Events

Our Picking Parties this season were successful in terms of a great harvest and of a great time had by all. If you've never been to a Picking Party, you've never experienced the camaraderie of picking grapes alongside people you've known for years or people you've never met. We have wonderful Pickers come out every year. They come from Baltimore, Philadelphia, Harrisburg, Florida and many other places. They include doctors, lawyers, accountants, car mechanics, construction workers and stay at home moms. They share a love for being outside on a beautiful day, trying something new and meeting new people. They tend to be down-to-earth, not-afraid-to-get-grape-stains-on-their-hands kind of people. We make new friends every year and hope everyone else does.

This year we had two such parties: October first and October 15th. After the picking portion of the event, we had dinner and wine tasting. On October 15th, we were able to arrange pony rides for the kids, as well as an Italian feast for dinner. We're hopeful to have live music for next year's parties.

This year was our largest harvest so far. We picked 5,425 pounds of Vidal Blanc on October first, which is about two and 1/4 tons. We picked about the same amount of DeChaunac and Chambourcin grapes on the fifteenth. We had to bring in workers the next weekend to finish picking the Chambourcin and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. Also, we ran out of containers to put the crushed grapes in, so we had to overnight some new containers to contain the juice! Other than some Downey Mildew issues with the Chardonnay, the grapes looked beautiful and obtained perfect ripeness. The wine is looking very good so far. We put half of the Vidal Blanc into oak barrels for aging and bottled the other half as our lighter, fruitier Elan wine. We made a nice Nouveau, which was very popular last year, by fermenting Chambourcin half-way on the skins, then pressing and leaving some residual sugar for a touch of sweetness. Our dry reds are still aging, waiting their turns for the oak barrels.

We completed the tasting room this summer. It has a lovely tile bar with barstools for tasting and a table and chairs for more relaxed enjoyment of the wine. We have wine on display and wine glasses with the Glen Mere logo. In addition, we carry "Got Wine" hats and Glen Mere logo shirts for men and women.We completed a dock down at the pond late this fall. Now we have a very nice area for fishing, as well as a patio for picnicking and a fire pit. Please come and see all the great improvements we've made!