It's the law now: Maryland's St. Mary's County opens door for wineries to open

Maryland wine's biggest supporter checked in around dinner time today by phone with news that St. Mary's County in southern Maryland had only hours before adopted zoning regulations to allow wineries. Association of Maryland Wineries executive director Kevin Atticks said that will allow a few to open over the next 12 months.

Outside of that, the festival season ended last weekend at Salisbury, where Atticks said around 2500 people came out amid torrential rains Saturday and chilly temperatures on Sunday.

We talked about some of the events being held at Maryland wienries, including the upcoming wine and food pairing at Black Ankle in Mt. Airy. Atticks noted that Elk Run, only a cow chip's toss away from Black Ankle, had what he called an amazing dinner on Oct. 13 as part of their harvest celebration. That one featured Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc and a five-course meal prepared by chef Bryne Voltaggio of Volt Restaurant in Frederick. I didn't ask Attick if he had heard how many attended; the cost was $165 per person, including tax and gratuity. That's by far the most expensive pairing I've written about in this blog, but the menu had a little bit of everything and contained local products and meats.

Among the events on Elk Run's list for the next couple months are a champange release on Sunday, Nov. 15, and an open house from noon to 4 p.m on Dec. 5-6.

Md. to 'cut ribbon' on Piedmont Trail next week

The Association of Maryland Wineries sent out an invitation earlier this week announcing a press conference at Fiore winery in Pylesville on Wednesday, Sept. 16, from 2 to 3 p.m. Officials will announce the creation of the Piedmont Wine Trail, which will include the following wineries: Basignani, Boordy, Dejon, Fiore, Harford, Legends, Mount Felix Estate and Woodhall.

Several of these wineries already are on other wine trails, such as Basignani and Woodhall, which are member of the Mason Dixon Wine Trail with members across the state line in Pennsylvania. But there's no such thing as too many affiliations, said Kevin Atticks, executive director of the winery association.

Atticks wrote in an e-mail: "Yes, they've realized that trails=visitors, so if they can be a part of multiple trails [each with a different audience], then all the better."

No event specific to the trail is planned as of yet, but Atticks noted all will be attending Legacy Chase on Saturday, Sept. 26.

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.

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

Serpent Ridge ready to cut the ribbon

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News. News. News. Let's see. Haven't been able to catch up with Greg and Karen Lambrecht, who's Serpent Ridge Vineyards will open tomorow in Westminster, Md. It's the first one to open in that community and the newest to open in Carroll County. They are planning to be open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days this weekend, and for the near future anyway. They're starting out with five wines, close to the average for any new winery that I've seen debut in this region. Those will range from a Vintner's Cabernet (blend of Cab Sauv and Cab Franc) to a what's become an accepted to an American Cabernet blend aged with American and French oak alternatives to a Rose to two whites, a Seyval Blanc and an Albariño.

I don't often just lift from another Web site's story, but the Association of Maryland Wineries that Dr. Kevin Atticks directs posted a feature on the couple recently in its e-letter. Let me run that to give you an introduction to the couple and the winery, and then try to get down there this weekend and gather some more details.

Famed Australian Max Schubert once said “The greatest wines have implanted in them the ideas of the winemaker as to what they should be. His character is part of the wine.” True to form, Greg Lambrecht produces structured yet innovative wines. Greg is the winemaker at Serpent Ridge Winery, which he owns with his wife Karen.

Over the past 22 years, Greg’s Coast Guard career kept him travelling. He spent some time in the Russian River Valley of California, and that is where his love for wine and the art of wine making blossomed. “The unbelievable vistas coupled with the wonderfully new experiences on my palate had me hooked.” Greg devoted as much time as he could to experience those wineries and to tasting wines.

It wasn’t until the mid 1990s that Greg and Karen began their small-scale winemaking. This lead to a love affair with the vines, the grapes, and the wines they produced. In their new passion, they found the perfect location on a beautiful 5+ acres, and named it Serpent Ridge due to the abundance of the reptiles found on the hill.

Greg compares the climate and its challenges similar to grape growing areas like Bordeaux, Northern Italy and Eastern Europe.

“Because we are blessed with this climate we can successfully produce many vinifera and hybrid varieties,” says Greg Lambrecht. “I use the word blessed because I do not consider our climate a negative but rather one of the influences that work to define the wonderful character of our wines.”

He is a firm believer that Maryland’s grapes offer wonderful varietal characteristics and earthy undertones. These are quite different from the more popular “big” reds from the West Coast, but Lambrecht poses the question “the characteristics of Maryland wines are derived from the regional differences offered by our climate. This 'regionality' is embraced in other parts of the world–why not here?”

Serpent Ridge consists currently of two acres of grapes, and this leads to a hands-on approach to wine making. Each vintage is made in small lots, and aged in stainless steel or new age oak. The bottles are sealed with a Zork, a relatively new and quite innovative approach to bottle closures. In regards to the debate of art versus science when wine making, Greg says this “At Serpent Ridge we allow the art of winemaking to be nudged by science if it decides to wander too far from our vision.”

