We strive to produce the highest quality wines in the Brandywine Valley using meticulous work in our vineyards and utilizing the best of “old world” and “new world” processes in our winery.
Our aim is to have our wines reflect our extensive growing knowledge of our unique Brandywine Valley terroir and also reflect each year’s distinctive growing season climate. Galer Estate promises that we will not only produce and sell consistent high quality wine every year, but will create inherent unique and novel wines, with their own characteristic aromatics, flavours, and colours. And like many great winegrowing and winemaking regions around the world, each year our winemakers will create different blends that will best show our fruit.
OUR WINES
While 2008 and 2009 were good years for winegrowing and winemaking in Pennsylvania Brandywine Valley, 2010 was just a spectacular year. 2010 brought the sun, heat, and dryness that enabled our vinifera grapes to create outstanding wines, allowing for complex, fruity, and well ripened fruit.
CHARDONNAY
2008 Galer Estate Chardonnay (75 cases)
Winemaker’s notes: Barrel-aged and fermented, this Chardonnay is rich in golden color and displays aromas of buttered toast, baked apple cobbler, and ripe apricots. Its lush palate displays the depth of its oak aging and battonage while preserving its finely balanced acidity and lingering finish.
AWARDS: Bronze - 2011 Fingerlakes International Competition
Price: $ 10.00
2009 Galer Estate Chardonnay (95 cases)
Winemaker’s notes: This Chardonnay has toasty oak and spicy notes in the nose. It continues through to a lush golden fruit mouth feel with continued nutmeg and cinnamon notes. This wine has a creamy finish with a hint of lingering acidity.
Price: $ 21.00
Galer Estate Chardonnay for 2010 In addition to fruit from our Red Lion Vineyard, we integrated wonderful well-ripened fruit from Old Stone Farm Vineyard in Landenberg PA into our Chardonnay Program for 2010.
2010 Chardonnay Reserve (95 cases)
A classic French Style, French oak barrel fermented and aged, stirred on lees producing a thicker, more complex “old world” style Chardonnay.
Winemaker’s notes: This Old World Style Chardon-nay displays ripe tropical fruit characteristics with a finely structured finish. The nose has expressive aromas of lemon crème and warm vanilla. The wines middle has integrated toast and spice from the lengthy barrel fermentation while the 7 months sur lies and battonage result in a complex finish.
AWARDS: Silver - 2011 International Women's Wine Competition
Price: $ 23.00
2010 Chardonnay (155 cases)
Fermented in stainless steel, aged only for xx weeks in oak barrel, this “new world” style Chardonnay is a fruit forward, expressive wine.
Winemaker’s notes:
This Chablis style wine has a bright, floral nose with hints of citrus, toasted coconut, and baked apple crisp. This wine also has lively orange rind flavors that are accentuated by the wines’ structured acidity and impressive finish.
AWARDS: Silver- 2011 International Women's Wine Competition Bronze - 2011 International Eastern Wine Competition Bronze - 2011 Atlantic Seaboard International Wine Competition
Price: $ 19.00
FRENCH STYLE ROSE
Each year, Galer Estate produces a Rosé using the French Saignée (bleeding the vats) method, taking the free flowing juice from all the red varietals that are processed in the winery and blending them together during fermentation.
2009 Rosé Wine (97 cases)
Winemaker’s notes: The saignée method brought us this delightful rosé in 2009. This wine is mellow and easy to drink with hints of strawberry and bright citrus fruits. This is a refreshing wine with a pleasant finish.
AWARDS: Bronze - 2011 Fingerlakes International Competition
Price: $12.00
2010 Rosé Wine (165 cases) Winemaker’s notes: Our 2010 Rosé is pale peach colored with hints of cranberry and apricot aromas. With balanced acidity and a touch of light sweetness, this wine displays flavors of ripe summer berries and grapefruit. It has a crisp, fresh finish.
AWARDS: Bronze - 2011 Atlantic Seaboard International Wine Competition Silver- 2011 NexGen Wine Competition Silver- 2011 International Women's Wine Competition
Price: $15.00
2010 PINOT GRIS(135 cases)
Galer Estate purchased gorgeous Pinot Gris fruit from Historic Hopewell Vineyard in Oxford PA.
Winemaker’s notes: This wine was finely crafted in an aromatic style. It pleases both dry and sweet wine drinkers and it is extremely food friendly. Aged for 8 months in stainless steel, this wine displays brilliant lemon curd and floral aromas. The palate is crisp and has flavors of fresh stone fruits.
2010 Galer Estate had its first harvest from our Galer Home Vineyard and what a vintage this looks to be! The 2010 Fall was perfect weather for allowing great ripening of red fruit, with extended summer-like sun and warmth and a late frost with only one intermittent rain event.
After many days of sorting this fruit in the late Fall, our GE Home Vineyard fruit is aging in French Oak - Cabernet Franc (3 clones), Merlot (3 clones), and Petit Verdot. In addition, Galer Estate purchased well-ripened Merlot from older vines at Historic Hopewell Vineyard (Oxford PA) and Mudd Vineyard (North Fork Long Island).
Wines were placed into new and used French oak for aging. There the wines will live for over a year until the tasting trials show the wines are ready to be bottled. They are being meticulously stirred, topped, and tasted regularly to monitor their oak aging process.
A series of blending trials will be done to create the optimal blends to eventually bottle and sell in 2012.
DESSERT “ICEBOX” WINE
When planting our Galer Home Vineyard, Brad & Lele knew they wanted to create a special desert wine. They had fallen in love with the Ice Wines from Ontario Canada and late-harvest wines from California. Thus, Vidal Blanc, Galer Estate’s only non-vinifera vines, was planted specifically for this purpose.Galer Estate makes its desert wine in a unique way- we call it “Icebox Wine.”
We pick our Vidal Blanc grapes later in harvest, to insure a high sugar content. We then immediately bring the grapes to a commercial freezer and freeze them for 4-8 weeks. The sugars and other dissolved solids in the grapes do not freeze, but the water does, resulting in a very concentrated juice. The frozen grapes are then pressed and fermented, creating small amounts of a more concentrated, thick, very sweet wine.
2010 Vidal Blanc “Icebox” Wine(54 cases)
Winemaker’s notes: This fun and tasty dessert wine is a delight. With hints of golden fruit and ripe pineapple aromas and a thick, lush palate, this wine is a sweet treat!
AWARDS: Bronze - 2011 International Women's Wine Competition
DESSERT “ICEBOX” WINE