What To Do: One word: chocolate!

Kennett Chocolate Festival is sweet treat before Valentine’s By Denny Dyroff, Staff Writer, The Times Chocolate takes center stage at the annual Kennett Chocolate Lovers Festival. Once the Christmas holidays are over, the dog days of winter start to set in. A holiday is always a good way to break up the doldrums of a grey winter and Valentine’s Day is always equal to the task. Valentine’s...

Art of Spring celebrated by Brandywine Artisan Wine Trail

For the entire month of April , seven winery tasting rooms along The Brandywine Artisan Wine Trail will be celebrating the “Art of Spring” with a wide variety of Spring inspired art events. Earth Day in April, will be marked by art that utilizes “up cycling and recycling” and encourages us to look at old things and repurpose them in new and utilitarian ways. Spring is also a...

Galer Estate wins two medals in SF Chronicle competition

Galer Estate’s Red Lion Chardonnay was one of two of the winery’s wines to medal in the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. EAST MARLBOROUGH — Chester County’s Galer Estate Vineyard and Winery was awarded two medals in the most prestigious wine competition in the United States,  the 2016 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition.   The two wines they submitted, their estate...

New Brandywine Artisan Wine Trail celebrates local art and wine heritage

The new Brandywine Artisan Wine Trail officially kicked off this month. The Trail incorporates all Brandywine Valley wine-based businesses including wineries, vineyards and wine bars, and celebrates the art of wine and the artistic heritage of the beautiful Brandywine Region by providing artisanal themes every month during the year. The Brandywine Artisan Wine Trail brings attention to local artists,...

Chief Cork Officer: 10 under $10

Great tastes and values in red wines By Brian Gurnham, Columnist, The Times Did you know that the average price paid for a bottle of wine in the United States is $6.30?  With the recent arsenic scare naming budget wine producers, maybe the average will go up.  But, as one who is doing everything budgetary possible to move the needle upwards, I thought it would be worth some semi-scientific research...

Chief Cork Officer: food and wine pairing – it’s not magic

Actually, it’s science and your palate that determines best pairings By Brian Gurnham, Columnist, The Times Scour the web and you can find hundreds of articles about pairing various types of food with their perfect mate from the wine world.  The reality is that while there are a lot of guidelines based on science, it all comes down to personal preference.  It’s no different than the food...

Don’t be afraid to go farther afield for wine values

Emerging regions offer value, new tastes to broaden your horizons By Brian Gurnham, Columnist, The Times Sweating away at the local YMCA, and trying not to be annoyed by the massive influx of post New Year’s exercise wanabees, I couldn’t help but wonder what would happen to the wine industry if people put as much emphasis on trying a new or different wine in the new year as they do on getting healthy. ...

The Wine Coach: Wine drinker’s demographics, do you fit in?

Are you normal, or a ‘special’ wine consumer? Editor’s Note: Today marks the debut of Brian Gurham, who will be writing monthly on wine topics. He’s one of the region’s top experts and writers on various topics related to wine, wine appreciation and related issues. And he’s a very entertaining read. We hope you enjoy his insights. By Brian Gurnham, Columnist, The...

Galer Estate releases 2 Cabernet Francs-same winemaker, 2 different vineyards

Galer Estate winemaker Virginia Mitchell samples some of the new offerings from the barrel. EAST MARLBOROUGH — Galer Estate continues to push the boundaries of Pennsylvania winemaking with the simultaneous release of two 2012 Cabernet Franc wines from two distinct vineyards or what’s called “single vineyard designate” wines. One wine is made with 100% cabernet franc grapes from Galer Estate’s...

Grape to glass: relax, it’s just wine tasting

You don’t have to be an expert to enjoy a wine tasting By Doug Zimmerman, Columnist, The Times Tasting wine has the unfair reputation of being an intimidating, high maintenance endeavor for the inexperienced. Believe me, this does not have to be the case. Wine bars and wineries are growing in popularity, and the culture is becoming more mainstream than in the past. Don’t sweat it. It’s...