Local Food Notes for Nov. 3

The Olde Bedford Beer Festival, The Bishop Carroll Wine Festival, Ales for Tails (support the Clearfield SPCA while enjoying great beer!), and the PA Veterans Farm Trail highlight this week’s Local Food Notes.

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Tags: LocalFoodNotes | beer | wine | farming |

Plenty of things happening for the wine lover this autumn

Do you love wine, autumn, pizza, jazz, and…running? Then here’s some good news!

Check out the upcoming events at Mt. Nittany Vineyard & Winery for September through October:

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Tags: MountNittanyWinery | wine | autumn | events |

Local Food Notes for June 23

Local Food Notes for June 23 includes Bee Tree Berry Farm u-pick, “bites on boards” at Tait Farm, beer and wine tasting in Tyrone, and a gardening seminar put on by Penn State’s Student Farm and the Lemont Barn.

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Tags: LocalFoodnotes | TaitFarm | Tyrone | beer | wine | gardening | BeeTree |

Mother’s Day, June events highlight Mt. Nittany Winery calendar

Two great events are coming up for lovers of wine and warm weather…

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Tags: Mt.NittanyWinery | MothersDay |

Local Food Notes for March 3

This weekend, we have the Susquehanna Wine Trail, maple syrup, a wine/whiskey event in Johnstown, and good news for all you Rusted Root fans.

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Tags: Localfoodnotes | wine | spirits | maplesyrup |

Local Food Notes for Jan. 27

This week’s local food notes features PASA’s Farming for the Future Conference, Clearfield’s Groundhog Trail Wine Festival, Tait Farm has ideas to make you the soup and sandwich master, and the Nutrition Habit Challenge.

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Tags: LocalFoodNotes | wine | TaitFarm | NHC |

Upcoming events at Mt. Nittany Winery feature Valentine’s Day fun, 5K run, wine trail

Editor’s Note: Here are several events coming up over the next few months that would be of interest to local wine lovers at Mount Nittany Vineyard and Winery.

Valentine’s Day Wine & Chocolate Pairing
February 11-12, 2017

You and your Valentine are invited to attend Wine & Chocolate Pairings at the Winery. Treat your sweetheart, friend, or come as a group and enjoy Mount Nittany’s award-winning wines paired with delicious Asher’s Chocolates. Special event hours are Saturday, Feb. 11 & 12 from noon to 5:00 p.m.  Cost is $8.95 per person; reservations are required. Call the winery at (814) 466-6373. This event sold out last year so reserve now!

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Tags: wine | events |

Spiced cranberry sangria combines local shrub, wine

Editor’s Note: Linda Weaver of Mt. Nittany Vineyard and Winery offers this delicious recipe for a pleasant cocktail full of holiday flavor that features Mt. Nittany wine and cranberry shrub from Tait Farm Foods.

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Tags: recipes | recipe | wine | Mt.NittanyVineyard&Winery | TaitFarm | shrub | holidays |

Fall wine and food pairings

Before we know it, the harvest is in, the grapes have been pressed, and we’re raking grape leaves!  We are also spending a little more time indoors and pulling out those favorite fall recipes.  What follows are several seasonal wine and food pairing suggestions.

In all wine and food pairings, there are four basic components to consider: sweet, sour, salt, and bitter. The trick is to find one component in the dish and then either find a wine that contrasts or emulates it. Here goes, and enjoy!

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Tags: autumn | wine |

Local Food Notes for Sept. 16

Local Food Notes for Sept. 16 features Mt. Nittany Vineyard and Winery’s September photo contest, apple cider’s back, and fast bluegrass at Elk Creek Cafe.

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Tags: LocalFoodNotes | applecider | fall | wine | music |

Local Food Notes for Sept 2

Happy Labor Day weekend! This edition of Local Food Notes is wine event heavy, but we also highlight Bee Tree Berry Farm and the annual Crickfest. Keep reading to learn more.

