Berks County Wine Trail

1. Berks County Wine Trail Presentation to the Berks County Board of Commissioners – August 2009

2. Welcome to the Berks County Wine Trail and its member wineries

3. About us… 8 participating family-owned wineries in the Berks Region: Bashore & Stoudt County Winery Kog Hill Winery Blair Vineyards Long Trout Winery Calvaresi Winery Manatawny Creek Winery Clover Hill Vineyards & Winery Pinnacle Ridge Winery trail organized in 2004 share unique philosophies to quality winemaking encompass winemaking with locally grown grapes and fruits – from Chardonnay, Merlot, Vidal, Chambourcin to Peaches, Mulberry, Apples, Raspberries and more… a true celebration of local agriculture!

4. Berks County Wine Trail 2009 • member wineries span the entire Berks region • Public enjoys seeing agricultural farmland & tourism attractions during their self-guided exploration of our wine trail

5. About us… collaboration between the wineries supports 4 annual events each year: Chocolate & Wine Cool Wine Treat A Taste of Spring! Artisan Cheese & Wine the opportunity of the wineries’ daily activities also promotes PA winemaking, viticulture and agriculture

6. Why we do it… each of us loves wine, winemaking and agriculture we each enjoy sharing this passion with the public who stops by to experience a taste of Berks County we love it when they not only buy a bottle for themselves but buy one for a friend or loved one who doesn’t know yet that great wines are made here

7. How we do it… some of the wineries grow their own fruit as well as produce the wines; others purchase fruit from other growers in the region, producing the wines here in Berks at the more established wineries, the winemakers work fulltime at their craft while others, still in transition, juggle a day job or corporate career while carving out time for their second career & true passion – winemaking

8. crushing bottling

9. BCWT & winemaking culture of winemaking - PA philosophy of winemaking – BCWT soil & climate characteristics grapes (vinifera) & fruits grown & produced into wines spectrum wines found along the trail include…. crops this year – weather (rain!) impact on orchards, berry patches, vineyards

10. grapes vineyard

11. Our fruitful vantage point we enjoy a steady growth in consumer/tourism attendance since our inception wine trail events attract new patrons as well as encourage regular patrons to pay a visit wines sales up nationally & in PA (combination of consumer interest in wine and the recession) Consumer interest in locally grown foods is booming The combination of locally grown fruits/grapes…domestic wine popularity…and consumers staying close to home to enjoy the fruits we produce – makes wineries like ours very fortunate

12. Our fruitful vantage point the bonus in all of this: our visitors find themselves immersed in the agricultural landscape of our region when they come to visit any of our wineries each year event attendance and overall awareness increases significantly, since we became a trail, visitors to the wineries has more than doubled. we continue to explore ways to keep expanding this awareness of what Berks County has to offer via the avenue of its wineries

13. Wine produced by the Berks County Wine Trail Wineries… …stems from a year round agricultural process

14. A visual tour of the eight wineries along the Berks County Wine Trail…

15. Long Trout Winery

16. Clover Hill Vineyards & Winery - Robesonia

17. Calvaresi Winery

18. Manatawny Creek Winery

19. Kog Hill Winery Kog Hill Winery

20. Pinnacle Ridge Winery

21. Bashore & Stoudt Country Winery

22. Blair Vineyards

23. Vineyard ready for harvest Young vine takes root in a protective covering

24. Oak barrels used to age wine Stainless steel tanks are used to ferment and/or to age wine

25. Festive wine pairings are often featured at wine trail events

26. www.berkscountywinetrail.com berks_county_wine_trail@yahoo.com