The first time I visited the Willamette Valley of Oregon was on a business trip about 10 years ago. Some of you might not consider touring wineries and tasting wines all day as “business,” but we were travelling with eight members of our winery staff, trying to broaden their exposure to the whole wide world of wine. At the time, Oregon was the new frontier in American winemaking and everything we saw was fresh and new and exciting.
The thing I remember most, though, was not the wines or the winemakers. It happened on our first night in Portland, in a restaurant on the waterfront. We were tired and hungry and picked up the menus eagerly. And there it was, a full page wine menu, front and center, on the first page, before any mention of food, and it proclaimed proudly: Try an Oregon Wine with Your Dinner Tonight!
We saw it that day, and every other day of our stay in Oregon, and were utterly thrilled to witness such strong support for the local wine industry. And insanely jealous, seeing as how we were from a region where we were more used to hearing things like “Is this real wine?” or “You can’t make wine here in Pennsylvania!”
Two weeks ago I went back to the Willamette Valley and was very curious to see if the enthusiasm for local wines was still out there. Not surprisingly, I can report those menus were not only prevalent everywhere, but the local support for the home industry seems stronger than ever. Matter of fact, it has grown beyond the restaurants to towns, hotels, retail stores — just about everywhere you look. Is it any wonder that the industry is booming and Oregon Pinot Noirs have gained respect worldwide?
Why then was I feeling so sad? Perhaps that old sense of jealousy, knowing that back here, on the east coast, consumers have not yet enthusiastically endorsed the concept of local wines. Local foods, absolutely, Pennsylvania Pride, yes, Buy Fresh, Buy Local, of course, farmer’s markets, well, who doesn’t want the freshest produce, meats and cheeses from our local farms? But local wines, ah, well, maybe.
Now I must pause to praise those forward thinking restaurants in the Brandywine Valley, like Chadds Ford’s own Brandywine Prime and the nearby Blue Pear and Sovana Bistro. To them and others we owe a debt of gratitude for pairing some of the local wines with their menus. But how many more times have we seen great proclamations about “fresh regional/seasonal foods” where the closest “local” wine was a white zin from California, a cabernet from Chile, or an Australian syrah? And it doesn’t help that many of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board Wine & Spirit shops hide local wines on bottom shelves in the rear of the store.
The good news is that our local wineries have received incredible support from the local tourism agencies like the Chester County Conference Visitors’ Bureau and the Brandywine CVB, and the number of wineries in the region continues to grow every year – as well as the number of visitors to our wineries. To see real growth though, we need to be adopted by the local people. That would be you.
I’m not here to debate the quality of our regional wines, but rather to challenge you to visit a Brandywine Valley winery and see for yourself. Go out and taste. Take a group of friends for a fun day trip. Give a local wine as a gift with local cheeses or mushrooms. Encourage your favorite restaurants to feature local wines. And let me know what you think.
P.S. If you don’t know the local industry, check out the Brandywine Valley Wine Trail at www.bvwinetrail.com – you might be surprised at how many wineries are nearby and some of the great events they offer…from afternoon concerts on the deck to yoga in the vineyard.
* Lee Miller welcomes responses. Please email them to leemiller229@gmail.com
Lee Miller began her writing career with four books about Pennsylvania/east coast wines and the creation of Wine East magazine. She then went on to found the Chaddsford Winery with her husband Eric, where she turned her pen to promotion, advertising, public relations and marketing of their successful business venture for 30 years. Last year Lee co-wrote the new wine book, “The Vintner’s Apprentice” with Eric, and retired from the Chaddsford Winery to pursue other interests. She is currently working on a book about her life in the wine industry and exploring the retirement life. Her goal in writing a column for Chadds Ford Live is to generate dialogue and elicit reader response.
