By Phillip Thomas
Pennsylvania doesn’t have a great reputation for wine.
For a long time after prohibition and up until very recently, state restrictions discouraged any real growth in our industry, and the wine we did make was simple and sweet. Some of those restrictions are starting to loosen, and in roughly the last decade the number of wineries here has exploded, many of which are making excellent wines that hold up on an international level.
We’re now the fourth-highest producing state by volume in the country, above even Oregon and Virginia. And yet, we barely appear in any of the wine literature. We’ve grown so fast that the rest of the world hasn’t noticed, including us. We’re like the Wild West, the California Gold Rush of wine, and most of us in Pennsylvania don’t even know it.
That said, not every winery is going to have something you like, but a lot of them definitely will. Pennsylvania is a comparatively young fine wine region, so there’s a lot of gold, but we don’t know where all of it is yet.
We’re a cool, but humid region with four seasons situated between Virginia and New York, two states with excellent offerings. Our climate is more similar to northern Italy, northern France, and Germany than the warmer parts of California, and many of the same grape varietals also thrive here. We’re a big state with a spectrum of growing conditions, from the warmer Southeast to the colder Northwest.
The PA Wine Association has an online guide that serves as an excellent starting place for the types of wine to look for to match your tastes.
Also, as a side note, if you like sweet wine, don’t be discouraged. Pennsylvania has plenty of that, too, and many of the wineries making great wine that isn’t sweet also make wine that is. As a side note, some of the best wines in the world are sweet, including Port, Sauternes, and German Riesling, so we should stop shaming people who prefer sweetness. But that’s a topic for another day.
What I’m saying goes along with the “buy local” movement, but also goes well beyond it. It’s true that wineries and vineyards are extremely good for local economies, creating well-paying jobs and centers for gathering and community. However, in our case, buying local possibly means buying something world-class. You shouldn’t just buy it because it’s near where you live. You should buy it because a lot of it is amazing and competes on a global level. It is important to understand how good some of our wines are, with the added benefit of being closer to home than California or Europe.
So if you’re the type of person who enjoys going to the many excellent local PA breweries, cideries, and distilleries, you should add wineries to your list. You may just discover something incredible, and also help put us on on the map. I wish you all happy drinking.
P.S. I’m attempting to chart the wines of PA, as well as exploring the wines and spirits of the rest of the Northeast USA. If you want to know more, follow Philyourbartender on Instagram. Cheers!
Phillip Thomas is a Lancaster-based beverage professional and Level 3 sommelier studying at the Wine School of Philadelphia’s level 4 program. He also was also a judge in this year’s annual statewide wine competition, held by the PA Wine Association.