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Anyone interested in tasting excellent wines in a relaxing and friendly environment should visit the Manatawny Creek Winery, 227 Levengood Road, Douglassville. The friendly and knowledgeable staff greet visitors to the tasting room as they would guests into their own homes. Visitors have the opportunity to sample everything from fruit wines to honey wine (also known as mead) to traditional whites and reds. Complimentary wine tastings are available Monday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and on Sundays from noon to 6:00 p.m.
In between wine tasting, guests can take a tour of the winery, which lasts 30 minutes to an hour and is available by appointment only, or wander through the gift shop full of wine and special gifts for anyone who enjoys the experience of savoring a great glass of wine.
The Levengood family has been making wine for over 13 years. Joanne Levengood studied winemaking at the University of California at Davis and worked at several wineries before returning to the family farm to start Manatawny Creek Winery. All of the wines are produced right at the winery. About half of the grapes needed to produce the 12,000 gallons of wine every year, are grown on their 90-acre farm located along the banks of the Manatawny Creek. The rest of the grapes are purchased from vineyards throughout Pennsylvania, with the majority grown in Berks County and nearby Lehigh, York, Chester and Lancaster counties.
Manatawny Creek’s most popular wines are the semi-sweet wines including Riesling and Autumn Blush (similar to a white Zinfandel). Winter Warmth, a very popular sweet holiday wine, is made from the same grapes as their Harvest Red (Foch and Chancellor) with cinnamon, orange peel and allspice added.
Joanne Levengood’s favorite Manatawny Creek wines are the dry, oak-aged reds such as the Syrah and Bordeaux varietals (Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Meritage). She would like to be known for their Bordeaux-style reds. She believes they can grow this particular variety of grape very well and that they’re getting better at it all the time. With the great weather they had this summer, the Manatawny Creek 2010 Bordeaux varietals are more like wines from California than those of Bordeaux.
Levengood would like to challenge the skeptics, who don’t think Pennsylvania vineyards can grow world-class wines, to a blind tasting of Pennsylvania wines against other regions’ wines with similar price tags. She says, “I think they’ll be amazed at how good our wines are.”
Manatawny Creek winery is just one of eight family-owned wineries on the Berks County wine Trail. Levengood finds it interesting how different the climate is across the county and from one winery to the other. She believes that being in the southern part of the county allows her to grow better Merlot and Cabernet Franc, grapes that prefer more warmth. But those wineries in the northern part of the county can grow a better Pinot Noir.
The next event hosted by the Berks County Wine trail will be the Chocolate and Wine Pairing weekend Feb 12th and 13th. Check back for more information about this and other upcoming events.
For more information about the Manatawny Creek Winery call 610-689-9804 or go to www.manatawnycreekwinery.com.
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Manatawny Creek Winery
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