Serpent Ridge owners savor first year, start getting prepared for reopening Jan. 23

Carroll County, Md., winery Serpent Ridge closed for holiday on Dec. 23, 2009, and will be closed one more week before reopening Jan. 23. Owner Greg Lambrecht said it's a good chance to get a lot done around the winery in a short four-week burst, although they might not repeat this exact scenario.

"We may not do it next year; it may just be Christmas week we're closed," he said recently. Because we're small and because we still do everything by hand . . . we don't have have bottling line, we don't bring in a bottling line, everything is still done by hand. I think we can maintain that. We've upped our production by about 50 percent [to 1200 cases] this year and probably another 50 percent [in 2010] and then I'll have to consider where we are." With all that work, he continued, it just helps to have the unimpeded stretch of time to get things accomplished.

Lambrecht said he they're looking at bringing in someone else to work the tasting room and possibly an assistant to assist him with making the wine. And he said he thought that they would open on Fridays this year in addition to the weekends, maybe add a bit of Friday night entertainment.

Currenly they are producing six wines; he said they'd add a Pinot Grigio to the line this year, "one I've been holding back. It's actually from 2007. And we would like to do . . . I have a Vidal that I'm doing in more of a late-harvest style. We harvested it the second or third week of November, just before Thanksgiving. But it's going to be a small run. Testing the water with that one. My grower who is growing that; we're both kind of playing with a late-harvest style. I think it's going to be nice, but I think it will take some time before it's ready to go."

Overall, once he and his wife Karen opened the place in April 2009, things went smoothly. Business, he said, was so good that [the wines] moved veyr quickly, where almost to the point by the end of the year we had to start limiting the sales of some just so I could extend my inventory."

He laughed when asked what, in retrospect, they might have done differently leading up to opening.

"I need a bigger building," he said. "The actual wine production building. Everybody always told me when we started preparing to do this at least five, six, seven years ago, they always said build things better than you think you need them. And I always said I know exactly what I need. And now I'm telling all the new winery committees [to] 'build it bigger.' You know, bigger overall, just everything. I wish in the beginning I wouldn't have spent the money on smaller tanks, I wish I would hav spent the money on bigger tanks to begin with. I wish I had built a bigger building. Bigger everything, because you are going to grow."

Fiore Chambourcin is tonight's partner at dinner

Matched my favorite restaurant in York (Pomodoro's) with wine I brought along from one of my favorite wineries: Fiore, in Pylesville, Harford County, Maryland. We had stopped there several months ago and among the bottles we brought home was a Proprietor's Reserve Chambourcin. That was a 2005 vintage, selling for $16.99.

My wife's tastes don't agree with most reds, especially the tannic brews that pucker you up. But this one was all fruit and went down easy, and she didn't even look around for a white on the table.

You can see the tasting notes and the many awards this wine has won at this link. While I didn't quite eat the lamb or prime rib or veal that this wine is supposed to best complement, it went perfectly with my chicken cacciatore.

Overloaded with info to post over the next couple of days. Hope to catch up before my midwinter va-K ends.

About that virtual tasting idea ... give Morris Zwick a call if you're interested in participating

Chatted with owner and winemaker Morris Zwick of Terrapin Station Winery in Elkton, Md., more than a week ago about a number of subjects, including the virtual tasting he'd like to try sometime this month.

Using a software called talkshoe, it would allow folks to interact with Zwick as they are all tasting the same wine. He said he's been a participant on a show for amateur winemakers that originates in the Pittsburgh area; that show sometimes goes as long as an hour and a half and involves a number of different folks dialed in to the site.

He's hoping to even get a dozen or so involved in the first attempt, go between a half-hour and 45 minutes, and then build it from there. His goal is to arrange the virtual tasting for mid-December.

"You know, even only have 10, 11, 12 people, I'd be perfectly happy with that," he said. "I think it's the kind of thing where people have got to try it and see it work, then they'll tell other people. Eventually, I can see also bringing people on to the show, maybe bring Kevin Atticks from the Maryland Wine Association or people from other wineries in Maryland . . . and so it would be a way to promote not only Terrapin Station Winery but other Maryland wines in general."

