The Marcus files: Part 2

I set up this blog as an opportunity in part for people to sound off. Not viciously, mind you, and not to incite fights, but not to get people thinking and prompt discussion. So I invite the opinion and get it on the record. In this case, Doug Marcus of Towson Wines & Spirits has his problems, he says, with a majority of Maryland wines, primarily that so many are sweet nad lacking in quality. He says as much in his recent monthly newsletter, posted previously, as he was touting the wines of Black Ankle that he’s now carrying. That winery, located in Mt. Airy, is scheduled to open by the end of July.

We talked a bit last week and he went on the record a bit more in-depth about why he says he’s frustrated with Maryland wines, in general, and why Black Ankle will raise the bar in the state. These are just some snippets of what he said:

“What happens is, people don’t drink a lot of wine. And so there’s a parallel thing going on. The wineries in Maryland are not making the effort. Some are, most aren’t, because it started out as a hobby, you know, it’s like grandma’s apple pie. She doesn't care where the apples come from, she just wants to make an apple pie . . . so she lucks out and the first couple pies are made with good apples, and after that she has to make 10 pies instead of one, so she wants to cut back on her cost so she buys substandard apples, and all of a sudden the quality goes down. This is kinda what happens because people don’t know how to run a business or ramp up a business. And you end up with substandard wine, partly because of soil chemistry and partly because of wherever the source of the juice is if you’re not growing your own grapes. And you end up with really crummy wine. So what you do is put sugar in it . . . it’s like me and salt . . .salt makes everything taste better. And the same thing with sugar . . . so you end up with 20 of 22 wineries who make almost predominantly sweet wine because it covers all the ills of the wine.”

“When Black Ankle started . . . everybody said, ‘no, no, no, you gotta go sweet, sweet, sweet.' And what they did is they did some soil samples and did chemistries and hired consultants; they spent an absolute fortune. If you’ve not been out there . . .when you go out there you have to think California, not Maryland. They’ve got . . . if I were to guess $20 million, I think I’d be pretty close. They weren’t kidding around. I tasted their wines. To put it in perspective, they have 250 brand new French oak barrels and they cost a thousand dollars apiece. That’s a quarter million dollars in barrels. So before you get started, you’re talking about a lot of money . . . They’re doing the right things in that they’re planting the right vines and going through the chemistries of the soil and they’re doing everything they need to do, knowing full well that ultimately they’re going to be able to turn a profit at the same time they’re making good wine, whereas everybody starts off altruistically wanting to make good wine and they realize, ‘aw crap, this stuff isn’t any good, let’s throw some sugar in it.’ And there are enough people out there that buy wine without fail once a year that you can fool some of the people some of the time and all of the people some of the time, and that’s enough.”

“. . . People will climb up a tree to get a nice product it doesn’t matter if it’s a restaurant or an ice cream store or wine. So it’s really a matter of finding a product and being able to stand behind it. Most people are in the business of making money, and unfortunately with wine, you gotta make the wine first and then the money comes."

“. . . Black Ankle, and another winery -- I forget the name -- apparently they’re both doing it right, and by doing it right they’re going to put Maryland wineries on the map and set a standard that other wineries just can’t meet.”

Making friends with the Marietta folks

Walked into a nearby state store a couple of weeks ago and followed my normal course of action, perusing the shelves for something I haven’t tried that fits my budget. Grabbed an Old Vine Red from Marietta Cellars in Geyserville, Calif., in Sonoma County, and was happy I did from the moment I pulled out the cork. According to the Web site, the blend is primarily comprised of Zinfandel, Petite Sirah and Carignane as well as smaller amounts of Cabernet and Syrah. Other Italian varietals round it out.

Curious, I checked their Web site and felt immediately at home. In addition to all the information you’d expect to find, they add a splash of extra personality by listing their top 10 things. Not wines. Their top 10 things, like trips to Montana and Alaska and a recipe for Minestrone soup. It’s a clever special touch that introduces newcomers to owner and winemaker Chris Bilbro and his family.

