The ’06 Viognier Reserve is a spectacular wine. What’s really strange is that it’s an all-stainless steel wine, yet I really got the flavors of tropical fruit… on a Danish.

Side note, when I started this blog, I pictured it to be very similar to the stuff that Swirl, Sip, Snark is putting out. I’d visit wineries every weekend, introduce myself, chat with the owner and winemaker. Write up glowing (but fair) reviews in my blog which would become the bellwether for Virginia’s burgeoning wine industry. I’d sit on panels and say interesting things about the late weather in 2007 and its effect on the Cab Franc harvest in Charlottesville. The audience would nod, because they don’t know any better. Wine samples and invites to events would pour through my mailbox causing my UPS delivery person to crumble under the weight of my awesomeness.

Things didn’t quite bounce that way, evidently. I still like visiting wineries, but I realized a few things since I started:

1) Virginia is far, and anything involving travel on 495/66 should be forgotten. You may as well take a flight from BWI to Dulles and rent a car.
2) Most wineries are the same. There hasn’t been a lot of impetus to get off the couch and drive down there to taste.

Snark that!

I’m way behind on this one, but news came from across the Atlantic some weeks ago that the British wine trade was impressed by Virginia wines, specifically White Hall Vineyards’ Cuvee des Champs, during the 2009 London International Wine Fair. Dezel from Myvinespot.com has some details and a video reaction from the fair. The Washington Post wrote a nice piece on the lavish praise being pumped toward Virginia.

“That is really impressive,” said Cristina Proietti, who works in sales for British wine seller Majestic, as she swirled a red, the Cuvee des Champs of White Hall Vineyards, in her glass. After several rounds of sipping, spitting and considering the wine from the Blue Ridge, she declared it “more approachable than a Bordeaux.”

Nice to hear the Virginia wines are geting some recognition on an International stage. A lot of the chatter centered around the Virginia’s Viognier’s, a topic I brushed past recently. The versatile white grape is really doing well in Virginia and appears ready to be paired against top Viogniers domestically and perhaps even internationally.

Creative Commons licensed image from Flickr user law_keven

Virginia turned out 7,000 tons of grapes in 2008, a 25% bump over 2007′s number. Acreage, though, only went up three percent. More gapes from the same amount of land? Better harvest? Fewer deer munching on Merlot hanging on the vine? No word on how this affected pricing. My guess is: not at all… especially since demand is up and now that Virginia is an international star, it’s off to the moon!

Link to terse blurb on Biz Journals.

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.

Went on a quick ride out to Frederick and Carroll Counties to visit two wineries this past weekend. First was Elk Run Vineyards, a rustic winery about 15 miles east of Frederick, Maryland. Elk Run was founded over twenty-five years ago making them ancient in terms of Maryland vineyards. All the fruit for the flagship wines is grown in Cold Friday vineyard, about a mile from the tasting room. Their other vineyard, Liberty Tavern, sits on the same site as the tasting room. I don’t believe any wines made from Liberty Tavern have been released. I didn’t see any when we were there, at least.

I have experienced a love/hate relationship with Elk Run’s wines. Their Cabernet Sauvignon was the first Maryland wine I ever spent more than $20 on and was nothing but disappointment and despair. Elk Run’s Gewurztraminer, however, is one of the best Maryland wines I’ve ever had.

No surprise that my favorite of the tasting was the Gewurtz ($24) followed by the Cabernet Franc ($28). Their Cab Franc showed off some vegetal qualities, nice Earth and of course lots of fruit. The Gewurztraminer was fuller than I remember, but that isn’t a bad thing. We left with a bottle of Viognier which my notes read as having been “nice.” Perhaps that was because of the sub-$20 price.

Earlier I argued that wine clubs can’t exist without direct shipping. Clearly I’m not in Elk Run’s RSS reader.

Elk Run is worth a visit, especially if you aren’t in a hurry and can relax with a glass or two. The tasting room is small and cozy. Five dollars gets you tastes of six wines from the fifteen or so on their tasting sheet. They have a nice patio with picnic tables that run up against the vineyards. You can pick up a glass of wine and hang outside in a nice setting.

Elk Run Vineyards
15113 Liberty Rd
Mt Airy, MD 21771
Open Tuesday-Saturday, 10am-5pm; Sunday, 1-5pm; Friday evenings from 6-9.

Serpent Ridge Vineyard is tucked up into a twisted forest road in Carroll County, Maryland. Owners Greg and Karen Lambrecht released their first vintage of wine this year, mostly made form fruit on their relatively tiny five acres of vines sitting up on a hill.

The best that they poured was a nice Albarino ($24) which I brought home with me. Their Seyval Blanc ($16) was a good value with nice apricot and peach flavors. The tasting room has all sorts of local cheeses, crackers, and snacks for you to eat while you sit outside and sip on a glass (or a bottle) of their wines.