For those not familiar with Terrapin Station, it's the only producer of boxes wines that I know of in the region and it's distributing now through more than 60 outlets in Maryland. Zwick figures he'll just start with one wine, maybe their 2008 Cabernet Franc, one of two ones that Terrapin Station recently released. "Then they'll dial in at the appropriate time and while they're trying it, we're trying it, and people can ask questions," he said. "It gives them an opportunity to ask what we did with it and what some of the stats were like . . . gives them an opportunity to ask some of those specific questions and on top of that we can talk about why this vintage is the the way it is. For example, this [2008] vintage is a 14 percent alcohol wine, which is pretty high for the East Coast. It was a hot, hot August, September; we really got the sugars up and we decided instead of trying to [drop] it down we'd just take advantage of the situation and see what we got as long as we were down below, what's the magic number there, 14.5, and see what we get."

If you're interested in participating in this first virtual tasting that I'm aware of in the region, drop the Web site an e-mail or call 410.398.1875. The wine should list around $23 for a 1.5-liter box; obviously, the the equivalent of the two .750 ml. bottles that you're probably used to buying in your favorite state store or shop.

Zwick noted the one other thing he likes about talkshoe is that the program can be recorded. So if you miss it, you can still sample the wine later and read the comments. This idea, he said, just supplements the other ways of getting the word out: store tastings and festivals, to name a couple. "Our challenge is all about evangelism and getting people to try the stuff," he said. "Once they do, they're fine with it."

Two bits of news from Mt. Felix: pumpkin wine for sale and open Thanksgiving

Saw where Mary and Peter Ianniello, the owners of Mt. Felix Vineyard & Winery in Havre de Grace, have released a pumpkin wine. Called Terra Maria, the tasting notes mention hints of cinnamon and spice with a long finish of sweet pumpkin. As far as the background of the name, Italian explorer Giovanni Caboto (known to the English as John Cabot) discovered for England the route to the Chesapeake and North America in 1497. A century later English settlers arrived in "Terra Mariae," or "Mary's Land," named in honor of their queen, Henrietta Marie. These settlers, the story goes, relied upon the pumpkin, a native food relished for its flavor and versatility.

I've never tried pumpkin wine, but doubt that I will have a shot at a taste of this release, which is selling for $12.99. An e-letter sent Wednesday referenced a limited supply and not much left. So I'll wait for the batch next fall, if they choose to make it again.

Weekend hours: open til 8 today, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Thanksgiving, and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday through Sunday.

Among the wine-food dinners on regional calendar, Woodhall has its set for Dec. 10

I assume the many wine dinners held around the region are profitable, or they wouldn't be quite so plentiful. Just about every winery in the region that I cover in Pennsylvania and Maryland holds a wine and food pairing at some point during the year. Some hold more than a few.

One I spotted in my trawl through the various Web sites is set for Thursday, Dec. 10, at Woodhall Wine Cellars in Parkton, Md., minutes off I-83 at 17912 York Road in Baltimore County, just north of the Gunpowder River. It's a seven-course meal that will run from 5 to 9 p.m. and include wines from Woodhall's library. The cost is $65 per person, and does NOT include tax and gratuities. There's also a restaurant on the premises called Patricia Della, which is open Thursday through Sunday from 5 to 9 p.m. Reservations are required.

Here's the menu:

1st course: rosette of salmon with verte sauce
2nd course: crab bisque
3rd course: seared duck breast over couscous with rose of merlot reduction
4th course: warm carpachio
5th course: double lamb chop with persillade crust
6th course: 3 cheese tray
7th course: pumpkin bread pudding with cinnamon ice cream

For more information, call 410.357.5078. Woodhall is one of the older wineries in the state with a knowledgeable staff, headed up by owners Al Copp and Chris Lang and tasting room manager Debbie Morris. Chris Kent is the winemaking consultant.

Every weekend Woodhall features two separate and different special tasting experiences:

1. Vintners Reserve Wine Tasting: Kent has selected seven of the winery's finest wines (all black labels) for an exclusive comparative tasting experience. Three of these wines will be tasted against barrel samples of the same wine. Participants will be able to learn the difference between various wine varieties and different vintages, as well as have an opportunity to sample the "Best of Woodhall." The tasting will be conducted by one of the staff well versed and involved in the winemaking process. Tasting fee: $15

2. Comparative Barrel Tasting Tour: Participants have an opportunity to compare five current vintage wines to the 2008 barreled wine of the same variety under the guidance of a staff member knowledgeable and involved in the winemaking process. Tasting fee: $15

Fiore taking reservations for Christmas dinner

We're seeing more and more of these Christmas dinners at various mid-Atlantic wineries. Fiore Winery in Pylesville, Md., is one of those, charging $65 per person for a dinner from 6 to 9 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 5, that will include the wine, food and entertainment. Prepaid reservations are required at 410.879.4007.

