An advertisement in the airport directed my attention to the Pittsburgh Winery, located in the Strip District. One afternoon, overwhelmed by the conference, I decided I would venture down there to explore.
The owners, having studied wine making at UC Davis, wanted to bring their love of California wine to the Midwest... They ship the grapes whole to Pittsburgh, where they proceed through the entire wine-making process in their facilities. Their experiment in my mind was a success.
Now I will go ahead out there and say when I walked into the winery, I didn't expect much. I mean this is PA - not really known for their wines. I was the only person there on a very cold early spring afternoon, but that gave me the time to really try the wines, and get to know some of the staff and it was the best winery experience I had in a long while. Housed in an old building, the ground floor is the main tasting room where for $10 you could try a number of their wines. On the day I visited I had the following:
2014 Sauvignon Blanc from Suisun Valley, CA
Red Blend, CA
2011 Petite Sirah, from Suisun Valley, CA
2011 Zinfandel, from Lodi, CA
2011 Malbec, from Curico Chile
2012 Cabernet Sauvignon "Reserve" from Napa Valley.
I was surprised as the two varieties from the Suisun Valley were newer blends to me and quite delicious. I ended up shipping home a bottle of the Sauvignon Blanc and the Zinfandel - which we just opened recently. It had a beautiful smoky nose, and a mild finish. It was a little "new" tasting, but the day or two after we opened the bottle had a deep jam sweetness that was just incredible.
Another great thing about the Pittsburgh Winery? It's downstairs space! It was so neat that I would love to head there some Friday evening the next time I'm in town. And from what I recall they have weekly live events that keep the place jamming until the wee hours of the morning.
The Pittsburgh Winery
2815 Penn Ave
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
https://www.pittsburghwinery.com/
