Sand Castle Winery prepares to open new store

Most of the regional wineries use monthly e-letter to provide cursory updates. Having subscribed to 30 or more of them, they allow me to catch up on the latest news and events for so many wineries that I will eventually visit, but it might be months before I get there. Sand Castle Winery is located in Erwinna, in Bucks County, a member of the Bucks County Wine Trail. They do their share of traveling, including out toward central Pennsylvania. Indeed, there probably will be no better time for me to try their wines than at the Lancaster Wine and Music Festival next weekend or at the Gettysburg Wine & Music Festival on Sept. 12-13.

Their e-letter notes that they have closed their store in Conshohocken in Viggiano’s "because the restaurant was sold and the new owner has a liquor license. Our new store will be open soon at 711 Easton Road Valley Square Shopping Center Warrington, PA. The name of the store is aste” Sand Castle Winery’s Gourmet Experience. The store with its convenient location will be selling many gourmet products such as Flavored Olive Oils, Balsamic Vinegars, Di Bruno Bros. cheeses along with many other items. The opening is targeted before Labor Day. Please look at our website for details. 215 343 4528"

Some wineries use their Web sites or e-letters to give readers a hint of what's going on in the vineyard. No one does it with more extravagance and passion than Eric Miller at Chaddsford Winery, but others such as the folks at Sand Castle devote at least a paragraph in their e-letter to address the progress of their grapes.

"Against all odds the grapes are actually ripening," they write. "Pinot Noir is changing color
and all other varieties are slowly growing into mature sized clusters. We still do not know what is going to happen during harvest and what the quality will be like. Every harvest quality is decided by the last two weeks before the harvest. If we are going to have a quality grape the angels will have to turn the water off pretty soon."

Maryland wineries workshop concludes with runaway victory in tasting of Bordeaux blends

You might have had trouble reaching folks at some of Maryland's wineries earlier this week, and it had nothing to do with trying to squeeze in some last-minute tanning time at the beach.

The executive director of the Association of Maryland Wineries said that the organization held a winemaking seminar Monday and Tuesday in Annapolis. According to Kevin Atticks, Monday was spent learning about detecting/fixing/preventing wine flaws and Tuesday included a tasting of the best Mid-Atlantic Bordeaux style blends, hosted by out-of-state winemaking consultants. The lineup was:

Childress 2005 Meritage
Elk Run 2007 Cab Franc
Sugarloaf Mountain 2007 Comus Reserve
Linden Hardscrabble 2006
Octagon 2005
Chaddsford Cab Sauv 2006
Chateau O'Brien 2007 Meritage (Barrel Sample)
Michael Shaps 2007 Cab Franc
Pollock 2007 Cab Franc
Serpent Ridge 2007 Vintner's Reserve
Black Ankle 2007 Crumbling Rock

Atticks noted that all were brown-bagged and tasted blind by the group (about 50 people). In this case, the four Maryland wines turned out to be the four favorites.

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

Black Walnut's spacious bank barn becomes Pennsylvania's newest winery

Congrats to Val and Lance Castle and Karen and Jack Kuhn, whose longtime dream of opening a winery was realized on July 31 when Black Walnut Winery in Chester County opened its doors. The couples go back to 2001 when they first started winemaking; several years later they took the first steps toward transitioning their passion into a business.

Overcoming a number of hurdles the past year, and still with some work to do, the renovated (almost) 200-year-old bank barn opened for business a little more than a week ago. It's worth the trip out Route 30 (about 2 miles from where two-lane Route 30 turns into an elevated bypass and heads toward Downingtown and King of Prussia) to see what they've done and try the wines. By the way, if you're headed east of Route 30, stay on the business route. You'll find the winery on the right-hand side about 2 miles after passing a Wawa and crossing Route 10.

From the wide-planked flooring to the gorgeous high ceilings, you'll spend the first few minutes just wandering around the top floor and marveling at how they've converted what some called the oldest antique shop in America into the home of Pennsylvania's newest winery. A member of the Brandywine Valley Wine Trail, expect it to open officially Labor Day weekend or the weekend after. But already on Friday afternoon, as we were finishing up our tastings, several parties were funneling into the place. The winery itself is located below the tasting room. Tasting hours are noon to 6 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.

No grapes are grown on the premises, all are brought in from other vineyards, primarily from other members of the trail. Tastings are $6 to try any seven of the six whites and five reds that the winery has bottled. We wound up carrying away a bottle of Mischief ($18), a blend of 2008 Pinot Gris and 2007 Chardonnay that we found interesting and worthy of a spot in our wine refrigerator. And, frankly, we liked the doggone name.

