In Summertime, Listen to the Music at PA Wineries

What goes best with Pennsylvania wines?

Both local winemakers and wine consumers seem to agree – it’s live music performed by local musicians!

Many wineries may have a soloist playing a piano or a harp inside during the winter months, but once we get into summer, the music moves outside where the audiences get bigger and the music gets louder.  Sometimes small groups of local musicians simply play background instrumentals while wine lovers take their glasses and bottles outside, but often the action is a full-blown concert setting with a stage for the musicians and with sometimes more than one act performing.

Not been to a local winery concert yet?

Usually one of two settings is involved – an afternoon concert with the audience spread out across the winery lawn with picnic blankets and portable lawn chairs, or the same setting after sundown, with occasional fireworks displays at the end.  In either setting, the concert goers enjoy a glass of wine or two, often with food they purchased from vendors at the winery or brought along themselves.

The styles of music played are varied.  On a typical mid-summer weekend, for example, the Glenn E. Williams Jazz Trio is entertaining picnickers at Va La Vineyard in Avondale, the Borderline Bluegrass Band is playing rousing country music at Crossing Vineyards in Bucks County, while TimeWhy’s is rocking the big barn at Pinnacle Ridge Winery in Kutztown with classic rock from the Beatles to the Stones.

Concerts are only one way that PA wineries help keep their communities vibrant and creative by serving as a gathering place where their customers can support local artists, who often exhibit on winery walls, food artisans, who make everything from cheeses to chocolate sold takeout, and often food purveyors, such as bakers and food trucks which have been invited to the wineries.

Of course, the best thing about your local winery is enjoying their wines – especially as you listen to the summertime music.

To find out more about individual wineries and the 12 wine trails located throughout Pennsylvania, log onto www.PAWineLand.com.  The site also has maps and contact information for the more than 150 wineries spread across the state as well as wine tips and wine information.  And if you’re on the road, find nearby wineries by using the mobile website at m.pennsylvaniawine.com.