The friendly people and operations at Serpent Ridge are top notch and the winery is a must-stop if you’re tasting around Carroll County. I haven’t seen the wines out at retail, so if you want to get a taste of new wines in Maryland, go by their testing room for a visit.

Marylandwine.com recently did a piece on Serpent Ridge.

Serpent Ridge Vineyards
2962 Nicodemus Rd
Westminster, MD 21157
Open Saturday and Sunday 11-5

This past Wednesday, Bin 604 hosted a tasting of six wines in the portfolio of Blank Ankle Vineyards, a new Maryland winery intent on creating Maryland wines with quality comparable to those of more traditional wine regions.  In short, they’re trying to run with the big dogs.  I was excited to see them on Bin 604′s tasting schedule and give their wines a go, as I have been somewhat snarky about their pricing in recent blog posts.  I just wasn’t on board with Maryland wines being sold in the $20-$30 price range.  When your offering touches $40, you really better be able to party.

Owners Ed Boyce and Sarah O’Herron bought the property that is now Black Ankle in May of 2002.  They did quite a bit of diligence in selecting their vineyard site.  They didn’t buy an established vineyard and go from there.  Instead, Boyce and O’Herron purchased a farm that had the components they were looking for: soil type, climate, picturesque setting (grape vines like a nice view, as they say).   Once the purchase went through, the vines were planted.  Several years later, their first wines were released.

Sarah O’Herron hosted the tasting and did a nice job handling the number of guests, speaking to each personally and going into detail about the grapes, the vines, the oak, or whatever else particular people were interested in.  In between wines, there was a nice selection of bread and local cheeses to nibble on and pair up with the wines.

My notes from the night:

2007 Chardonnay $21.99

Strong yellow color.  Citrus (grapefruit), apple, tart, pungent nose, almost earthy and steely.  I can’t tell if it is over oaked or not oaked at all.  Zingy, tangy taste.  Lots of flavor, sort of going in a bunch of different directions at once.  Good finish.

2007 Viognier $21.99

Pale yellow color.  Nice and aromatic, like something out of Alsace or even Torrontes.  Not much taste there.  If anything, it tastes like Juicy Fruit.  Not a sweet wine by any means, though.  Good long pleasant finish.  A nice Viognier, but a little bland.

2007 Bedlam $29.99

Bunch of stuff included with this one, including Gruner Veltliner, a grape commonly found in Austrian wines.  O’Herron said that they had a lot of white grapes left over from production, so they worked out the kinks and made Bedlam.  Interesting that what amounts to second grapes have gone into a wine that is more expensive than the Chardonnay and the Viognier.

Anyway, this wine is filling in the gaps that the Viognier left out.  Almost identical nose, but so much more on the palette.  Lots of flavors coming together.  Everything is sort of scattered and out of balance, but that makes it fun.  Good wine.

2006 Passeggiata $22.99

A very light wine made from 100% Syrah.  The wine has a Pinot Noir look and feel so much so that I had a hard time believing it was Syrah.  Light ruby color.  Coffee, pepper, and smokey oak aromas.  Alcoholic finish with a bigger back end than I was expecting. Otherwise it is a nice, easy-drinking red.

2006 Syrah $25.99

Made with 90% Syrah and 10% Pinot Noir.  Medium to deep ruby color.  A nice example of U.S. Syrah, this would be home in Paso Robles or Santa Barbara.  Some spice, pepper, big fruit.  A little hot.  A nice wine.

2006 Cosecha $25.99

Big mix of grapes and the wine came out that way.  Big jammy fruit, but alcoholic and a little unbalanced.

2006 Crumbling Rock $39.99

Barrel selected grapes to go into the flagship wine of the house.  Inky red, by far the darkest of the whole lineup.  The nose was dominated by toasted oak.  The Cabernet Franc comes through on the palette, giving this wine a bit flavor unique to Maryland.  Huge fruit.  Medium tannins.  Finish was mixed.  Sometimes good, more often smokey and unpleasant.

The big question: Is it worth $40?  To me, no.  To others, it may become their favorite wine ever.  I’m not a fan of lots of oak in front of an avalanche of fruit.  It isn’t my thing.  For many, though, it is their thing.  I wouldn’t spend $40 on this bottle, but I understand why some people have.  I’d also like to take another shot at the wine in a few years after it settles down a bit.  This is the first release of wine made from grapes planted in 2003 and 2004, so once the vines mature some more, the wine will be better.

During the tasting I asked O’Herron why they chose $40 for the price of the Crumbling Rock.  She said that they felt that it was a $40 wine, not just in Maryland but in the universe of wines.  Forty dollars implies some quality behind the wine, and it sounds like Black Ankle Vineyards is going to try and fit in with that group.

Everyone says that they want to make good wine.  To many, that means we’re making the best wine given the fruit and the climate and our site. Boyce and O’Herron sound intent on making quality wine, period.  They’re off to a strong start.  I still don’t like the pricing, but the wine is coming along well.

Special thanks to O’Herron and Bin 604 for hosting a top quality tasting.