Centre County wineries offer a multitude of tasting opportunities

Earlier this year, the governor and state legislature passed a law that will allow hundreds of restaurants, hotels and grocery stores to sell wine.

Wine will soon be all around us — a multitude of colorful to starkly plain labels with exotic, foreign-sounding names like pinot noir, traminette and torrontes. It can be intimidating to walk down the wine aisle, especially when your knowledge of wine stops at “red and white.”

Fortunately, it’s never too late to develop an interest or a taste in wine (unless you’re under 21, of course). There are a wealth of resources to help a wine beginner get started, from “Dummies” books to wine blogs to your one friend who can’t stop talking about this intoxicating syrah he once tried.

Even more fortunately for you, the Centre County resident, is the fact that the county itself houses several wineries, which, in some cases, grow, ferment and bottle their own vintages practically in your backyard.

The first step, if you’re unfamiliar with the different types of wines, is to simply find out what you like. Red or white? Sweet or dry?

First, you should know how to taste wine. According to winefolly.com, look at the color and viscosity of the wine you’re trying. Smell it, noting fruit, floral or herbal notes.

When you taste it, note the texture. “Chew” the wine if you have to. How long does the taste last?

Most wineries will allow you a taste of a wine before you purchase it. In fact, a tasting can be a whole experience in of itself, like at the Happy Valley Vineyard and Winery, located just outside downtown State College in Ferguson Township.

Happy Valley opened its tasting room in 2013, events coordinator Jess Warr said. The room itself can be rented out for any event — including birthdays and bridal showers, she said, and a back patio offers an outdoor experience as well.

The winery grows 90 percent of the grapes used in its wine, she said, with “white and red cultivars that are well adapted to the continental climate of Centre County and to the limestone soils of our farm,” according to the winery’s website.

The vineyard is also very much into sustainability, owner Elwin Stewart said. Eighty percent of the vineyard’s electrical needs are provided by on-site solar panels, and every building is built for energy efficiency.

When it comes to tasting, Warr recommended start sweet and work your way dry.

“Most people, if they try a dry wine right away, it turns them off,” she said.

Five samples are free, with a small fee for additional samples and premium wines, she said.

A short drive away, in Harris Township, sits the Mount Nittany Vineyard and Winery. At 26 years old, this Centre Hall winery grows six different varieties of grapes on 6 acres of farmland.

The vineyard produces about 30 percent of the grapes used at the winery, owner Linda Carroll Weaver said. Options range from dry whites, dry reds, semi-dry, semi-sweet and sweet varieties.

“We’re very down to earth,” Weaver said. “We want to introduce people to wine.”

In addition to offering a complimentary tasting to teach visitors about what they are trying, she said, the winery also offers tours of the vineyard and winemaking operations with winemaker Scott Hilliker. Tours are by reservation.

If Mount Nittany wines seem familiar, Weaver said the vineyard was able to get into the state store business early thanks to how long the vineyard has been around. Mount Nittany wines are featured in many area restaurants.

A third popular spot is the Seven Mountains Wine Cellars in Spring Mills, near the edge of the county in Potter Township. Nestled in the forest, Seven Mountains also provides room for events, and offers many events throughout the year.

In June, the CDT reported on the fourth annual Father’s Day celebration at the winery, which offered barbecue, cigars, live music and, of course, wine for visitors. The winery offers music Sundays during Penn State home football weekends as well.

Naturally, we can’t forget about the wine. With dry, semi-dry and sweet varieties — 19 different sweet wines, for example — and a tasting room experience, it should definitely be a destination for anyone looking to expand their palate.

So get out and get tasting.

This story was originally published October 3, 2016 at 8:47 AM with the headline "Centre County wineries offer a multitude of tasting opportunities."