Red Line Red
In our efforts to recognize those in our community that serve us so selflessly, we are releasing Red Line Red. $3 from the sale of every bottle go to local firefighter organizations.
blog
Pennsylvania Tasting Room Update 3/12/18
It’s the little things, really. We never thought we would be enthusiastic about mopping a floor… or ordering toilet paper… or installing soap dispensers. But here we are! Knowing that we are getting down to the nitty gritty, moving past the big things like drywall and electrical, has us really excited.
Pennsylvania Tasting Room Update 1/5/18
Wanna peek? Take a look at what’s happening INSIDE the Toughkenamon tasting room this week! Catch a glimpse of the tasting bar (it is over 40 feet long!) and the corner window. Now that construction is moving, it is really moving. Expect to see more frequent updates and pictures as things are changing daily.
Note: We’ll be launching a wine club for our PA patrons. Soon you’ll be able to sign up for that online. Stay tuned for more information on that.
Pennsylvania Tasting Room Update 9/29/17
Get you first look inside what will be the NEW Harvest Ridge Winery tasting room and event space in Pennsylvania. Demo has begun. Look at it now, continue to follow the blog for updated construction pictures as we go, and get excited for news about our opening soon!
Pennsylvania Tasting Room Update 9/15/17
Before the corks are popped, before toasts are made, and before the wine begins to flow, there is a LOT that has to happen to open a new tasting room. We went through much of the process when we opened the winery in Delaware. As we prepare to open a tasting room in Pennsylvania, we have to do many of the same things (e.g. fill out lots and lots of paperwork), but also do some other things because it is a tasting room vs. a winery and it is in a different state (i.e. different laws). As you continue to follow updates about the progress of the Toughkenamon tasting room, we will include updates of the exciting things like opening dates (cheers and excitement, yay!) and more mundane but necessary things like permit applications (sad trombone noise, wah-wah). That way you can be in on all of it along with us: the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Here’s a list of what we have been doing so far. In no particular order:
- Finding the right location
- Hiring architects and contractors
- Beginning the search for more staff
- Drawing up plans
- Deciding what the feel of the tasting room will be
- Researching, brainstorming, and taking notes on design. Keeping track of what we like and what inspires us.
- Obtain PLCB (Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board) licenses
- Making sure we know the laws of the area regarding taxes, shipping, etc.
- Begin to think ahead — event schedules, wine club, budgets, etc.
- Brainstorming on how to maximize profits and make this new location successful
- Brainstorm about how to begin to generate buzz and bring awareness to the new location
- Obtain permits (e.g. conditional use and building permits from the township)
- Training new staff
- Building a team in Pennsylvania
- Working to plan and schedule grand opening
All of these tasks are part of an ever growing checklist that we continue to tweak, revisit, and revise as we get excited to actually OPEN! We look forward to opening this new location, sharing our wine and tasting room experience with another part of our wine region, and working with the people and businesses of Chester County to become an integral part of that community.
Thanks for being part of our journey.
Pennsylvania Tasting Room Update 8/29/17
If you haven’t heard, we have some pretty big news. We are thrilled to announce we are expanding and will be opening a tasting room in Toughkenamon, Pennsylvania (in between West Grove and Kennett Square). The township has officially approved this and now we are working on the building permits. While we don’t have a definitive opening date (YET), we anticipate opening our doors before the end of this year.
To kick off the updates, here is a link to the Chester County Press story – the first to report it.
Continue to check back weekly for updates on our progress as we share pictures, news, and other information.
Cider God Blog Takeover, June Edition
Welcome back guys and gals, its now June which means its time for another update for Harvest Ridge Winery through the eyes of Damon, the Cider God. A lot of cool happenings are going on right this minute but first let me catch you up on what’s gone on since the last update.
We had a pretty busy end to the month as we bottled like crazy. On one day alone, we knocked out 2015 Cab-Merlot and Merlot. The next week we bottled 2016 Chardonnay and the week after that we bottled Blue Line White. Blue Line White you ask? I’ll explain…
Blue Line White was a nameless white blend we made. We were unsure of a name and left it to our Facebook family– you guys– to name this blend. Submitted by Beth R. and with the honor of law enforcement in mind, Blue Line White was determined the best and most honorable name. Stay tuned for more details on when this will be dropping and how to pick it up. 
With the calendar hitting June, we prepped for a release of our newest wine, Cab-Franc Rosé. We released it on June 2nd as well as kicked off our Gourmet Burger Fridays from Chesapeake Culinary Center.
This Cab-Franc Rosé has a very pronounced, floral aroma with a smooth, yet complex mid palette with a dry finish. Limited quantities of this are available so get some while you can!
Bringing it back into the production building for a minute, I’d like to share how we determine what blends will work, which ones don’t and how we reach such a determination. Our Winemaker, Jason, likes to say that if you don’t rely a bit on trial or experiment in winemaking, you’ve already lost the battle and wont make it in the industry very long. Bench research and trial is vital in winemaking. An example of the trials we do involve many barrels for reds and white wines.