Serpent Ridge officially opens in April. Look out for Serpent Ridge Albariño and two Cabernet blends, both influenced by Greg’s favorite varietals. Serpent Ridge will also be making a Pinot Grigio, Seyval-Blanc, and Ophion, a semi-sweet blush.

Obit written again on Md. direct-shipping bill

The note came Friday morning from Adam Borden, who became one of the principal spokesmen for a bill that would allow Maryland wineries to ship their product directly to home. It was brief, to the point.

"Dead"

And so another attempt to allow Maryland wineries to ship wine by mail was denied. How many of there been? Might be 11 years; might be 12. Certainly it's an issue that has come up numerous times, found intense resistence by the Maryland wholesalers and retailers, and died on the vine. Borden wrote later that he's know more by the end of the weekend or the first of next week about how close they came and how much progress they made over last year. Any gains, he suggested, will help prepare for another fight next year.

Kevin Atticks is the executive director of the Maryland Wine Association. Reached earlier this week, he had lost some of the optimism he had before the hearings began. That when he was talking about Maryland being one of five states that were reviewing their direct shipping laws. Another is New Jersey. He was hopeful that by the end of the wrangling, all five bills would pass and the total of states that permitted direct shipping would reach 40. Well, make that 39 now. Actually, if you want to acquaint yourself with how each state handled the issue of direct shipping, click on this link.

"It's a wait and see," Atticks said on the phone on Monday. "No news in this business is not good news. We're just waiting [to hear]."

The news ended a whirlwind month for Borden, who said a couple of weeks ago in an initial conversation that he runs a venture capital fund that invests in specialty food companies. While he was taking the reins of this grassroots movement to overturn the wine laws, Borden was also waiting for news from home that he pregnant wife was going into labor. On Feb. 18 he was testifying in the Senate until around 6:30 p.m. The baby was born the next day, before noon. Mom and child came home on Sunday, the 22nd, he said. On the 23rd he was back in Annapolis giving more testimony.

Bosden's predecessor, Atticks said, left the state and moved to Texas, "a beautiful wide-open state where you can get anything [shipped] you want." Speaking to Borden a few times over the past few weeks, he obviously has learned a lot nis his first year directing this consumer effort, particularly about the obstacles that exist when it comes to getting free shipping passed. What galls him the most are the figures that show how much he says the state is losing, let alone what the wineries aren't getting in revenue and what consumers are being denied in terms of convenience.

The current process, he said, is so convulated that "in the six years that this program has been in effect, there have been six wineries that have participated in this program, none I've ever heard of, and the state has collected a whopping $140 [in fees].

"Just to put in perspective, New Hampshire last year alone collected $520,000 via is direct ship program and that doesn't even include a sales tax because they don't have one," he said, his voice more awah in frustration the longer he talked about the past few weeks. "So that's just permit fee and excise tax. So it's clearly been very unsuccessful . . . and it has been so because of the process. No one in their right mind would go through this process."

Discussions start Wednesday on shipping bill

Kevin Atticks, executive director of the Maryland Wineries Association, says he thinks legislation that would allow state wineries to ship their product within the state might be closer to passing than it ever has. How does he know? "The liquor interests are so upset about it," he said by phone the other day. "That can only tell me that it’s getting closer to passage. Usually, they don’t even respond to it but now they’re really upset about it, and it’s the same bill that has been in for 20 years."

The Maryland Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee will begin hearing the shipping bill at 1 p.m. Wednesday; five days later it will come before the Maryland House Economic Matters Committee for debate. It would create a direct shipper's license that a winery or retailer can obtain for $100, allowing the licensee (winery or retailer) to ship up to two cases of wine per month to a Maryland consumer. The licensee must label the box with the phrase “CONTAINS ALCOHOL; SIGNATURE OF PERSON AT LEAST AGE 21 YEARS OLD REQUIRED FOR DELIVERY” and pay sales and excise tax to the state annually.

Pushed by a consumer group, it's being opposed by members of the Maryland State License Beverage Association, which is headquartered in Westminster and, among other roles, initiates and supports laws that preserve and protect the rights of responsible alcohol beverage retailers to operate legitimate and lawful businesses. Atticks said his association supports it for a very simple reason. "Every year this comes in because consumers want to put it in and we support it because it’s a no-brainer," he said. "It allows wineries to ship wines to consumers and if customers want wine that way than we want to get it to them that way."

It's one of two pieces of legislation that, if passed, would no doubt have Atticks and his peers toasting for at least a week afterward. The other is a new license called a Class W that would, by county, change the regulations that wineries currently operate under. "It's to create a very clear, well-written piece of law regulating wineries in the local jurisdiction, which currently doesn't exist," Atticks said. Does it exist anywhere in the state, he was asked. "It doesn't," he said. "So wineries are treated as liquor stores currently."

