The future tasting room site atop a hill at Big Cork Vineyards. Vines planted this spring are visible in the background.

About a month ago, I had the distinct pleasure to attend a preview event for what promises to be the next big thing (pun intended) on the Maryland wine scene: Washington County’s Big Cork Vineyards, a collaboration between the Thompson family (of Thompson Gas fame) and Virginia wine all-star Dave Collins (formerly of Breaux Vineyards). Vineyard owner Randy Thompson pulled off a huge coup earlier this year in luring Dave away from Breaux where, as the winemaker, he won a whole bunch of prestigious awards for the Loudon County property in northern Virginia. Now he’ll take on the challenge of a brand new venture on the other side of the Potomac.

Dave is a long-time Virginia resident, where he studied horticulture at Virginia Tech. His interest in wine propelled him to the venerable viticulture program at UC Davis before he returned to ply his trade  in the old dominion state. His efforts managing Breaux’s 100+ acres of vines lifted the winery from a startup experiment to a leader in the state’s booming wine industry.

Another view from the Big Cork Vineyards hilltop - down into the valley below.

The new 22-acre vineyard (with plans to grow to 30) just went in. They have yet to break ground on the tasting room. But the promise of a premier wine maker backed by a serious investor in the state of Maryland drew an impressive crowd for the preview, including Dave McIntyre from the Post and a number of Virginia bloggers.

However, we should start to get a taste of what’s to come sooner rather than later as the winery plans to begin production using locally-sourced grapes while the new vines mature. Personally thought I’m looking forward to seeing what they can do with some of the varieties we don’t see very often in Maryland: Nebbiolo, Barbera, and Malbec are all in the ground.

Exciting times for Maryland wine ahead – we recently reached the 50 winery milestone and direct shipping makes it easier for in-state wineries to distribute product outside of the traditional (and often uninterested) channels. The positive momentum here – and in Virginia and Pennsylvania, for that matter – can hopefully continue to attract talented winemakers to the region.

I’ll drink to that!

Correct me if I’m wrong, but this is the only deal I’ve heard of for (semi-regular) wine sales at a MD farmer’s market – a relationship made possible by the passage of the Maryland Winery Modernization Act. You know, that other wine bill that DID pass while the direct shipping bill languished in committee. If you’ll recall this post by Dave McIntyre back in June, it shouldn’t be much of a surprise that Bethesda Central Farmer’s Market is leading the way on bringing you local wine along with your local food. Hopefully we’ll start to see a lot more of this!

The farmer’s market is only open on Sundays from 9-1 in the parking lot on Elm Street behind Jaleo, and Thursdays 3-7 on Bethesda Lane (between Elm and Bethesda Ave). MoCo and NW DC readers: do you already shop at this market? Are you more likely to go knowing you could pick up some local wine too?

Vines on the hillside at Galloping Goose Vineyards in Carroll County, MD

Despite the 100+ temperatures, I trekked from Columbia to Carroll County to bring you this report from the newly-inaugurated Carroll Wine Trail, which officially opened on July 7. All three wineries in the trail – Cygnus, Galloping Goose, and Serpent Ridge – are relatively new on the scene but are doing great things. More importantly, these three pioneering wineries have helped transform agricultural Carroll County into a destination for tourist and homebuyers alike. I smell a brilliant marketing scheme by the county economic development board!

But enough about that. Let’s talk about some wine!

Working from north to south (so you have the shortest drive home from the last winery, obviously), your first stop is Cygnus Winery (twitter: @cygnuswine) in Manchester, Maryland, only about 15 miles from the Pennsylvania border. The label grows a few grapes and imports the rest from nearby vineyards, maintaining a local character in their wine. Winemaker Ray opened Cygnus about 15 years ago in 1996. Perhaps best known for their premium sparkling wines – the Royele blanc de blanc was recently selected for Governor O’Malley’s “Buy Local Week” kick-off event – this winery offered the most selection of the day. You’ll find a number of reds, whites and desert wines on the tasting sheet too. I already have a bottle on Cygnus Red on my shelf from a recent wine festival, so this time I left with a bottle of their chardonnay. For a no-oak chard (and I love me some oak), I found this one very balanced and not overly fruity or acidic.

The tasting room at Galloping Goose. You can't see it here but on the far side, they actually have a green roof covered in cacti.