And there were other to savor. Wine writer Roger Morris, who has earned the title of expert when it comes to the wines of the Brandywine Valley, included Black Walnut's Blanc Franc ($16) on his third annual News Journal Case of the Brandywine. The Black Walnut's owners describe this 2007 wine as made of grapes "harvested two weeks before the other Cabernet Franc grapes, crushed and pressed within 24 hours after crush to limit the contact between juice and red skins. The result is a white wine with soft fruity flavors and with about 1 1/2 percent residual sugar, a soft sweet finish."

In short, congrats to the state's newest winery. Here's to a long and fruitful future of producing good wines.

Pinnacle Ridge's Knapp: 'We have sacrificed terroir to make a better wine'

Wrote the other day about the collaborative wine called Trio that has been produced by three Pennsylvania wineries. Just to supplement what was in that post, here's some additional explanation that appeared in the newsletter produced by Pinnacle Ridge, a gem of a winery that sits in the shadow of Route 78 about a half-hour's drive west of Allentown.

THE BIG GRAPE
TRIO

WINEMAKERS and FRIENDS, Brad Knapp (from Pinnacle Ridge Winery,) Carl Helrich (from Allegro Winery in Brogue) and Joanne Levengood (from Manatawny Creek Winery in Douglassville) are three of the finest winemakers in the state of Pennsylvania. How good are they? Between the three of them, they walked away with SIX out of the BEST TEN wines selected by the judges at the Seventh Annual Wine Excellence Awards. (Affectionally known as "Oscar Night.") Cabernets, Merlots, and Meritage; the best vinifera wines are entered in this competition run by the PENNSYLVANIA WINE SOCIETY, a 22 year old organization.

According to legend, about six years ago, Brad contacted Joanne and Carl and suggested that they get together to review each others wines. The response was positive. Since that time, the three winemakers meet twice a year, bringing tank and barrel samples of wine aging in their cellars, prior to bottling. They taste similar wines from each of their cellars, side-by-side and critique and discuss how the fruit was grown and the wines were made.

During one of the tasting sessions, our fabulous trio was reviewing barrel samples of red wines from the 2007 vintage. The concept of producing a wine in COLLABERATION came up. The idea was kicked around for about a year and finally, our friends came up with a new wine: TRIO.

Each winemaker contributed four barrels to the final blend; twelve barrels total. Manatawny Creek brought Merlot and Syrah, Allegro brought Merlot and Cabernet Franc, and Pinnacle Ridge brought Syrah and Cabernet Franc. The wines were aged at the individual wineries in Hungarian, Pennsylvania, and French oak barrels and blended before bottling.

Brad, Joanne, and Carl created the TRIO blend from the best of the very excellent 2007 vintage. Come taste and find out what all the excitement is about!

I haven't tasted it yet, so if my co-workers look around for me late next week and can't find me, here's a clue: I'll be on my way to one of the wineries to try it out. I asked Pinnacle Ridge winermaker and owner Brad Knapp about the significance of this unique marriage and he, as usual, got back to me by e-mail in a couple of hours. Here's what he had to say:

"I guess the way I look at Trio is that it is a "best of the best" effort," he wrote. "Joanne, Carl and I have been tasting each other's wine in a constructively critical environment for around six years. We get together twice a year to evaluate barrel and tank samples (and some bottled examples as well). The goal being to get different viewpoints on wines that we believe are problematic or exemplary or ordinary. It is always good to get as many informed opinions as possible when making decisions on how to handle a particular wine. Additionally we learn from each other just because we are sitting down and talking for hours (marketing, production, viticulture etc.). 2007 was a fabulous vintage and this was seen as we looked at each other's barrel samples from 07. We stumbled across this idea about doing a collaborative wine during one of our tasting sessions. We then each brought what we felt were the best from each of our cellars and started blending. That's how we came up with the syrah, merlot, cabernet franc blend. In my opinion blended wines are nearly always better than a singular wine. Blends can mean the same variety from different vineyards or different varieties, different years etc. So Trio is definitely not a terrior purist wine since it blends three different vineyards together. We have sacrificed terrior to make a better wine."

