We know by now that the Pittsburgh food scene is booming and 2013 is looking bright for our local restaurants. But we also should know that the wine scene in the Steel City is flourishing. Case in point: Pittsburgh Winery. And you don't even have to go to the countryside to visit this little gem; you only have to drive to the Strip District!

In December, I was invited by Melissa and Christine from Treading Art to partake in the 1st Blogger Annual Social, which was held at the Pittsburgh Winery. As a blogger, I immediately jumped on the opportunity to meet and mingle with fellow bloggers, and to discover a new winery in the city. To be honest, I had never encountered a winery in the middle of urban life, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. But this boutique operation totally surpassed my expectations.



This brand new local winery is in the heart of the historic Strip in the old bank building at 2815 Penn Ave. Once we walked through the door, we entered an all-wood, retro and elegant bar area. The staff was charming and extremely welcoming, and we suddenly found ourselves at the bar. Here, owner Tim Gaber not only offered the bloggers a guided tasting, but also briefed us on the winery's history and philosophy. As it turns out, being an urban winery, they don't own vineyards. Instead, Mr. Gaber brings wine grapes from some of the best vineyards in the world including wineries in South America as well as Sonoma, Napa, Lodi and Suisun Valley in California. His approach to winemaking is traditional and minimalist, allowing the grapes to shine.



After the wine tasting and brief history, he walked us downstairs to the wine cellar where the 1st Blogger Annual Social was in full swing. The walls are lined with wine barrels and the room is substantially bigger than the upstairs. It has a rustic yet modern feel and it is where the winemaking process happens. The result: six different whites and reds including California Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Zinfandel, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Chilean Malbec.

The wine cellar also is the place where the folks at Pittsburgh Winery organize fun social events. And their next one, "An Evening with an Urban Winemaker," will take place from 6 to 9:00 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 25.

Pittsburgh Winery is a true urban gem and a great addition to our city; and, as Mr. Gaber points out, "We are really looking to put Pittsburgh on the map as a place where you can not only enjoy world class cuisine, art and music, but you can also find locally produced wines that rival some of the finest wines around the world."

Pittsburgh Winery
2815 Penn Ave.
Pittsburgh, PA 15222

Pittsburgh Winery photos

It's not a good thing for your mortgage to be under water, but what about your wine?

Napa-based Mira Winery aims to find out, with a most curious experiment.

Next week, it's going to sink four cases of red into Charleston (S.C.) Harbor to see if aging it that way creates better wine.

Weird, eh?

I can't help but think that there's someone here who might want to try this.

Allegheny River-aged Wigle Whiskey?

Mononghala-muddied East End Brewing Gratitude?

Carlo's Garage Winery has a Steel City Red. Let's sink a case in the Ohio and see what happens.

No need to thank me for the idea.

Here's the text of the media advisory I received today:

February 15, 2013

MEDIA ADVISORY

Mira Winery to Host Historic Charleston Harbor Launch of Ocean Aging Experiment

CHARLESTON, S.C. – On Wednesday, February 20, 2013 at 10:30 a.m. EST, Napa based Mira
Winery will make history as the first American winery to experiment with aging wine in the ocean, when divers place four cases of 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon in specially designed cages in Charleston Harbor.  The launch will take place at the Charleston Maritime Center and is open to interested members of the media.

Details are below and an RSVP is requested:

WHO: Mira Winery and a team of divers who will place the wine in Charleston Harbor
WHAT: Historic launch of Mira Charleston Harbor where a team of divers will take four cages of Mira 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon to the bottom of the Charleston Harbor
WHEN: Wednesday, February 20, 2013 [Media check in at 10:00 a.m. EST; Cages will be transferred and available for viewing between 10:00 and 10:30 a.m. EST; Launch remarks at 10:30 a.m. EST.
WHERE: Charleston Maritime Center, 10 Wharfside Street, Charleston, S.C. 29401
RSVP: ...
Additional information about the ocean aging experiment can be found here.  Get the latest about Mira Charleston Harbor on Facebook and Twitter.

About Mira Winery
Mira Winery, launched in August 2012, employs the craftsmanship of Napa Valley 100-point winemaker Gustavo Gonzalez. Mira prioritizes craftsmanship over production, yielding handcrafted, small production wines that can be found in fine dining restaurants in California, Charleston, S.C., Palm Beach, Fla., Washington, D.C. and at www.miranapa.com.