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Tags: LocalFoodnotes | wine | berries |

Upcoming events at Mt. Nittany Winery, with the harvest in mind

Editor’s Note: While it’s hot and humid outside and autumn may seem a long time away, the Mt. Nittany Vineyard & Winery has a variety of events as we transition to the cooler days ahead. If you love local wine, please mark your calendars for these fun happenings.

Glass Painting—Uncorked
Friday, Aug. 19, 2016 (7:00-9:00 p.m.)
Instructor: Nancy Alpago

With step-by-step instruction guided by Nancy Alpago, an experience instructor and former art teacher, you will learn to use a one-stroke painting technique to create two hand-painted wine glasses. This two-hour class is the perfect creative outlet for you and a friend. Come for an evening of fun, relaxation, and creativity and leave with two beautiful hand-painted wine glasses.

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Tags: event | wine | Mt.NittanyVineyard&Winery |

Unique wine events on spring calendar at Mt. Nittany Vineyard & Winery

This Sunday kicks off several spring events at Mt. Nittany Vineyard & Winery, including ones that involve running, cupcakes, and pizza. Intrigued? Read on…

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Tags: event | wine | Mt.NittanyVineyard&Winery |

Central PA Tasting Trail broadens concept of tastings beyond wine

Tastings are no longer just for wine anymore.

Over the past 10 years or so, a variety of craft breweries, distilleries, and cideries have sprung up in Centre County and become a big part of the local food and beverage scene. To show off this local beverage bounty, the Central PA Tasting Trail was developed out of an initiative by the area’s craft beverage community to unite and promote these businesses to locals and visitors alike, with the goal of gaining exposure for the craft beverage industry within Centre County.

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Tags: beer | cider | spirits | wine | TastingTrail |

Local Food Notes for Dec. 11

This week we have a lot of holiday-themed stuff to do, including a holiday open house at Mt. Nittany Winery, Bellefonte Victorian Christmas, Holiday Fest at McCann School of Art, and yet another great Tait Farm tasting.

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Tags: holidays | wine | TaitFarm | Bellefonte | LocalFoodNotes |

Holiday recipes and wine pairings

Whether you have a houseful of friends and family dining with you this holiday season or are looking for some tried and true favorites, we’ve come up with some cold-weather recipes that are easy to prepare and go well with some of our best-selling wines.

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Tags: wine | holidays | recipe | Mt.NittanyWinery |

Two great holiday events for wine-lovers

Here’s two wine-related holiday season events from Mt. Nittany Vineyard & Winery:

A Heartland Christmas with the Susquehanna Heartland Wine Trail, various locations, Dec. 5-6

Take a trip back in time to when Christmas was a wonder to behold. As part of this wine tour, enjoy handmade gifts, family time, and drinks to celebrate this festive time of year. A Heartland Christmas celebrates the season with a different ornament from each of the Susquehanna Heartland Wine Trail wineries.

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Tags: wine | holidays | Mt.NittanyWinery |

Attention to detail in local food and drinks sets Liberty Craft House apart

If you’ve visited any one of a number of popular restaurants in State College—including, but certainly not limited to, The Deli, The Saloon, and Bar Bleu—then you’ve had a taste of the Dante’s Restaurants and Nightlife experience. Since the founding of Hi Way Pizza, which opened over 50 years ago under the precocious expertise of Andrew Zangrilli, Dante’s has seen significant growth in town, most recently with the establishment of Liberty Craft House at 346 E. College Avenue. Since its opening in February of this year, managers J.P. Mills and Jennifer Zangrilli report that business has been “nonstop,” news they shared with much satisfaction and maybe a hint of exhaustion.

I soon understood the fatigue, as Mills and Zangrilli related to me what they called the sometimes “painstaking” efforts that go into putting together and running a place like Liberty. From the brickwork that lines the front of the restaurant (the bricks come from Chicago); to the iron railings surrounding the outdoor seating area (they were re-purposed after originally being used in the former location of another Dante’s establishment); to meats and cheeses that the Liberty staff cuts to order (neither is ever pre-cut, and the restaurant does not use auto-cutters); Liberty explicitly takes pride in their “passion for knowledge, skill, and small-batch artisan goods,” no matter what it might cost them in weariness.

