A quick trip through Mount Airy, Maryland
Your regular blogger has let me pop in again and share a little Maryland wine tour.
If there’s one thing Maryland wineries can learn from Virginia, it’s signage. The very first sign we saw for Black Ankle Vineyards was the one directing us to turn left into the driveway. Virginia, on the other hand, has seemingly thousands of generic “winery ahead” signs, and numerous arrows when you get close. Perhaps Virgina spends more time and tax dollars promoting its wineries than Maryland does. With the ridiculous wine shipping laws in Maryland, it’s clear that the state government doesn’t want to help its wineries.
Once we arrived, however, everything changed. The grounds are immaculate and picturesque. A long stone walkway, flanked by gravel spotted with tables and chairs, leads up to the tasting room. They have indoor seating and covered porch seating in addition to the the open tables.
Our timing, however, was poor. The tasting room was nearly empty, just a group of two couples, when we arrived. By the time we had finished tasting the whites, the room was full, and we’d been shoved into a corner.
We started with the 2006 Bedlam, followed by the 2008 Winner of the Maryland Winemaster’s Choice Award, the 2007 Bedlam. The 2007 has a very sweet smell, though not taste. I preferred the 2006, which had a stronger flavor, while the wife liked the 2007.
The 2008 Chardonnay was pleasant, as was the 2008 Viognier. “Crisp”, the wife said. The Passegiata and the Syrah were both pleasant, if not memorable.
And finally, the flagship 2006 Crumbling Rock, winner of the 2008 Maryland Governor’s Cup (which, frankly, should be the name of a boat race, but I won’t quibble). I had high hopes for this wine. It’s “so elegant”, the woman giving us our tasting said.
And here I wish I were better at identifying the tastes and smells of a wine. Black Ankle says it has hints of vanilla, usually a sure winner in my book, but I couldn’t taste it. They also speak of “intense black fruits, crushed rocks, graphite, dried mushrooms . . .”. Now, I don’t even know what graphite tastes like, so maybe I did taste it in the wine. But what I can tell you is that the flavor was not as full as I had expected. The wife called it, “smooth”. I call it disappointing. Not a bad wine, but I wouldn’t have rated it the best wine in Maryland.
Our trip continued to Loew Vineyards. You can’t go wrong with a $2 tasting (8 wines, $5 if you keep the souvenier glass), but if I were you I’d skip their reds. The whites were nice, and if you like sweet berry wines, the blueberry and strawberry were surprisngly good – I’m not usually one for sweet wine, but I liked these.
Our favorite of the day was Elk Run. We stayed there for a bit, buying a glass each of their pinot noir, and sitting outside in the sun. I have no notes, however, from the second two wineries – I blame this on an increasingly fidgety ten-month-old, who made it difficult to write anything down. I wish I had written down the text of the snippy, “what’s so wrong about shipping wine, Maryland?” sign Elk Run had in their tasting room.
So, if you’re in the area, I’d recommend all three, though for different reasons. Black Ankle is the most impressive. Loew is a great deal, and the friendliest staff. And our only complaint about Elk Run was the parking lot.
