EDDYSTONE — The discreet light beige one-story building on Saville Avenue hides the treasure of Penns Woods Winery well, but if you journey past the wrought-iron gates, expect to find a superior wine-making facility with equipment imported from Italy and oak aging barrels from France.
The story of how this came to be in Delaware County begins decades ago in Abruzzo, a part of southern Italy, where Gino Razzi was raised.
There, James Colabelli, winery customer relations officer, said, “Everybody makes wine and he grew up with it.”
So, Razzi cultivated a knowledge and an expertise that assisted him in becoming a respected importer and distributor of wine. In 1962, he came to Delaware County, supported by the area’s Italian-American community and served two years as a Marine during the Vietnam War.
In 1995, he began creating his own wine and, two years later, he released his first finished wine, Symposium, a Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, which garnered 95 out of 100 points by Wine Spectator magazine.
Three years ago, he purchased the 25-year-old Smithbridge Vineyards in Chadds Ford and renamed them the William Penn Vineyard.
After harvesting the grapes there, fermenting and aging them over a three-year period, the wines of Penns Woods Winery made their first release to the public Saturday. Previously, they were only available at The Fountain in the Four Seasons in Philadelphia, Cosimo Restaurant & Wine Bar in Malvern and the Dilworthtown Inn.
Of the Penns Woods wine, Razzi said, “It will be the ultra-premium Pennsylvania wine.”
Of course, speaking to the hearts of all Delaware Countians, he added, “It’s right in our own backyard.”
His commitment to elevating Pennsylvania wines is evident in his pledge to donate $1 for every bottle of Penns Woods wine sold toward the Pennsylvania State College of Agriculture for viticulture research.
Four years ago, Razzi purchased a warehouse at 1010 Saville Ave. in Eddystone and began its transformation into the winery.
Jacketed stainless steel fermenters, including one rotary fermenter that allows for a stronger, more powerful result, were imported from Italy to process the Pennsylvania grape.
“Stainless steel is neutral,” Colabelli explained of its impact on wine.
The fermenters, which look like gargantuan steel tanks, hold internal refrigeration units to ensure the wine maintains a suitable temperature.
“When wine begins to ferment,” Colabelli said, “it begins to give off a lot of heat. Each wine has its own temperature for the right flavor.”
Housed in a separate building onsite, the barrel room is lined with three rows of $1,000 French oak barrels to age the wines to perfection.
About 25 cases of wine spend four to five years in each barrel, Colabelli said.
When ready, the wine travels to the crucial bottling room, where 2,000 cases of Penns Woods bottles will be packaged annually.
Colabelli explained the fragility of the bottling process.
“If everything is not 100 percent sterile and clean, you could ruin everything that you’ve done.”
Here, nitrogen is shot into the inverted bottle to rid it of oxygen, which could impact the wine. After the sterilization is complete, the wine is added and compressed air inserts the cork.
Electricity in the winery rooms is maintained at 55 degree Fahrenheit throughout the year, even during the summer.
A filtration system was installed because chlorine can’t be present in water utilized for wines.
And, everything must be immaculate. Any type of foreign substance could significantly alter the taste of the wine.
“The thing with a winery that makes it so expensive,” Colabelli said, “is you buy all this equipment and use it once a year. It’s as if you buy a car and used it once a month and everyone in the family needed it the same Tuesday in the month.”
With such a meticulous focus on the creation process, the Penns Woods staff offer an invitation to taste their wines of distinction.
“We’re like everybody else,” Colabelli said. “We’re trying to make the best wine possible. In terms of what’s different or what’s better, we’ll let the people decide.”
Penns Woods Winery at 1010 Saville Ave. in Eddystone is open by appointment. Their telephone number is (610) 872-5320 or they will soon be accessible through their Web site, www.pennswoodswinery.com.
©DelcoTimes 2008
