Blair, Berks wineries cooking up big weekend

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Blair Vineyards in Mertztown, Pa., yesterday distributed a shout-out to those on its e-letter list about next week's second annual Berks Country Wine Trail's Taste of Spring. All eight members of the trail will pair up with culinary arts students from Reading Area Community College to produce tasty treats using local ingredients. You can find those pairings on the wine trail's Web site. Blair Vineyards will be featuring its Enlightenment with mushroom caviar and its 2007 Pinot Gris with spring vegetable dip. The event is free and, as is similar with all the wineries on the trail, there are no tasting fees. You just need to be 21 to attend. For more info, contact the winery at 610.682.0075 or Missy Blair at missy@blairvineyards.com.

Lot of rattlin' going on at Maryland winery

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Inside and outside the tasting room at Serpent Ridge, including a shot of Karen and Greg on day one of their new winery.
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It's rare that I actually get to visit a winery on "Opening Day," but had a chance yesteday to take the gorgeous drive through the farmland of southern Pennsylvania and northern Maryland and head to Serpent Ridge Vineyards, located south of Westminster not far from Route 97.

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Considering that owners Karen and Greg Lambrecht leaned on word of mouth, they had a good crowd milling around in the comfy tasting room and outside under the umbrellas at the picnic tables during the hour or more that we stayed and tasted.

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You can't ask for a prettier setting, with the tasting room sitting at the back end of a wooded lot, the 2 acres of grapes stretching up the hill to the top of the incline. All of Greg's white grapes are outsourced, with his vineyard yielding red grapes only.

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You never quite know what to expect with a new winery, but these wines all exhibited character and care. Could have taken any of them home, but wound up having a Grenache Rose and a bottle of Albarino popped into one of the reusable bags that they were sending home with customers who made any purchases. Sharp. Considering that a couple of weeks ago I lost a bottle that slipped through a tear in a plastic bag and splintered all over the garage surface, I was delighted to walk out with two bottles that would make it safely into our wine refrigerator.

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Tastings are $5 apiece for the five wines: the Rose ($14); Albarino ($22), a crisp, delightful white that I make time for amid a "red heavy diet" of wine; Seyval Blanc ($16); Basilisk ($26), a 60 percent Cab Franc-40 percent Cabernet Sauvignon that showed beautifully; and a Vintner's Cabernet ($34), essentially reversing the blend on the Basilisk. Greg said he gives both some extra brawn with a small percentage of Norton grapes. Greg, if I heard that wrong, drop me a line and I'll get it fixed pronto.

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All in all, it was a delightful afternoon amid what seemed to be a mix of strangers and many friends who came to see the tasting room and offer their congrats . . . and taste the goods. Greg said he still has work to do on a third building that will give some elbow room to the operation, but that work surely won't get done on weekends based on what we saw yesterday. Visiting hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays.