Erie’s Wine Country
by Kelly Ann Butterbaugh
Pennsylvania is known for its yearly harvests of apples, peaches, and pumpkins, but the northwestern corner of the state is also known for its internationally recognized wines. Erie County is part of the Chautauqua Lake Erie Wine Trail, a forty mile stretch through New York and Pennsylvania that includes twenty-one wineries open to tours. Eight of those wineries are located in North East, PA.
Arrowhead Wine Cellars
Driving along the Lake Erie shoreline, it’s clear that the town of North East is located in “wine country.” Miles of grape vines line either side of Interstate 90, inviting drivers to visit and tour any of the eight wineries in the area. One of those wineries is Nick and Kathy Mobilia’s Arrowhead Wine Cellars.
Prominently growing along I90 near the Pennsylvania and New York border, the Mobilias’ 250 acres of land make up Mobilia Fruit Farms and Arrowhead Wine Cellars. Here, visitors can taste a variety of wines including Riesling, Chambourcin, and the Dazzling Niagara that won Best of Show for Sparkling Wine at the 2008 Florida State Fair. Those who choose to pick their own fruits or tour the farm can enjoy the view of the lush green rows of grape vines. Dirt paths wind through rows of vines, and grapes can be seen beneath their leafy canopies. Some of these fields were once apple orchards, and some are still host to peach trees; however, today most are alive with grapes.
The Mobilias operate an independent family business that began when Nick Mobilia’s grandfather immigrated from Sicily in 1920. From there, the family acreage grew and so did their wine business. Today, they are responsible for everything from growing to processing to retailing their products.
“We can’t depend on other people. If we’re going to farm, we need to do everything,” Mobilia says. “Everybody here has a skill, and everybody helps the other person and gets along well.”
As part of this independence, Nick Mobilia operates one of the few wineries in the area that processes its own juice. Many wineries in the state grow grapes, but they need to purchase supplemental juice for their wine production. Often, they purchase that juice from Mobilia. At Arrowhead Wine Cellars everything bottled and sold in the store is grown on site.
“Everything except the blueberries,” Mobilia says of his sweet addition to blueberry wine.
Wines and Juices
Since both juice and wine are processed on the premises of Arrowhead Wine Cellars, those who visit it see buildings filled with processing equipment. Efficiently operated by a few men, the machines of the juice making business are systematic, processing and storing almost 600 tons of grapes each season.
Tours of the winery show visitors climate controlled storage rooms filled with tall plastic containers used to store grape juice. Other rooms are filled with fermenting wine stored in similar plastic vats. These rooms are kept closed in order to keep sunlight from penetrating the plastic and affecting the fermenting wine. While Mobilia prefers these plastic vats because of their frugal cost, he does use a few stainless steel vats in his warehouse.
“The real expensive grapes go in the stainless tanks,” he says with a smile.
Those expecting to see the traditional oak wine barrel soon learn that it is becoming a thing of the past due not only to cost but to safety and space concerns as well. The oak barrels cost $500 each and are difficult to store. Instead, oak planks can be suspended within the plastic storage containers to create the familiar oaky taste of wine.
“They take up too much room,” Mobilia says of the few barrels in his storage room.
Like most agricultural businesses, little is wasted in wine production. Waste products from juice extraction are composted and spread on the fields to benefit next year’s grape growth.
During a tour Mobilia explains that select batches of his juice are converted into wine spirits with the help of another local winery, Mazza Vineyards.
Mazza Vineyards
Bob Mazza owns Mazza Vineyards in North East, PA as well as Mazza Chautauqua Cellars in New York. It’s the winery in New York that produces wine spirits, fermented juices that have higher alcoholic levels than typical wine. His winery, too, is open to the public with a tour that features a video presentation.
Mazza is a processor as well as bottler of wines in Erie County, yet he professes to be less of a grower than a bottler.
“That I consider to be a hobby,” Mazza says of his ten acres of grapes.
While Mazza grows fewer grapes than Mobilia, he processes 200 acres worth of grapes which are purchased from various growers throughout the multi-state region.
“In terms of bottling, we probably bottle more wine than any other winery in the state,” he says.
Mazza bottles specially labeled wines for occasions such as weddings and inaugurations. He also produces a limited edition Vidal Blanc only served on the U.S. Brig Niagara, docked in nearby Erie, PA.
