By Rhonda Brooks
It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Well, it is especially for those of us with wine-making in our blood and October is Pennsylvania Wine Month.
Traditional harvest time comes as the leaves begin to tantalize us with their colorful autumn dance. And at local vineyards and wineries, we hard-working vintners will soon bottle our special fall blends (although we actually produce year-round).
While we toil to honor our longstanding tradition, we invite you to celebrate the fall wine months in the PA Great Outdoors region. Here are four great fall wine month events you can’t miss.
1. Gobbler’s Knob Wine Festival
Gobbler’s Knob Wine Festival (link: http://www.groundhog.org/events/gobblers-knob-wine-festival/) will take place on October 7 in The Weather Capital of the World, Punxsutawney, at Gobbler’s Knob, one of the most iconic locations in region. Enjoy live acoustic music, food, and tastings from eleven wineries. Make sure to bring your camera as Punxsutawney Phil will be there too.
2. Fallfest at Deer Creek Winery
Deer Creek Winery will be celebrating its 8th anniversary during the annual Fallfest Oct. 20-22, at the main location in Shippenville, PA. This family-friendly Fallfest regularly draws hundreds of people to enjoy great wine, great food, and great friends. There’s even an old-fashioned grape-stomping contest! You can bottle your own wine, tour the inn on the premises, and enjoy free live music.
3. Foxburg Fall Art, Wine, and Food Festival
The autumn foliage will be nearing peak colors when the Foxburg Fall Art, Wine, and Food Festival rolls around Oct. 8 in Foxburg, PA. You’ll enjoy the traditional carnival foods, an amazing wine selection, and vendors selling pretty much anything from antiques to clothing to homemade jewelry. Indeed, it’s just not fall in Foxburg (a quaint community of less than 200 people living along the banks of the Allegheny River) without this one-day countryside jamboree.
4. Cider Pressing Demonstration and Tasting at Laurel Mountain Vineyard
Also on Oct. 8, Laurel Mountain Vineyard will combine wine tasting with the fall tradition of making cider on an old crank press. The family-friendly event will feature live music and Oktoberfest foods.
Wine making has evolved through the millennia. The time-honored customs, however, never seem to fade from picturesque Western PA, where the scenery makes wine tasting a truly pleasurable experience. But that’s true in PA Great Outdoors region any time of year. Come see for yourself!
Uncork the Pennsylvania Great Outdoors is your guide to local wines, beer, moonshine, and wine events.
About the Author
Rhonda Brooks and her husband own Deer Creek Winery & Inn located in beautiful Shippenville, PA. They value having a place to share that offers people a place to get out of the rat race of life in a quiet relaxing atmosphere to recharge and have some fun. See more for yourself at DeerCreekWine.com!