Next stop, just a few miles from Cygnus, you’ll arrive at Galloping Goose. Another Carroll County wine pioneer, most of their grapes actually go to other wineries. What they do keep, though, makes some excellent wine. Galloping Goose only offers a handful of wines but each represents the best of their skill and expertise. I left the winery with two bottles, their chambourcin and cabernet sauvingnon. The former is light but successfully avoids the cough-medicine-cherry flavor you find in some chambourcins. They recommend serving it chilled which suited me just fine on such a hot day. The latter cab is their most complex wine, a little bit heavy on the tannins now but something I think will age well. One more interesting note: their blueberry dessert wine is made using grape yeast, which gives it a very different character from typical fruit wines that use a special fruit wine yeast. Who knew the little devils were so specific?

Last up is Serpent Ridge (twitter: @SerpentRidge, and they’re on facebook), about 30 minutes south in Westminster, MD. I first discovered them at the Drink Local Wine conference in Virginia and find myself unable to resist either of their fantastic red wines which sit atop the ‘premium’ end of the Maryland wine scene, perhaps even more so than Black Ankle (gasp!). Their Basilisk Red and Vintner’s Reserve, both red blends, are among the best I’ve tasted in the state and the latter already holds a number of awards both in the US and internationally. High demand and limited supply limits their festival appearance schedule, but make sure you try both when you see them at the Maryland wine festival. I took home a bottle of the Basilisk but only picked it over the superior Vintner’s because I couldn’t do the over $30 price tag at the end of the day. Yes, they do have some whites too, but dry complex reds are my favorite and somewhat of a rarity in the local scene. Forgive me that they captured my undivided attention!

My haul from the weekend - four bottles of wine and a glossy brochure!

And that, friends, is the full scope of the Carroll Wine Trail. Look for other wineries to open soon, though, as two more hope to open tasting rooms by 2012. The whole trail is an easy afternoon drive from Baltimore or Columbia and well worth a visit. Props to Carroll County, too, for embracing the local wine movement as a way to preserve their agricultural heritage. I could think of a few other Maryland counties that might learn a thing or two here… ::cough cough:: Howard ::cough::.

Make sure to follow vinotrip on twitter (@vinotrip) for play-by-play action on wine adventures in Maryland and beyond! Check out the feed for notes from the road this weekend with observations from the road, immediate impressions and other random stuff.

Until next time,

-Matt

The following weekend (June 12-13), we hit the Great Grapes festival at Oregon Ridge Park, just north of Baltimore on I-83. While a third-party promoter puts on this festival, giving it a different vibe than the MD Wine Association-run events, the lineup still featured all local wineries. This is a little different from the event by the same name held in July at the Anne Arundel County Fairgrounds, which offers a more national/international selection from large-scale distributors.

Each festival presented a stark contrast to the theme park-like atmosphere often seen at the larger festivals. If you aren’t into the crowds at Wine in the Woods or the Maryland Wine Festival, this might be a perfect alternative for you. Not only were the pouring stations far more accessible, I had several opportunities to engage some interesting conversations with principles from some of the wineries. Special thanks to everyone I spoke with! If I listed out all the names, I’d run over my word count.

Here are some of my notable finds from the two festivals, which I look forward to enjoying soon:

• Knob Hall Winery, Chambourcin: Not usually my favorite grape because it typically comes off with strong cherry notes (yuck), I really loved this one. Almost more like a merlot or cab franc. This is a relatively new winery with a strong focus on the grape; many of their wines are either all or some part Chambourcin.
• Port of Leonardtown, Vidal Blanc: It’s already won some awards (but then, lots of wine does) and will serve as a nice, balanced table wine. Similar to a chardonnay but with a much more locally-viable grape.
• Bordeleau, Chardonnay: Speaking of Chardonnay. They actually offer three at the moment, a barrel-fermented, California style with lots of oak; an oak/steel blend; and a completely unoaked. Although it’s trendy to make a ‘non-California’ chard right now, I’m a sucker for that oak finish so the all-barrel version wins for me.
• Terrapin Station, Better Red than Dead: Post-style wine in a box. This is a new one from them, released since Wine in the Woods. It isn’t overly sweet, but like any port is better saved for a cool evening in front of a warm fire.
• Orchid Cellars, Hunter and Archer: Wouldn’t be another Maryland wine festival without the chance to mention these excellent meads. Hunter leaves a spicy taste, while the archer is still dark and smooth but a little more mellow. Can’t wait for them to open a tasting room (hint, hint)!

Didn’t make it this year? Mark your calendar for 2011 now! And don’t forget to make your plans for the Maryland Wine Festival the weekend of September 18-19. There’s also the Annapolis Great Grapes festival the weekend of July 24-25; although not strictly a local wine festival, they will have some MD and VA wineries on site.

