There’s a tricky thing about growing the Traminette grapes for Benigna’s Creek Vineyard and Winery’s award-winning wine - the vines grow more vegetation than most grapes.
“They’re hard to maintain,” winemaker Jacob Masser said, wandering through the vineyard and checking on the grapes. “We pull these out to try to get them out in the sun, they get a nice golden color. Then they turn pinkish right before they’re ready to pick.”
The Schuylkill County vineyard’s Traminette wine won a bronze medal at the Decanter World Wine Awards this year, one of only 265 medals awarded to wines from the U.S. at the international competition.
The winery says it's also the first time a Pennsylvania winery has placed in the competition.
“It’s definitely humbling,” Masser said of the award. “It’s definitely a testament to what Pennsylvania as a whole can do and what they can grow.”
The Decanter World Wine Awards are organized by Decanter, an international wine media brand. In a release, Decanter said experts judged 18,250 wines from 57 countries in this year’s competition.
Masser is 23 years old and grew up at the winery - his father and uncle opened the sprawling Klingerstown vineyard and tasting room in 2001. After graduating from Penn State in 2022, he officially assumed the title of winemaker.
“I think we’ve been producing quality products,” Masser said. “But I also like to put my own spin on things. I like to be creative and do little tweaks and stuff and see how it turns out.”
The Traminette wine, Masser said, has a one percent sugar content, making it drier than what most people expect from a Pennsylvania wine. Benigna’s Creek, like many wineries in the state, has traditionally been known for its fruitier, sweet wines.
“It’s definitely our best-selling dry,” Masser said of the Traminette. “A lot of our customers like sweet, but this is always the wine we’re stretching their palate with, that they can cross over to and drink if they don’t like the dries.”
