Be Local: Washington County wineries offer delivery, pickup
Editor’s note: This is a weekly series focusing on the importance of buying local.
Vintner Angela Burgess has a simple piece of advice for those who are looking to try new a new wine with a home-cooked meal.
“What I always tell people is, drink the wines that you like,” Burgess said. “Don’t necessarily follow the pairing recommendations, because you might like something different than somebody else. So find a wine that you like, and I’m sure that you’ll be able to find a food that pairs with it as well.”
Burgess and her husband, John, own Washington Winery on Main Street in the city. The store is one of the local wineries offering curbside pickup and in-store sales during the COVID-19 outbreak, which closed state liquor stores last month. Most state-owned stores will reopen for curbside pickup this week.
“Especially with the state stores being closed for a period of time, people were seeking other places to get their wine,” Burgess said.
Another, J&D Cellars Winery and Vineyard, is offering deliveries of three bottles or more within a 15-mile radius of its locations in North Strabane Township and Eighty Four, said Holly McIntosh, who co-owns the winery with members of her family. Pickup is available Tuesday through Sunday from 12 to 6 p.m. Deliveries also occur on those days, typically in the evening.
“If somebody falls outside of the 15-mile radius, they can contact us and we’ll see if we can work with them,” McIntosh said.
A&M is open from 12 to 6 p.m. Monday through Sunday.
Both wineries ferment some of their products from grapes imported from outside Pennsylvania as well as those grown in-state. In J&D’s case, some of the grapes come from the business’s own vineyard.
“Before this current situation, we would have around 25 wines on our tasting list at any given time, but because people are really interested in supporting us right now – which we’re super blessed about – we don’t have as many,” she said. “We’re rotating through our list of very quickly, so right now it’s not necessarily as expensive. It varies from sweets, to semi(-sweet)s to dries, to whites, to reds, to rosés.”
On the store’s website, prices range from $14 for most sweet wines to $23 for dry red types.
A&M’s prices similarly range from $10 for some sweet kinds to $26 for some kinds of barrel-aged reds.
McIntosh had some suggestions for people who’re looking to find the right vintage.
“Dry reds tend to go really well with pizzas, pastas, red meats, chocolates, that kind of thing,” she said. “Dry whites tend to go really well with things like Indian food, Asian food, Thai food, salads, creamy pasta sauces, garlic sauces, white chocolate. “When you get into your semi-sweets and your sweet wines, it’s not so much about pairings anymore, really. It can be, but it’s more like, you’re a semi-sweet wine drinker, and you’re going to drink sweet wine regardless … Which is OK.”
Those interested in joining the Be Local Network can contact Chris Slota at 724-225-1326 or by email at chris@belocal.net. Discount cards are available at the Observer-Reporter and Almanac office, 122 S. Main St., Washington.