This is Pennsylvania's "First Growth."…read more
There is no other winery in PA that is producing wines at this level.
I first discovered Va La while living in PA and reading the January 2013 issue of Wine Advocate, where noted wine reviewer David Schildknecht listed them in his "Best of 2012" discoveries article. What? Great wine being made in PA? I had to check this out!
A 100+ year-old family farm where owner/winemaker/hermit Anthony Vietri's turns only Italianate varieties into field blend wines that don't even make sense if you are thinking of Italian wine tradition. Totally unique.
Anthony doesn't even like to get interviewed, so you will probably never meet him. But once back in 2016, while photographing the field behind the original barn-tasting room, I heard someone say behind me, "That's Nebbiolo". Turning around, I beheld a slouchy hat, who turned out to be the man himself taking one of his rare days off. My girlfriend and I spent the next 4 hours with him sitting on the deck as he fed us food and wine and told stories about his family, his career, the farm, and his winemaking philosophy. It was one of the most memorable wine-related experience of my life.
Yes, Anthony has a quirky sense of humor, which you can see on the various odd signs around "The Little Vineyard" and on his website.
The oldest bottle I have is from the 2007 vintage. But my favorite Va La wine is La Prima Donna, which is named after his grandmother (who only passed away a few years ago). It is a complicated field blend of an ~dozen different grapes, made with extended skin contact, but then filtered, so unlike any Italian "orange" wine you've ever had (bring it blind to a tasting and no one will ever guess what it is!). On my recent visit I learned that they've changed the LPD blend (some of the original vines didn't do well). I prefer the 2010-era blend, but it is still an excellent wine.
During the tasting, be sure to ask them about the story behind the Nebbiolo ("Cedar"). NO ONE grows Nebbiolo in the US, but for a fascinating reason it grows well here. I won't spoil the story.
The tasting room in the old barn is beautiful and they do a $25 tasting of 4 wines (depending on what bottlings are currently for sale ) with accompanying local bread, chocolate, cheese, caramel popcorn, and even figs and frozen grapes from their property. Good glasses. Well worth the cost (which was unprecedented back in 2010, but other local wineries are catching up lol). During my last visit in Oct 2026, I was fortunate to have the undivided attention of both staff for an hour+ until another group showed up. They also sell a variety of other gourmet food-related items. Easy parking out front.
You'll occaisionally see their wine in restaurants in Philly, but otherwise you will have to buy on site at the winery. 10% off and a free bottle if you buy a case (can be mixed). Their production is very limited (sometimes only a few hundred bottles of a given wine), with 4 wines being offered at a time. Once they are gone, they are gone (although they have done some library releases), so grab them when they are available. They produced zero, ZERO, wine in 2025 because the grapes didn't meet Anthony's standards. That tells you something about him. I'm sure other local wineries made plenty of wine.
They also do a variety of music-related events, and you can buy wine by the bottle or glass and picnic inside, on the deck, or on the lawn. You can make reservations via text message, which might be advisable on holiday weekends. But as I said, on a Saturday in early October, showing up at 12:02PM exactly as requested, I had the place to myself for 75 minutes.