So what's coming out of the kitchen?

Hors d'oeuvres: Antipasta of cheeses, vegetables, dips, and spreads, with artisan breads, crackers,pita, crostini
paired with Apple-lucious, Sangiovese

Seated Dinner:

Butternutsquash ravioli with sage, rye, and cream.
paired with Pinot Grigio

Baked salmon with roasted pepper sauce and spinach orzo.
paired with Chardonnay

Spice beef round with roasted green beans and grape tomato.
paired with Proprietors Reserve Chambourcin

Seasonal salad with fruit, nuts, and cheese, vinaigrette.
paired with Vidal Blanc

Christmas pudding with hard sauce.
paired with Maryland Merlot

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).

Galloping Goose can't keep enough Cabernet Franc on the shelves during first weekend

Told from across the Mason-Dixon Line that several wineries should be opening in Maryland over the next few months, according to the executive director of the Maryland Winery Association. Kevin Atticks wrote in an e-mail Monday that Galloping Goose Vineyards in Westminster sold out of its Cabernet Franc at its grand opening this past weekend.

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He noted that late winter/spring opening include Knob Hall Winery in Hagerstown, DeJon Vineyards in Hydes (in Baltimore County, near Boordy Vineyards), in addition to two others on the mid/lower Eastern Shore.

Make way for newest Maryland winery: Galloping Goose to start welcoming visitors in 2 weeks

Some people spend a summers visiting all the baseball stadiums in the country, or all the minor-league parks in their area.

Me? I keep a scorecard that allows me to record how many wineries I can visit in a year, and I see where another one will be put into play later on this month.

Galloping Goose Vineyards in Hampstead, Md., notes on its Web site that it will give visitors a first peek at the premises from noon to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31, and Sunday, Nov. 1. There will be wine tastings, light fare and winery tours, along with a barrel tasting of wine that will be released next year. Some of you might already have tasted wines from the northern Carroll County producer when you attended the Maryland Wine Festival. And maybe you tasted so many wines that day that they all blended together.

The winery is located on 27 acres of rolling countryside. Directions from I-83 seem simple: Get off at Mt. Carmel Road, then head toward Hampstead. Travel 6 miles to the light at Falls Road. Turn right onto Falls Road and then left onto Brick Store Road. Take that to the second road on the left, which is Maple Grove Road. You'll see the vineyards on the right.

Serpent Ridge seeks hands to help harvest

A shot of the outside of the tasting room on opening day in April, and one of the bar inside the tasting room with owner Greg and Karen Lambrecht (background) serving up samples.

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Serpent Ridge Vineyards in Westminster, Md., is a case of another recent start-up that has impressed from the get-go. Its Vintners Cabernet won gold at the Indy International and Winemaster Choice competitions and a silver in the state's Governor's Cup competition. A red blend called Basilisk took a gold in the Governor's Cup contest and its Albarino took a silver in the Governor's Cup and a gold in the Winemaster Choice.

All better than you'd expect out of a winery that opened only a few months ago.

Saw where the winery is planning its harvest for Saturday, Oct. 24, and is looking for volunteers. If you are interested in helping, call them at 410.848.6511 to find out more.

It also reports that its first food and wine dinner done in conjunction with L'Ecole Culinaire School of Cooking was so successful that it's already planning another for 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 13. The cost is $75 /person. Call the above number for reservations for the event, which will be limited to 20 guests. Rumor has it, the latest e-mail said, that the winemaker will be pouring a few samples of the 2008 Cabernet.

What's on the menu? See below.

First Course
Maryland Seafood Chowder with Rockfish, Crab, and Shrimp
Seyval Blanc

Second Course
Onion Pie with Firefly Farms Blue Cheese, Country Ham and Walnuts
Albarino

Third Course
Pan Seared Salmon Medallions with Blended Chicken Liver Sauce
and Braised Collard Green
Basilisk

Fourth Course
Turkey Roulade stuffed with Oyster and Country Sausage Dressing with Sweet
Potato Puree and Giblet Gravy
Grenache Rose

Fifth Course
Chocolate-Ginger Truffle Tart with Pear Caramel Sauce
Vintner’s Cabernet

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.

