A Taste of Piedmont in Pennsylvania
Driving through Chester County, Pennsylvania is much different than navigating the hills of Piedmont (Piemonte) in Northern Italy. In Chester County, you’re more likely to find livestock pastures and mushroom farms than grapevine rows and hazelnut trees like those blanketing Piedmont, one of the most renowned wine regions in the world. In Piedmont, there are pronounced hills bobbing across the landscape; in Chester County, there are emerald fields contrasting bright blue skies. Amid these differences, there’s a similarity that you could easily miss, but should be careful not to. It’s a vineyard that feels like a piece of Piedmont tucked into the farmland of Pennsylvania.
Va La Vineyards is a small-production winery focused on wines from estate-grown grapes, primarily Northern Italian in origin with strong representation from Piedmont specifically. Theirs is a unique profile of grapes for Pennsylvania, and according to owner and vintner Anthony Vietri, this was an intuitive decision. Anthony shared, “My family was Northern Italian, so it just was kind of natural for us to grow Northern Italian grapes as it was what we knew and understood best.” Growing in the fields at Va La, Anthony has planted grapes from across Northern and Central Italy, including Sagrantino from Umbria, Lagrein from Trentino-Alto Adige, Corvina from Veneto, and Barbera and Nebbiolo from Piedmont. (There are a few French varieties sprinkled in the mix, too.)
This wide range of grapes is both a practical part of research and development and a romantic reflection of Anthony’s heritage. Over the past 20+ years, Anthony and the team at Va La have experimented with varieties, clones, rootstocks, crosses, as well as pruning and training systems, to find what varieties and methods best match with the soils of their hill. Anthony says they fine tune the process every year, continuously building and refining their practice. This future-oriented approach is founded on past generations of farming and winemaking in Piedmont, his family’s ancestral home. There his family created traditional field blends, likely from some of the same varieties that Anthony farms today.
When you visit Va La and drink their small-batch wines, you can feel and taste their connection to Piedmont, particularly through the 2016 Cedar and 2017 Barbera. Cedar, Va La’s signature red wine, is a blend of nine clones of Nebbiolo plus a helping of Corvina. It has many of the same elements that I love in Langhe Nebbiolo: bright red fruits, spicy clove, and high acidity. But there’s a distinctly Pennsylvanian quality that mimics the umami mushrooms and rich soil found throughout this region. The Barbera bottling is made from six clones and shares Cedar’s locally-grown savoriness. Like my favorite Barberas from Piedmont, this wine tastes of warm baking spices, black cherry, and plum. Of course both of these wines pair well with Pennsylvania mushrooms, after all Piedmont is a hot spot for another famous fungi: truffles. I brought home a bottle of each with visions of mushroom risotto, lasagna, and ravioli in my head.
Currently you can also taste their 2017 Mahogany (field blend of Barbera, Malvasia Nera, Petit Verdot, Charbono, Carmine, Lagrein, Sagrantino, etc.), 2016 Castana (field blend of Petit Verdot, Carmine, Barbera, Lagrein, Sagrantino, and Teroldego), and the amber 2016 La Prima Donna (field blend of Malvasia Bianca, Petit Manseng, Pinot Grigio, Tocai, and Fiano). All of their wines are made with estate-grown grapes and share earth-driven flavors that Old World wine lovers crave.
At Va La Vineyards’ wine garden, be sure to grab a seat on the deck for the best vineyard views and pair your tasting flight with a few local snacks from their carefully curated menu featuring mushrooms, cheese, charcuterie, chocolate, and more. When you have an Italian-inspired wine in one hand and a bite of local produce in the other, you’ve found a piece of Piedmont tucked into the farmland of Pennsylvania.
For more on the wines of Piedmont, read about my experience in Langhe and Roero.