###

Mira Winery photo

Yesterday, with Winter Storm Jove pressing down on Western New York with below-zero temperatures on top of up to 25 inches of snow, was the day they decided to pick the grapes for ice wine at Johnson Estate Winery.

I'll never forget the time I froze my grapes up along Lake Erie to help with the harvest for a story for the Post-Gazette. It was 12-below and dark when photographer Rebecca Droke and I crunched over the frozen tundra of the vineyards. It was a heck of a lot of fun.

They had fun yesterday, too, in what some call the “ice wine triangle,” the roughly 70-mile area near Buffalo where geography and the moderate air off the lakes make conditions right for this specialty wine, for which the grapes are left on the vine until they freeze. This effectively concentrates the sugars.

Johnson Estate's Jennifer Johnson says that a "hardy crew" of 20 picked the frosty marbles there from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. yesterday "with a hot chocolate break in the middle along with the distribution of hand warmers." Afterwards, they warmed up in a warehouse with a black-bean chili and cornbread lunch.

The tons of grapes they picked will be turned into three ice wines: traditional white made from Vidal grapes; a rarer red ice wine from Chambourcin grapes; and the winery's new blend of the two grapes as rarer-still sparkling rose ice wine. 

The last one, which the winery describes as the first sparkling ice wine to be made in the U.S., they sell in 375-ml bottles. This year's pickings should be ready to drink by summer.

Meanwhile, ice wines from Johnson and other wineries in the region, including Northeast Pennsylvania, are available at the wineries themselves and at some Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board stores, as well as some restaurants.

It's not cheap: Johson sells its white and red for $34.99 each (or in a wooden box for $5 more). The sparkling rose, in the black box, is $49.99.

Especially if you've never tried this sweet stuff, you should, and get a taste of one of the few regional food products from hereabouts to get harvested this frigid time of year.

I've got a bottle of ice wine from Pelee Island, Ontario, that a friend gave me squirreled away in my basement that I think I'll crack open tonight ... to drink a toast to those brave -- and lucky souls -- who got to help with the harvest.




















Johnson Estate photos

Thursday at 12:01 a.m. is the release of Beaujolais Nouveau, when celebrants drink the young fruity red like it's 1988. 

"Beaujolais Nouveau is more of a celebration of the wine season," said Robert Turk, a retail wine specialist for the Pennsylvania State Liquor Board. "It's a wine from Gamay grapes that doesn't necessarily reflect the terroir of the Beaujolais provence."

Despite celebrations -- "Beaujolais Est Arrive!" George Duboeuf declares every year--  Beaujolais in general and Beaujolais Nouveau in particular suffer from a tarnished reputation.

In "Quality Beaujolais: It's No Oxymoron," Lettie Teague cites it as "the Rodney Dangerfield of France" the result of flaccid product and scandals that played out between 2001 and 2007, during which French wine producers bought sugar to boost alcohol levels, among other practices. This led to decline in sales, the charging of fines and arrests for doctoring wine. 

Within the past couple years, the reputation of Beaujolais has been on the mend thanks to Beaujolais Crus, named for one of 10 regions that produce this wine.

"Crus offer better quality," said Mr. Turk. "They'll give you a more substantial wine that conveys a sense of place."

Even a spicy Cru from Julienas in the Beaujolais region will taste quite different from Moulin-a-Vent, an area that produces a full-bodied, oak-aged Beaujolais.

"A Beaujolais is a gem of Burgundy," said Michael Kreha, sommelier and partner at Bar Marco in the Strip.  "They have aromas of earth, pepper and spice, not just fruit. They're some of the most delicious wines I can get my hands on in Pennsylvania."

Beaujolais Crus are usually well-priced. "It’s all relative, but if I wanted to seek out the same quality of production in the Côte d’Or I could easily be shucking out hundreds," he said, citing his find of a double bottle of Lapierre Cru Beaujolais for roughly $46 at the Shadyside and Waterworks state stores.

Mr. Tuck cites wines from the Brouilly region as a favorite.

"It is very satisfying," he said. "But that's the difference between a Beaujolais Nouveau and a Crus."

Bar Marco photo