Showing posts with label Sarah O'Herron. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sarah O'Herron. Show all posts
Friday, November 13, 2009
Soups, pasta highlight menu at two Maryland wineries this weekend
Wanted to loop in a couple of events going on at Maryland wineries the next couple of weekends before focusing on what's on tap in P-A. Soup in the Cellar starts tomorrow (Saturday) in the 1830s wine cellar at Boordy Vineyards in Hydes, and coming off several days of rain and chilly temps, the timing couldn't be better.
This event will run from 1 to 5 p.m. the next three Saturdays. In addition to the wine and soups pairings and organic bread, you'll get a tour of the winery, some music, and a chance to toast marshmallows over an open flame cauldron. Expect a choice of the following soups: Southwest Shrimp and Corn Chowder, Tomato Cheddar Bisque, Mulligatawny, and Double Smoked Bacon & Black Lentil Soup. The winery is located 15 minutes north of the Baltimore Beltway.
Over in Frederick County, the already multi-decorated Black Ankle Vineyards has plenty cooking heading into the holidays. The year-old winery that already has produced Maryland's "wine of the year" in 2008 and 2009 Governor's Cup judging will be serving as host of another in a series of wine and dinner pairings at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday. Chef Paul Dongarra of Dionysus Kitchen will produce a three-course meal including pasta that will pair up with Black Ankle wines. Cost is $35 and $8 for a kid's plate. You can find out more by e-mailing Melissa Schulte at melissa@blackankle.com or calling 619.203.8230.
Next weekend the winery will have its chefs on location to answer questions about Thanksgiving foods and the wines that go best with them, plus Maryland-based artesian chocolate company Parfections will be in-house to build customized boxes of truffles for folks wanting to add some sweetness to their dinner table. A unique promotion called Family Photo at the Farm ($25 per session) will take place the day after Thanksgiving.
Owners Ed Boyce and Sarah O'Herron note on their Web site that supplies are dwindling on several of their wines, including their medium-bodied red blend called Passegiata (two cases left), their 2007 white blend called Bedlam (a winner of the 2008 Maryland Winemasters' Choice award, there are four cases left), and their white varietal called Gruner Veltliner (3 cases left of the '08 vintage).
Friday, October 2, 2009
A year in, Black Ankle owner reflects
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Sarah O'Herron and Ed Boyce tonight invited friends and family and case club members to a party. It has been a good year, a very good year for Black Ankle Vineyards in Mt. Airy, Md., which it's fair to say has risen in prominence far faster than any other winery in the Mid-Atlantic. It won a Maryland Governor's Cup for its 2006 Bordeaux blend called Crumbling Rock last September, even before the winery opened. Last month the winery made it two straight with its 2007 vintage of Crumbling Rock. That highlights but doesn't list all the awards that this winery has won in its first year, setting the bar very high for other wineries that follow.
They've made the investment in time and money and it has showed, from the quality of their wines to the quality of their Web site. Even the page with simple facts about the couple, their five children and the vineyard is smartly written.
Feeling sort of squeezed with the late hour and a busy weekend ahead, I don't want to give the 10-minute interview on Wednesday with Boyce short shrift, but I don't want the post to linger into Monday, as can sometimes happen. So with the answers transcribed, let me put the rest into a Q&A format. Let me also mention that the party will continue at the winery all weekend, with music and hors d'oeuvres and wine being served up from noon to 6 p.m. Saturday and noon to 5 p.m Sunday. Maybe they'll even blow out one candle on a birthday cake, who knows? But it's well worth the visit, along with a reminder than several other wineries are located close by if you're looking to spend one of the two afternoons navigating the Frederick County countryside.
Q: So was this first year beyond expectations?
