pa wines

Recommend some good PA wines please.

Best PA Wine I've tasted is the Phillip Roth Chardonnay from Chadds Ford. Closest PA gets to Burgundy. I'm not sure if Chadds Ford makes it every year b/c I don't think they own the vineyard. Last I looked it was $40 so fairly steep for PA wine, but not sure I would "recommend" anything else. Chadds Ford makes a few other less expense reserve Chards that are pretty good.

I'm afraid I must agree with timo. PA gets high marks for drinking but the local climate/terroir isn't agreeable or hasn't been planted long enough.

I had a couple surprisingly good whites at the 2007 Pittsburgh Wine Festival from Crossing Vineyards, they're based in Washington Crossing in Bucks county. The woman doing the pouring promised us "The Best Wine In The Entire World" and she said it with total conviction. We were rather amused and expected the worst, and in the end were pleasantly surprised. Had their 2006 Viognier and Chardonnay, both $17 at the time which seemed a little high but not preposterous. I mentioned that I appreciated the 12.5% alcohol and she said that was a result of the shorter growing season.

I'd say Pennsylvania wineries are in their infancy, restricted to certain growing regions for good product, and have a tendency to lean towards the "make what sells" attitude, bringing a lot of sweet, fruity, labrusca wines that just aren't for the veteran wine drinker.

I've found 2 places in the Lake Erie AVA in PA worth tasting, Arrowhead and Mazza. They're the best of a so-so lot, IMHO, but do show what you can do with a grape in PA. There are many good wineries in the southeastern portion, but none come to mind, and we've not yet hit that region in our tasting experience.

In general PA wineries are affected by the climate as much as they're affected by the economic realities of a winery in PA, and the best tend to be decent but overpriced in comparison to wines from other regions.

Anyone try Blue Mountain Vineyard wine yet?

One of the most enjoyable wines I ever tasted was a 98 BMV Chambourcin! (I believe 100% Chamb) On one of my visits, I asked Joe Greff (BMV Owner/Winemaker) if he had any 'old stuff'. The 98 Chamb was one of the wines. (I opened it in 2009) My friend (also a 'Wineaux') and I were VERY surprised how it aged! Nose, palate, finish were multi-faceted and well balanced. I know my tasting career hasn't been that long but from what I've tasted in my 15+yrs of wine-interest, I would give it a rating around 95/100!

What I've surmised from my experience of PA Wine (mostly Blue Mountain and Chaddsford reds) is that these wines really need to age! The reds I've tasted from these two wineries are VERY 'strong'. After 5-10yrs, they really 'balance out'. If they're opened early (less than 3yrs), the oak is very noticeable and the tannins are very strong - personally, I find it difficult to enjoy a wine that strong and unbalanced.

Remember, like all wine growing regions, PA has it's own terroir! These are the wines this terrior produces. If you like it, great! Enjoy!