On the shores of Lake Erie in North East, Pennsylvania, third-generation grape growers Nick and Kathy Mobilia make wine from fruit grown largely on their family’s 250-acre farm. Established in 1998, Arrowhead Wine Cellars controls the process from growing and pressing through fermenting and bottling, carrying the Mobilia family’s agricultural tradition into a 32-variety winery. The family’s Blackberry Wine won the Pennsylvania Governors Cup in 2017.
Mount Nittany Vineyard & WineryFounded in 1990 after Joe and Betty Carroll turned their Mount Nittany family farm into a winery, Mount Nittany Vineyard & Winery produces wine on a 60-acre central Pennsylvania estate. The second-generation family business now works from a six-acre vineyard and an on-site production facility, with winemaker Scott Hilliker—who joined full time in 2015—overseeing its broad wine program. Its mountain setting also provides a distinctive backdrop for tastings and private events beside a spring-fed pond.CENTRE HALL, PA
Setter Ridge VineyardsFamily-owned Setter Ridge Vineyards grows grapes and makes European-style wines on steep, south-facing hillsides in Berks County, Pennsylvania. Richard Blair planted the first row in 1998, and the Blair family now tends two vineyards totaling 23 acres of vines alongside a gravity-flow winery in Kutztown. The winery opened commercially in 2004 and continues to pair small-farm winemaking with a tasting setting overlooking the Blue Mountains.KUTZTOWN, PA
Buttonwood Grove WinerySince David and Melissa Pittard purchased the property in 2014, Buttonwood Grove Winery has grown into a family-run Finger Lakes winery producing estate wines beside Cayuga Lake. Dave’s roots at the fourth-generation Beak & Skiff Apple Farm inform the Pittards’ blend of agriculture and winemaking, while the family’s expansion of the vineyards and new winemaking building carries the property into its next chapter. Its 2016 Riesling won the 2017 Governor’s Cup as New York State’s best wine, and the site now pairs tastings with lakeside music and cabins among the vines.ROMULUS, NY
Dove Valley WineryOn a 100-acre family farm outside Rising Sun, Dove Valley Winery makes wines from its own vineyard, which Harry and Janet Hepbron planted in 1998 as Cecil County’s first vineyard and winery. The multi-generation operation was built as a family legacy, and its wines have earned Best in Class and medal recognition at the Maryland Governor’s Cup and Finger Lakes International competitions.RISING SUN, MD