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Clover Hill Vineyards and Winery Pink Catawba 750mL $10.99 | Code 7977 Sip on the sweet, grapey and candied flavors of this wine. Don't forget to sniff first to best enjoy the sweet aromas of grapes in the glass! - Winemaker's Notes Chaddsford Niagara 750mL $11.49 | Code: 7763 Luscious, sweet and grapey Concord type white. Perfect afternoon sipper." - Winemaker's Notes Penn Shore Pink Catawaba 750mL $7.99 | Code: 6936 Our Pink Catawba is a light and fruity pink wine with a naturally sweet flavor. It's produced from the Native American Catawba grape and has been in production at Penn Shore since its establishment. It's one of our most popular varietals and can be enjoyed all throughout the year. It pairs well with a lighter, leaner meal or alongside dessert. - Winemaker's Notes native sons is summer, show some love to PA's homegrown grapes. bY steVe JuLIAnA P ennsylvania is, and long has been, a land of great agricultural diversity, as well as natural fertility. One of the signs of this bounty is the proliferation of more than 200 wineries across the commonwealth. Here, grapes are converted into wine of all types, from sparkling to table to dessert. A visit to any of these local tasting rooms may be quite an eye-opener. European varietals are in plentiful supply but so are native grapes. With names such as Concord, Niagara and Catawba, these grapes were made into wine for years before the modern era of gentleman oenophiles bottling the fruits of their vines. e botanical name for European grapes is vitis vinifera, while American grapes are known as vitis labrusca. Vikings, landing in a place they called Vinland, first told of wild grapes growing in the northern climes of the New World. However, it wasn't until the 18th century that the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus and his peers first cataloged the natives. Among the cultivars, an obvious difference is that labrusca is a "slip skin" grape, in which the skins slide off easily when squeezed, as opposed to crushing the pulp to extract the juice. e other characteristic is the strong musky aroma of the fruit, which is how it received the name "fox grape." It has nothing to do with the sly mammal, but has become a catchall for distinct descriptors that separate it from the vinifera flavors. Concord is one of the most popular of our native grapes and is used to make jelly, juice and soft drinks, as well as wine, most notably kosher wine. Many wineries in Pennsylvania bottle Concord as a solo quaff or blend it with other grapes. It is very hardy in the winter and quite prolific. Try a glass, and you'll immediately be reminded of its role in providing one-half of the classic PB&J sandwich. e Niagara grape was developed in Niagara County, N.Y., and first sold in 1882. It's a beautiful white grape that is good as a table grape and as wine and juice. e wine from this fruit is very popular and can be found in local wineries, as well as in Fine Wine and Good Spirits stores. Blended with other grapes, it makes for a refreshing summer quaff with its distinctive high-toned, candied muskiness. One of the native grapes known to many a wine-drinker is pink Catawba. Technically a red grape, the juice produces a pink color not unlike a rosé wine. Its history goes back to 1850, when sparkling Catawba wine was compared to French Champagne, the first native grape to receive accolades from the European vintners. e popularity of Catawba in the states took off when the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow penned his "Ode to Catawba Wine." Since then, it has been the backbone of wine production in the eastern states. Local wineries produce variations of this grape solo and blended with a few sparkling examples. Sample some history! Keep sipping, Steve

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