Page 11 - Indulge October/November 2014
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Lehigh County Commissioner Percy Dougherty, Events like the upcoming chambourcin weekend are OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2014 • INDULGE | 11
who also is chairman of the Lehigh Valley Chapter another key to the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail’s success, says
of the American Wine Society and Tracey Werner, the group’s public relations consultant.
author of “The Geography of Wine:
Regions, Terroir and Techniques,” “It’s credited with being one of the most successful
says chambourcin is so important trails in the state,” she says. “These wineries work well
to the region that a resolution together to promote their product.”
was passed naming it the official
grape of Lehigh County. “If we did not have a wine trail, we wouldn’t run our
businesses as seamlessly and comfortably as they are today,”
“Each growing region has found the says Pivinski. “When one winery does well, we all do well.”
grape that’s best suited to the terroir,”
he says. Terroir, pronounced tare-wah, Wine expert and educator Christopher Cree, owner of
is a French word for the way in which a 56 Degree Wine in Bernardsville, N.J., agrees.
region’s soil, climate and terrain affect
the taste of wine. “I think it’s [the wine trail] really important, especially
for a young region trying to establish itself,” he says.
“In terms of terroir, there’s a grape “What I think is key — and I’ve seen this in wineries
that’s best suited to the conditions around the world — is the awareness it builds. Building
of an area,” Dougherty says.
“Chambourcin grows well here, a sense of eating
doesn’t have as many diseases local; of supporting
as other varieties, and it has local businesses.
a large yield.” Even the little
villages in
“Usually the best wine Europe drink
production areas in the their local
world are limestone,” he wines.”
says. “You’d think the And while
Valley would be good for the wineries
that, but the limestone have won
here is terrible for grapes state,
… here, the best [grape] national and
soils are on shale: they international
are poor and devoid of awards, they
nutrients.” know where
their biggest
Dougherty says there’s fans are.
an old adage that applies: “Our main
“You plant grapes in an area customers
where you punish them and are local people,
make them w[h]ine.”
and people who are
And that’s just what visiting the area,” says
the Trail members Dominic Strohlein, owner of Big
have done with the Creek Vineyards near Kresgeville
chambourcin, creating a in Monroe County. “Our customers
dizzying variety of styles: seem to enjoy wines from all
nouveau, rosé, semi- different locations — they’re
sweet, sweet, dry barrel not just California lovers or
aged, sparkling, and port; Francophiles. We try to make the
blends with names like 99 percent happy and the
Regent, Trio, Red Rapture 1 percent — the wine snobs — we
and Blackberry Bliss. don’t worry about.”
who also is chairman of the Lehigh Valley Chapter another key to the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail’s success, says
of the American Wine Society and Tracey Werner, the group’s public relations consultant.
author of “The Geography of Wine:
Regions, Terroir and Techniques,” “It’s credited with being one of the most successful
says chambourcin is so important trails in the state,” she says. “These wineries work well
to the region that a resolution together to promote their product.”
was passed naming it the official
grape of Lehigh County. “If we did not have a wine trail, we wouldn’t run our
businesses as seamlessly and comfortably as they are today,”
“Each growing region has found the says Pivinski. “When one winery does well, we all do well.”
grape that’s best suited to the terroir,”
he says. Terroir, pronounced tare-wah, Wine expert and educator Christopher Cree, owner of
is a French word for the way in which a 56 Degree Wine in Bernardsville, N.J., agrees.
region’s soil, climate and terrain affect
the taste of wine. “I think it’s [the wine trail] really important, especially
for a young region trying to establish itself,” he says.
“In terms of terroir, there’s a grape “What I think is key — and I’ve seen this in wineries
that’s best suited to the conditions around the world — is the awareness it builds. Building
of an area,” Dougherty says.
“Chambourcin grows well here, a sense of eating
doesn’t have as many diseases local; of supporting
as other varieties, and it has local businesses.
a large yield.” Even the little
villages in
“Usually the best wine Europe drink
production areas in the their local
world are limestone,” he wines.”
says. “You’d think the And while
Valley would be good for the wineries
that, but the limestone have won
here is terrible for grapes state,
… here, the best [grape] national and
soils are on shale: they international
are poor and devoid of awards, they
nutrients.” know where
their biggest
Dougherty says there’s fans are.
an old adage that applies: “Our main
“You plant grapes in an area customers
where you punish them and are local people,
make them w[h]ine.”
and people who are
And that’s just what visiting the area,” says
the Trail members Dominic Strohlein, owner of Big
have done with the Creek Vineyards near Kresgeville
chambourcin, creating a in Monroe County. “Our customers
dizzying variety of styles: seem to enjoy wines from all
nouveau, rosé, semi- different locations — they’re
sweet, sweet, dry barrel not just California lovers or
aged, sparkling, and port; Francophiles. We try to make the
blends with names like 99 percent happy and the
Regent, Trio, Red Rapture 1 percent — the wine snobs — we
and Blackberry Bliss. don’t worry about.”
