Kennett Square, Part One

Thursday, January 17, 2008

On Saturday, M and I made a pilgrimage to Kennett Square in Chester County.  I’ve been wanting to do this trip for some time, and when some of my in-laws gave me money at Christmas expressly to buy mushrooms (at my request), I knew it was time.

I’ll talk about the mushrooms in part two, because here I’d like to talk about the vineyard we visited.  Stargazers Vineyard and Winery (http://www.stargazersvineyard.com) embodies what Farm to Philly is all about—local, good food (or, in this case, drink) made by people who are interested in local, good food.  Stargazers has an additional draw, which is that they are deeply committed to sustainable farming.

Although we had to borrow my parents’ car to get there (it’s near Coatesville), it was well worth it.  The vineyard is open to the public Sundays from 12 to 5. The first thing we noticed was that the roof of the winery has a quilt of solar panels blanketing it.  Also, one side of the roof of the main house has windows for passive solar collection.

Alice and John Weygandt and Brian Dickerson (who, with wife Jennifer, are now the General Managers and are being groomed to take over at some point) were on hand to greet us.  Knowing we have a particular interest in sustainable housing, the Weygandts kindly showed us how their “envelope” house regulates the temperature using a double north wall and a solarium on the south side.

We talked about the farm markets in which they participate (Brian had just returned from Headhouse), and their efforts at sustainability.  Their grapes are not organic, because our climate makes mold a stumbling block, but they are surprisingly chemical-free.  Their website has a short page about their work in this department that’s worth reading.  The solar panels we saw cover the electricity for the winery and their house, and Alice Weygandt said they sell the extra to the Energy Coop. 

We went down from the farm house to the winery.  (The house is designed in such an architecturally unusual and energy-saving way it’s hard to think of it in the same category as my family’s damp and drafty farm house in Wales.)  We had a tasting of several of their very reasonably-priced wines, including a warming port-like Tinto Forte, a lovely Chardonnay, and a Pinot Gris that they’re not making again (so we bought three bottles!).

As always, it added just that extra zing to the wine to know that what we would be drinking for months ahead was grown and made by the people who stood in front of us.  There’s just nothing like shaking the hand of the farmer who feeds you!

Finally, we both used their bathroom.  I wouldn’t normally mention the toilet, but even this had evidence of their interest in the environment.  The water for the sink is ingeniously looping into the tank for the toilet, and it involves two kinds of pumps, and let me just say, it was awesome.  Use the bathroom when you go there.  Let’s leave it at that.

We have already enjoyed some Pinot Gris we gave my parents (as a thank you for the loan of the car) with dinner at their house, and we will likely enjoy every bottle with some local veggies on the table as well!