Winefest!!!

Every year a bunch of us go to a resort about 45 minutes away for the Great Tastes of PA Wine Festival.

Yesterday was the day...and what beautiful weather we had. Sunny, warm (but not oppressive) and a slight breeze keeping the bugs away. Despite some crowded places at the start, we were able to spend about 5 hours tasting, along with time for chatting, eating, and one trip to the car to unload our wine booty.

A few years ago a local winemaker told me he wasn't sure if he was going that year, because "sweet sells...that's it". After yesterday, I'm inclined to agree with him.

I tasted some good wines. There were a few spectacular Traminettes, and Chambourcins. I helped a friend drink a bottle of Cab Franc that was smooth as silk and made me crave steak (I'm a med-med well kinda' guy, but I wanted rare meat after drinking that.) One treat there is the abundance of fruit wines. If you're an elderberry wine fan, there's a lot to love here. We have a bottle of plum wine I can't wait to drink with some spicy Asian food. The there was the mint wine that could have tasted like mouthwash and did not. Not quite sure when the opportunity to drink it would be though.

Last year a young lady at one of the stands convinced myself and few of the guys to taste the garlic/pepper wine. That was not pretty, and had we seen her yesterday, there would have been a scene.

But this festival is all about the sweet wines...the Concords, Niagaras and blends. Its hot, and you can't really expect anyone to spend the day fighting crowds to drink a teaspoon of Merlot. I try a drier red if they have them, or if I get a tip on a good one. Generally, I go for the medium wines, then try a sweeter blend and maybe a fruit wine.

I'm still trying to wrap my head around the 1000 Flushes blue stuff my wife and friends were sampling. Wine should not be that color.

In the end, it's a good time. You spend the day with friends, feel pretty good, and hopefully buy some wine to extend the good time to another weekend (or five.) You can buy a bottle of something good and grab lunch at one of the vendors, find a shady spot near the stream (The porta-lavs were next to it this year!??!?!) and listen to one of the bands. It's not a bad way to spend a weekend afternoon.

I want to talk about some of the trends there, the intentions of some of the places, and if something like this is really good for wine appreciation. I'll save those topics for later posts.

Have a great week!