A: "I mean, you know, to win the Governor's Cup once is great, to go 2 for 2 . . . that's been great. And we’ve had just a tremendous response to what we’re trying to do. What I didn't realize, I guess, out of the gate before we even started this was how the world of . . sommeliers, distributors, reps, the people whose life revolve around wine, have sort of adopted us. You know, those people wanting to discover [a winery] close to home was a huge pent-up demand, I guess, and that’s really helped us. Even more so than the consumers, those people are out there, the high-end store owners [he laughs] . . . I know you don't have high-end wine stores in Pennsylvania, but we do have a few in Maryland. They’re out there touting our product, they're sending people to our vineyard. We keep hostng restaurant and wine store staff days. Often it’s a Monday they’ll take the whole staff to do something; it might be white-water rafting or whatever, and we must have done eight or 10 of these so far, where they'll come out to the vineyard. It’s interesting, so it's nice to have captured the imagination of people."
Q: Allow me to let you toot your own horn. You two did something right before you opened. What was it?
A: "I think we did a lot of things right, I think we did a lot of things wrong [laughing] I suspect we’ve done some things wrong, I don't know exactly which ones they are yet. The very first thing we did is, we spent a year, and I mean full time, a year looking for a site, and there aren’t even maybe three or four winery/vineyards on the East Coast that have done that. We looked it up. If you go to France, supposedly the best wine-growing plac in the world, of the farmland there, only 2 percent is wine, and wine is the most lucrative thing to grow. Everyone would grow it if they could, but . . . the other 98 percent of the land just grows lousy wine. And so grandma leaves you a farm in Pennsylvania or Maryland or wherever, at best you have a 1 in 50 chance of being something you can get into a bottle, never mind being good. So we took that knowledge to heart. We are going to find a place that we think looks good. I know by doing that we were able to find a low-fertility site and that allowed us to pack the vines in, you know, 2,000 vines per acre instead of the usual 600, 700, 800, 900. And then we’re growing at a lower yield than most, so we end up making one bottle of wine per vine . . . so that one big decision snowballed into all sort of things that we can do in the vineyard. And in a year like 2009 when it has rained while lot, I'm thinking, our whole vineyard is built for a year like this. It’s on low vigor soil, which drains really fast. So that was our idea. We said, out of 10 years, you know, you’re going to get a couple of lousy vintages, you’re going to get three or four mediocre vintages, a couple of good ones, and one or two great ones. If we can turn those lousy ones to decent ones, and we can turn those mediocre ones into good ones and those good ones into great ones, then we have the Bordeaux model. That's really what the French have done the last 20 years. That’s how they’ve raised their quality by doing exacvtly that. Other than that it’s a lot of hard work. This business is 10 percent thinking and 90 percent doing. You just have to stay on it and do it."
Q: You did a lot of visiting where you were planning this site. Now you're getting visited a lot, aren't you?
A: "Yes, constantly. And I'm now head of research and education [for] Maryland wineries, so I'm bringing in speakers and doing all kinds of things to see if we can really [raise] the quality of wine in Maryland."
Q: Are you planning to plant any more vines?
A: "We not going to plant next year. We still have to build our business a little bit, although it’s starting to really take off. The thing we wish we had planted the most of right now is Albarino. We sold out of our Albarino. We only make 60, 70 cases a year, but we sold out in probably four weeks this year. It’s gone. And we have a waiting list. It might be futures next year, and that's just with customers. There are stores and wine bars that would buy the entire thing because they love it. I think the grape’s well-adapted here, but the wine works for where we are. It's a beautiful summer wine, it goes great with seafood, it’s nice in hot weather, all those things that go with a muggy, humid mid-Atlantic where we love seafood. But we’ll see. We got to make sure we can get an economic yield out of it. It’s small grapes and small bunches [He said they have vines growing on 22 acres, the Albarino on a plot that's a little more than a half-acre, what he called a little experiment, 1200 vines in all].
