Seeing this week’s forecast of cold rain, snow and wind has me reminiscing about summer travel: day trips to the beach, long hikes and relaxing days spent sipping wine and exploring local wineries. Some of my favorite winery experiences have been right here in Bucks County, not far from Global Traveler world headquarters. Bucks County boasts several smaller-scale wineries, but where they lack in size they make up for in tradition, character and quality.

Visiting wineries in Bucks County is different from large mass-production vineyards. The wineries, vineyards and recipes have been passed down and perfected through several generations of wine-loving families. Every experience, tour and tasting in Bucks County feels personal and intimate, allowing you to learn about and meet the people that started and helped grow the wineries.

The most recent local gem I had the pleasure of visiting was Buckingham Winery, a small farm and winery owned and operated for more than 50 years by the Forest family. The winery started with only five acres and has since expanded, now occupying more than 40 acres.

This winery is all about the wine, with a very small staff, no guided tours and a laid-back tasting vibe. Unlike other wineries, Buckingham doesn’t offer personally guided tastings but allows you to sample their wines on your own. You simply take your glass and choose from the more than two dozen varieties of wine broken down by red, white, fruit, sweet and sparkling. While it is self-guided, there is always someone around to talk to you about the wines, answer questions and make suggestions. They offer tastings for free during the week, with a $5 charge on the weekends that gets you around 12 tastings and a complimentary glass.

The basement wine cellar is beautiful with old stone walls and floors, massive wine barrels and countless aging bottles. Outside there are picturesque English-style gardens and a picnic area along the edge of the vineyards.

Most of Buckingham Winery’s wines are made from grapes, but several are made from apples, strawberries, cherries, blackberries and raspberries. These wines contain no artificial flavors but are made 100 percent from fruit and are delicious. On our last visit we bought a chilled bottle of the Blackberry wine to drink outside with lunch. My other personal favorites included the Cabernet Sauvignon, the Diego Red and the Vidal Blanc.

Buckingham is also known for its production of sparkling wines, which are made in traditional Champagne style, aged for two to five years. It is one of the only wineries in Bucks County that makes sparkling wine.

Buckingham Winery is part of the Bucks County Wine Trail which includes Sand Castle Winery, Wycombe Vineyards, Crossing Vineyards, Peace Valley Winery, Unami Ridge, Rose Bank Winery, New Hope Winery and Rushland Ridge. While I’m not usually one to make New Year’s resolutions, scratching each of these off my list seems like a pretty good one for 2017.

— Nicole Quasté, assistant editor