An afternoon spent sipping wine on a patio while unwinding from a long day seemed just out of my reach until the idea of a wine tasting popped into my head. Since my 21^st birthday, I’ve enjoyed almost all the perks of being an adult except casually drinking a sophisticated wine at a public venue, just because I can. I wanted to share this experience with some close friends so I dedicated a day to appreciate wine at both Vynecrest Vineyard and Winery as well as Clover Hill Vineyard and Winery.

As this was my first experience, I did some research on proper wine etiquette and found there are five steps to wine tasting. Usually in this order, wine connoisseurs will see, swirl, sniff, sip, and savor the wine before reaching a verdict about the wine’s quality. Each type of wine has its own character based on the tedious process it undergoes, whether it’s fermented in an oak or stainless steel barrel or even how long it’s aged.

Both wineries provided complimentary tastings, although Clover Hill allowed five wine samples as opposed to Vynecrest where they offered six. The atmosphere and setting of each winery was different than what I had expected. Vynecrest is the oldest family owned vineyard in the Lehigh County, whereas Clover Hill has been around for 30 years and has two locations in Pennsylvania, Breinigsville and Robesonia.

Winemaking in Pennsylvania has become a relatively new market because there are certain conditions needed for grapes to properly grow and mature before they can become wine. In Breinigsville, Pennsylvania there is an abundance of fertile land and rolling hills necessary for grapes to reach their full potential. These wineries aren’t comparable to those in California or even other countries like France and Italy because they are small scale and only produce wines made from grapes that can thrive in Pennsylvania’s environment.

In 1989, the owners of Vynecrest purchased five acres of land and planted 50 grape vines on a hill along Schantz Road. Since then, the vineyard has expanded to 75 acres, 22 of which are grape vines with a good amount of land left over for more expansion. Today Vynecrest produces about 22,000 gallons of different quality wine types, and they have opened a shop on Kutztown, Pennsylvania’s main street where a variety of beverages and gifts are available to purchase.

At Vynecrest, I received a list of white and red wines organized from dry to sweet in both types. The recommended order for a wine tasting is to start with the dry, white wines first, and work your way through the sweet ones before trying any of the red wines in that same order.

The bartender didn’t seem as delightful or enthusiastic serving a pair of college students as opposed to an older couple in Vynecrest. When ordering different samples, the woman serving wine rattled off a few main flavors to taste for in the different types of wine.

Pinot Grigio 2013 had crisp and fresh flavors of pears and tart apples infused with the grape taste. For a dry wine, it wasn’t too bitter or had a high alcoholic taste because it was only aged for two years. The Riesling wine at Vynecrest also had a tart finish but it is semi-sweet and grows well in the area because it requires a cooler environment. Although the bartender stated this wine was finished off dry, I found it enjoyable and contained a slight floral aroma and a sweeter melon taste. The last white wine I indulged in was a lighter tasting sample called Niagara. This tasted the closest to grape juice with a small hint of an alcoholic taste. Niagara is made with an American grape and is one of the many sweet white wines offered at Vynecrest.

Normally I stay away from the dry, red wines but I decided to try the award winning Chambourcin 2013, which received a bronze medal in the 2015 PA Farm Show’s wine competition. The grape used to make this type of wine grows well in the Lehigh Valley’s climate, and also features traces of other fruits and berries like cherry and blackberry. In my endeavor to try new flavors in wine, I sipped a darker, yet young wine made entirely of blueberries. It is consumed as a desert wine and adds a delightful contrast to delicacies like cake. The bartender suggested DiVyne Red, made from concord grapes, as my last choice considering my taste buds enjoyed a sweeter essence. This ended up being my favorite of the wine selection at Vynecrest because of its bold flavor and ripe sweetness. DiVyne Red has character and made myself feel as though I can enjoy it during any occasion.

Vynecrest had several delicious and large wine assortments, but I didn’t feel like I was in a humble environment. Clover Hill Vineyard and Winery took a more modern approach to their indoor and outdoor areas. The bartender at Clover Hill seemed more knowledgeable about their variety of wines. She gave my friend and I a background on the process of making wine and proper wine etiquette, knowing it was our first time. Although Clover Hill was a more upscale and picturesque vineyard and winery, I felt the employees treated college students with the same respect as other individuals.