"And we have to decide with our red program where we go next. It's interesting. We have the five Bordeaux reds planted and we've learned, for instance, that Malbec for us makes a nice fruity wine, but it’s never going to make the Crumbling Rock. It's going to go beautifully in the second wine. We do a declassification system where the Crumbling Rock is made out of our best barrels of the five Bordeaux grapes. So we just sort made the best wine we can, and then we take what's left and we make the best wine out of that, and then we take what's left and away it goes. We don't sell that. So like Malbec is something I don't think we’ll plant more of. But beyond that, all the other ones have done really well for us. So I think our formula on the Bordeaux side is working real well.
"On the Syrah side, we made a normal, a regular Syrah in '06, in '07 we made our first reserve Syrah and called it Leaftone Syrah. Unoffically it came in second in the Governor's Cup. I guess, unofficially, I would have reversed the two actually, I think. You ought to taste it. Personally I prefer the Syrah, it’s just a great wine. But Syrah is a conundrum. It likes a very particular type of weather, and this is a good test this year [because] it likes dry, warm Septembers. So we’ll have to see what we can get out of it this year. But that’s a really nice grape, so I don’t know whether we want to plant more of it or not.
Sarah O'Herron and Ed Boyce tonight invited friends and family and case club members to a party. It has been a good year, a very good year for Black Ankle Vineyards in Mt. Airy, Md., which it's fair to say has risen in prominence far faster than any other winery in the Mid-Atlantic. It won a Maryland Governor's Cup for its 2006 Bordeaux blend called Crumbling Rock last September, even before the winery opened. Last month the winery made it two straight with its 2007 vintage of Crumbling Rock. That highlights but doesn't list all the awards that this winery has won in its first year, setting the bar very high for other wineries that follow.
They've made the investment in time and money and it has showed, from the quality of their wines to the quality of their Web site. Even the page with simple facts about the couple, their five children and the vineyard is smartly written.
Feeling sort of squeezed with the late hour and a busy weekend ahead, I don't want to give the 10-minute interview on Wednesday with Boyce short shrift, but I don't want the post to linger into Monday, as can sometimes happen. So with the answers transcribed, let me put the rest into a Q&A format. Let me also mention that the party will continue at the winery all weekend, with music and hors d'oeuvres and wine being served up from noon to 6 p.m. Saturday and noon to 5 p.m Sunday. Maybe they'll even blow out one candle on a birthday cake, who knows? But it's well worth the visit, along with a reminder than several other wineries are located close by if you're looking to spend one of the two afternoons navigating the Frederick County countryside.
Q: So was this first year beyond expectations?
A: "I mean, you know, to win the Governor's Cup once is great, to go 2 for 2 . . . that's been great. And we’ve had just a tremendous response to what we’re trying to do. What I didn't realize, I guess, out of the gate before we even started this was how the world of . . sommeliers, distributors, reps, the people whose life revolve around wine, have sort of adopted us. You know, those people wanting to discover [a winery] close to home was a huge pent-up demand, I guess, and that’s really helped us. Even more so than the consumers, those people are out there, the high-end store owners [he laughs] . . . I know you don't have high-end wine stores in Pennsylvania, but we do have a few in Maryland. They’re out there touting our product, they're sending people to our vineyard. We keep hostng restaurant and wine store staff days. Often it’s a Monday they’ll take the whole staff to do something; it might be white-water rafting or whatever, and we must have done eight or 10 of these so far, where they'll come out to the vineyard. It’s interesting, so it's nice to have captured the imagination of people."
Q: Allow me to let you toot your own horn. You two did something right before you opened. What was it?
