Lehigh Valley, PA – November 3, 2014 – The Lehigh Valley Wine Trail has launched an awareness campaign called “Lehigh Valley Wine Lover” with a goal of getting more local wine into local restaurants.
Winery owner and winemaker Sarah Troxell of Galen Glen in Andreas proposed the idea for the campaign to the non-profit Wine Trail’s board of directors after seeing a similar campaign done by a wine trail in the Finger Lakes region of New York.
The campaign takes advantage of the popular “buy local” movement by encouraging restaurants to take it beyond the local meats and produce they may already be buying and include local wine. Its purpose is to make local restaurateurs aware of Lehigh Valley wine and get them to consider adding it to their wine menus, thereby supporting the Wine Trail’s nine family-owned and operated wineries.
It asks local wine fans to advocate for their favorite wineries when visiting a local restaurant that doesn’t feature any local wine on its wine list. Supporters are encouraged to leave behind a completed campaign card on which they have written the name of their favorite local winery and wine. The information on the card encourages the restaurant’s owner or management to consider adding Lehigh Valley wine to their wine list in the future.
A brochure distributed at the wine trail’s nine member wineries explains the campaign to customers in three steps:
- Pick up a few “Lehigh Valley Wine Lover” leave-behind cards and keep them on hand for when dining at a local restaurant.
- When dining at a local restaurant that doesn’t feature any local wine on its wine list, fill out a leave-behind card to indicate your favorite local winery and local wine, and leave it in the check presenter/folio or with your server, the restaurant owner, or restaurant management.
- Use the Wine Trail’s Twitter account (@lvwinetrail) or Facebook page – https://www.facebook.com/LehighValleyWineTrail – to share a photo of your meal, the wine list, or menu along with the name of the restaurant you visited and its location.
A special web page has also been created for the campaign – www.LVWineLover.com – that customers can go to for more information, and to download a PDF version of the leave-behind card.
The Lehigh Valley Wine Trail is a 501c6 non-profit organization of wineries whose mission is to promote agri-tourism and to create a premiere wine destination and grape-growing region while promoting Pennsylvania wines from the region.
Members include:
- Amoré Vineyards & Winery, Nazareth
- Big Creek Vineyard and Winery, Kresgeville
- Blue Mountain Vineyards, New Tripoli
- Clover Hill Vineyards & Winery, Breinigsville
- Franklin Hill Vineyards, Bangor
- Galen Glen Vineyard & Winery, Andreas
- Pinnacle Ridge, Kutztown
- Tolino Vineyards, Bangor
- Vynecrest Winery, Breinigsville
The Lehigh Valley region is an official American Viticultural Area as designated by the Federal Alcohol Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau in April 2008. The Lehigh Valley AVA includes portions of Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Schuylkill, Carbon and Monroe counties in Pennsylvania. In order to receive the designation a least 85% of the grapes used to make local wines must be grown within the region. Wineries in the region are permitted to list “Lehigh Valley” as the growing region on their labels. www.LehighValleyWineTrail.com
Press Release provided by:
Tracey Werner
Blabbermouth Communications
610-730-4515
www.BlabbermouthCommunications.com
