The wineries of the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail debut the first wines from the new vintage and other new wine releases during Nouveau Weekend, the last Wine Trail event of the year.
Nouveau wines are bottled very young with little barrel aging, and exhibit lots of fruitiness. They are light, fruity and semi-dry to dry red wines. The event is based on a tradition started in France and continued each year in which beaujolais nouveau wines are released the third Thursday of November.
Nouveau Weekend is a great opportunity to purchase wine to give as holiday gifts or to complement holiday meals.
Event hours at all of the wineries are Saturday from 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. and Sunday from noon – 5 p.m.
(Nouveau Weekend is a free event, however some wineries charge for wine tastings.)
Tip: Passports for the Vino in the Valley event go on sale this weekend at all member wineries (cash or check only) as well as online at EventBrite.com (credit card only). Passports are $35 each. Only 1,800 passports are printed, so wine lovers are encouraged to purchase them early since they often sell out in advance of the March event.
EVENT HIGHLIGHTS
Amore – will be serving lasagna with Cabaret Amore. Self-guided tours of the vineyard followed by Q and A with the vintner will be offered.
Black River Farms – is introducing its latest release, Barrel-Aged Chardonnay paired with food samples specially prepared by the chefs from feast.On Saturday Tre Locally Sourced will be onsite from noon- 5 pm, and on Sunday, Texas BBQ will be there selling fresh hickory smoked BBQ from noon-6 pm.Live music includes Arianne Rox on Saturday from 3-5 pm, and Kendal Conrad on Sunday from 2-4 pm.
Blue Mountain – will be pairing its Nouveau Wine with a turkey and cranberry slider. Live music by Two of a Kind from 1-4 pm on Saturday (free) and by Island Time, a local Jimmy Buffet tribute band, from 2 – 5 pm on Sunday ($5 admission fee, includes wine tasting). Local vendor Susan Glosan Jewelry Designs will showcase her pieces.
Clover Hill – is celebrating the French tradition of releasing the first wine from this year’s grape harvest with its own Nouveau release – Rouge Blanc, a sweeter rose′.
Franklin Hill – will release Salute, a blackberry bubbly made with Vidal Blanc grapes. They will pair it with black raspberry cheesecake from Kendra’s Buttercup Bakery. The third batch of Cask 530, a bourbon barrel-aged Chambourcin made in bourbon barrels from Social Still, will also make its debut. Local vendors will be onsite for the start of holiday shopping. All wine tastings will take place in the wine cellar.
Galen Glen – Celebrate the arrival of the season with their Holiday Spice wine, a limited bottling. Inspired by Sarah and Galen’s daughter Erin’s years in Germany, it’s reminiscent of the warm Glühwein served in famous Christmas markets. Holiday Spice is a sweet red wine with cinnamon, clove, allspice and dried citrus and is paired this weekend with a locally made pumpkin kiffle.
Pinnacle Ridge – invites wine lovers to visit its cozy Wine Loft for a taste of the Mediterranean offered by Camillo’s Restaurant. The chefs will be cooking up zesty Italian sausages bathed in a light marinara sauce, and they’ll be tossing in onions and green peppers. It will be paired with a choice of 2017 Cabernet Franc (dry, barrel-aged) or 2017 Quaff (semi-sweet, fruity).
Tolino – will feature Randevoo food truck’s butternut squash ricotta wontons with maple sage brown butter paired with a sneak peak of the winery’s newest fruity sweet blend, which is so new it doesn’t even have a name yet. Randevoo will be on site Saturday and Sunday selling tasty bites. Enjoy a walking tour to the vineyard at 2 and 4 pm on Saturday and Sunday, and live music on Saturday from 1-4 pm by Andrew Moses.
Vynecrest – will be releasing on November 15 their estate grown Nouveau Beaujolais, made exclusively from the Gamay Beaujolais grape, just in time for LVWT Nouveau Weekend. The wine will be paired with Dietz and Watson chicken salad with cranberry and walnut pinwheels to get everyone thinking about Thanksgiving food and wine pairings. The food and wine pairing is complementary. There will be live music both days in the Vyneskeller Wine Bar from 1-4 pm with Mike Spangler on the baby grand piano on Saturday, and Dan Green on Sunday. A light tapas menu is available for purchase.