A: "I think we did a lot of things right, I think we did a lot of things wrong [laughing] I suspect we’ve done some things wrong, I don't know exactly which ones they are yet. The very first thing we did is, we spent a year, and I mean full time, a year looking for a site, and there aren’t even maybe three or four winery/vineyards on the East Coast that have done that. We looked it up. If you go to France, supposedly the best wine-growing plac in the world, of the farmland there, only 2 percent is wine, and wine is the most lucrative thing to grow. Everyone would grow it if they could, but . . . the other 98 percent of the land just grows lousy wine. And so grandma leaves you a farm in Pennsylvania or Maryland or wherever, at best you have a 1 in 50 chance of being something you can get into a bottle, never mind being good. So we took that knowledge to heart. We are going to find a place that we think looks good. I know by doing that we were able to find a low-fertility site and that allowed us to pack the vines in, you know, 2,000 vines per acre instead of the usual 600, 700, 800, 900. And then we’re growing at a lower yield than most, so we end up making one bottle of wine per vine . . . so that one big decision snowballed into all sort of things that we can do in the vineyard. And in a year like 2009 when it has rained while lot, I'm thinking, our whole vineyard is built for a year like this. It’s on low vigor soil, which drains really fast. So that was our idea. We said, out of 10 years, you know, you’re going to get a couple of lousy vintages, you’re going to get three or four mediocre vintages, a couple of good ones, and one or two great ones. If we can turn those lousy ones to decent ones, and we can turn those mediocre ones into good ones and those good ones into great ones, then we have the Bordeaux model. That's really what the French have done the last 20 years. That’s how they’ve raised their quality by doing exacvtly that. Other than that it’s a lot of hard work. This business is 10 percent thinking and 90 percent doing. You just have to stay on it and do it."
Q: You did a lot of visiting where you were planning this site. Now you're getting visited a lot, aren't you?
A: "Yes, constantly. And I'm now head of research and education [for] Maryland wineries, so I'm bringing in speakers and doing all kinds of things to see if we can really [raise] the quality of wine in Maryland."
Q: Are you planning to plant any more vines?
A: "We not going to plant next year. We still have to build our business a little bit, although it’s starting to really take off. The thing we wish we had planted the most of right now is Albarino. We sold out of our Albarino. We only make 60, 70 cases a year, but we sold out in probably four weeks this year. It’s gone. And we have a waiting list. It might be futures next year, and that's just with customers. There are stores and wine bars that would buy the entire thing because they love it. I think the grape’s well-adapted here, but the wine works for where we are. It's a beautiful summer wine, it goes great with seafood, it’s nice in hot weather, all those things that go with a muggy, humid mid-Atlantic where we love seafood. But we’ll see. We got to make sure we can get an economic yield out of it. It’s small grapes and small bunches [He said they have vines growing on 22 acres, the Albarino on a plot that's a little more than a half-acre, what he called a little experiment, 1200 vines in all].
"And we have to decide with our red program where we go next. It's interesting. We have the five Bordeaux reds planted and we've learned, for instance, that Malbec for us makes a nice fruity wine, but it’s never going to make the Crumbling Rock. It's going to go beautifully in the second wine. We do a declassification system where the Crumbling Rock is made out of our best barrels of the five Bordeaux grapes. So we just sort made the best wine we can, and then we take what's left and we make the best wine out of that, and then we take what's left and away it goes. We don't sell that. So like Malbec is something I don't think we’ll plant more of. But beyond that, all the other ones have done really well for us. So I think our formula on the Bordeaux side is working real well.
"On the Syrah side, we made a normal, a regular Syrah in '06, in '07 we made our first reserve Syrah and called it Leaftone Syrah. Unoffically it came in second in the Governor's Cup. I guess, unofficially, I would have reversed the two actually, I think. You ought to taste it. Personally I prefer the Syrah, it’s just a great wine. But Syrah is a conundrum. It likes a very particular type of weather, and this is a good test this year [because] it likes dry, warm Septembers. So we’ll have to see what we can get out of it this year. But that’s a really nice grape, so I don’t know whether we want to plant more of it or not.
"So it’s not even just demand-driven or money-driven, it's if we plant more, what would we plant? We’re just not sure yet."
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
State hands over Governor's Cup to Black Ankle
Black Ankle Vineyards in Mt. Airy, Md., officially received its
Governor's Cup trophy Tuesday in Annapolis. Pictured are Maryland Secretary of Agriculture "Buddy" Hance and Black Ankle Vineyards owner Sarah O'Herron with the Governor's Cup trophy and the winning wine, its 2007 Crumbling Rock.