Now just because we have all these in barrels, no two barrels will produce the exact same flavor, finish, etc. We use barrels with light toast, medium, and heavy toast. The heavier the toast, the more “oaky,” smoky taste you SHOULD get in your wines. Mostly true but like I said, your outcomes vary. With that being said, when its time to blend or take them out of barrel, the production team sits down and goes through every single barrel to do tastings and determine which barrels might work well with another. 
With that, we turn to trials… sitting in the lab working on a small scale with our wines attempting to find what fits our style and what we think the consumer will like. We are thinking about you guys, yes. From the vines to the bottle, you are on our minds. When Jason and I pick our favorites, keeping consumer in mind, we then turn to fellow staff to try some. If the winery owner, Chuck, is dropping in, we’ll let him have a taste and see what he thinks as well as give the tasting room staff a try. We take all of it into consideration. From there we work on getting them out of barrels and into tanks for blending and preparation for bottling. There’s a full team effort here at Harvest Ridge.
Upcoming events and happenings– we kicked off our inaugural Premium Wine Tour experience on June 3rd and 4th. We would like to offer a much more immersive experience for those who want to learn more, see more, and taste more. Our Premium Wine Tour will give customers this opportunity. Before launching these tours to the public, we gave a preview to our wine club members. I attended the first class for the wine educators and I left the meeting with my head spinning, in a good way of course. There’s so much information to gain and so much fun in seeing all the happenings in the winery and vineyard. We take you from vine to bottle. Stay tuned for when we will be opening these tours up to all.
The 2nd Annual Rebel Seed Run The Vineyard 5K to benefit Operation Warm Heart of Dover AFB is June 17th. Tickets are $40 a person, come out and run or support the runners on hand and be sure to stay around afterward as there will be multiple vendors on hand as well as a couple food trucks. Muhammad’s Caribbean Cuisine and Southern Momma’s Funnel Cakes will be on-site. There are still some spots open and you may register online.
Father’s Day is coming up. We’ll be running specials for Pops all day on the 18th. Bring Dad in and treat him to a couple glasses and hopefully leave with a couple bottles as well. Look out for details on the specials on Facebook and Instagram.
I’ve got some labeling to get back to. Let me get back to it before they have me outside power washing or something. See you next month!
— Damon, The Cider God
Desperate Times…
… call for desperate measures.
On New Year’s Eve, my husband and I opened a bottle of wine that we had been saving for 10 years. Truth be told, we don’t actually LOVE cellared wine, but can’t help but enjoy the romance of buying something to save and open in several years. There is something about that whole “delayed gratification” thing.
What is not romantic is when you open this very special bottle only to find out that it is corked. (Our kids can verify. They said it smelled like “old basement.”) Let’s face it. 2016 was not a stellar year. It annoyed me to think we would be starting 2017 off on this foot.
When this happens, one has several options:
a- Cry
b- Pour it out
c- Drink it
d- a and b
e- a and c
Because we had been holding on to it for so long, “b” just wasn’t an option. Even if it didn’t taste/smell good, we were determined to work with it. I messaged one of my wine educator friends to see if she had any suggestions for our sorry situation and she gave me a tip to try that was new to me: decant the wine and put a ball of plastic wrap in it for a couple of minutes. (Now, she is a very smart lady. I don’t know if she had actually tried this method or had just heard of it. But at this point, she could have told me to jump around in a circle 3 times and stand on my head and I would have given it a shot.)
So we did as suggested. Pouring the wine into a decanter, stuffing a ball of plastic wrap in there. (I think we got bonus points because it was green wrap. Festive.) We sniffed it after about 7 minutes and took a sip.
Verdict: It greatly reduced the amount of “wet mop” smell. Upon sipping, it didn’t taste bad. But it did taste weird. Not sure if it was because the wine was corked, because of the plastic of the wrap, or a combination of the 2.
Was it the best bottle of wine ever? No. Was it the romantic experience we had hoped to have with this special bottle? Um, no. Did we feel ok about our decision with not pouring the bottle down the drain? Yes.
Who doesn’t love performing experiments on wine on New Year’s Eve?? At least we learned something from the experience, though I’ll be happy if we don’t have to experiment again next year.
Interested in reading more? Check out these links that explain the science behind it. (And while I don’t wish corked wine on anyone, don’t be afraid to try this out for yourself if ever in this unfortunate position.)
The Best of Each State!
VacationHomeRentals.com (by Trip Advisor) recently published their list of The Best Wineries in Every State in the U.S. It lists one representative for each state’s wine/beer industry based on customer satisfaction and tour/experience offerings. We are proud to have been chosen to represent Delaware! View the full list here.
Dare Accepted.
News for August…
All the news that’s fit to print… and that can’t be crammed into our already bursting newsletter!
