The greater Philadelphia area has a small but strong wine region. One of the premier wine local wineries is Va La Vineyards, located in Avondale, PA. Va La sells all their wines directly from the tasting room.
The wine tasting at Va La is $20 and each wine is paired with a cheese. The wine flight consists on four wines which rotate based on wine availability. All wine that is available for tasting is available for purchase. What you will notice is that the majority of wines released are blends of Italian varietals. There is also a sprinkle of Bordeaux and other obscure vinifera in many of the wines. Each wine is unique which adds to the allure of this winery as you will not find these blends in the local wine store.
Below are my tasting notes in the order they were poured.
La Prima Donna 2010 - The 2009 and 2010 vintages have switched focus from earlier vintages. The main difference is the wine is now considered an 'orange wine' or vin orange meaning unlike typical white wines which have almost no skin contact this wine has extra contact with the skins giving the wine the orange color. The extra time on the skins gives the nose a beautiful bouquet of flowers. The wine is a blend of malvasia bianco, four clones of pinot grigio, tocai and petit manseng. Although the wine is predominately pinot grigio the other varietals add layers of complexity. The front palate is crisp and refreshing with melon flavors. The mid palate has melon flavors, subtle fennel notes and well balanced acidity. The finish mid length is dry with grapefruit notes. The price point for this wine is $40 but the quality matches the price. This is certainly one of the best white wines on all of the East Coast.
Silk 2009 - The Va La version of a dry rosato. This wine is a darker than the typical rose consists of barbera, corvina veronese, carmine, petit verdot and nebbiolo. The Silk is light in color and hits the front palate with subtle cherry flavors that are carried to the mid palate. The finish coats the mouth with Christmas spices notes. The Silk is darker and more complex than a typical rose and I would consider it more an alternative for lighter style Pinot Noir. The wine is priced $28 which aligns it with price point for Pinot Noir.
Seed 2009 - This is one of the few (and soon only) Va La wine that sourced from another vineyard. It is also one of the new, if not the only, wine that is a single varietal. The Seed is a small batch project made from a varietal (patent pending) that is a cross of the varieties carmine and cabernet franc. The 'special varietal' is grown and sourced from a vineyard in Coatesville. This was the only average to below average wine of the flight. The use of French and American Oak overpowered the grapes and my notes stated "typical over-oaked Bordeaux wine". The finish had vanilla notes but the ending was weak. At $45 the price to quality ratio is rather low but this wine does deserve a second chance in the future.
Mahogany 2009 - The Va La 'flagship' consisting of barbera, petit verdot, carmine, charbono, malvasia nero, teroldego,
lagrein and sagrantin. The initial front palate gives notes of cherry cola which are carried to the mid palate with firm structure and well integrated tannin. The finish carries subtle earth notes and the firm structure produces a long finish. This wine could certainly benefit from 5-7 years of aging to allow the tannin to give way to the secondary flavors. If you drink this wine early a long decanting period is necessary. At $45 this wine has an excellent price to quality ratio. The 2009 Mahagony is the red wine you should bring to anyone who doubts that the greater Philadelphia area cannot produce complex red wines.
Va La Vineyards is a must visit for all wine lovers. The family take their wines very seriously and it shows in each wine. The wine and local cheese pairing (and even local made chocolate) defines and celebrates the true localvoire movement.
And all for only $20 a person.
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