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Tags: LibertyCraftHouse | beer | wine | HogsGalore |

Upcoming events for wine enthusiasts in February and March

On Saturday, Feb. 7, Mount Nittany Vineyard & Winery will hold a Walk-Around Tasting from 5:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m. During this special wine and food pairing event, we will be featuring gourmet appetizers by Brown Dog Catering paired with our award-winning wines.  And while you sip and savor, enjoy the soulful acoustic guitar music of Laura Boswell. Cost is $25/person; a credit card number will hold your reservation. You can make a reservation by calling (814) 466-6373. This is just one event at the Winery in February and March, keep reading for a few more:

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Tags: wine | Mt.NittanyWinery |

Holiday events with a local food twist

There are several holiday events coming up that have a local food angle to them. If you want to celebrate the holiday and support local food vendors, here are several opportunities to do so:

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Tags: holiday | shopping | TaitFarm | Bellefonte | MountNittanyWinery | wine |

Five local food additions to your Thanksgiving table

It’s likely a bit too late to get a local turkey if you already haven’t, but there are a lot of local food items that you can add to your Thanksgiving table. You still have time to head out and pick them out (although based on the weather forecast might want to do it before Wednesday).

Here are five fine additions to your Thanksgiving table from local food producers:

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Tags: Thanksgiving | gluten-free | wine | beverage | bread | BoalsburgFarmersMarket |

Nouveau Weekends on the Susquehanna Heartland Wine Trail

Celebrate fall and harvest time with the wineries of the Susquehanna Heartland Wine Trail! Their Nouveau Weekend Event, Nov. 8/9 and Nov. 15/16, is your chance to try newly-released and newly-made or “noveau wines” which are fruity and flavorful and meant to be consumed in celebration of the season.  There will also be plenty of your current favorites to taste as well.

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Tags: winetrail | wine | holidays |

Nouveau Weekends on the Susquehanna Heartland Wine Trail

Celebrate fall and harvest time with the wineries of the Susquehanna Heartland Wine Trail! Their Nouveau Weekend Event, Nov. 8/9 and Nov. 15/16, is your chance to try newly-released and newly-made or “noveau wines” which are fruity and flavorful and meant to be consumed in celebration of the season.  There will also be plenty of your current favorites to taste as well.

Continue Reading: Nouveau Weekends on the Susquehanna Heartland Wine Trail

Tags: winetrail | wine | holidays |

Mt. Nittany Winery to hold Harvest Dinner Nov. 8

Winery owners Joe and Betty Carroll invite you to an intimate evening with your friends at the Mt. Nittany Vineyard & Winery. Our Winemaker’s Harvest Dinner, catered by Brown Dog Catering, is an opportunity to enjoy the fruits of the harvest and the company of fellow wine lovers at our beautiful setting on the side of Mt. Nittany. We have selected wines to accompany each course and will discuss the pairings as the evening progresses–hope you will join us!

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Tags: Mt.NittanyWinery | events |

Wine and cheese tastings, every Saturday in June at Mount Nittany Vineyard and Winery

To celebrate June as “National Dairy Month,” Mount Nittany Vineyard and Winery will host free wine and cheese tastings every Saturday in June from 12 noon until 5pm. 

On Saturday, June 7, local cheese artisan Stone Meadow Farm will be available in the winery tasting room to provide samples and sales of their products. Stone Meadow raises milking and beef cattle in the beautiful pastures of Centre County, Pennsylvania. Their cheeses are made directly on the farm from fresh, whole unpasteurized milk which is dense with nutrients due to their farming practices and breed of cows. Stone Meadow makes a variety of hard cheeses: Cheddar, Swiss, Colby and Jalapeno Jack. In addition, seasonally they offer soft cheeses such as Camembert and Taleggio, as well as smoked cheeses.