The new license would allow for the sampling and selling of winery wines at the winery for on- or off-premise consumption, allow the business to hold events and allow the winery to operate seven days a week, among other things. Atticks points out that it won't remove the many obstacles that wineries have to cross before they get their license. "But it clears up conflicts like our county law that says you can't sample wine at the winery," he said. "OK, so, state law says you can, the county law says you can't, so we’re trying to create a county law that takes into account the fact that we’re a winery and we’re different than a liquor store. We can only sell what we make, which is different from the liquor store. We have tables and chairs, play music, which is different from a liquor store. It’s all kind of mundane stuff, but it’s become such a problem in some instances that we’re pushing it now."

Maryland wineries await fate of proposed law

The Web site for the Maryland Wine Association identifies the wineries, lists events, contains feature stories on the state’s winery proprietors and winemakers, and has one other important component. It updates readers on any upcoming legislation that will affect the industry in Maryland, and does it with a clarity and perspective that is important for issues that often can be complex.

One of those issues will be debated beginning Feb. 18, when the Maryland Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee will hear what’s being referred to as the shipping bill.

According to the Web site, this legislation submitted in the 2009 session is based on the model wine shipping language adopted by the National Conference of State Legislatures' Task Force, which is supported by the Wine Institute, WineAmerica and citizen groups Free The Grapes and Marylanders for Better Beer and Wine Laws.

It would create a direct shipper's license which a winery or retailer can obtain for $100. This license allows the licensee (winery or retailer) to ship up to two cases of wine per month to a Maryland consumer. The licensee must label the box with the phrase “CONTAINS ALCOHOL; SIGNATURE OF PERSON AT LEAST AGE 21 YEARS OLD REQUIRED FOR DELIVERY” and pay sales and excise tax to the state annually.

This is a bill that the association supports but isn’t sponsoring, apparently an important distinction that gives it a chance to pass. Instead, it is being sponsored by a consumer group. The primary opponent to bills like these is called the Maryland State License Beverage Association, which is headquartered in Westminster and, among other roles, initiates and supports laws that preserve and protect the rights of responsible alcohol beverage retailers to operate legitimate and lawful businesses. As one person connected with a Maryland wineries said earlier today, “if it were a winery bill it would be defeated by the MSLBA. They’re extremely strong. We’ve had one significant victory over them and that’s the distribution bill of three years ago. If we put our stamp on it, MSLBA is sure to kill it. So from a strategic point of view we are not taking a formal position.”

Al Copp and several partners founded Woodhall Wine Cellars in Parkton, Md., in 1983 and has been active in supporting this measure and others that have come through the state legislature over the past several decades. This one, he said, will benefit his winery and others by allowing them to ship directly to consumer rather than through a system where the wine would have to be picked up by the customers at a retail outlet. “To [the MSLBA], this [bill] cuts out the middle man, and actually, it does.”

While Kevin Atticks, the executive director for the winery association, wasn’t available for comment, his views and those of wineries around the state were spelled out clearly on the Web site. In says, in part, the “the ability to ship wine to a consumer is one of many methods provided by law in other states to encourage the growth and prosperity of small wineries by giving them an affordable way to reach new markets The Maryland wineries support our state adopting those methods, including the authority proposed by the model shipping bill.
In 2004, the Governor’s Wine & Grape Advisory Committee studied the growth of wine industries in neighboring states, and issued its report, “Maryland Wine: The Next Vintage.” The report contained 52 recommendations for creating a favorable winery business environment in Maryland. The shipping legislation implements recommendation #23 of that report, which reads:

“RECOMMENDATION 23: Enable wineries to ship wine directly to consumers within the State and remove the obstacles to Maryland becoming a reciprocal state, which would allow Maryland wineries to ship to out-of-state customers.’”

In case you were curious, Pennsylvania wineries currently are permitted to ship to customers who reside within the state. Many of the same stipulations, including a signature by someone at least 21 years of age when the package is received, match what’s proposed in this bill. Wineries also have to use a specific carrier, such as UPS, rather than the Postal Service. This remains intact thanks to an injunction filed several years ago by the state’s wineries preventing the Liquor Control Board from forcing them to deliver through the state store system.

That's W, as in whoopee, for pending Md. law

Wanna learn how to hurdle? Just try and open a winery, at least according to what many proprietors in both states have told me. Lots of stipulations to meet, enough red tape to completely wrap a vineyard, plenty of requests to jump over. And there can be as many difficulties even after opening because of a variety of laws that change at the borders of townships and counties.

So it was with a lot of interest that I read a story sent earlier today by Maryland Wineries Association executive director Kevin Atticks detailing a special winery classification that the state legislature is considering. According to the story in the Hagerstown Herald-Mail, this new Class W license would provide more uniformity in the rules that regulate Maryland wineries.

The story, published Saturday, said the new license would "allow the sampling and selling of winery wines at the winery for on- or off-premise consumption, allow the business to hold events and allow the winery to operate seven days a week, among other things."