"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."

Signs now point way to Mt. Felix off I-95

Still have two more posts I want to churn out today, this one on Mt. Felix Winery down by Chesapeake Bay and then one later on the thoughts of Black Ankle co-owner Ed Boyce, who will welcome in a "houseful" all weekend for the winery's first-year anniversary fete.

Mary and Peter Ianniello, the gracious hosts from the winery in Havre de Grace, noted in their October newsletter that signage for the winery has gone up on both sides of I-95 and also on Route 155, which passes by the entrance into the winery. And they touted an outdoor digital surround sound theatre that allows them to have DVD concerts, projected onto the side of their wine bar, as long as weather permits. The cost is $8/person. Attendees are asked to bring thier chairs, blankets, and cheese/crackers.

Noticed the Web site has been upgraded, including the page listing the wines. We stopped down there a more than a month ago and sampled the wine, then brought home bottles of Matilda's Devotion (a dry white) and Lafayette's Reserve (a medium-bodied red containing the Chambourcin grape).

This is another winery where the scenery makes you stop and stare, with the vines in the distance and the bay off on the horizon.

Frederick Cellars adds bistro to downtown facility

Frederick (Md.) Cellars has just opened a bistro with a casual dining menu that allows for a chance to try one of its wines with a salad, wrap, melt or gourmet pizza. They'll serve that wine as a tasting, by the glass or as a group in a flight. You can purchase lunch or dinner, and expect either live jazz or blues if you stop by on a Friday or Saturday night. Check out the menu at this link.

Even if you've never been to the area, the winery shouldn't be difficult for you to find, located on one of the main streets at 221 N. East St. It's among a handful of wineries in the region located in the downtown district. As for the wines, they're a mix of red and white, a few getting merit from state Governor's Cup competitions in 2008 and 2009. We wound up taking home a bottle of City Lights, a semi-dry, something that normally doesn't appeal to me as much as the dry reds and whites. But that one did. And the line goes drier and sweeter than that one. They've been lauded the most for their Merlot and Riesling, but give them all a try and see what you think.

Ahead for Sugarloaf: stomp, wine and food dinner, and release of newest Bordeaux blend

First met partner Jim McKenna and the folks at Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyards in Comus, Md., which sits on the border of Frederick and Montgomery counties, by phone sometime last year. This summer we traveled down to the scenic spot where Sugarloaf Mountain serves as the backdrop. Pretty tasting room, comfy patio, good eats, plus a line of wines that appeals to all tastes.

They are one of the few wineries (but the number is starting to grow) that holds an actual grape stomp, this one schedule for the weekend of Oct. 17-18. There will be tours and music and food and, yes, prizes for those who stomp the most juice. Online advance tickets are $12, and tickets at the door are $15 for ages 21 and over. Those under 21 are free. You'll need you ID. You can find out more at the winery's Web site.

Several Sugarloaf wines are served at the Kennedy Center Roof Terrace Restaurant in Washington, D.C., site of a food/wine pairing dinner starting at 7 on Wednesday, Oct. 7. Sugarloaf's wines to be poured will be its 2008 Pinot Grigio, 2007 Cabernet Franc and 2007 Comus. Mike McGarry, an owner of Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard, and Carl DiManno, SMV’s winemaker, will discuss winemaking and wines. No offense guys, but I'd go just to meet Lucie Morton, an internationally renowned viticulturist and consultant to Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard, who will also participate in the discussion. She is putting her stamp on a number of new wineries throughout the region. Tickets are $95 per person. Reservations are necessary. Call 202.416.8555 or visit www.opentable.com. For more information www.roofterracerestaurant.com.

Finally, the winery is about to add a third wine to the family of Bordeaux blends that draw names from classical mythology. There's Comus and Circe and soon to be EVOE! (yes, with the exclamation point). They say the wine is named after the joyous cry of the ancient Bacchanal at festivals honoring Bacchus, the god of wine. No doubt that might be what lingerers at the grape stomp will be yelling after a day of fun. They will start opening some bottles out of the lot of 150 cases of the wine, a 2007 vintage aged for 24 months, at a by invitation only prerelease party on Saturday night, Nov. 7, then be available to the public thereafter. Purchases will be no more than two to a customer, with the wine available for sale only at the winery. The price per bottle figures to land between $42 and $44.