Clover Hill started as a winemaking hobby for John and Pat Skrip in the 1970’s, and eventually grew into a company producing more than 75,000 gallons of wine a year. Just like Vynecrest, Clover Hill is a family owned vineyard and winery in Breinigsville, Pennsylvania that officially opened to the public in 1985. With all of this experience, it’s fair to say the employees are well educated on the process of winemaking, starting with the grapes.

Grapes go through a long process before becoming wine, starting with how they are grown. Some grapes need a specific climate in order to fully grow and mature so they can move ahead in the process. It’s crucial that grapevines are grown on hills because they don’t like a lot of water soaking the soil. When they are ready for harvesting, the employees separate the skins and seeds from the actual fruit before squishing them into a juice. Red wine uses the skins later in the process because of a natural chemical called tannin, which aids in adding the red color and some dry or bitter taste to the wine.

Yeast is added and the wine will sit in oak or stainless steel barrels in order to ferment into alcohol. The more yeast added to red wine will allow the it to become more dry and have a higher alcoholic taste whereas with white wine, less yeast will make it sweeter. The type of barrels and time spent inside also determines the sweetness of the wine. Wines placed in oak barrels tend to ferment longer and taste more dry, whereas wines placed in stainless steel barrels are kept for a shorter time, just about a year, and end up tasting sweeter.

The bartender also went over the five steps to wine tasting I previously mentioned, in greater detail. Beginning with sight, the individual must hold the glass by the stem and take notice of the wine’s color, as this can be an indication of age. Red wines that had a brownish tint are older and white wines with a yellowish tint tend to be older. The next two steps, swirl and sniff, are combined where the individual swirls the wine in their glass in order to aerate it and smell the aromas. This is just another way to appreciate all of the flavors infused because different senses can capture different aspects of the beverage. After the individual gets an idea of the wine’s composure they sip it and swirl the drink in their mouth to coat every taste bud and receive a full tasting. Spit buckets are available for use if people choose not to drink the wine. Finally, my favorite part of the experience was savoring the taste and guessing the infused flavors.

I repeated this process with several of the wines I tasted, starting with a dry, white 2011 Oak Vidal Blanc offered by Clover Hill. This was aged longer than the dry, white Pinot Grigio 2013 at Vynecrest and received a silver medal in the same, 2013 PA Farm Show’s wine competition. There were supposed to be mixed flavors like caramel and lemon, however all I could taste was a strong alcohol content. I decided to focus less on white wine and instead tried Catawba, a rosé wine. It had a clear, rose gold color and tasted of sweet grapes. I could easily have this with any desert or enjoy it while reading a good book. Clover Hill’s Catawba also took home a silver medal in the same wine competition and it was well deserved.

To start off the red wines, I chose another dry, older oak fermented wine called the 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon. It also had a dark reddish brown tint that guaranteed its age. After this one, I could tell I wasn’t a fan of older, dry wines; I did enjoy some of the dry wines at Vynecrest because they weren’t fermented as long. The Cabernet Sauvignon had a bold raspberry and blackberry flavor, but held the same apparent taste of alcohol I wasn’t fond of.

My final three tastings were non-traditional wines made from either strawberries, apples, cinnamon, or cloves. The first called Strawberry Niagara tasted indefinitely like strawberries with a concord grape twist. Personally, I thought this tasted too sugary for my liking. Holiday was another rosè wine with strong cinnamon and citrus savory flavors. It was as if I could hear Santa’s sleigh bells when I took a sip and closed my eyes to focus on my taste buds. The final tasting of the day at Clover Hill was another sweet wine, but made of apples and dashes of cinnamon entitled Spiced Apple. The bartender gave me a little insight on this wine and how it can be enjoyed in a couple ways. Spiced Apple wine can be chilled in the summer or warmed in the fall for an extraordinary, mouth watering warm cider experience. Although I was unable to indulge in this wine warmed, my senses tingled and I could almost taste it as if it were warmed apple cider.

Altogether, Clover Hill Vineyard and Winery provided me with a better first experience as I learned more about wine tastings and the process involved in making wine. For people who enjoy older, dry wines, Clover Hill has a wide assortment. I did have a hard time choosing a favorite at this winery because I was torn between the Catawba rosè wine and the non-traditional Spiced Apple wine. Vynecrest had a delicious variety of younger wines, but not the best service toward younger individuals.