By Christopher Holland • The Current Contributing Writer
As the pandemic continues to wreak havoc on the small business community nationwide, Jim Thorpe’s downtown continues to be an economic engine for the region.
Continually attracting visitors from near and far, the downtown historic business district progresses as new shops continue to open.
The newest face in town is a wine and cider shop, offering locally sourced native Pennsylvania wines, traditional ciders, herbal wines, herbal syrups and more.
Owned by Josh and Amber Finsel, Wild Elder Wine and Cider Co. at 76 Broadway sells wine, cider and syrup by the bottle and glasses to-go.
“My dad taught me how to make wine 25 years ago,” Josh Finsel said. “I was a dedicated hobbyist for 22 years learning about wine chemistry and methods of production,” he said.
Then about three years ago, after much encouragement from friends and family, Finsel decided it was time to file paperwork to make wine commercially.
The Finsel’s built their production facility in Lehighton in the Fall of 2018 and received their commercial license in March of 2019.
“Our first wines were ready to drink in March of 2020 as the [government] shutdowns began,” Josh Finsel said.
Besides all the obstacles involved with the pandemic, the government shutdown, the high demand for elderberries, Finsel said everything is smooth sailing for he and his wife’s business.
“Currently I handle every aspect of production with some occasional help from my friends at bottling time,” Josh Finsel said. “Amber manages the store at 76 Broadway and does most of the marketing… Soon we would like to sell some herbs from her garden, and we plan on hiring as many folks as we can as we grow our business,” he said.
Finsel said that one of the most exciting elements of owning his own business is that you get to drive it in the direction that suits your life. And one thing that he’s especially proud of is how his products are locally sourced, particularly the native plant aspect of the winery and the heirloom cider varieties and culinary apple varieties.
“We choose to make wines out of fruits that grow really well in our local ecosystem and are well suited for making interesting wines,” he said. “Elderberry wine is currently my main red wine… It is a “superfruit” that grows really well here, and can make a red wine very similar to a Merlot or a Chianti depending on choices made during production,” he said.
“We make all of our wine from fresh whole fruit fermented on the skins to extract rich color and tannin, and we age our elderberry wine in neutral French oak barrels or new Pennsylvania American oak for up to two years, depending on the style of wine we want to achieve,” he noted.
The traditional cider is made from heirloom cider varieties and culinary apple varieties from a local orchard that was planted 40 years ago.
“We ferment our cider slowly by dropping the temperature in the winery to 55 degrees for 4-6 months,” he said. “A slow, cold fermentation is essential in preserving the delicate original flavor of the apples… Next we age our cider on the lees, occasionally stirring the lees back into the cider,” he said.
Finally, using the champagne method, a second fermentation occurs in the bottle which self carbonates the finished cider resulting in a crisp aromatic dry sparkling cider.
The wine and ciders at Wild Elder start at $20 per bottle.
“Besides expanding production of our current flagship native wines and ciders, we plan on experimenting more with various native botanicals (roots, barks, flowers, seeds, herbs, and spices) to produce wines akin to traditional Vermouth Apéritifs,” Finsel said.
Also in discussion for future plans is potentially launching a television program called “Wine, Cider and Song” which would feature a regional songwriter and Finsel. He said it would be an interview type show set in the Broadway space where he and his guest would sit down and share in some music and drink in front of a small live audience.
Finsel says to follow Wild Elder’s social media outlets to stay updated with pertinent information regarding future endeavors. You can also sign up for Wild Elder’s mailing list at www.wildelder.com
Josh Finsel, 44, grew up just on the outskirts of Jim Thorpe. He was born in White Haven, PA, graduated from Lehighton High School and earned his undergraduate degree from Kutztown University of Pennsylvania. He says that he’s always lived within a few hundred yards of the Lehigh River.
Finsel’s wife Amber was born in Sciota, PA. She graduated from Nazareth Area High School and earned her undergraduate degree from Temple University, and her post-graduate degree at the University of Oregon. Her and Josh reside in Jim Thorpe.
“When we die, we will have probably spent the majority of our life in Jim Thorpe… I guess you can say we are from Mauch Chunk,” Finsel said.
Along with the Finsel’s new wine and cider endeavor, they own another “mom and pop” shop called JFABphotography.com, a husband and wife photography studio.
Also, they are members of a 10-piece roots dirt-rock band that’s still in business called Free Range Folk, a local favorite among many towns folk. Josh plays banjo and writes some of the songs and Amber plays bass and writes some songs as well. To date, Free Range Folk has released three full-length albums and is presently planning a fourth.
Winter hours at Wild Elder Wine and Cider Co. are noon to 5:00 p.m. Friday to Sunday, and in the Spring it plans to be open Thursday-Monday, with tours available on Wednesdays.
For now, 76 Broadway in Jim Thorpe is Wild Elder’s retail shop, selling bottles and glasses to-go, clean and simple.
“Our hope is that eventually we will be able to have indoor and outdoor seating serving food and drinks, host live acoustic music and more,” Finsel said.
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