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Tags: wine | cheese | events |

Five must-have local food bites

While we are most certainly not Philadelphia or Pittsburgh, we here in Central Pennsylvania are not living in a good-food black hole. We have some excellent restaurants and other vendors of prepared meals/snacks using local food ingredients in our area. You can find local food in fine dining establishments, taverns, diners, festivals, and, of course, farmers markets. Here are five great local food items that we think you must try:

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Tags: ElGringoTacoTruck | Harrison'sWineGrill | WayFruitFarm | ElkCreek | Gemelli'sBakery |

Harrison’s Wine Grill to share the love for local food on Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, and love is certainly in the air at Harrison’s—love for local food, that is! Harrison Schailey, owner of Harrison’s Wine Grill on E. College Ave, came all the way from California as an organic farmer, hoping to bring some Left Coast influence to State College when he opened the restaurant. “After a while, I realized people didn’t go for that.”

What Harrison found was that people didn’t want a taste of California—they wanted a taste of State College. And why wouldn’t they? With the abundance of farms around the area offering a variety of options, it would be a shame not to take advantage. “It just made sense,” he says.

Of course, the winter climate here in Central Pennsylvania is nothing like California, but Mr. Harrison has adapted. When it comes to vegetables especially, winter takes a toll on local produce. “It is difficult during the winter, especially now that it’s been so cold, but we get what’s available.”

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Tags: Harrison'sWineGrill | Valentines | localfood | mushroom | butternutsquash |

Wines that match well with the unique flavors of fall

Editor’s Note: The fall season brings food that features flavors and ingredients that are unique to the season, and this may raise some challenges for those who want to pair wine with these autumn dishes. Linda Weaver of Mount Nittany Vineyard & Winery has some suggestions to help you make the best wine/food pairing call.

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Tags: fall | autumn | recipe | wine | winepairings |

Local food, free wine tastings highlight Saturday’s Mount Nittany Winery Harvest Festival

The Mount Nittany Winery is holding their annual Harvest Fest Saturday, Oct. 26 from noon to 5:00 p.m. at the winery in Centre Hall. In their beautiful Mt. Nittany-side setting, you can enjoy free wine tastings, take a winery tour, try free samples (and then buy) local food from vendors, and enjoy live music by Richard and Papa (aka long-time State College musicians Richard Sleigh and Gary Brubaker).

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Tags: MountNittanyWinery | HarvestFestival | wine | festivals |

Mt. Nittany Vineyard & Winery hosts Winemakers Harvest Dinner Oct. 5

September is harvest time in the fields, orchards, and, of course, vineyards in Central Pennsylvania. One of the area’s best-known wineries, Mt. Nittany Vineyard & Winery, is gathering the grapes that make their variety of signature wines, and each year this is a time to celebrate a good harvest. With this in mind, Winery Owners Joe and Betty Carroll are holding the Winemakers Harvest Dinner Oct. 5 at the Winery.

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Tags: Mt.NittanyWinery | harvestdinner | wine |

Fundamentals of Pairing Wine with Food

Post by Jamie Ryan, Wine Consultant & Educator, Mt. Nittany Winery

In wine and food pairing, the fundamental goal is balance. The flavors found in both the wine and the elements of a dish should be balanced and neither should overpower the other. A well-matched pairing should enhance the existing elements of each and ultimately bring out new flavors that are not detected in the wine or food when they stand alone. As a wine educator, the most frequent questions my students always ask how they can make safe pairing choices when they are on their own, either at home or dining out. Here are some basic guidelines that are fairly universal in the world and I find that they are a great place for beginners to dive in and start playing with their pairings.

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Tags: wine | foodpairing | JamieRyan | Mt.NittanyWinery |

Wine and Cheese Fundamentals

Mount Nittany Vineyard and Winery held its second (sold-out!) wine and cheese pairing event, “Wine and Cheese Fundamentals,” on June 30th. The event was led by Jamie Ryan, a central Pennsylvania native and Penn State graduate. Jamie is a wine consultant with a distinguished fifteen year career in wine sales, purchasing, and education and brings with her a comprehensive knowledge of the wine industry from vineyard to the table. The class enjoyed a casual evening of guided wine and cheese pairings and an interactive discussion of the connection between them. Here, Jamie shares with us her insights on the topic:

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Tags: wine |

Sangria for Cinco de Mayo

What better way to celebrate Cinco de Mayo than with a pitcher of Sangria! This recipe has been adapted from Cook’s Illustrated and makes use of readily available ingredients. For the main ingredient—red wine!—I suggest a bottle of Mt. Nittany’s Rock Hill Red. It’s on sale now, two bottles for $20.

