Wine blending party a hit at Woodhall

Just returned from a wine-blending "party" at Woodhall Winery in Parkton, Md., an event for case club members only. There were several couples that joined us to "experiment" during a session that began at noon and went past 3 p.m. Winemaker Chris Kent (right photo) pulled out vidal, seyval, cayuga and vignoles among the four white wines to blend. Among the reds he brought together were chambourcin, cabernet france, cabernet sauvignon and sangiovese.

Equipping up with a notepad and eyedropper, he told us to smell and taste each of the white and then mix them to our heart's content. And it was fascinating to try different percentages of the various wines and see what we concocted. We were instructed to write down one combo we liked the most, and he sent us home with a 350 ml bottle of red and white with our favorite mixtures (see photo).

Kent's background is as interesting as any of the winemakers that I've interviewed to date. It's rare to find anyone making wine who considered that as their occupation while they were growing up. Kent's the same. His background is in broadcast journalism, and after working for a long time in Louisiana he headed north, where (with plenty of vintages under his belt) he's now a fixture at Woodhall.

The blending party was something that the winery tried back in the mid-1990s, then just dropped, one of those ideas that moved to the back burner. Here's hoping it becomes an annual event at Woodhall and other wineries. It's instructive and fun, particularly sitting out a hot day down in the cellar. One young couple (hi Sara and Mike) talked about their time traveling abroad in Spain and Portugal and Italy. They're headed for South African in December. Another couple (hi Cooley and Kate) talked about the wine they drank during a trip to Australia.

It's a different twist on the many events that wineries hold. This one provided entertainment but also was educational, with a chance to pick the winermaker's brain about everything from blending the wines to the effects that global warming could have on the industry. It was a chance to relax, mingle and learn, and one I'd recommend other wineries trying in one form or fashion.

PLCB trip next week to include 'consultants'

A contingent from the Pennsylvania state stores is leaving town just in time with this heat wave settling in. And while you could call their destination – California – a vacation spot, there will be far more work than play.

Although there’s certainly enough enjoyment in tasting wine for a week.

Three consultants, one representing each of the state’s liquor control board region – east, central and west—will join Tony Jones, the chief of the product management and pricing division, and Jim Short, director of marketing for the LCB, for a trip that should take them through 400 miles and so many California wines that they might lose count by about the fifth day.

Jones and Short make this trip several times a year, since California accounts for 50 percent of the LCB stores' special wine purchases, amounting to about 700,000 cases annually, a spokesman said. But it’s the first time they’ve been accompanied by consultants from several of the state’s premium collection stores. Patti Meckley (my wine guru from the East Market Street store in York) will join Robert Skelly from the Pittsburgh area and Rian Poltrone from the east region, which essentially takes in the area in and around Philly. They head west early Sunday morning.

“The first three days of the trip is going to be buying for our chairman’s collection and premium power purchase programs,” Jones said earlier this week by phone, “and we want those people to sit in on the meetings, observe the buying process that Jim and I go through . . . [and make them] part of the decision making process as well. So they’ll actually sample the wine with us, give us their input, and all that will be considered in the decision process.”
Short noted that in the past the consultants and others have had a chance to sample the wines that Pennsylvania has purchased from California, the state it buys more wine from than any other in the country. Bringing this trio out will, as Short said, incorporate them in the process and then bring back what they learn to share with “their colleagues in other stores with the different regions.”

So how did these three get picked? Jones said, for one, they haven’t been invited on any previous trips.

“They’ve never traveled with us before,” he said. “We just wanted fresh new faces, get them out there. Years ago, the specialty buyers here would take store people out on trips, but that was more as a merit based on the completion of the educational courses [they took as part of the] three-level wine course training. Then their names were drawn out of a hat and there were drawn out for trips. So it was used as an incentive for the educational process.”
In this case, the choice of the three was as much as anything, Jones said, a chance to “rejuvenate the enthusiasm of their career. You know, Patti’s been around like 20 years and the other guys have been around for a number of years. So we kind of want to incorporate them and let them feel a true part of the process and have a thorough understanding so they can go back and spread it among their fellow employees, their associates as well as their customers.”

They will spend the first three days in Napa, welcoming around 25 suppliers that Short said could represent more than 100 wineries. They then will accompany Jones on an intrastate jaunt that will take them to Paso Robles and then to Santa Barbara. On that trip they’ll hit more than 10 wineries.

“It’s the broadest selection and presentation of wine since I’ve been traveling to California on these buying trips back over the last five years,” Short said. Asked what he saw as the most valuable aspect of the trip, Short said he thought that it provided a great opportunity “to have the store buyers get to see the process, see how the deals are structured, to see the detail that we get into. It’s not just about pricing, but we want to make sure there’s a quality level of the wine associated with the deal.” This will show them “an appreciation for what their palate has to offer, show them that we are receptive to their input, plus it really gives them a good understanding of how these deals are put together.”

And, assuming all works well, both Short and Jones said they see this first trip as the beginning of something that will take place again with a different group of employees each time. Would they consider travel to other sites, such as Italy? “I think we’ll do an assessment on the next two California trips before we branch out across the country or [travel internationally],” Short said. “There’s the potential there for that as well."