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There are many things that we, as winemakers, can control to ensure the wine in your glass is swoon-worthy every time. We grow only the highest-quality grapes, tend and prune them with care and hand harvest (no machines!) to produce wines that make us proud. One thing we can’t control? Fickle Mother Nature. We do have a few tricks up our sleeves to deal with the Northeast’s unpredictable weather patterns that have created slow but steady climate changes. We tapped vineyard manager and assistant winemaker Davide Creato’s brain to share how we’ve been handling environmental factors in our vineyards and what we plan to do to make sure we measure up to your high standards—and to keep you coming back for more.  How has the Pennsylvania grape-growing climate changed over the last 5–10 years?We’re seeing longer seasons, with warmer temperatures in August and September. This has actually been a good thing: we’ve noticed better ripening of our grapes, specifically our red varietals. How has Penns Woods changed to adapt and flourish?We changed our trellising system to ensure that every pound of grapes has the right amount of canopy square footage. This improves the “air drainage” between grape clusters to help reduce moisture- and humidity-related disease. We've had some very cold winters followed by really hot summers—how does that impact grapes? We prevent winter injuries by making sure the vines go into hibernation with the most energy they can store. We do this by protecting the leaves even after harvest so they can continue to build carbohydrates—and push them down to the vine's roots. The hot summers are never an issue. Vines have deep roots, so they can fight the heat. They don’t get stressed by the dry weather.  What grapes thrive in our area?At Penns Woods, our Chardonnay and Cabernet Franc are the most consistent and best-growing grapes in our vineyard. What grapes has Penns Woods cultivated specifically for this climate? Traminette is one of our favorite hybrids that does very well in this climate. For vinifera, which means grapes derived from European varietals, our Chardonnay does well in our milder summer climate. Yes, I said mild, which for us means lack of a significant number of consecutive high temperatures days! What’s Penns Woods’ secret for succeeding in Pennsylvania?We plant our vines in a north-south orientation with a 10-degree angle. This gives us even distribution of sunlight throughout the day. As for the soil, we plow to reactivate it before planting new vines so those delicate plants have fertile, softer soil to grow in. Do you see any challenges ahead?A major challenge is the warmer days we have had in early March, which makes the vines think that spring/bud break is here. After a warm day or two, then falling back into extreme cold temperatures, it is easy for the vines to become damaged. If there is a frost after bud break, which typically happens at the end of April, then there is the chance of losing part of the crop for the year due to the frost burning the young sprouts.  With an industry original like our president and winemaker Gino Razzi leading the charge along with Davide, we’re certain we’ll be turning out your favorites for years to come. We invite you to visit our tasting room and check out our upcoming events, two great ways to see how we manage the terroir to bring you the grande vino.
Penns Woods Winery is a family-run Pennsylvania winery. With more than 40 years of experience in the wine business, winemaker Gino Razzi and his daughter, Carley Mack, produce award-winning wines from Pennsylvania-grown grapes. Penns Woods wines can be found in restaurants throughout Philadelphia and its surrounding suburbs. Stop in to your local state store and pick from a limited selection of wines, or visit our tasting room for the full offering. The tasting room in Chadds Ford provides an all-around vineyard experience and hosts live music, food and wine pairings and other exciting events each weekend. Score Penns Woods Winery news in your inbox by signing up for our newsletter today! --Nina Malone
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Ever wonder how your favorite Penns Woods Winery vino ends up in your glass? Winemaking is part art, part science and part of our DNA. The pursuit of the perfect wine is what drives us every single day. Our storied history starts with our president and winemaker Gino Razzi. His passion begins with selecting award-winning varietals to plant and is evident through every step of the process. He’s instilled that love into the entire team—and it shows in your glass.  