(TNS) — There’s no bigger advocate of Pennsylvania wine these days than Scott Neeley, who has put his money where his mouth (and support) are.
He began making mead in 2011, and success in amateur contests followed within the next few years. In 2015, that hobby turned into KingView Mead, which today has locations at the Tanger Outlets in Washington County; in Mt. Lebanon, Allegheny County; in Cranberry Township, Butler County; and in Harborcreek, Erie County.
Eight years after that purchase, he and wife Hannah became the fourth owner of Penn Shore Winery along Lake Erie, a producer that was among the first in the state to receive its license in 1968 and one that opened a year later. They closed on that deal on June 29, 2023, one week after their honeymoon.
It’s fitting that Scott is also now the president of the Pa. Wine Association, a role that had him in State College several weeks ago for the state’s winter wine conference. That several-day workshop featured an address by Ag Secretary Russell Redding.
“He talked about support, [that he] likes to see a unified front, people active and involved and supporting your own industry,” Neeley said. And if you are doing that, “he’s more likely to jump in with things you need.”
Neeley was asked if there was anything specific he or the wine industry would want from Redding and the state.
“The biggest thing for us would be a shift, not much of a shift, a little shift,” he said. “The governor is really big on agritourism, on pushing that envelope, since Pennsylvania is such an agriculture powerhouse. A big part of that really should be the winery scene as part of agritourism. With that comes a little more advertising.”
In combination with the start of that conference, the Pa. wine industry released its first economic impact study in five years. It was funded by the Pa. Department of Agriculture’s Wine Marketing and Research Program and found that the industry supports 10,756 jobs, paying wages of $518.2 million, and directly contributing $1.77 billion to the state economy annually. It’s estimated that the state now ranks fourth nationally in wine production in the nation, at 12.4 million gallons.
Pennsylvania’s 368 wineries employ almost 2,200 people (FTE jobs) and pay more than $148.2 in wages and benefits, according to the report.
John Dunham & Associates, which produced the study, estimated that millions of visitors to the state’s wineries and vineyards annually generate almost $750 million in tourism revenue, a significant contributor to the state agritourism bottom line.
So what can the state’s wine industry do to bolster tourism and improve its profile? Neeley says he has some ideas.
1, Put up more signs around the state, part of a hyperlocal marketing strategy.
“If you drive through the Finger Lakes or through some of these other wine regions, they have a lot more signage,” he said. “We have the state attraction road signs. Wineries can qualify for those, but that’s only if you meet some of those criteria.”
Erecting more signs would drive more traffic to the tasting rooms, where visitors can sample the products and also be educated in how those are made, he said.
2, Use the strength of the interstates — the turnpike, I-80, I-81 or I-90 — to attract more out-of-state visitors who are traveling through Pennsylvania. With New York and its wine regions to the north and Virginia — where Wine Enthusiast in November named the Monticello American Viticultural Area that surrounds Charlottesville the Wine Region of the Year — to the south, “we’re in the middle of both of those. So there’s a huge opportunity if we can promote ourselves and get ourselves organized in a way that provides some legitimacy to our region and to let people know we’re at. And it falls in line as well with one of our hyperlocal priorities for this year for the PWA in terms of marketing.”
3, Land on a best grape or two for each “wine region” of the state.
Riesling is certainly recognized as the grape of the Finger Lakes, Cabernet Franc and Merlot have produced some outstanding wines in Long Island, and Viognier and Petit Verdot are among the grapes that have helped put Virginia on the world map. As Neeley envisions, do the same in Pennsylvania, where the grape or grapes making the overall best wines in a specific area of the state could be promoted. Considering the variety of conditions and elevations across the state, that wine could be Grüner Veltliner in one area and Albarino in another and Cabernet Franc in a third spot. It would give each “wine region” a brand and a wine or wines where the quality could continue to be raised.
“I’ve essentially issued a challenge to the wineries, especially those on trails or in an AVA, and said, ‘Listen, I’m going to be knocking on your doors and asking, so please start the conversation now around a grape.’”
4, Create a grape quality alliance.
If you don’t want to [land] on a grape or two, he said, “the other way of doing it is making a regional quality assurance initiative, and if the wineries can agree to do that and pick varieties that lead to a certain regional quality standard, great. Personally, I think that’s a more difficult challenge and a more subjective challenge than just picking a grape or two.
“It’s one of those two methods,” he added. “To be honest, I think we need to do both. But really, look at the grapes that are planted and look at one or two. Maybe look at a hybrid and a vinifera in each region.”
Neeley was asked about the vineyard side of the industry, one that significantly adds to the cost of running a winery compared to simply bringing in juice or grapes and making wine. There seems to be more of the latter taking place over the last few years, with anecdotes of Pa. wineries pulling up their vines and so many opening up that are bringing in juice or grapes from around the region or country. Part of that is economic, part of it is the fallout from the spotted lanternfly, and part is the changing climate.
You can view at least some of what’s growing, and the grape types, at this website called Cultivars in the Commonwealth that state viticulturist Cain Hickey and his staff put together in 2022. It was dependent on information being sent in, however, so the site is informative to the extent that winery and vineyard staff around the state participated.
Those with limited winery licenses in Pa. aren’t required to grow grapes, as wineries in, say, New Jersey and Maryland, are. In Maryland, a new law going into effect May 1 will require all Class 4 wineries to grow at least 20 acres of their grapes or other fruit, or at least 51 percent of their ingredients will need to come from Maryland vineyards or other fruit operations.
Neeley said the conversation about vineyards came up at the recent winter conference.
“The tough thing that we’re against right now is that we have access to a lot of very cheap, good-quality wine from other states” such as Oregon, Washington and California, Neeley said. “So you have access to a lot of those grapes from states and other countries.
“It’s certainly a concern, not just to make it economically viable to do, but the question is, are there enough people coming into the industry that have the passion to grow grapes or support the farmers growing the grapes within the state,” he said, noting that “right now, there’s definitely some hesitation” across the state to plant more grapes.
Adding to that has been a proliferation of out-of-state owners opening wineries across the state; that number as of November 2023 was nearing 90. It’s a point that Zack Waltz, who recently graduated from Cornell and has moved into a management role at his family’s winery in Manheim, Lancaster County, made during an interview last fall. “I think quite frankly the biggest risk to this industry is the legal side, and it’s the laws around the industry that protect growers and producers within the state that are so important to keeping all of us in business and preventing too much outside competition from taking over,” he told PennLive.
Said Neeley regarding the increase in out-of-state wineries making a home here, “It has certainly muddied the waters.”