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Tags: recipe | wine | holiday |

Early Spring Pruning at Mount Nittany Vineyard

If you’ve been to the winery lately, you may have seen owners Joe and Betty Carroll out in the vineyard with their pruning shears. Assisted by winery staff, Jinx Proch, Jeff Proch, and Sandy Alexander, they are attempting to stay on top of the seasonal requirements for grape pruning that will set the stage for the quality and quantity of this year’s grape production. This task has been a challenging one thus far given the early warm weather, which led to an early bud break.

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Tags: wine |

Vignoles Cake

This weekend Mount Nittany Winery is concluding its month-long celebration of our local wine trail with a special desserts offering.

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Tags: wine | dessert |

Mediterranean Recipes from Mount Nittany Winery

As part of the celebration of our local wine trail, Mount Nittany Winery is offering special wine and food pairings during the month of March. This weekend we will feature local food products including cheese from Clover Creek Cheese Cellar, gourmet crackers from Rip Rap Bakery, and Cooke Tavern potato soup in honor of St. Patrick’s day!

Purchase your “Ticket to Good Taste and Adventure” at one of the ten participating wineries. Cost is $20 each or two for $35. For more information, visit: www.pawinetrail.com.

Continue reading to see recipes for the Mediterranean dishes that we served during last weekend’s pairings.

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Tags: events | wine |

Susquehanna Heartland Wine Trail

During the month of March, take a trip along the Susquehanna Heartland Wine Trail. The tour includes ten wineries, and the cost is $20 per person or $35 per couple.

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Tags: events | wine |

Wine and Chocolate Pairings Event at Mt. Nittany Winery

You and your Valentine are invited to Mt. Nittany Winery in Centre Hall this weekend for a wine and chocolate pairings event. Treat yourself, your sweetheart, or a group of friends to Mt. Nittany’s wines paired with local sweets from Chocolate Madness.

Event hours are Saturday, Feb. 11th from 12-5pm and Sunday, Feb. 12th from 12:30-4pm. Cost is $4.50 per person, and reservations are required. Contact the winery at (814) 466-6373, 300 Houser Road in Centre Hall.

Continue reading for a chocolate truffles recipe from the winery.

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Tags: holiday | events | wine | chocolate |

Harvest Photo Contest for Mount Nittany Winery

There’s a lot happening at Mount Nittany Winery over the next several weeks ... picking, crushing, stomping ... and their first ever Harvest Photo Contest.

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Tags: wine |

Chicken in Mushroom White Wine Sauce

After chatting with Sandy Alexander from Mount Nittany Vineyard & Winery, I decided I had to cook with wine. It was a new and intriguing challenge that I took head on. My three friendly “guinea pigs” tasted this creation and agreed it was a hit. If you like your sauce to be a tad creamier, you can add a tablespoon or two of flour while it’s cooking. But I prefer the fluid texture against the rice and chicken.

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Tags: recipe | summer | chicken | mushrooms | wine |

Apples in Sweet Red Wine Sauce

I have never enjoyed the overwhelming sweetness associated with desserts. When I was a little girl, my mother made this apple dish so I wouldn’t feel left out during dessert time. To this day, I have been working to recreate her recipe, and I think this is as close as I will ever get. It is a little tangy and a little sweet, just perfect for those of us who like a little bite to our desserts.

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Tags: recipe | summer | fall | apples | wine |

Mount Nittany Vineyard & Winery

The drive to the Mount Nittany Vineyard & Winery is one of winding roads, quaint farmhouses, and field after green field. It’s easy to forget that the bustling downtown of State College is less than ten miles away.

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Tags: wine |

A Match Made in Heaven

Literature has Romeo and Juliet. History has Antony and Cleopatra. The food world has wine and cheese.

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Tags: wine |