PENNSYLVANIA'S LEHIGH VALLEY They're feeling fine in wine country

The bucolic area has become an escape for the hustle and bustleof the East Coast.
BANGOR, Pa. (AP) -- Elaine Pivinski came back from the original Woodstock concert to suburban New Jersey -- full of 1960s-style ideas about living off the land.
So how would she do it?
"All you have to do is tell your father you want to live in a commune and he'll buy you anything," she said, laughing.
The land she wanted was in Lower Mount Bethel Township.
Forty acres. With a 200-year-old farmhouse on it.
After moving there, Pivinski and her husband grew apples, peaches and pears.
Then someone suggested they grow grapes.
It just a passing comment. Someone said maybe the Lehigh Valley region would be good for wine.
"I knew nothing about wine," she said. "I was a beer drinker in college. A few hangovers from the cheap wine of choice, Boone's Farm, was about all I remembered about wine."
Her Franklin Hill Vineyard was the first vineyard in the Lehigh Valley.
Over the years she's learned about wine. After being awarded several medals in wine competitions, she's a full-fledged wine expert.
Thirty years later, Franklin Hill is one of eight vineyards on the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail.
Growing industry
The number of vineyards in Pennsylvania has grown to 84. That's a 79 percent increase from 1989. And sales of Pennsylvania wines increased 9 percent last year, according to the Pennsylvania Wine Association.
Pennsylvania is the fourth largest grape producer in the United States. And just four states have more wineries than Pennsylvania.
"Pennsylvania is a strong agricultural state and the cooler weather that comes from our climate is great when it comes to developing flavors," said Jenny Engle, executive director of the Pennsylvania Wine Association.
"Vineyards," Pivinski said. "Now tell me that it isn't a magical word."
Escaping sprawl
Other people think so too. Over the years, she's seen city- and suburban-weary wine drinkers pull up to her winery in stretch limousines, minivans and cars. Sometimes they spread out a blanket to have a picnic on her property.
Part of the appeal of wineries is escaping sprawl and congestion for a more pastoral setting.
Many wineries offer tours to explain the winemaking process. Some have wine-tasting classes.
Local winery owners say they've seen a boom in local residents visiting in the past few years.
"After Sept. 11, some people restricted their travel, so they started looking at what was available locally," said Dominic Strohlein of Big Creek Winery in Kresgeville.
Strohlein serves his wine in a large, barn-style building he designed.
He'll tell you about how he first became interested in starting a winery. When he first went away to college, the iced tea and soda he was drinking with dinner didn't work for him.
"If you're going to have good food, wine is the only thing that's going to complement food," he said.
No matter what the winery, the winemakers and owners all have stories. That's part of the appeal of local wineries too.
In a world of strip malls and impersonal state liquor stores, wineries offer what's becoming increasingly rare: personal stories.
All the wineries on the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail are family owned.
"We started because we thought about what kind of business we can have that the whole family can do and everyone could have an interest in it," said Mary Sorrenti of Cherry Valley Vineyards in Saylorsburg.
The latitude
Several grapes grow particularly well in the Lehigh Valley.
"What people don't realize is that the Lehigh Valley has the same latitude as France," said Vickie Greff of Blue Mountain Vineyards.
The state has the right climate and soil for French hybrid grapes such as chambourcin, sevyal blanc, baco noir, vignoles and marechal foch.