The issue at hand is that wine consumers in Maryland cannot order a bottle of wine from an out of state retailer and have it shipped to their house. This is because Maryland law dictates that alcohol retailing in Maryland flows through the Three Tier System: producer-distributor-retailer-(you)

For more on the three tier system, read Tom Wark’s blog Fermentation. He talks about it a lot and he’ll describe it in better detail that I can.

The problem is that the liquor distributors (and some retailers) like things the way they are, so they oppose changes to the system.

Why are they against it?

The public reason

The final argument that they’re clinging to is that underage kids will have access to a world of wine which will be delivered to their door. Maryland will be helpless to enforce the age limit for purchasing alcohol. Society will descend into darkness and oblivion.

This is, of course, total bunk. No college kid is going to pay $7.99 plus $5.99 shipping for a bottle of Yellowtail to be delivered to his dorm room next week. It just isn’t going to happen. See previous post for more.

Second, UPS and FedEx will not just leave a bottle of wine lying around if you aren’t home to receive it. They require an adult to sign for the package if the package contains wine. I know through personal experience that both UPS and FedEx are extraordinarily vigilant about this.

The private reason

The distributors like things the way they are because it is profitable. Can’t blame them. If I were one of the few people entitled to buy alcohol at a discount then resell it to consumers at a significant markup, then I’d probably pull the “it ain’t broke don’t fix it card” too.

It is important to note this: proponents of direct wine shipping to Maryland are not trying to dismantle the three tier system and run distributors out of business. If direct shipping to Maryland becomes legal, distributors will still thrive doing what they do. They provide a service and fill a need to the retailers and restaurants and this need will continue to exist. Millions of Marylanders are still going to buy from their local shop. Very little will change.

Well, do we not have more important things to worry about?

Look, I’ll agree that this is a trivial issue. Maryland has real problems to deal with. Push this through and let’s get on with it.

Do we really have a chance?

In previous years, no. The bill hasn’t even made it out of committee. Now that some committee members have come on board, chairwoman of the Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee is threatening to refuse to hear the issue at all. Essentially, she’s saying “well you guys won’t even get the chance to vote on it, because I don’t think it’s fit for a vote.” See previous coverage here and here and plenty of other places.

In short, unless the bill is voted on in committee, then there is absolutely no chance of it passing.

What can I do?

Write to your Maryland state Representative or Senator and let them know how you feel about the issue. Support Marylanders for Better Beer and Wine Laws for they are the ones on the front lines of this. Finally, if you really feel passionately about this, make note of who opposes the bill and vote accordingly come November.

The interesting thing about this note…

Very light straw color. Cold steely nose. Spritzy and zesty palette. 74.

…was that it doesn’t sound negative at all. The score wasn’t even all that bad either (74) but somehow it all came together to inspire me to take the picture to the right. Editors note: This wine was actually from Virginia. Don’t know how it snuck into the Maryland wine post.

Elsewhere, the local wine fun continued.

Great up front. Pale straw color. Floral aromas, especially honeysuckle. Great palette with lots of steel acidity and even some rocky, gravelly mouth feel. The finish just fell apart though. Violent and unpleasant, I kept trying and hoping for improvement until I eventually gave up on it. 70.

Awarding a 70 sounds downright benevolent after that note. The funny thing is that this was a wine I’d sampled in the tasting room and liked enough to buy and bring home. Two months later, things were clearly different.

On to the good stuff, Elk Run had two of my favorites for this year:

2007 Elk Run Viognier. Nice. Springy apple and peach. Lots of acidity. 82.

Like I always say, I am nothing if not brief.

Still the leader in the clubhouse in Maryland is the 2007 Elk Run Gewurztraminer Cold Friday Vineyard

The first sniff gave me the same sort of I-don’t-know that I get in a lot of Maryland wines. I don’t quite know what it is (Old Bay?) but MD wines, both red and white, but it’s a little sulfuric, sharp… not particularly unpleasant but just distinct. The mystery aroma blew off after a few minutes. Past that, there was apple and beach, mostly round, full aromas. The wine had a Juicy Fruit, honeyed taste initially, very layered. Good acidity. The whole thing was almost a little wild. A nice, dry, light caramel finish followed. The wine changed for the better over several hours, giving out more fruit and maturing into complexity. On open, the wine was more of a New World style and after some time it developed a hint of minerality and Old World Characteristics, like something Alsacian. 88.

Eighty eight! Take that, more-well-known wine regions!

If you’re into more local stuff, go check out drinkocalwine.com and click through to some of the posts Dave McIntyre has called out this week. Happy local drinking!