Harvest Ridge Staff Updates
From our owner, Chuck Nunan: At Harvest Ridge, this is a busy time of the year. Many exciting things are going on in the vineyard and elsewhere on the property. This year’s plantings, Barbera and Chambourcin are doing remarkably well. We can’t wait as the vines continue to mature. In the production facility we are wrapping up bottling our 2013 reds this month and are preparing for harvest — which will be in full swing next month. The winery has had an excellent summer season with our Food and Music events! We all have enjoyed the variety of food vendors that have participated as well as the varied musical performers who have come out and helped to make these events a success. We have been able to enjoy these outdoor events even more with the completion of our outdoor seating area, complete with overhead fans, a pergola, and the gazebo (which is especially great for weddings). If you haven’t been by recently, come out and see what a pleasure it is to sit outside and enjoy a glass (or two) of wine. Speaking of weddings, Harvest Ridge hosted its first wedding in July. It was outstanding and we were proud to host this important event in the life of the couple! We have many more on the schedule for the upcoming year. If you are interested in our event space for a wedding, reception, or other gathering, please contact our event planner, Kim at kim.harvestridgewinery.com or at 302.343.9437. And lastly, we would like to thank all of our customers — the regulars as well as the newcomers — for their patronage and support. It means the world to us.
From our video intern, Kaitlin: July marks the second month I have been with Harvest Ridge. I really took my first two months here at the winery to get into the swing of things and get to know how the winery works. Now that I have attended and filmed a few events, I recently took the steps to make an action plan to really kick my project into full gear. At the end of July I spent time editing some event footage for the winery. Be on the lookout for highlights from the Wine In The Park event in Ocean City, MD which you can find on the Harvest Ridge Winery YouTube Channel. I also began to put together the recurring segments for the upcoming Harvest Ridge TV that will premiere this Labor Day! Harvest Ridge TV will feature wines of the month, fun wine facts, etc. As we kick off Harvest Ridge TV at the end of August, I will be filming and editing specials that will air on the TVs throughout the property. These specials will include my interviews of Harvest Ridge staff for behind-the-scenes segments. I am very excited to take the audience behind the scenes at Harvest Ridge to see what it is really like to run a winery.
Wine Club
Have you heard about the Harvest Ridge Wine Club but have questions prior to signing up? Click here to read some frequently asked questions and get some answers!
Blog Write Up
Doug Zimmerman, author of the wine blog “Uncorked Remarks,” stopped into the winery recently. He came on Sangria Saturday so it was hot and busy (though some might argue that a hot day = perfect sangria weather). You can read about his experience at the winery here. A big thank you to him for his visit and kind words!
STOMP!
As we get closer to September 27, you will hear more and more about our Stomp Out Children’s Cancer event! Make sure to save the date because it will be an event you won’t want to miss. Pay the $10 donation to enter the event (the fee gets you a limited edition wine glass, a wine tasting OR a glass of wine, and access to food and music inside event). For $125, you and 2 friends can enter the event, compete for bragging rights in the grape stomp, and earn your “I STOMPED” tshirt! Bring the whole family as there will also be a moon bounce, face painting and a FREE grape stomp for the kids! **50% of entrance fees go to benefit Nemours/Alfred I. DuPont Hostpital for Children Oncology Program**
Keep Your Eyes Open for Kaitlin.
We are fortunate to have Kaitlin, a video intern from Wilmington University, working for us at the winery for the next several months. She will be helping us by filming video footage for placement on our YouTube channel as well as projecting it (and still photos) throughout the winery. Some of what she will be producing will be informative for our customers and visitors, some of what she will be producing we will be able to use for promotional purposes. Here’s a short Q and A with Kaitlin so everyone can get to know a bit more about our favorite video intern. (Clearly you can see that she is a smart cookie. We are lucky to have her!)
What you are in school for? I am going to Wilmington University to obtain my second Bachelor’s degree in Digital Filmmaking. My first Bachelor’s degree was in English and Film from University of Delaware, and I also have a Master’s in Human Resource Management from Wilmington University.
When do you expect to graduate? Summer 2015
What would you like to do after graduation? After graduation I would like to start my own videography business where I film and edit special events (no matter how big or small) for anyone who is interested. I would also like to eventually make my own feature-length movie (at least one!) that I write and edit myself.
What are your hobbies and/or interests? I make it a point to spend as much time as I can with my family and friends, especially my 1-year old nephew, Atticus. I love to travel the US with my boyfriend, Kenny. Last year we drove from Los Angeles to Philadelphia and this year we are planning on driving from San Diego to Seattle. I also love to take care of my 6-year old Corgi, Hoagie. We rescued him from Hartford County Animal Shelter in Maryland last year, and it was one of the best decisions I ever made. He’s a great dog! And lastly, as you could guess from my degree, I am a huge movie and television buff, and I spend much of my free time catching up on both.
What drew you to the intern opportunity at Harvest Ridge? First, I love wine. Second, I have an affinity for learning, and I was interested to see how wine was made. I was also excited to have the opportunity to capture my learning experience through film. Harvest Ridge is close to where I grew up in Townsend, Delaware, so I was excited to hear there was even a winery down here! 