Wineries in the Brandywine Valley, southern Chester County, PA

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The taste of wines grown from Pennsylvania grapes may surprise you.

The Wines of the Brandywine Valley

The Brandywine Valley in southeastern Chester County is just about two hours by car from New York City and Washington DC and less from Baltimore which makes it a great destination for a close-to-home getaway weekend or short vacation for wine enthusiasts.

Good Food and Wine Go Together in the Brandywine

While most visitors come to the Brandywine Valley to experience the former DuPont estates, now museums and gardens open to the public, many are surprised by the number of world-class restaurants that call the area home and the award-winning wines that are created here from locally grown grapes. It's the soil and micro-climate here in southern Chester County, PA that make the area particularly well suited to growing many varieties of grapes.

Brandywine Valley & Chester County Wineries

Chaddsford Winery in Chadds Ford, PA, is the largest and best known of the southern Chester County wineries. Located less than a mile from the Brandywine River Museum it has long been a destination for tastings, concerts and events such as it's annual Labor Day Weekend Jazz Festival an end of summer ritual offering up cool wines and hot jazz. Perhaps best known for their Chardonnay, many of their wines including Merican, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir and their Chardonnays have won awards in international wine competitions. In 2008 Chaddsford Winery had the honor of being named to Wine Enthusiast's list of "America's Top 25 Tasting Rooms".

Va La Vineyards is a small, family owned and run winery in Avondale, PA a short drive from the area's top attractions. Va La creates wines from rare varieties and unusual blends of grapes grown in their vineyards. They specialize in Italian and French varietes made is small batches, producing less than 1500 cases of wine each year. Visit the vineyard and you can taste wines like Mahogany Va La, made from Barbera, petit verdot, carmine and other selected grapes. Only nine barrels are produced each year. Here is what Craig LaBan of the Philadelphia Inquirer had to say; "Barbera has consistently been one of the best wines at Va La. It is also the core of a plush and powerfully intriguing blend called Mahogany...the early balance of plush dark berry fruit, blood orange acidity, and a framework of rich oak has "cult wine" potential."

For white wine lovers there is Va La's La Prima Donna..."perhaps the best east coast table wine that I have ever tasted - a beautiful blossom of aromas, exotic and spicy flavors of green figs, nectarines, with a crisp finish." according to Roger Morris; Sommelier Magazine.

J. Maki Winery at French Creek Ridge Vineyards in Elverson, PA has crafted the only American champagne to ever be awarded the gold medal from the Olympics of wine competition - the Vinalies Internationales in Paris, France. The winery makes their champagne exactly as they make it in the champagne region of France, but they use grapes grown on a 13 acre of south-facing slope in Chester County. The Makis also make Burgundian Chardonnay, Pino Grigio, Gewurztraminer, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon Ice Wine, Petite Verdot and other reds and dry complex whites. Visiting the J. Maki Winery requires a 45 minute drive from the heart of the Brandywine, but the countryside is beautiful and the wines well worth the trip.

Seasonal Wine Events

In March, the wineries of the Brandywine Wine Trail show off their new vintage wines with their Barrels on the Brandywine event. On Saturdays and Sundays they open their cellars and tasting rooms for barrel tastings, tours, music, art shows, food and more. To partake, you need to buy a Passport for $25. In return you get a commemorative Wine Trail glass and free access to the special events going on at the sites any Saturday and Sunday during March. Passports are available for purchase at all Brandywine Wine Trail wineries starting in January and online. To buy online you need to purchase by mid-March since the passports are mailed.

June 12-14, 2009, you can attend a weekend Brandywine Valley Wine Camp which will take you behind the scenes at four different wineries where you will learn first hand how the winemaking process works. The weekend includes events on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Click here for detail and a link to make your reservations at area B&Bs providing accommodations for campers.

There's More...

For a listing of all Brandywine Valley wineries click here.