Along the Grape Belt
The Concord Grape Belt is the oldest and largest Concord grape growing region in the world, and the northwestern corner of Pennsylvania sits along its edge.
The drive through the area is picturesque since the land surrounding Lake Erie is ideal for vineyards. Mobilia explains that the lake’s moist air insulates against sudden weather shifts. This is helpful for growers, he says, because it keeps the buds from starting early on the grapes, a disaster if a late frost hits. Later in the season, the threat of early frosts is almost non-existent because of the insulating warm air over the lake. Often visitors can see Arrowhead harvesting grapes into November.
Grape harvest, like many harvests, is done in late summer through fall. Large picking machines straddle the rows and shake the grapes from the vines, catching both the grapes and their juice. At Arrowhead a new harvester sits behind the store awaiting this year’s harvest. It will take the machine a fraction of the time that it would take a man to complete the same job. It’s a job, notes Nick Mobilia, that once took him and his sisters six weeks to complete by hand.
Mobilia is known for the variety and number of grapes that he grows. The acres surrounding him are filled with Concord, Vignole, and Riesling grapes, all awaiting harvest before becoming any of the twenty-five different wines sold in his store.
On his ten acres of grapes, Bob Mazza specializes in ice wine grapes, those which are allowed to freeze on the vine before harvesting. For him, harvest doesn’t begin until after the grapes have experienced 17 degree Fahrenheit temperatures. Mazza has been growing ice wine grapes since 1984, being the first community winery in the state to produce ice wine. His Vidal Blanc ice wine won both gold and silver at the 2008 Pacific Rim International Wine Competition.
Wine Cellars
A wine tour is best planned during bottling. The bottling process is mostly mechanized, requiring only two to three men to complete the rhythmic process.
During bottling at Arrowhead Wine Cellars, voices are raised above the sound of the machinery. Nick Mobilia oversees the process as chemist Bob Greene works quality control and helps to perfect the recipe for each batch of wine. Meanwhile, Robert Smith works the machinery with the help of Scott McAuley, who also assists with finance management.
As they bottle Mobilia notes that there is no simple recipe for wine making; each batch must be tested for natural sugar levels and then adjusted properly to create the perfect sip. It’s a science that owners often leave to an oenologist, a wine chemist.
“You don’t take a chance with quality….We’re about quality,” he says standing beside stacked boxes of bottled wine.
Arrowhead is the winner of multiple international competitions as well as the Best French Hybrid Variety Wine award at the 2008 Pennsylvania Farm Show.
“Every award we get is on grapes we grow….That shows me that the crew on the production side is accomplishing their goals,” says Mobilia.
Mazza Vineyards also bottles on a regular basis; however, a different type of bottling can be seen in this winery. Two men oversee the mechanical bottler that uses a whole top package known as a Stelvin screwcap. For some of his wines Bob Mazza chooses not to use traditional corks but rather the newer one piece twist off top. For others, he prefers the more traditional stopper.
“I like to think we’re innovative,” Mazza says of his production which is a new concept for wine lovers.
The vineyard was the first in the state to initiate the new bottle top nearly three years ago.
Wine Tours
“Years ago grape farming was a part time job. Today there’s wineries, juices…” describes Mobilia as he stands in his store alongside the cash register.
The wineries in North East offer a variety to their visitors. From gift shops filled with wine accessories to the actual wines, the owners encourage visitors to tour their wineries.
Accommodating to tour buses as well as walk-in visitors, Arrowhead’s store features fine wine glasses, souvenir t-shirts, and home décor items as well as wines. Visitors who are interested in making their own wine can also find wine-making supplies in the adjacent fruit market.
“Nearly 60% of our profits come from our onsite sales,” Mazza says of his store located a few minutes from Arrowhead.
Mazza, as with most local owners, encourages visitors to tour his winery to learn more about the wine making process.
“We encourage people to take a tour because our goal is to educate people about wine,” Mazza says.
By educating people in recognizing quality wines Mazza feels it will help the state’s wineries compete in the mass-market world of wines. Local wines reflect exceptional quality and standards, a style different from mass produced wines. This quality can be tested in samples offered at the area wineries.
With shelves of award ribbons to prove it, Pennsylvania’s wine region offers a taste of something special.
