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Manatawny Creek Winery opened in July of
1998, selling the 600 cases of 1997
vintage wine we produced.
To show how much we’ve grown in 5
years, we are producing over 4000 cases of
the 2002 vintage.
To find space for all those cases,
we had to build two more buildings in that
period.
Our 10 acres of vines supply
roughly one-half of our grape wine
production.
The remaining grapes and juice are
purchased from vineyards, mostly in nearby
Chester, York and Adams counties.
Manatawny Creek Winery is all about family and is
located on our 90-acre family farm in
Amityville, Pennsylvania.
Cast of characters are as follows: |
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| She moved to California after a 7-year career
as an Environmental Engineer in
Boston working on hazardous waste
sites, Joanne wanted a change. She
“talked” her husband into moving
to California so she could attend
UC Davis and where she obtained a
Master’s degree in Viticulture and
Enology (grape-growing and
winemaking).
While in California, Joanne worked
at two wineries in the Napa Valley,
Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars and Kent
Rasmussen Winery, gaining valuable
experience. In 1997, she moved back to Pennsylvania and, together with
her family, started Manatawny Creek
Winery on the family farm. |
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| Darvin, Joanne’s
Dad, took early retirement in 1997
from his job of 36 years in Chemical
Engineering Management at Rohm &
Haas. He now works harder than he
ever has in his life and managed to
lose 30 pounds without even thinking
about it! |
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| Mary, Joanne’s Mom,
takes care of people in the tasting room and
finishing all the “almost-empties” at the
end of the weekend.
When the winery is closed, she can
frequently be found building trucks out of
playdoh with the grandkids.
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| Called upon to make
lunch on bottling days, Darvin’s mother,
Pearl, has also been known to push on a capsule
or two (or several thousand).
During harvest, she frequently wins the
“who can pick grapes for the longest period of
time” award. |
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| Joanne's twin boys are starting early - the only kids at their school
who know what a destemmer/crusher
is. Joanne's
twin boys are starting early – the
only 3-year-olds at their school
who know what a destemmer/crusher
is. |
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| Darvin’s sister,
Bobbie, and her husband Dick, live in West
Virginia and are frequently called upon to come
help pick grapes or bottle wine.
Dick, being a retired professional pilot
and airplane mechanic, enjoys fixing the things
we can’t fix. |
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| Our guard dogs spend a
little time in the vineyards chasing
critters and lots of time sleeping in the
sun. |
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| Pearl’s departed
husband, Ralph, had the vision to start a
vineyard and winery on his farm and the optimism
and determination to make that vision a reality.
We miss him. |
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