McKenna noted by phone the other day that they if they had any debate at all about the wine, it was over whether to use the exclamation points at the end of EVOE. "I hate exclamation points as a general rule," he said, "but in this context I thought that the exclamation point would catch a few more eyes, and that's the name of the game for merchandising and marketing. What until you see the label. It's gorgeous."

Basignani 'Swings into Spring' next weekend

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Basignani Winery in Sparks, Md., is the one of the first regional wineries we felt comfortable enough to call it home. We've enjoyed their line of wines through the years and attended a number of events there, including three harvest days.

Sent an e-mail to owner Lynne Basignani on Wednesday about what's new at their winery, and received this note back today that I want to post.

We just bottled our new 2008 sweet wines, and in addition to our Riesling and Vidal, we have new sweet wines, a blush called "Monkton Moon Delight," with a beautiful painting on the label and a sweet red wine called "Marisa Dolce." We think that's pretty exciting, especially since we've been out of our sweet wines for 4 months! Also, we're having our "Swing into Spring" event, which is the official release of the new sweet wines on May 2-3rd.

The cost is $8 and includes a glass, wine tasting, hayrides (weather permitting) and desserts to go with our sweet wines. we also have a new brick oven, so you never know when you might come on a weekend and find pizza for sale. (People can always call to see if we are making pizza or not. Bert is quite the "pizzaiolo."

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.

Elk Run's '6 at a Time' off to good start

Carol Wagner of the long-running (Carol and Fred Wilson and Neill Bassford established it in 1979) and successful Elk Run Vineyards in Mt. Airy, Md., was kind enough to give me a few minutes of her time on the phone last week. This is one I’ve been guilty of holding to gather some extra information, but at this point I think I’ll punt and post what I have. Best, it seems, to simply run in a Q & A format.

Q: Have you been around long enough now that it’s more word of mouth than finding you have to advertise, that fact that you exist and the wines you sell and the awards you win?

A: I think that's true. The problem with the advertising is that you have to do so much . . . It seems to me that the consistency of repeated advertising; it’s when someone has seen it three or four times that it tends to sink in, and that's just somewhat difficult moneywise.”

Q: Does it help as more wineries opening around you?

A: Actually, we have formed this Frederick Wine Trail, of which there are six of us, and four of us are 5 miles from each other. We are applying for a grant, which I think we'll get, through our county for joint marketing, and in that sense, we are going to be aiming a little bit more at the media, but as a group. . . . When you have six [wineries], that makes us a destination.”

Q: What have the effects of the economy been?

A: The downturn in the economy is becoming successful for the local wineries. I think our purchases per person are probably a little bit lower, full 12-bottle cases a little lower, but the quantity of people coming [is up]. They're staying home, they're doing stuff that's closer that isn't as expensive to go and taste at a winery.

Q: So maybe where they used to leave with six bottles, now they’re leaving with three?

A: Yes. Although we went to all total six-bottle cases, even to the retail stores. We call it Fine Wine 6 at a Time, and in a store a distributor will charge a surcharge to break up a case if the store doesn’t want to buy 12, as much as $1.25 a bottle. So this way it gives the store the opportunity to buy less to put on the shelf at one time, and it seems to be working.

Q: How many years have you been doing this?

A: This year. We just started it.

'Rock vs. World' among Black Ankle events

A shot of the tasting room at Black Ankle Vineyards.

Spotted a couple of events coming up this weekend on Black Ankle Vineyard's site that I wanted to mention. The Mt. Airy winery won the Maryland Governor's Cup for its 2006 Crumbling Rock, a red Bordeaux blend, even while just opening for business. That award distinguishes the wine as the best in the state.

So this Sunday, from 2 to 5 p.m. at the winery, guests can participate in a competition called Crumbling Rock vs. the World. According to the winery's Web site, they've asked "some of the finest wine retailers in the state to recommend their best $35 to $50 Bordeaux-style wines, and we'll taste five of them blind to see how they stack up against our home town favorite. An array of appetizers and discussion of the wines, their regions, similarities and differences will round out the afternoon."

The cost is $50 per person. For more information and reservations call Tracy at 301.788.1412, or e-mail tracy@blackankle.com.

