March 12, 2025 – Manatawny Creek Winery is heading into another season, its 28th since opening in Amity Township, Berks County, in 1998.
Family-owned, the business was started by Mary and Darv Levengood, the latter a former chemical engineer and home winemaker. Their daughter Joanne left her job as an environmental engineer in 1994 and moved to California to study winemaking at the University of California at Davis, then worked at several wineries before returning to the family farm in 1997 to start the winery and make the wine. By then, the first vineyard that Darv and another family member had planted was already six years old.
Covering somewhere in the vicinity of 5 acres, six hybrid grapes continue to grow there: Foch, Chancellor, Steuben, Cayuga White, Vidal Blanc and Seyval Blanc.
Other grapes are sourced from the Lake Erie region of Pennsylvania and elsewhere.
Since the opening of the tasting room, located about 12 miles southeast of Reading on Levengood Road, the owners have added a large deck to accommodate outdoor visits and started making beer to complement its two-dozen or so wines, which run from dry (Chardonnay and Riesling to Merlot and Syrah) to sweet.
Prices run from $13 to $22.
On a windy and still chilly Saturday this past weekend, the tasting room was packed, so a few visitors found a table and chairs on the deck. Even with several levels, that deck fills up quickly on the weekends from the spring through the fall.
The events schedule features music and food trucks. While the 2025 schedule hasn’t been posted yet, here’s a link to what took place last year.
The winery is a member of the Berks County Wine Trail.
One aspect of the website that has always been particularly educational has been under the FAQ tab, with answers to general wine questions (What is the difference between Pinot Gris and Pinot Grigio? and What is an appellation?), vineyard questions (How do we decide when to pick the grapes? and After you plant a grapevine, how long does it take to harvest the grapes?) and packaging questions (Can we reuse wine bottles? and Why does wine in an opened Sangria pouch keep longer than wine in an opened bottle?).
Tasting room hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday.
It’s closed to business on Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day.
