Local Wineries Receive Awards

February 9, 2007 Tunkhannock PA - Four local wineries were recognized for their tasteful spirits at a competition in Harrisburg recently.

The wine competition took place at the 2007 Pennsylvania Farm Show in January, where wineries from around the Commonwealth brought their best wines for tasting. Of the 39 winners, four of them were from the Endless Mountains Region.

more >> Antler Ridge Winery, located on Battlecreek Road in Rome, received silver awards for their Vintage 2005 Ashley Rose and 2005 Niagara; and bronze awards for their Vintage 2005 Apple Infusion, 2005 Chardonnay, 2005 Creekside White, and 2005 Red Vixon.

Sullivan County’s Eagle Rock Winery on Route 42 in Laporte, took home a bronze award for its Vintage 2005 Very Berry wine.

Laddsburg Mountain Winery in New Albany received a silver award for its 2005 Erminea White, and bronze awards for their Vintage 2005 Alces Red and Vulpes Red wines.

Pickering Winery, located on Route 187 between Wysox and Rome, received three bronze awards for its Vintage 2005 wines – Diamond, Riesling, and Strawberry.

The wine industry has been growing throughout the Endless Mountains Region (Bradford, Sullivan, Susquehanna, and Wyoming counties) in the past several years. Currently there are seven wineries, with more on the way. The Endless Mountains Visitors Bureau is working with these wineries to produce a wine trail brochure – “The Grape Escape in the Endless Mountains,” which will be available in March.

For more information on the wineries of the Endless Mountains, or to request a Grape Escape wine trail brochure in advance, contact the visitors bureau at 1-800-769-8999 or emvbrequests@epix.net

Tunkhannock Business Named One of America's 10 Best

Endless Mountains Quiltworks, a retail quilt shop located in Tunkhannock, PA, has been chosen as one of America’s top ten shops and will be featured in the spring 2007 issue of Quilt Sampler Magazine, published by Better Homes and Gardens.

more >> Quilt Sampler has been profiling America’s top quilt shops for the past 11 years. Shops submit a detailed application on their history, business promotions, community presence, teaching schedules and design philosophies. A panel of quilt experts led by Heidi Kaisand, executive editor of American Patchwork & Quilting Magazine, narrows down the applications to the ten best for each issue.

Competition to be included in Quilt Sampler is keen. More than 3,000 quilt shops are eligible. Endless Mountains Quiltworks was professionally photographed and interviewed by a team of writers from Quilt Sampler. A multi-page profile of the shop will appear in the issue, which will be available on newsstands on May 15, 2007. Endless Mountains Quiltworks also designed an original quilt for the magazine, and the full size pattern for the quilt will be published in the issue of Quilt Sampler.

The art of quilting has changed dramatically since the days of quilting bees in church basements, with quilting enjoying a major renaissance across the country. A Comprehensive Study of the Quilting Marketplace, released in 2003 by American Patchwork & Quilting Magazine, reports that the U.S. quilting market includes 11 million households. The total value of the U.S. quilting industry has grown to an annual expenditure of $2.7 billion.

The other nine shops featured in the spring Quilt Sampler include: A Touch of Amish in Barrington, IL; Bay Window Quilt Shop in Perham, MN; Carriage Country Quilts in Des Moines, WA; Common Threads Quilting in Waxahachie, TX; The Cotton Patch in Keizer, OR; The Cotton Shop in Muscatine, IA; Gone to Pieces in St. Catherines, Ontario, Canada; Good Wives Co. in Marion, OH; and Intown Quilters Inc. in Decatur, GA.