The next day, March 30, chef Ken Lurie of Bud's on Silver Run will prepare a seven-course meal and pair each course with a Black Ankle wine. It will begin at 6:30 p.m. with a mix of hors d’ouevres, including Hot Oysters with Sautéed Bok Choy, Mini Crab Crostini and Cider Poached Foie Gras on Grilled Ciabatta, served with Black Ankle's 2007 Viognier. Dinner will be served starting at 7. The cost is $125/person.

If you haven't gotten over to Black Ankle yet, it's worth the visit. Some already are calling it among the finest wineries on the East Coast; others simply say this one will set the bar for the wineries to come. No question that those from central Pennsyl;vania, for instance, might be aghast at the prices of the wine, which peaked at $40 when the winery opened. But for a winery in its first year of business, the wines are uncharacterically superb. The winery, by the way, is a member of the Frederick Wine Trail and one of several located within only a few miles of one another.

Bottling under way at Sugarloaf Mountain

These notes come courtesy of Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyards in Dickerson, Md., and their latest e-blast:

SMV to Bottle New Wines in March and April.
Beginning the week of March 16, SMV will begin the first of two spring bottling sessions; the second will be in late April. Bottling is quite an event: a 28' tractor trailer truck pulls up to the front of the winery, the sides come off the truck to reveal a bottling assembly line inside, complete with stations to be manned by staff and family. After months or even years of aging in SMV's French oak barrels, this is the culmination of the wine making process. Stop by and watch... or smell the action: find out if you can guess what varietal is being bottled by the aroma which prevails the line. Wines scheduled to be bottled in March include: 2007 Chardonnay, 2008 Pinot Grigio and 2008 Stomp. Later this Spring, SMV will bottle Circe, Comus Reserve, Cabernet Franc Reserve and Cabernet Sauvignon. Call 301-605-0130 to confirm the latest details of the bottling schedules.

Three Medals for SMV at the 2009 Grand Harvest Awards
In February 2009, the Grand Harvest Awards were bestowed in Santa Rosa, California. SMV was awarded two Silver medals for our 2007 Cabernet Franc and 06 Chardonnay Reserve, along with a Bronze medal for our 2007 Comus. The competition judged by a panel of three judges from wine professions who reviewed over 1600 entries from North America, Europe, South America and the Pacific Rim. This competition is unique in that it is the only one in North America “based on terrior – a group of vineyards (or even vines) from the same region, belonging to a specific appellation, and sharing the same type of soil, weather conditions, grapes and wine making savoir-faire, which contribute to give its specific personality to the wine”. This approach to judging allows for greater consideration for “the complexities and nuances of regional wines”. We are honored by this recognition of the quality of our wines.

SMV New Hours of Operation
With longer days and increased popularity of SMV wine and our new tasting room and patio, we have extended our hours to better serve our customers. The new hours, effective immediately, are: March through December: Wednesday through Sunday, 12 Noon until 6 PM.May through October: same as above, with Saturdays open until 8 PM.Open by appointment at other times: call 301.605.0130 to make arrangements.

SMV’s “April in Paris” event April 18 and 19
Noon until 5 p.m. each day Come taste Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard's Bordeaux style red wines as well as its Chardonnays and Pinot Grigio along with light French fare, music and ambiance. Take a tour of our state of the art winery and its 200 French oak barrels used for aging SMV wines. Further details will be posted at www.smvwinery.com in the near future.

Mt. Felix Web site adds some bells, whistles

The Manor Home at Mt. Felix Estate, taken off the Web site.

Have written before about the benefits of having an updated Web site and how the qualify of the sites among wineries in this region ranges from unsatisfactory to exemplary. Some haven't changed their sites in the year that I've been posting; no doubt they are the same ones who get quiet on the other end of the line when I mention the word blog? No, sir, that has nothing to do with cranberries. Check with you next decade.

One that has taken a step forward is the Mt Felix Estate Vineyard & Winery in Havre de Grace, Md. There are 20 entry points, a mix of text and photos about the winery and the area that its situated in, overlooking the Susquehanna River and Chesapeake Bay. This is another one of those "savor the view" wineries in the region, a la Moon Dancer and Hauser Estate in Pennsylvania. There are also photos of the villa, snapshots of parts of its 9,000-plus square feet and 11 fireplaces. There are notes on the seven wines that Mary and Peter Ianniello currently make. Some wineries post their prices; Mt. Felix chooses not to. But it does offer a blog, an entity that more wineries are adding to their sites, and photos of the vineyard. All in all, a step ahead for what's really a winery in its infancy, less than a year old.