By Chris Barber
Contributing Writer

Anyone looking for an enjoyable wine tasting experience located off the beaten track can find it in the small village of Toughkenamon, New Garden Township.

While this tiny southern Chester County crossroads is seldom thought of as a social destination, sitting there beside the railroad tracks on Newark Road is Harvest Ridge Winery – a tempting attraction.

This bistro offers a wide variety of wines from local grapes as well as entertainment, tastings,

space rentals, demonstrations, a wine club and attention to individual preferences.

Harvest Ridge is open Thursday through Sunday and available by call most other days.

Its parent company, owner and source of its inventory is Harvest Ridge Winery, a family farm winery in Marydel, Del. It was founded by Chuck Nunan, and opened in November of 2013. as the fourth winery in the state.

This parent winery sits on 180 acres of land and grows grapes on 12 acres. It also buys fruit from nearby growers, according to the company website.

The manager of the Toughkenamon Harvest Ridge winery and tasting room is Megan Damp. She is a constant presence there, and even when the business is closed on Mondays through Wednesdays, she is generally there to respond to individual requests for those who call for an appointment to make a last-minute purchase.

Damp has an undergraduate degree in hospitality and a graduate degree from the Culinary Institute of America in wine and beverage management.

“It is the industry I always wanted to be in,” she said.

So eager is she to share her love of the job, she says even in cooking, “I’d put wine on everything.”

One of the advantages of having a winery in Toughkenamon is its easy accessibility for out-of-towners.

Visitors can avoid the hinderances of traffic, parking and crowding that they are likely to encounter in a more urban location.

Harvest Ridge has plenty to offer its customers.

First and foremost, its main focus is selling good, home-grown wine and helping customers get what they like.

As this roomy building faces Newark Road, customers coming in the front door cannot help being struck by the wide variety of wines they see lining the walls and the opportunities for choices they have.

There is even a row wine in bottles dressed in small honorary hoods representing the winning blends Harvest Ridge has won in tasting contests.

Harvest Ridge offers about 35 kinds of wine, which can be ordered by the glass, by the bottle or by a combination of the two.  There are also meads, cider, beers and sodas.

The source of the wines is exclusively supplied by Harvest Ridge or their associates in the Eastern United States from Virginia to the Finger Lakes of New York.

Damp explained that while the farm at Harvest Ridge in Delaware grows about a dozen different kinds of grapes, the geography and climate conditions require some resources from farther away. They often send out for grapes that have grown where the conditions are warmer, rainier or accustomed to different soil conditions.

Damp says she often responds to questions and preferences of wine-drinkers, and she has plenty of answers or suggestions. There are even people who don’t drink wine at all, and she has tips for them as well.  

In an effort to determine the potential preferences of her customers, she has  designed a chart which an individual or several guests in the group may fill out and check off the characteristics they like.

She examines those checks and offers some choices that she believes the answers have indicated will appeal to them.

She even recalled one non-wine drinker to whom she offered the tasting room’s favorite Blue Hen Blue --  a staple of  for Harvest Ridge that’s a blend of concord grape and blueberries and tastes like grape juice.

“I offer it to them if they don’t like wine. They say, ‘Oh, I like this.’”

But Harvest Ridge goes beyond that drinking wine, however.

For customers who come in with more than an appetite for wine, Damp offers charcuterie boards for a fee. They are elegant little slabs of wooden dishes topped with snacks like meat, cheese, crackers and a delicious topping. Currently she has two versions for sale: one with cheese and two kinds of meat and the other with one kind of meat. She said she is hoping to increase the variety and number of charcuteries (snacks) – just one of the ideas she has for the future.

One feature that attracts fans is the entertainment.

Often on Saturday nights she has local bands come in to provide music. She does not charge a special price for the entertainment nights, but she says the music means more guests come, they stay longer, and they drink more wine.

Another form of entertainment she offers if demonstrations.

There are groups of skilled crafts persons who have something to show or explain in detail. She used the example of flower arranging.  

These groups can come in to do a small show, and their audiences can relax in a casual environment with some wine and learn a little something along the way.

There is also a wine club.

These members join to receive discounts on their wine, $1 drinks on the month of their birthdays and the chance to discuss their tastes with others as well as making friends.

The building itself has some interesting features.

A back room with a capacity of up to about 75 guests is available for rental. This is a benefit for people who want to have a special event and have their own space. Damp said there’s plenty of room back there, and she has enough chairs to handle almost any size group.

There’s also the proximity to the East Penn Railroad tracks that run just a few feet from the room.

Damp said the trains going by are not a distraction, although they do rattle the bottles on the wall.

“They only come by about twice a day, and it adds to the niche of the place,” she said.

Harvest Ridge is nestled in the tiny village of Toughkenamon, but Damp said the neighbors are “a tight-knit community” who are eager to help each other.

One of the most popular events they have joined was the arrival of Santa Claus on a fire truck and the adjoining festivities at the tasting room afterward. She said it was one of their most popular days.

Damp was asked if people’s desire for certain types or flavors of wines changes as time goes by.

She said simply that history leads almost everything to change.

She cited the example of the public affection for Merlot wine.

In the movie “Sideways,” the character made the statement, “No more Merlot.”

The wine industry observed that suddenly fewer people were drinking Merlot after that.

What lies ahead for Harvest Ridge in Toughkenamon?

Damp said she has three important goals:

One of them is adding variety and volume to the charcuterie boards so customers have more to choose from.

The second is to enhance the outdoor entertainment area. Currently customers can go out to a patio in the back and enjoy their refreshments. However, they are looking mainly at a parking lot, other buildings and the railroad tracks.  In the future, she said, she would like it enlarged, enhanced and a little more elegant.

The third is to reach a larger customer base. She said she is pleased with advertising in the greater Chester County area, but it could reach larger numbers.

Harvest Ridge is at 1140 Newark Road in Toughkenamon, just a few steps from the railroad tracks.

The tasting room is open Thursdays from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays from noon to 8 p.m.; and Sundays from noon to 5 p.m.

Limited reservations are accepted.

To make an appointment for wine pickup on days Heritage Ridge is closed, call 610-636-4871 before 5 p.m.