Mount Hope Wine Gallery
by
K.L. Sullivan
Summary: The Mount Hope Winery Gallery is a friendly winery shop to visit. The vineyards are located near Lake Erie and the winery about 45 minutes away at the Mount Hope Estate and Winery mansion. Renaissance Faire is the theme of the shop and winery. Watch for the bistro that will be added during 2008.
The Mount Hope Winery Gallery located between Bird-in-Hand and Intercourse, Pennsylvania, has a large tasting room retail shop for the Mount Hope Estate and Winery. The vineyards for their wines are located near Lake Erie. The wines have been under the Mount Hope label since 1979.
Upon entering the Mount Hope Winery Gallery tasting room, visitors walk up a long wood staircase marked with age. The top of the stairs opens to a bright, cheerful room with many assorted gifts to. Nearby is a wood counter with unopened wine bottles on display. The detailed and colorful labels on the bottles are Renaissance related. When we arrived, the room was busy but not overcrowded and there was a friendly hum in the air.
The floor of the tasting room is made with various widths of pine. Overhead the ceiling is made of narrow wood slats. The tasting room is filled with numerous gift items. A large variety of stemware is available to choose between. Dips, sauces, wine jellies are tempting as you walk past.
Spending a few minutes browsing the gift selections, we observed the attention other visitors were receiving from the wine stewards. At the winery, you will find a staff willing and able to quickly answer questions, pour tastings and converse with visitors. We enjoyed the ambience of the room and the friendliness of the staff. We noted that at this winery, the wine associates are referred to as wine stewards and we liked this designation. The staff members at winery counters are important in your experience at any winery.
We tasted several wines including Chardonnay that had a fruit nose and taste with a light oak on the finish and aftertaste. Pinot Grigio has a fruit nose and taste with a nice fruit and acid balance. Riesling has a fruit and floral nose, fruit taste and aftertaste. Merlot has a red fruit nose and taste with cherry and strawberry. Vidal Blanc is an ice wine with olives on the nose and a sweet/taste and very honey aftertaste. The Harvest Red is a good seller and has a sweet taste but finishes dry. Blackberry wine is the best fruit wine seller. The Holiday wine was sweet with a cloves taste and a long aftertaste. As its name implies it is perfect for the holidays. If you do not care for red wine, try the Spiced Apple wine served warm. This wine tastes like liquid apple pie. Cream Sherry was made from Concord grapes however it did not have the Concord taste. It was sweet and smooth with noticible alcohol. Its aftertaste laster several minutes.
An array of giftware is available. Numerous styles of stemware are available. We examined some and decided that they would make excellent wine glasses. The lip of the stemware was thin which would allow wine to flow easily. Prices were excellent. Various renditions of Monopoly are available. Jewelry, books and more are on display.
We look forward to returning to this wine shop for their holiday and spiced apple wines as well as checking out the Bistro that will be built on the first level during 2008. If you enjoy events and the theatre, you may want to check out the events and programs at Mount Hope Estate in Manheim.
GPS N 40° 02.341' W 076° 08.116'