Six Maryland wineries receive awards in recent Atlantic Seaboard competition

When you're out and about this summer and fall looking for good Maryland wines, you can head to some of these wineries that recently were recognized in the fifth annual Atlantic Seaboard Wine Competition. What I don't know is which wineries entered and how many wines they submitted for competition. But here are the award-winners, the news courtesy of Maryland Wine Association executive director Kevin Atticks and his staff.

The winning entries included: Black Ankle Vineyards, Elk Run Vineyards, Bordeleau Vineyards, Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard, Basignani Winery, and Heimbuch Estate Vineyards. All together, Maryland wineries received multiple gold, silver, and bronze medals, along with a best of category award.

Best of Category
Syrah/Shiraz: 2007 Leaf-Stone Syrah by Black Ankle Vineyards
Gold Medal Winners
2007 Leaf-Stone Syrah by Black Ankle Vineyards
2008 Gewurztraminer by Elk Run Vineyards

Silver Medal Winners
2007 Crumbling Rock by Black Ankle Vineyards
2007 Rolling Hills by Black Ankle Vineyards
2008 Viognier by Black Ankle Vineyards
2006 Merlot by Bordeleau Vineyards
2007 Merlot by Elk Run Vineyards
2007 Riesling by Elk Run Vineyards
2007 Chardonnay by Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard
2007 Comus by Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard
2007 Reserve Cabernet Franc by Sugarloaf Vineyard
2007 Reserve Comus by Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard

Bronze Medal Winners
2007 Chardonnay by Basignani Winery
2005 Reserve Lorenzino by Basignani Winery
2008 Albarino by Black Ankle Vineyards
2008 Chardonnay by Black Ankle
2008 Pinot Grigio by Bordeleau Vineyards
2007 Thanksgiving Farm Meritage by Heimbuch Estate Vineyards
2007 Cabernet Franc by Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard
2008 Pinot Grigio by Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard
2006 Reserve Chardonnay by Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard

Rain adding extra layer of work to Pennsylvania growing season, especially in the southeast part

One of the main cogs in the wine wheel in Pennsylvania is Mark Chein, the state's wine grape educator or, as I just like to call him, our grape Yoda. He's always been easy for me to track down, he loves talking about growing grapes and wines, and despite my being a novice has never talked down to me. Plus, the guy gets around, between seminars and just popping in on wineries. His monthly newsletters are full of news (I only wish he'd decide to continue editorializing a bit; Mark, MISS YOUR 2 CENTS). So thought it worth sharing his assessment on the growing season. From the standpoint of being a sports editor, I've seen it as a wet spring and summer, with games being postponed every other day. Reading his take on conditions, what I've seen from my office is what he has seen trudging around multiple vineyards. Might be a bit technical for some of you not in the business of growing grapes, but the message comes through loud and clear, and it should give you more of an appreciation of what these folks go through every year. Here's an excerpt.

"As we close in on veraison the weather becomes an even more important concern to wine growers and so far, at least in SE PA, the signs are not encouraging. Heavy showers persist in the region. One vineyard in Chester County reported almost 5" of rain over the weekend - hardly suitable grape ripening conditions and it exacerbates vine vigor and disease problems that are already on the margin of control in many vineyards. Dry conditions will help to slow vegetative growth and focus the vine's attention on fruit ripening. Admittedly we have very little say about this and can only hope that the current weather pattern of regular showers in SE PA will change. It has complicated the disease situation immensely. Growers have sprayed up to a dozen times by now and made 3-4 hedging passes to keep the canopies under control. Leaves look pretty ragged, as they would much later in the season with a tough, brittle texture and beat-up appearance. Fruit set was highly variable so yield estimating is a challenge. Continued aggressive canopy management will also help - hedging when necessary, leaf and/or lateral removal, even shoot positioning. Under these conditions, more aggressive leaf removal on both sides of the vine can be justified, although sunburn is a risk if a heat spike occurs. The additional aeration and spray penetration will help mitigate disease. Removing ill-positioned, unripe and powdery mildew-affected clusters after veraison will help. Adjusting crop load in a season like this is a tricky affair. With this kind of late season vine vigor, the fruit is an energy sink that helps to moderate shoot growth to some extent. So if crop can be left on, even past the normal lag phase thinning period, it would be helpful in controlling vigor. However, if harvest is going to be late and challenging, overcropping vines is the last thing a grower wants to do. Wine quality is still the key goal and finding just the right balance between amount of foliage and fruit is the key to success. It is an extremely challenging year. Dry (moisture and humidity) weather will be the best antidote for this vintage. All we can hope for is a change in the jet stream. But get ready for a challenging harvest."