Other Pennsylvania Wine-Festwein debuts at PA German Folklife Festival in Kutztown

In celebration of Pinnacle Ridge Winery’s participation with one of the oldest cultural festivals in the country, winemaker Brad Knapp annually commissions a special release label for his festival wine, “Festwein.” This year, the winery set it sights on a Pennsylvania-crafted antique quilt called the “Double Wedding Ring Quilt” from the museum’s Cyril Nelson collection as the basis of its 2008 Festwein label.

The Museum of Folk Art was gracious with its efforts in supporting the winery’s vision to connect with the region’s distinct cultural heritage, a region often defined by the quilts which have been crafted in the region for generations. Pinnacle Ridge Winery was inspired to say something out this connection especially in light of the number of visitors the Kutztown German festival receives each year at its “Quilt Barn” facility which is adjacent to the winery’s festival booth in the Nochberschaft Haus (Community House). This year the festival’s Quilt Barn will showcase 1,400 quilts. People come from all over the world to see the quilts displayed at this festival. “Quilt makers also adorn many of the back, country roads in our wine-making region of Pennsylvania…our winery wanted to celebrate that enduring tradition via this year’s Festwein label,” said Brad Knapp, winemaker and owner of Kutztown-based Pinnacle Ridge Winery.

The “Double Ring Wedding Quilt” was sewn by Mrs. Andy G. Byler who lived in Atlantic, Pennsylvania. The quilt was sewn between 1930 and 1940. It is a machine and hand-pieced, hand-quilted quilt made with cotton, sateen, wool, linen, and rayon pieces. The quilt itself is 84 inches high and a little over 66 inches wide. The “Double Ring Wedding Quilt” was a gift of Cyril Irwin Nelson in memory of his grandparents Guerdon Stearns and Elinor Irwin (Chase) Holden, and in honor of his parents, Cyril Arthur and Elise Macy Nelson in 1982 to the Collection of American Folk Art Museum in New York City. This particular legacy collection of quilts was recently on display at the museum’s Lincoln Square Branch gallery in Manhattan. “The curatorial staff couldn’t have been more helpful in enabling us to hallmark this tradition in our participation at this festival,” said Knapp.

Annually over 100,000 people flock to the Kutztown German Cultural Folk Life festival in Kutztown, PA which is considered to be the oldest cultural festivals in the country. This year the festival runs from Saturday June 28th through Sunday July 6th (9 AM to 6 PM daily) during Pinnacle Ridge will be unveiling its 2008 Festwein on Saturday June 28th. Not only will the Festwein be enjoyable to sample and purchase to take home along with other featured Pinnacle Ridge wines made available at the festival, but these “Festwein” bottles are enormously collectible. In years past, many festival and winery fans have come to purchase Festwein because of the whimsical Pennsylvania Deutsch theme typically featured; however, this year the winery expects more people to collect this special, limited release vintage.

What will the label look like? “Well you’ll have to come visit us at the festival to see for yourself,” says winery staff.

PINNACLE RIDGE WINERY at its farm and winery facility just 5 miles north of the festival ground features many award-winning wines, but for the champagne lover, it is well-keep secret that it is one of the few wineries in the state that produces quality sparkling wines. PINNACLE RIDGE WINERY and winemaker Brad Knapp, winner of over two hundred wine awards at the state and international level, has been delighting wine lovers old and new since 1993. The Knapp family and staff, operating in a beautiful 1851 German bank barn, are proud to be able to preserve beautiful countryside landscapes and the agricultural heritage of Pennsylvania farming through the growing of its own grapes in its Kutztown and Kempton vineyards.

For more information about the winery and its wines, please visit: www.pinridge.com. For more information about the PA German folk festival, please visit: http://www.kutztownfestival.com; and for information about the collection of folk art and quilts at the American Museum of Folk Art, please visit: http://www.folkartmuseum.org