One place to taste this wine and a majority of other throughout the state will be this weekend at the Carroll County Farm Museum in Westminster. The times for the 26th anniversary of the Maryland Wine Festival are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. on Sunday. The cost to get in? $25, unless you decide to visit the Premier Tent, which costs $45. Entry into the Premier Tent will entitle ticket holders to a private sampling of premier Maryland wines and gourmet foods provided by area restaurants.
One place to taste this wine and a majority of other throughout the state will be this weekend at the Carroll County Farm Museum in Westminster. The times for the 26th anniversary of the Maryland Wine Festival are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. on Sunday. The cost to get in? $25, unless you decide to visit the Premier Tent, which costs $45. Entry into the Premier Tent will entitle ticket holders to a private sampling of premier Maryland wines and gourmet foods provided by area restaurants.
Friday, September 11, 2009
Black Ankle birthday (and wine) party on Oct. 3-4
You've read here and elsewhere about Black Ankle Vineyards in Mt. Airy, Md., and the remarkable start that winery has had, both in sales and recognition. It has owned the Maryland Governor's Cup, earning best of show in its first two years of entering wines into the competition. Its Bordeaux (red) blends have won consecutive years, the 2006 Crumbling Rock ($40) winning last year and 2007 Crumbling Rock earning honors just a couple of weeks ago.
And owners Sarah O'Herron and Ed Boyce are proudly touting that its Left-Stone Syrah, which hasn't been released as yet, took first in the Atlantic Seaboard Wine competition.
So if you want to see what all the fuss is about, you might want to circle Oct. 3-4 on your calendar and head to the winery to help celebrate its first anniversdary. The winery will be open noon to 6 p.m. that Saturday and noon to 5 o'clock the next day. And if you can't make down to the winery, here are some other places that Black Ankle wines will be poured over the next six weeks.
Saturday, Sept. 12, from 1 to 4 p.m.
Di Pasquale's Italian Market in Baltimore
Sunday, Sept. 13, all morning
Bethesda Central Farmer’s Market
Tuesday, Sept. 15, at 6 o'clock
Volt at Whitmore Farm
Award-winning chef Bryan Voltaggio will create an elegant 6-course dinner at the certified-organic Whitmore Farm, and Black Ankle's wines will be among those poured for the dinner. For more information, please visit Volt Restaurant or call Volt Restaurant: 301.696.8658.
Friday, Sept. 18 from 4 to 8 p.m.
Wells in Baltimore
Saturday & Sunday, Sept. 19-20, The Maryland Wine Festival in Westminster, Maryland's biggest wine festival
Tuesday, Sept. 22, at 7 p.m.
Chesapeake Wine Company
$25
Enjoy a flight of wine paired with a delicious selection of antipasti in the warm and friendly atmosphere at Chesapeake Wine Company. $5 from every tasting fee goes to benefit Partners in Health.
Thursday, Oct. 8, at 6:30
$49
Drink Local: MD & VA Wine Seminar and Tasting
Whittemore House in Washington, DC
Friday, Oct. 9, from 5 to 8 p.m.
Upcounty Fine Wine & Beer in Clarksburg, MD
Saturday, Oct. 10, from 1 to 5 p.m.
Longmeadow Wine & Liquors in Hagerstown
Friday, Oct. 16, from 4 to 7 p.m.
Bay Ridge Wine & Spirits in Annapolis
Tuesday, Oct. 20, from 4 to 7 p.m.
Mount Airy Liquors in Mt. Airy
Friday, Oct. 23, from 4 to 7 p.m.
Calvert Wine & Spirits in Hunt Valley
Saturday, Oct. 24, from 1 to 2:15 and 3 to 4:15
Great Gatherings in Annapolis
Join us for a fun and casual wine tasting in the home store that specializes in everything you need to have a great time or throw a great party at home! Please contact the store to RSVP in advance.
