I have been reading about Va La Vineyards for some time, with many of my fellow wine lovers sharing their visits on social media. We had planned a visit last year, but had to cancel. While I primarily write about New Jersey wineries, breweries, and distilleries, it’s fun to explore and occasionally write about what’s going on in neighboring states.
My wife and I arrived a little early, but we were enthusiastically greeted by Jane, our hostess and server, and welcomed to come in and have a seat at the bar. Jane gave us a brief history of Va La Vineyards, shared our options of wines to try, and setting (upstairs or downstairs) in which to enjoy our wines. Jane was wonderful-very knowledgeable, enthusiastic, and very helpful in making our experience special.
The Vineyard
Va La Vineyards is located in Avondale, Pennsylvania. The land has been a family farm for almost 100 years. The owners are Anthony and Ren Vietri. Anthony is also the winemaker. Va La Vineyards has garnered all sorts of praise from wine critics, despite not entering any of their wines at competitions. They are a small, but terrific winery with a great winemaker who has earned a special niche in the wine business, strictly by w0rd-of-mouth. Anthony specializes in Italian and French varieties of grapes, utilizing primarily field blends. A field blend is made up of two or more types of grapes, where the grapes are planted together in the same vineyard and are harvested and co-fermented in the winery. Even when utilizing single varietals such as Barbera and Nebbiolo, Vietri selects different clones of these grapes from multiple sites on his property, making for a more complex wine.
The Tasting Room(s)
As you enter the old, but beautiful barn, you walk up to the bar and on the way, you admire the many artifacts, including portraits of Anthony’s mother and father. As you go up the stairs to their somewhat larger tasting room and bar area, you can look out to the vineyards, and open the sliding door and go outside, where there are two large tables on the deck and a few inviting picnic tables closer to the vines. The downstairs tasting room is pictured below (left). The upstairs view is pictured below (center). The outdoor setting is obviously picture below (right).
The Wines
- Prima Donna 2017-The only white wine they make. It is a wonderful field blend of Malvasia Bianca, Petit Manseng, Pinot Grigio, Tocai, and Fiano. They were co-fermented in contact with their skins for 21 days. This accounts for the golden color of this wine. Fiano is a new variety to me. It is a white Italian grape grown primarily in the Campania region of southern Italy. The wine is very difficult to describe. It is a lush, full-bodied, complex blend that has a beautiful color and mouthfeel, with citrus and tropical notes on the palate.
- Barbera 2019-It is a field blend of six clones of their Barbera. It is a delicious wine with nice acidity and cherry flavors on the palate.
- Castana 2016-Batch II-Vintage #5-A unique field blend of Petit Verdot, Carmine, Barbera, Lagrein, Sagrantino, and Teroldego. Teroldego is also a new grape for me. It is a red grape grown primarily in the northeastern region of Trentino-Alto Adige/Sudtirol, Italy. Like their other wines, this one is unique. It does not remind me of another wine. It is bold, full-bodied, and yet very smooth.
- Cedar 2018 – This is their excellent Nebbiolo. It is also a field blend of 11 different clones grown on their property. The 2018 vintage was aged 30 months and then bottled and aged for two more years before it was released. It is full-bodied and possesses a robust dark fruit with good acidity. It is also exceptionally smooth (especially for a Nebbiolo).
The Food
Each of the four wines were served with a pairing of one of the following: cheese, meat, chocolate, and even caramelized popcorn. When we decided to order a bottle of wine, we selected a few items that would be a little more substantial, but definitely pair well with our bottle of Castana. While we did not finish the Castana, the remainder of the bottle was great with our pasta and sausage dinner later Friday evening.
While Va La Vineyards does not have a kitchen, they do offer a number of cheeses, meats, and crackers to go with your wines. We chose their Lanchego cheese, Sweet Soppressata Salami, and Croccantini crackers to go with our Castana. This proved to be a good choice.
My Take-Aways
We thoroughly enjoyed our visit and are already talking about returning when a couple of their other wines might be available (especially their Mahogany). We also would love to return in warmer weather and enjoy our wines in the great outdoors. My wife and I loved all four of the wines we sampled. Consequently, we brought home all four.
Coming Attractions
- Angelico’s Winery Revisit
- Autumn Lake Winery Spring 2024
- Old York Cellars Spring 2024
- Auburn Road Vineyards Spring 2024
- My NJ Wine of the Week
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