Looking for a sweet escape with your Valentine? Jump in the car and enjoy a day trip of winter landscapes filled with tastes of nearly a dozen wine and chocolate-loving stops along the way. It is the annual “Chocolate & Wine Lovers Weekend” with the Berks County Wine trail, Saturday, Feb. 13th and Sunday, Feb. 14, 12 to 5 p.m. both days. Two days of creative pairings of locally produced wines, chocolates and chocolate confections… And nearly 20 combinations of pairings! The complete menu of wineries, wines and chocolates will be posted in the coming days on the “events” page on the Berks County Wine Trail website.
The Berks County Wine Trail is playfully sprawled throughout the Berks County region, just 30 minutes west of the Allentown/Bethlehem area and minutes from downtown Reading. Coming from the Philly area? Several of the wineries are just an hour north, and if you are headed south from the Scranton area, it’s also about an hour ride.
This event is a sweet way to create a self-guided tour of the wine trail; plan your weekend based on your favorite chocolates being sampled or creative combinations of wines and chocolates. Visit wineries you have not yet been to before, or get comfy and visit your old favorites. Maps and directions are available on the wine trail website. Questions about planning your day trip? Just e-mail the wine trail.
For a taste of what you’ll find on your stops, the tour will include a fantastic pairing of Blanc de Blanc Sparkling Wine and Brut Rose Sparkling Wine from Kutztown’s Pinnacle Ridge Winery, both paired with a salsa made from chipotle and cocoa. Clover Hill Winery will be sweetening things up at their Robesonia location by featuring a free tasting of a dark chocolate truffle made with their signature Turtle Rock Red. For a bonus feature during this event weekend, sample their newly released Ruby Port Wine in a chocolate cup. Please note there is a tasting fee for the Port Wine sampling.
A fountainhead of popular demand at Shartlesville’s Bashore & Stoudt Country Winery splashes up two glorious fountains, white chocolate and dark chocolate, for visitors to dip and fruits and other confections into the flowing stream of melted chocolate. The dipping will be paired with chocolate covered strawberry’s with our strawberry wine.
Blair Vineyards of Kutztown marries chocolate and wine in their blissful pairing of homemade Cappuccino Brownies and their 2010 Wedding Cuvee. In Douglassville, Manatawny Creek is love Italian style with a traditional dark chocolate salami made with Syrah red wine. This sweet twist on a salami roll is made with chocolate, pieces of biscotti and other goodies mixed in… All rolled up like salami and dusted with powdered sugar.
A complete menu for all the wine and chocolate pairings will become available on the wine trail’s site in the coming days.
The trail has some additionally sweet news to share for this event: Brand new to the wine trail is new member winery, Weathered Vineyards, located in New Tripoli. Weathered started planting three years ago and opened its tasting room about a year and a half ago. The wine trail is pleased to include them as a member of the Berks County Wine Trail. Weathered, producing wines from grapes grown on site at their farm, are known for their Cabernet Franc and Pinot Gris wines. They are located at 7670 Carpet Road in lower New Tripoli, just off of Route 100 (North of old Route 22). Featured at Weathered Vineyards during the Chocolate & Wine Pairing Event Weekend will be a combination of chocolate truffle, chocolate covered strawberries paired with a variety of samples of the winery’s featured wines. Note that there will be additional tasting fees for the chocolate and wine pairings at this winery during this event weekend.
Other wineries participating in this event include: Long Trout Winery (Auburn), Kog Hill Winery (Morgantown), Calvaresi Winery (Bernville) and Stone Barn Cellars (Spring City).
The featured chocolate and wine pairings are free during this event weekend. Many of the wineries offer free tastes of the wines on their regular winery tasting lists, though several do charge for tastings off of their main list. Those fees are refundable with purchase of a bottle of wine.
No reservations or tickets are required. Please note that this event only takes place at Clover Hill Winery’s Robesonia location and that Pinnacle Ridge Winery cannot accommodate buses, large limos or vans.
For more info about the Berks County Wine Trail, visit www.berkscountywinetrail.com. Can’t join us during this event weekend? Visit the Berks County Wine Trail wineries anytime! Many of the wineries are open seven days a week. It is a terrific way to support Pennsylvania Agriculture as well as enjoy some of the most beautiful farmland scenery available just outside metropolitan areas of the Lehigh Valley and greater Philly. For more info about the burgeoning wine scene happening here in PA, visit www.pennsylvaniawine.com.
