Friend of IT Emily King just got back from York and Adams Counties in southern Pennsylvania, in search of the region's best food and drink.
There are 123 wineries in Pennsylvania. I'm no oenophile, but I was floored by this fact. Amish baskets and potato chips maybe, but wine? Curiosity got the better of me, so my boyfriend and I headed north, on an otherwise dreary weekend, to check out one of the state's 11 wine trails.
Admittedly, we chose the Uncork York trail because of its proximity to D.C., but I like to think we chose it for the clever name. The guidebooks will tell you York is the "factory tour capital of the U.S." as it's home to Harley-Davidson, Utz (potato chips), Snyder's of Hanover (pretzels), and Wolfgang Candy Company--all of which, and more, offer guided tours through their factories. And while York is a decidedly industrial city, the outskirts look more pastoral than industrial, and there's nary a smokestack in the center of town.
Day 1: We arrived around 7 pm on Friday night, and checked in at the Yorktowne Hotel, the one non-chain hotel in a city of Holiday, Quality, and Hampton Inns. Rooms are big, if dated, but its proximity to York's downtown shops and restaurants make it one of the more convenient stays of choice. Locals head to Left Bank for those semi-special occasions, but pouring rain kept us inside and we tried the hotel's AAA four-star restaurant, The Commonwealth Room. We were a good 30 years younger than the average patron, but the food was good, especially that rabbit confit appetizer.
Day 2: As we'd previously learned on other wine country trips, a good day of wine tasting MUST be preceded with a substantial breakfast. Easy enough. We made the short walk on Saturday morning to York's Central Market. This is a treasure: 70 or so vendors manning fruit, sustainable meat, baked goods, and granola stands--all under a 120-year-old roof, in a National Register of Historic Places building that spans a city block. The market is only open Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, from 6 a.m.-2 p.m. We didn't have time to buy our groceries for the week, but we did manage to stuff ourselves with omelets and the unforgettably moist and not-too-sweet mango raspberry French toast ($8.95, right) at the market's hoppin' breakfast joint, Mezzogiorno.
Now to the wine.
The six wineries we'd chosen were not exactly next door to each other, so I plotted each point on a Google map before departure, then we used Patten's iPhone to do the rest of the navigating. (You can also access maps here, or at the Visitor's Center in downtown York). Our first stop was Nissley Vineyards in Bainbridge (Lancaster County), home to an 18th-century mill and modern, stone-arch winery...and 300 acres of land. Like most PA wineries--as we'd soon learn--Nissley specializes in sweet. "Ninety percent of Americans drink sweet wine," says winemaker Bill Gulvin, "so that's what we focus on." After a tour of the tanks (no barrels used here), we gathered with another ten or so folks outside to taste the wines. Most were too sweet for us--with names like "Rhapsody in Blue" and "Whisper White"--but we did take home two bottles of their decadent black raspberry dessert wine ($14), which Patten wants to pour over ice cream.
Low-key best defines our next stop. Moon Dancer Winery in Wrightsville may look like a French château from its exterior, but inside it's another story. Elmer the dog greats you at the door, and when you take a seat at the tasting counter, you get the feeling you're hanging out in your buddy's kitchen. Judging by the locals around us who have come for a full glass of wine (not tasting sips), the tasting room seems to double as a bar. The walls are smothered in local art--there's a good chance the artist will be on site, hawking his work. Ask for a look-see at the tanks and barrels in the "cellar," essentially an unfinished basement filled with wine-making doodads.
There are 123 wineries in Pennsylvania. I'm no oenophile, but I was floored by this fact. Amish baskets and potato chips maybe, but wine? Curiosity got the better of me, so my boyfriend and I headed north, on an otherwise dreary weekend, to check out one of the state's 11 wine trails.
Admittedly, we chose the Uncork York trail because of its proximity to D.C., but I like to think we chose it for the clever name. The guidebooks will tell you York is the "factory tour capital of the U.S." as it's home to Harley-Davidson, Utz (potato chips), Snyder's of Hanover (pretzels), and Wolfgang Candy Company--all of which, and more, offer guided tours through their factories. And while York is a decidedly industrial city, the outskirts look more pastoral than industrial, and there's nary a smokestack in the center of town.
Day 1: We arrived around 7 pm on Friday night, and checked in at the Yorktowne Hotel, the one non-chain hotel in a city of Holiday, Quality, and Hampton Inns. Rooms are big, if dated, but its proximity to York's downtown shops and restaurants make it one of the more convenient stays of choice. Locals head to Left Bank for those semi-special occasions, but pouring rain kept us inside and we tried the hotel's AAA four-star restaurant, The Commonwealth Room. We were a good 30 years younger than the average patron, but the food was good, especially that rabbit confit appetizer.
Day 2: As we'd previously learned on other wine country trips, a good day of wine tasting MUST be preceded with a substantial breakfast. Easy enough. We made the short walk on Saturday morning to York's Central Market. This is a treasure: 70 or so vendors manning fruit, sustainable meat, baked goods, and granola stands--all under a 120-year-old roof, in a National Register of Historic Places building that spans a city block. The market is only open Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, from 6 a.m.-2 p.m. We didn't have time to buy our groceries for the week, but we did manage to stuff ourselves with omelets and the unforgettably moist and not-too-sweet mango raspberry French toast ($8.95, right) at the market's hoppin' breakfast joint, Mezzogiorno.
Now to the wine.
The six wineries we'd chosen were not exactly next door to each other, so I plotted each point on a Google map before departure, then we used Patten's iPhone to do the rest of the navigating. (You can also access maps here, or at the Visitor's Center in downtown York). Our first stop was Nissley Vineyards in Bainbridge (Lancaster County), home to an 18th-century mill and modern, stone-arch winery...and 300 acres of land. Like most PA wineries--as we'd soon learn--Nissley specializes in sweet. "Ninety percent of Americans drink sweet wine," says winemaker Bill Gulvin, "so that's what we focus on." After a tour of the tanks (no barrels used here), we gathered with another ten or so folks outside to taste the wines. Most were too sweet for us--with names like "Rhapsody in Blue" and "Whisper White"--but we did take home two bottles of their decadent black raspberry dessert wine ($14), which Patten wants to pour over ice cream.
Low-key best defines our next stop. Moon Dancer Winery in Wrightsville may look like a French château from its exterior, but inside it's another story. Elmer the dog greats you at the door, and when you take a seat at the tasting counter, you get the feeling you're hanging out in your buddy's kitchen. Judging by the locals around us who have come for a full glass of wine (not tasting sips), the tasting room seems to double as a bar. The walls are smothered in local art--there's a good chance the artist will be on site, hawking his work. Ask for a look-see at the tanks and barrels in the "cellar," essentially an unfinished basement filled with wine-making doodads.
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