MANATAWNY CREEK VINEYARDS
There are 10 acres of vines planted at Manatawny Creek Winery in 3 separate vineyards.
Vineyard 1, planted in 1991, contains about 5 acres of hybrid grapes. Hybrids are crosses between Vinifera (e.g. Chardonnay, Cabernet) and Native American varieties (e.g. Niagara, Concord). The 6 varieties in Vineyard 1 include Foch, Chancellor, Steuben, Cayuga White, Vidal Blanc and Seyval Blanc. The Seyval is blended with the Cayuga White to make our popular "Soleils Jumeaux" white wine. Steuben is a beautiful pink grape that produces the Rose wine. Foch and Chancellor are highly-colored red grapes used in our Ruby, Winter Warmth and Red Sangria. Vidal Blanc is a white grape that we bottle for Indigo.
In 1998 we planted Vineyard 2 on top of the hill behind the winery. This 5-acre vineyard contains mostly vinifera vines including Chardonnay, Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Lemberger and Syrah. A hybrid called Chambourcin somehow snuck its way into this vineyard as well.
By the way ... did we mention, we have a tremendous bird problem in our vineyards? Must be because of the wonderful-tasting grapes produced on our red shale soil. We need to net all of our vines with bird netting or else those birds will eat every single one of our grapes.
There are other critters that bother our grapes including deer, wild turkeys, and groundhogs. We let Prince dog patrol the vineyards (okay, he basically pees and sheds his hair) to help keep the unwanted grape-destroyers away.