TIPSY TOURIST: Hauser Estate Winery

Wine isn’t all that’s on sale at Hauser Estate Winery near Gettysburg, Pa.

A modern stone and glass tasting room looks over the rolling vineyards and apple orchards of Adams County.

Perched on the top of a hill, Hauser Estate Winery’s tasting room looks out over a serene landscape of orchards and vineyards. The destination comes at the end of a drive through verdant pasture, fields bristling with corn stalks and the historic streets of Gettysburg.

Abe’s Apple Wine and Jack’s Hard Cider, both produced here, are the ingredients in their cider sangria.

I’d missed Hauser Estate when I spent a day on the Gettysburg Wine and Fruit Trail and promised myself I’d make a special trip just to visit. Good idea. While it was pouring rain back home, we sat in the sunshine sipping a peachy cider sangria on Hauser’s patio. Now that’s a good way to while away a summer afternoon.

A curvaceous stone bar dominates the tasting room .

Hauser Estate produces some fine dry red wines, richly hued and full-bodied, as well as some sweeter whites and a pretty pink that reminded me of a good white zinfandel. We tasted the ciders on tap, too. Bubbly and crisp, we knew we were taking some of that home right away.

We could have stayed all afternoon. Almost did.

I was partial to the merlot, ruby red and tasting like a bowl full of cherries. The slightly sweet Devils Den Red exploded warm and spicy on the palate.

Jack’s Cider ranges from the crisp Helen’s full of honey crisp and golden delicious goodness to the citrusy Adams County Shandy to the Fireside fragrant with spice that recalls a winter evening spent by the fire.

Bring your own food or buy a hunk of cheese or something salty (and local) at the tasting room. Food is available during After Hours parties.

A glass of wine, a blue sky and a view like this make Hauser Estate a captivating afternoon stop. Look hard (really hard) and you’ll see the Round Barn in the distance.

On the day of our visit, the special drink of the day was a sangria which combined Abe’s apple wine and the hard cider with chunks of peaches adding

another fruity note. What better drink for this apple producing community? And it decided what I was taking home — the ingredients to make my own sangria.

Tastings are reasonably priced too. Four cider tastings cost a buck. The visitor next to me emptied his pockets of quarters for his tasting. Wine cost $3 for six samples. Tours of the winery under the tasting room are available for $7 a person. Much as I wanted to investigate, I couldn’t resist joining my fellow imbibers on the deck. Next time. (There will be a next time.) By the way, Hauser Estate has two other tasting rooms, in Gettysburg and Dillsburg.

A restaurant with history and hearty fare.

Since we had to drive through Gettysburg to get to Hauser, we stopped in town for lunch and took our time driving by the battlefields. The Farnsworth House Inn on Baltimore Street beckoned with its lovely and leafy patio. We stopped inside to look at the memorabilia from the filming of Gettysburg, shot in town in 1993.

After shopping in the Round Barn Farm Market, we stopped to visit the donkeys and goats that live here.

After we left Hauser Estate, we stopped at the big white round barn near the winery’s driveway. Good idea. The Round Barn Farm Market is bursting with local fruits and vegetables and foods produced close by.

What a nice afternoon, we were in agreement as we headed back home.

 

Ⓒ Text and photos
Mary K. Tilghman

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