Keep your eyes on Pennsylvania wine. The industry, which spans numerous viticultural areas and terroirs all within one state, is just getting started. Bit bit by, PA winemakers rack up major awards, superior ratings and momentous recognition, helping the state shed its past reputation as a place for sweet, simple wines while earning its rightful place on the international stage. We’ve seen the likes of Benigna’s Creek Vineyard & Winery and Mazza Wines earn gold medals at the Decanter World Wine Awards and Waltz Vineyards make it to the finals among international powerhouses at the 2026 global blind tasting, Judgement of Davis. Now, Penns Woods Winery in southeastern Pennsylvania’s Brandywine Valley PVA has been nominated for the 2026 Wine Enthusiast Wine Star Award as American Winery of the Year, the first PA winery ever put forward for this honor.
This distinction takes Pennsylvania beyond single wine-recognition to a celebration of exceptionality across a portfolio, innovation in viticulture and winematking, leadership in sustainability and significant contribitious to the American wine industry, as a whole, over the past year.The honor shows just what can happen when winemakers blend old world traditions with cutting edge innovation and European styles with hybrid, vitis vinifera and native wine grapes that thrive in the unique conditions of the Mid-Atlantic.
This special nomination comes right as Penns Woods celebrates its 25th anniversary, affirming the original vision of founder Gino Razzi that serious, European wine could be grown and made in Pennsylvania.
Gino Razzi and Carley Razzi
President Carley Razzi, who was recently named one of Main Line Today’s 2026 Power Women, says, “This nomination belongs not only to our family and team, but to Pennsylvania wine. For 25 years, we have believed deeply in this land and what can be grown here.”
The range of Penns Woods’ portfolio is truly spectacular. Under the leadership and expertise of Winemaker and Vineyard Manager, David Creato, Penns Woods has earned top awards for its estate-grown Rosé Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve and (the famously difficult) Pinot Noir. Creato, who was born and raised among family vineyards in the Abruzzo region of Italy, has skillfully fused old world techniques with modern methods and a devotion to pioneering sustainable viticulture.
Creato pulling a barrel sample
“We have never tried to imitate another wine region,” Creato says. “Our work is about understanding the vineyard, honoring each vintage and expressing Pennsylvania with honesty.” This effort has centered the Keystone State in a national wine conversation. Penns Woods is the only East Coast nominee and first Pennsylvanian winery to land on this list, helping the industry reimagine Pennsylvania as an emerging fine-wine region with its own personality that’s worth getting to know.
Penns Woods is an inviting destination, drawing folks from Philadelphia, Wilmington, Baltimore and beyond with an ever-full calender of exquisite and appealing events, like harvest celebrations, puppy yoga, vertical tastings, live music and so much more. In the center of all the buzz, the winery has a big heart, contributing an average of $25,000 in in-kind donations to local organizations each year, with causes like animal adoption, public lands and historic preservation in its focus.
Penns Woods manages 53 vineyard ares across Chester and Delware Counties and produces wines exclusively from Pennsylvania-grown fruit. During the catastrophic delayed frost in April, 2026, Penns Woods assumed stewardship of 13 mature acres at Equivine Farm in Coatesville, preserving productive agricultural land and further strengthening the future of PA wine.
Regardless of the ultimate outcome of the Wine Enthusiast’s awards, the achievement for Pennsylvania wine has been secured. “When I began, nobody believed that you could make wine in Pennsylvania,” says Gino Razzi. “Now, people are starting to believe.”
Visit Penns Woods Winery, a PA Preferred® Homegrown by Heroes member winery, at 124 Beaver Valley Road, Chadds Ford; (610) 459-0808 and follow it on Facebook and Instagram to stay in the loop. To learn more about Pennsylvania wine and viticulture, visit our series, PA Vines & Wines!
- Photos 2 and 5: Erin Ingraffia Photography
- All other photos: Penns Woods Winery
