After a great dinner, Madam and I decided to hit 2 more wineries on the way back to the campground. Our first stop was Mazza Vineyards, a gorgeous, stuccoed Italian-style building with a red-tiled roof and a very nice tasting room. The owners have been growing grapes and making wine for more than 40 years and the company has 2 sister operations and 3 other wine shops in the area.
We held ourselves to just 3 tastings each. I tried the Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and the Premium Port. Both of the Cabernets are aged in French and American Oak, which added to the rich cherry nose. The Cabernet Franc had a spicy finish while the Sauvignon had notes of tobacco and pepper. The Port
Madam tried L'Anima, Teroldego and the Cream Sherry. L'Anima (which means The Soul in Italian) was a nice blend of red varietals fermented into a nice rose'. Teroldego is an Italian grape variety that was brought over to the region and makes for a great red wine that will hold up well with spicy food. The Cream Sherry was a nice finish.
Then it was on to one of the sister operations, South Shore Wine Company. Without realizing it until we arrived, Madam had chosen one of the oldest cellars in the region. The history of the building is fascinating and worth stopping just to see. The building dates to the 1800s and the operation was one of the first in Pennsylvania to hire women to pick the grapes since their hands were more delicate and less likely to crush the grapes.
The cellar was empty from 1920-2006 but the upper building was a bed and breakfast for many years and then a restaurant. The opening to the cellar was an ordinary garage door and most people did not realize what was behind it until Mazza Vineyards purchased the property in 2006. You enter into a nice retail area and then pass through into the tasting room. There are several historical pictures and a couple old journals to explore while you taste.
Since it was the end of the evening, we split a tasting of 3 wines, - the Lemberger, Cranberry and the Honey Mead. We chose the Lemberger because it was a new varietal for us. It is a German grape, also known as Blaufrankisch or Blue grape of Franconia. This one was a nice dry red with an unremarkable nose but a nice tobacco and pepper finish.
The Cranberry was chosen so we could compare it to our all-time favorite from Wyandotte Winery and this one was similar. It is made from cranberry juice lightly sweetened and fermented to a nice tartness. The fruit was very evident in the nose and the taste.
Madam loves to try different meads when she comes across them so she chose our last wine of the day. Mead is fermented honey and can vary depending on the local honey. South Shore's Honey Mead was very smooth without being overly sweet, a perfect ending!
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