We’re bursting with pride over our vineyards, but some of the real magic occurs when the grapes are picked and sent on their journey to greatness. We asked our vineyard manager and assistant winemaker Davide Creato to brag a bit and give you, our thirsty friends, the inside scoop on how we craft wine. 5 Steps to Making Wonderful Wines1. HarvestingFirst and foremost, we harvest by hand—because it’s the right thing to do. We begin very early in the morning and harvest as fast as possible so that the fruit stays as chilled as possible for immediate production. We harvest in smaller, 20-pound lugs (yellow collection buckets) so the grapes stay intact until we choose to crush them. We crush and process all our grapes the same day as harvest.  When to pick? When the grapes are perfect. We look at and consider the levels of Brix (sugar content), pH and acidity—and we taste the fruit, too. We start testing whites twice each week in the beginning of August and then more frequently as we get closer to the harvest; our reds get the same treatment starting in early September. 2. Crushing and PressingCrushing sounds so … rough. In reality, crushing is a very gentle process in our state-of-the-art crushing and de-stemming machine. It expertly removes all stems and pops the berries to prepare for pressing. At Penns Woods, our pressing is done entirely oxygen-free with a bag press and nitrogen gas to protect the juice from oxidation. This results in pure, delicious grape juice we send on its way to fermentation. 3. FermentationFermentation occurs in a temperature-controlled environment in stainless steel tanks. Depending on the varietal, yeasts are added to turn sugars into alcohol. The process is stopped when we achieve the right sugar and alcohol level for each type of wine. 4. ClarificationThis step removes solids from the wine. At Penns Woods, we let the wine clarify on its own throughout the winter, adding extracts of coal to give Mother Nature a hand and settle some of the sediments we want to remove. This happens in our refrigeration systems, but we also take advantage of the Northeast’s cold winter days and throw open the door of our winery to cool our tanks. 5. Aging and BottlingWe’re proud to use only 100 percent French oak barrels for all our red wines. The roughly 55-gallon barrels expertly age our reds anywhere from 12–24 months. Our whites are aged and stored in stainless steel for a shorter period of time, again depending on the type. We also bottle-age as appropriate, for as little as six weeks and as long as one year.  We keep an eye on different things for different wines throughout the aging process and taste-test to make sure the profile is perfect. Only then do we send the wine for filtering and bottling, another process accomplished without the wine ever coming into contact with oxygen. And then, it’s off to you.
We take great care, from start to finish, to make sure our wines are just what Gino envisioned when he started Penns Woods Winery. Living up to his exacting standards means we produce high-quality wines with superior taste. Visit our tasting room to find your next favorite vino. Salute! Penns Woods Winery is a family-run Pennsylvania winery. With more than 40 years of experience in the wine business, winemaker Gino Razzi and his daughter, Carley Mack, produce award-winning wines from Pennsylvania-grown grapes. Penns Woods wines can be found in restaurants throughout Philadelphia and its surrounding suburbs. Stop in to your local state store and pick from a limited selection of wines, or visit our tasting room for the full offering. The tasting room in Chadds Ford provides an all-around vineyard experience and hosts live music, food and wine pairings and other exciting events each weekend. Score Penns Woods Winery news in your inbox by signing up for our newsletter today! --Nina Malone |
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UPCOMING EVENTS
September Every Weekend: Live Music on the Lawn! 14th: Happy Hour at Newlin Grist Mill 17th: Yoga in the Vineyard 21st: Throwback Thursday 30th: Derby at the Vineyard October - PA Wine Month Live Music EVERY Weekend: Live Music on the Lawn! - LAST month of the season 1st: Derby at the Vineyard 6th: Vault Tasting Experience 7th: Fall Harvest Festival at Newlin Grist Mill 8th: Fall Member Day 19th: Throwback Thursday - LAST of the season 22nd: Fall Candlemaking Workshop 26th: Wine Education Series: Wine Blending 28th: Artisan Exchange 29th: Char-boo-terie Board Workshop 29th: Pumpkin Painting at the Vineyard HOUSE POLICIES
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SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER HOURS
Sunday: 11:00 - 6:00pm Monday: 11:00 - 6:00pm Tuesday: 11:00 - 6:00pm Wednesday: 11:00 - 6:00pm Thursday: 11:00 - 7:00pm Friday: 11:00 - 7:00pm Saturday: 11:00 - 7:00pm CLOSED
Easter Day Thanksgiving Day Christmas Day New Years Day CLOSED on Mondays January-March |
CONTACT US
124 Beaver Valley Road Chadds Ford, PA 19317 On Rt. 202 just 1/2 mile from the DE/ PA State Line www.pennswoodswinery.com Phone: 610.459.0808 Email: info@pennswoodswinery.com Private Event Inquiries Wholesale Inquiries Musician & Vendor Inquiries Donation Request Form Employment Opportunities FAQs Privacy Policy WE'RE SOCIAL! |