 the State Legislature passed the Limited Winery Act, which allowed farm wineries to make and sell up to

5 Previous Wine Reports Issues 1-15 are available at www.iwinereview.com Issue 16 Oregon Issue 17 Sauvignon of the Loire Issue 18 Wines of Navarra Issue 19 Wines of Greece: and Santorini Issue 20 The Santa Lucia Highlands Issue 21 The Revolution Issue 22 Grapes and Wines of the Western Loire Issue 23 Revisited Issue 24 The New Wines of Portugal Double Issue Issue 25 The Wines of Austria Issue 26 The Diverse Wines of Argentina Double Issue Issue 27 Sweet and Dessert Wines of the World Issue 28 The Wines of Priorat Issue 29 The Wines of Monterey County Issue 30 The Wines of South Africa Double Issue Issue 31 Brunello di Montalcino Issue 32 The New Wines of Israel Issue 33 The Wines of Paso Robles Issue 34 Revisited Issue 35 The Wines of Special Report South African Issue 36 The Wines of Santa Barbara Issue 37 The Wines of Sicily Issue 38 The Wines of State Issue 39 The World of Special Report The Wines of Montefalco Issue 40 Champagne and Special Report The Exciting Sparkling Wines of South Africa Issue 41 The Amarones of Issue 42 The Wines of Catalonia Issue 43 The Wines of —A New Look Issue 44 The Wines of Sonoma County Issue 45 Comes of Age Issue 46 Special Report: The Best of Soave Issue 47 Special Report: The Best of Tuscany Issue 48 The Wines of Los Carneros Issue 49 Special Report: The Best of Spain Issue 50 The Wines of Chablis Issue 51 Special Report: Best Indigenous Wines of Sicily Issue 52 Special Report: The Best of Issue 53 American Sparkling Wine Issue 54 The Wines of Mount Veeder Issue 55 Wines of South Africa: White Blends and Old Vines Issue 56 Classico: Exciting Times Issue 57 and Other Wines of Uruguay Issue 58 in Transition Issue 59 Wines of the Piedmont: Roero Issue 60 Chile’s Premium Wine Revolution Issue 61 California : A New Look Issue 62 Paso Robles: Cabernet Sauvigion & Other Bordeaux Varieties Issue 63 The Wines of Friuli: Collio’s Elegant Whites Issue 64 Selections for the New Year: The Best Wines Tasted in 2017 Issue 65 The Vines and Wines of Lodi Issue 66 The World of Rosé Issue 67 The Wines of Bulgaria Issue 68 : Diverse Terroir, Exceptional Quality Issue 69 The Wines of the Finger Lakes Issue 70 The Rocks District: America’s Unique Terroir Issue 71 Washington State Revisited Issue 72 The Wines of Maryland Issue 73 The Wines of New Jersey These reports are available online at www.iwinereview.com

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