Wineries as Art Galleries

In many ways, the wineries of PA Wine Land are cultural centers for their regions.  Not only do local residents use them as places to meet friends or do informal entertaining, these wineries also have concerts using local musical groups and offer foods and goods supplied by area produce growers and artisan cheese and chocolate makers.

Increasingly, they are also serving as art galleries for local painters and sculptors.  Not only might you drive home with a case of wine after a visit, you might also have a framed painting in the back seat.  Many of these galleries are informal, with framed or unframed paintings scattered around the tasting room walls and sculptures displayed on any available flat surface.

But other wineries try to have a more-studied gallery approach.

For example, Allegro Winery is located in Brogue, York County, but it has an additional tasting room in the Olde Tollgate Village shopping center in York city where it features its Allegro Wine Gallery

“We love to locate wine as an art among other arts: visual, performing, and culinary,” Allegro’s website explains, “and the Allegro Wine Gallery represents the coming-together of these arts in a comfortable atmosphere and a convenient location.”

Lele Galer is herself a painter, so it is not surprising that the winery that she and her husband Brad own in Kennett Square, Galer Estate, has a special affinity for the arts.  She has established a clever promotional event for local artists – a “popup art show” every Thursday evening where people can drop in to drink wine, see the new art and talk to the artist.

Galer says there is also a philanthropic angle as well – “20% of art sale proceeds benefit The Expansion Project at Tick Tock Early Learning Center in Avondale.”

A few additional tips about enjoying tasting room art: If you can’t afford a painting or don’t want to spend too much, check to see if there is a bin of artists’ prints, whether or not they are numbered, that are a fraction of the cost of an original.  Then do your own framing.  Also the artists may have a collection of note cards, often with winery and vineyard scenes, that can give a special touch to your personal notes and special-occasion greetings.

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.