Thursday, Oct. 29, from 6 to 8 p.m.
Bin604 in Baltimore
Friday, Oct. 30, 4:30 to 7:30
Lyndwood Square Wine & Spirits in Elkridge, MD
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Black Ankle, Dionysus' Kitchens to hold second wine and food pairing on Sunday afternoon
Noticed that Black Ankle Vineyards in Maryland's Frederick County is starting the practice (like several wineries around the region) of monthly wine and food dinners. Teaming with chef Paul Dongarra of Dionysus' Kitchens, the pasta and wine pairings are scheduled the third Sunday of every month. The one this Sunday, the 16th, will be the second one, beginning at 5 p.m.
Winery co-founder Sarah O'Herron said by phone that the relationship began when Dongarra tasted several of Black Ankle's wines and, not surprisngly, fell in love with them. So the Catonsville, Md., caterer approached Sarah and partner Ed Boyce about teaming his foodstufs made of locally grown products with their superb wines.
Depending on the weather, the meal will take place either in the tasting room or (on a sunny afternoon) move outside onto the spacious grounds, where more people can be accommodated. The cost is $30 per person, and $8 for a kids' plate.
Kids can try the adult's menu or opt for what might be my choice, Chef Paul's family's favorite macaroni and cheese. Advance reservations are required. For more information or reservations, contact Melissa Schulte: melissa@blackankle.com or 619-203-8230, or click here to buy your tickets online.
As for the menu, here's what it looks like:
Roasted Peppers with Corn and Cantaloupe Salsa
Pasta with Tomato Eggplant Cream Sauce
Plate of Artisan Cheeses with Peach Chutney
Saturday, January 31, 2009
About 60 sites now selling Black Ankle
A shot of the tasting room at Black Ankle.
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Ed Boyce and Sarah O'Herron saw the opening of their winery delayed by a couple of months, but what a success it was once Black Ankle Winery in Mt. Airy, Md., opened, including the honor of winning the Govenror's Cup for their Crumbling Rock Bordeaux blend.
I sent Boyce a note a couple of days ago asking how things were going, and received this response yesterday.
We have had a nice breather for a couple of weeks after a really hectic Holiday season. Our wines are now sold in about 60 of the finest wine stores and restaurants in Maryland and and DC, and at our production levels that is about all we can handle. All of the wines are doing well, and we are nearly out of our Albarino, Chardonnay, and Gruner Veltliner. Our best selling wine continues to be our Crumbling Rock Bordeaux Blend at $40 a bottle, which in this economy is a real tribute to the quality of the wine. We were named winery of the year by the Cellar Notes radio show out of Baltimore, which was a great compliment in our first year - our challenge now is to live up to the accolades. We'll be bottling the 2007 reds and 2008 whites this April and May, and we are very excited about the wines. 2007 was a warm, dry vintage, yielding reds of extraordinary concentration and weight. The 2008 whites are beautifully balanced wines, with fantastic aromas across all of the varieties (the pink grapefruit on the nose of the Gruner Veltliner is a real standout).
We are planning a few events coming up; first, on Valentines Day (Feb 14th) a wine and chocolate pairing with local artisan chocolates (our Bedlam 2006 with the Aegean Pistachio is heavenly); on March 1st, a wine and cheese pairing with the Wine Coach, Laurie Forster; on March 15th, the return of the Bog Band for St. Patrick's Day weekend; and on April 5th, a pasta and wine pairing. Check the website (www.blackankle.com) for updates.
We are planning a few events coming up; first, on Valentines Day (Feb 14th) a wine and chocolate pairing with local artisan chocolates (our Bedlam 2006 with the Aegean Pistachio is heavenly); on March 1st, a wine and cheese pairing with the Wine Coach, Laurie Forster; on March 15th, the return of the Bog Band for St. Patrick's Day weekend; and on April 5th, a pasta and wine pairing. Check the website (www.blackankle.com) for updates.
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