Running Diary from the 2009 Maryland Wine Festival on Sunday, September 20.

12:45 – Arrive to the festival. It’s already pretty crowded for an event that started at noon. Lines to get in were epic, so noted to come earlier next year. Marylanders for Better Beer and Wine Laws are out in force, getting mailing list signups from people in line.

1:00 – We make camp and I go off to pick up our tasting glasses. On the way back, I try the Elk Run Malbec, a favorite from previous years. Still holds up.

1:10 – Back at camp, The Wife says I should go taste a bit while she tends to everything. She’s hardly surprised to learn that I have already begun

1:30 – The Wife returns from her first tasting excursion with two tasting sheets, one of which simply has NO (underlined twice) written across all the wines. I guess we won’t be taking any of those bottles home.

1:40 – Out on the first tasting swing. I’m all spitting, all the time today. I frequently spit when I’m out tasting. I can taste the wines better, and on the plus side I don’t get buzzed and start writing glowing notes on all the wines I’m tasting. There are hardly any spit buckets at the festival, so I do my best to discreetly spit onto the ground and not hit anyone.

1:45 – Realize a disturbing trend: that wineries are charging $1 for tastes of their premium wines.

1:46 – Pay $1 for a taste of a Nebbiolo from newcomer Mark Cascia Vineyards. It’s my second Nebbiolo from the East Coast (the first was from Breaux Vineyards) and this one wasn’t half bad. Nice color, good little orangish-tinge up around the rim. The problem with Nebbiolo is that wineries seem intent to charge tons of money for it. I realize that Nebbiolo is a money grape that produces some serious Italian wine, but is there something else about it that forces the price up? Do the grapes actually need a credit card inserted into the vines in order to grow?

2:00 – My first spitting accident of the day. A nice woman was moving in behind me just as I turned to spit out my Fiore Chardonnay and catches some shrapnel. Sadly, she’s collateral damage. “Did I get you? I’m so sorry,” I apologize, and she replies with a “Oh just a touch on the ankles.” Nice work, wine blogger. Setting our people back years.

2:09 – Fiore has a pleasing, well-priced lineup as usual. We pick up an ice-cold bottle of Vidal Blanc for $12 to take back to camp and cool off.

2:12 – Man, there are a lot of wineries in Maryland. My Maryland and Virginia Winery Map is hopelessly out of date. Need to get back on that.

2:40 – There are two tasting notes in my notebook from 2:40.

Rose: Not bad
Pinot Noir: Bad

No winery name is attached to the note. Probably for the best. They might stop sending me all those samples that I’m not getting.

2:45 – One of our group proclaims that “[She] paid $25 to get in and will not pay another dollar to taste wines” Somehow, this only hardens my resolve to pay the $1 vig to taste the best that Maryland has to offer. She’s right, it’s audacious to expect someone with a $25 ticket to pay $1 to taste your $30 bottle of wine that is only $30 because you said so. Also, offering your lineup to taste and reserving one wine or two for a premium $1 tasting is one thing, but coming to the festival and charging a $1 for everything in your lineup is another.

3:00 – Black Ankle Vineyards hiked the price on their Crumbling Rock from $40 to $47. What could be the reason? Lower yields? Higher quality? 2005 Bordeaux-style run up of demand? I shell out three dollars for samples of their Leaf Stone Syrah 2007, Crumbling Rock 2006, and Crumbling Rock 2007.

3:05 – Someone asks why Black Ankle puts the year after the wine name instead of before like other wineries. For example:

Everyone else in Maryland: 1999 Chardonnay Reserve

Black Ankle: Chardonnay Reserve 1999

Just a matter of taste, no? I feel like the year going second is more formal, almost statesmanlike. I demand to be called “Gary 1978” for the rest of the day.

3:17 – I tasted Terrapin Station wines at Wine In The Woods last summer. The wine was disappointing then, but the Shiraz isn’t half bad now. They’re still sticking with the box thing in that you can’t buy a bottle of wine from Terrapin Station, only a box that is 1.5 liters in size. It doesn’t bug me at all but I bet the French are pissed to see this coming. A friend buys a box (equal to two bottles) to take home.

3:25 – Pick up a Sweet Tea, pulled pork sandwich, and a cheese plate to nibble on back at camp. Thumbs up for the food offerings at this year’s festival. Can you believe there are people in the world who can’t get Sweet Tea? The UN is meeting this week in New York and I hope they do something about this.

