Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
A hidden gem, Va La crafts rare wines
After cultivating artisan grapevines for 20 years, the Vietri family’s treasure continues to blossom
Va La Vineyards produces renowned, unique wine vintages.
Established in 1999, a local family began cultivating land in southern Chester County with a fusion of old world European grape varieties grafted to new world rootstocks from America’s east coast.
After two years, Va La’s tasting room opened its doors to the public in 2002 featuring the very first wines ever harvested in the Avondale region of New Garden. The owners transformed the property’s rustic historic barn for the space.
Roughly two decades later, Va La’s success can be measured by tasting its wines. Many visitors describe Va La not only as “extraordinary” but moreover as “exceptional.”
Vietri family members have farmed this southern Chester County homestead, composed of 15 acres, for — generations — nearly 100 years. The property sits between the Red Clay and White Clay creek watersheds which flow directly into the Christina River en route to the Delaware.
“In my humble opinion, Va La could very well be the best vineyard and winery in the state of Pennsylvania and quite possibly, the best on the east coast,” reviewed Steven Giles in American Winery Guide.
Yet, whilst Va La Vineyards is an acclaimed attraction for wine lovers across the nation and around the world, it remains a low-key secret to most regional neighbors
especially locally in Chester County.
“We just hope for folks to know that for 20 years we have been a small family farm dedicated to producing estate-grown wines from northern Italian varieties, and in those four wines we strive to offer unique dry table wines,” said Anthony Vietri, farmer. “Approaching our 100th year as Chester County farmers, our family is truly thankful to be part of this land and this community.”
Of the wines produced at Va La, 2016 vintages are available for La Prima Donna, Barbera and Cedar. A 2017 vintage of the popular rosé Silk is also available to patrons.
Folks can enjoy tastings, paired with local and regional cheeses, bread, Neuchatel chocolate and seasonal treats. For larger parties, there is a size limit of up-to-six people per party. A patron may also order a glass of wine and take it up to an upstairs room, called the galleria, which has French doors over looking Va La’s spanning, hillside vineyard.
As a family owned and operated farm, the vineyard does not over produce its products for mass consumption. Instead, Vietri ensures that each grape is nurtured, and each vine cultivated on a farmstead with historical roots to William Penn who granted the property’s first deed to the Miller family in 1705.
A farmer’s craft
In February, Vietri is often walking the fields of Va La pruning the vines ahead of spring’s return.
The pruning process will continue until mid-March.
Come spring, the vines will again blossom and the grapes will grow until late summer.
An annual harvest then follows, each September.
One of the biggest lessons Vietri said he’s learned is “trust.” That meant “giving up control” after he experienced an epiphany in 2003 following the onset of a very brutal season.
At that moment, Vietri said he gained a willingness to give up “control” of the wines he was producing and allow the farming process, and nature including the power of natural sunlight, to lead the way.
Concurrently, he said he decided to no longer focus on what others in the industry were doing, and that meant ignoring the outside world’s recommendations of conventional thinking. So, he opted to break away from what was typical and began, instead, to follow the path less traveled.
Today, the Va La vines are ever closer to reaching their maturity, which takes years, as the fields of Va La continue to produce fresh grapes now two decades after the Vietri family’s wine making operations first began.
“They’ve grown here,” Vietri said of the vines. The Chester County native noted he is constantly refining the vineyard. He especially seeks to cultivate vines with loose clusters of small berries which offer a natural defense to threats from insects to animals.
The Vietri family produces each vintage of wine in very small amounts, and the wines are only available at the farm to purchase in limited additions. Although each wine created is unique, they are all strong, dry and include zero unnatural ingredients, or additives, such as refined sugar.
One must visit Va La to enjoy its bounty; the wines are unavailable at Pennsylvania liquor stores and on the commercial shelves of out-of-state establishments. However, that hasn’t stopped Philadelphia entrepreneurs from offering Va La wines at their renowned establishments.
The Lunar Inn, Vedge and Martha’s Kitchen representatives travel to Va La and buy wines to feature on their menus for guests to enjoy. For these high-end restaurateurs of distinguished hospitality, it is impossible to ignore what many consider the best grapes grown in the entire Brandywine Valley region — least of all in Pennsylvania.
Although Va La Vineyards remains a rather low-key secret of Chester County, or hidden gem, its reputation is second-tonone.
The wines
The four signature wines of Va La’s farm include La Prima Donna, Silk, Mahogany and Cedar, called Avondale field wines by Vietri. Their productions are the result of ancient piemonte methods of uvaggio — from field blends of northern Italian and French varieties.
La Prima Donna, composed of tocai, malvasia bianca, fiano, pinot grigio, petit manseng, is harvested from vines grown in the stony soils of the southeast area of the Va La field.
Silk is a dry rosato produced from the soils of the eastern slopes of Va La’s hillside. Some of its composition includes the grapes of corvina veronese, barbera, nebbiolo, carmine and petit verdot.
Mahogany grapes come from vines grown in the black mushroom soils of Va La Vineyard’s center hill. It features malvasia nera, barbera, sagrantino, carmine, lagrein, charbono, teroldego and petit verdot.
Cedar contains five clones of nebbiolo lampia and michet plus corvina veronese. The production of this wine is from vines grown in the red soils on the western edge of the Va La field.
Live music
On Sunday, March 22, Va La is hosting a live afternoon concert in the galleria with pianist Glenn E. Williams Jr. from 2:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Guests may order a glass of wine in the tasting room and go upstairs to listen.
Williams returns for another Va La spring concert on Sunday, April 19.
Local legacy
Since opening its doors to the public in 2002, Va La continues to produce award-winning wines, and the vineyard has repeatedly received national acclaim as one of the best wineries in America from The Daily Meal to Wine Enthusiast.
“I think that the unintended gift of a family business is that, at least in our case, the people who work with us, and many of our customers, have become family to us,” said Karen Vietri, Anthony’s wife. “You work with family to grow a business, and you never think how the business will grow your family. That has been a true blessing.”
Va La Vineyards, 8820 Gap Newport Pike on Route 41, in the greater Avondale region of New Garden Township, is open to the public on weekends Friday through Sunday.
To learn more, including hours of operation, visit www.valavineyards.com or call 610-268-2702 with questions.