The Wine is a Terrible Thing to Waste

Eighty-five miles west of New York City, tucked away in the hills of Bangor, Pennsylvania, just beyond a winding road that runs adjacent to the Delaware River, you'll find the Franklin Hill Vineyard.

This secluded gem is home to several prizewinning wines.

When I arrived at the wine shop for the tasting, the pleasant women working behind the counter gave me a wine list. I was allowed to make six selections to taste. The list was broken up into four categories: White wines, red wines, rose wines and specialty wines.

I chose:

White Jade - a dry, lightly oaked white wine. This one is considered their "everyday Chardonnay."
Katie's Creek - a splendid, sweet, white wine good with cheese and fruit.

Cabernet Sauvignon - a super dry, American oak-aged red wine.
Fainting Goat - a black cherry flavored gold medal winner that goes well
with chocolate.

Catawba - a sweet, fruity blush wine.
Passion - a light and sweet strawberry/kiwi flavored blend.

All were delicious.

I also fell in love with Sir Walter's Red - the perfect red wine for people who despise red wine. It's delicate, fruity, sweet taste is perfect for sangria - and happens to be their top seller.

Best of all, when purchased directly from the vineyard, the bottles retail for an incredibly low $10 each.

I racked up, purchasing 15 bottles of wine, a few of bottle stoppers and two homemade, gourmet dipping sauces (raspberry wasabi and roasted pineapple habanero) from the Robert Rothschild Farm.

Once I loaded all my goodies in the trunk, it was time for a personal tour of the vineyard with the manager, Scott.

He gave me a brief history of the 27-year-old family owned winery, which produced 35,000 gallons of wine last year.

We toured the grounds and I got a glimpse of budding grapes.

Then, Scott took me behind the scenes where I got to see the inner-workings of the vineyard.

I saw the holding tanks where the wine is stored, the machine used to bottle the wine and the room that houses the packaged fruits of their labor.

Don't know much about wine? Attend a tasting at the Franklin Hill Vineyards. Their friendly, knowledgeable staff will walk you through any questions you have about their impressive selections, taking the intimidation out of sampling and buying wine.

With palate cleansing goodies on deck and a serene outdoor sitting area overlooking the vineyard, this is the place to eat, drink and be merry.

Not in the area? Well, they ship too!

Check out their website for a complete list of wines and prices.

My wine rack before...

My wine rack after...