3:30 – Black Ankle’s price hike is explained as they announce the winners of the 2009 Maryland Governor’s Cup. The 2007 Blank Ankle Crumbling Rock wins Best In Show. Have you seen the list for the Governor’s Cup winners? Look how many wines came out winners of something. How does that work? Does every wine receive a medal? Is it like how everyone got a trophy in T-Ball?

3:55 – I spit out what must be my hundredth crappy Chambourcin of the day. Maryland, it’s time to punt on Chambourcin. Pull it up and plant Chardonnay.

4:15 – There were signs all over the place (pictured, right) asking festival goers if they knew that it was a felony to ship wine to Maryland. At one booth, a couple next to me says that they, in fact, did not know that it was a felony to have wine shipped to them in Maryland. Clearly, they don’t read my blog.

4:30 – As we peel through the crowd, the band announces the score of the Ravens game in progress: Ravens – 7, Chargers – 7. Chargers Running Back Darren Sproles already has a touchdown. I’m nowhere near a computer, but I can hear the anguished cries of my fantasy football team just fine.

4:40 – Just in case you were looking for more $40 Maryland wines, Galloping Goose has answered your prayers. I drop another few bucks to get in on the premium tasting action. I’ve spent something like $8 on premium samples today. I am a man determined to taste the best of Maryland.

5:30 – On the walk to the car we pass all the artisans and crafts that we didn’t see throughout the course of the day. Too focused, I guess. Good wine festival, Maryland. The music was awesome from the Blue Moon Big Band. The weather was great. It wasn’t too crowded to the point where you couldn’t get any wine. Looking forward to next year.

I popped the 2007 Elk Run Viognier with some burgers off the grill. We were lucky enough to be grilling on one of the few nights lately that it didn’t rain. The wine was nice. Good citrus fruit, medium bodied. Lots of acidity that was sort of all over the place. A great wine to drink chilled when you’re up on your roof in the heat.

In general, Viognier has been on quite a roll lately. I don’t know enough about wine making to figure if that’s because it’s an easy grape or it really thrives here in the States, specifically on the East Coast. Most of the winery flights I’ve run though had their Viognier shine though.

April 26, 2009, 1 – 6 pm Highlandtown Wine Festival, Baltimore, MD. $20 in advance gets you goats, bocce, and some of the best homebrew wines this side of Italy. I’ll be there working and pouring some wines.
Info

April 25-26, 2009, 12 – 6 pm Great Grapes! Wine, Arts and Food Reston Town Center, Reston, VA
Info

April 2-3, 2009, 12 – 6 pm Great Grapes! Wine, Arts and Food Anne Arundel Fairgrounds, Annapolis, MD
Info

May 16-17, 2009, 12 – 6pm Wine in the Woods
Symphony Woods, Columbia, Howard Co.
Info

Worth going to if the weather is nice. Bring chairs and be prepared to relax and listen to some tunes. You can read my writeup on last year’s Wine In The Woods Festival.

May 30-31, 2009, 12 – 6pm Chesapeake Bay Wine Festival
Terrapin Nature Area, Stevensville, Queen Anne’s Co.
Info

May 30, 2009, 11 – 6pm Vintage Virginia Festival
Bull Run Regional Park, 7700 Bull Run Drive, Centreville, VA 20101
Info

June 13-14, 2009, 12 – 6 pm Great Grapes! Wine, Arts and Food Festival
Oregon Ridge Park, Cockeysville, Baltimore Co.
Info

Any that I missed? Let me know in the comments. Virginia Wine Events and Maryland Wine are good sources for planning your trips to wine festivals.

I stoped by before opening today and perused the bar menu, a range of appetizers in the $6-$9 range, as well as cheese plates (three cheeses $11); dinners reportedly hover around $16-25.

Grape Leaves Online reports that Church Street Cellars in Vienna, Virginia has Enomatic machines to facilitate your wine tasting needs. If you haven’t used an Enomatic machine before, you’re in for a good time. An Enomatic is a big box with 5-10 wine bottles inside it, each with its own button and price. You pay for credit on a card, then slide the card into a machine and press a button corresponding to your choice. Your card is charged per the price of the taste and one ounce of wine goes into your glass and you drink up. Rinse, and repeat.

Last time I was in New Orleans, I spoke with the owner of WINO about the machines, many of which he had just set up in his store. He said that it wasn’t easy getting them past the liquor licensing board given that people are serving themselves and the good government magistrates were concerned that people would drink too much. We both shared our wonder that this was happening in New Orleans where public belligerence isn’t illegal, it is required. So kudos to the VA liquor board for allowing this to happen.