Sending along four questions that I hoped would give me a little more insight into the winery, which does not have a tasting room, I received this response from Jake, one of Chris’ sons, in under 24 hours, far faster than it took me to polish off the bottle of Old Vine. That one I slowly savored for a few days.

Q, What one or two issues are of most concern to wineries where you are located?
A. I don't think there are any specific concerns in Sonoma County that wouldn't be industry wide concerns… more competition globally, rising production costs etc. I don't think there's anything astronomical however.
Q, How much is NOT having a tasting room an asset and a detriment?
A. Not having a tasting room hurts us from the aspect that we can't sell direct to consumers and we don't have a large local following but having a wide distribution gives us market share in a lot of different states which as a small winery insulates us from regional trends.
Q, Have you updated that top 10 since it was originally written. I love that. Not seen that on any other site I've been to.
A. We've updated it a few times but not consistently, it is pretty much our staple favorites.
Q, Really, really liked the Old Vine. How has that one evolved over the years?
A.I think OVR has the following that it does because it hasn't evolved over the years… It is the same wine we started making 30 years ago and our consumers know that and trust the corresponding consistency level in it.

Back & forth with Twin Brook's Jobe

One thing I’d like to do more of as this blog evolves is actually get out to the winery and sit and have a conversation. I did that at Twin Brook in Gap, Pa., a few weeks ago, and winemaker Tim Jobe and his wife Melissa were gracious hosts. I’d prefer to place these as podcasts, but I’m being told by too many people that they prefer to read the transcript rather than click and just listen. Part of the conversation was previously posted; this is the remainder of the discussion that essentially followed the subject of East Coast wines and how little most people know about them.

Tim: “We’re having to educate people on wines along the East.Coast, and I think it’s the same all the way from Virginia to New York, how every far they are doing it. You can’t just say, ‘this is great wine, buy it,’ because they’re not going to, because people just know a few words. They know Merlot. They know Chardonnay. And they know a few others. And if it doesn’t come from Europe or California, then they’re not going to try it. And if they come into our tasting room; as John said one time, the people came into one of our tasting rooms, and when the lady found out that it was all Pennsylvania wines, he said that she reacted as if she had walked into a porn shop unknowingly. She grabbed the kid and said, ‘Oh my god, let’s get out of here.’”

Question: So you’re still teaching a lot of folks who stop in about Eastern wines?

Tim: “Certainly. There is a stigma associated with Pennsylvania, well not only Pennsylvania but Eastern wines, that we have to try to educate the public. And the real shame of it is that everybody is buying what they know.. they know Merlot .. they know Syrah now because of Australia. And that’s what they’re buying.”

Melissa: “And Niagara. They like sweet.”

Tim: “That’s great, and it’s the only place you can get the Niagara and Concord.”

Melissa: “And they know them.”

Tim: “They know them and they buy them. That’s our highest-selling wines . . . [the wines that are sweet].”

Q: Is that fondness for sweet wine particular to the East Coast?

Tim: “I would say the majority come in for the sweet wines. The real jewel about our area is that there’s more diversity here. There’s so many different types of grapes being grown. So many different flavors in the wines that that’s our saving grace is that we get people in they can taste 14 different wines. They’re going to find something they like. It’s not like we have one Chard, one Cab and a Merlot. And I think you can probably do OK at that. But the Eastern United States is not like that yet. It’s not like California. It’s just not like California. But that’s what we’re trying to do is get them in the mindset that, yes, you can go into any Eastern winery and find a good Chard, a good Cab, a good Merlot, but you also might find some other things you like: the Chambourcin, the Vignoles is absolutely gorgeous. I like it better than Viognier, and you can only find it in the Northeast pretty much.”

Q: What do people want to know when they stop by?

Tim: “Occasionally we do get people in who want to know what they can eat with this certain type of wine.”

Melissa: “We get two types. Those that know wines who come in to taste to see if they can find some kind of jewel.”

Tim: “And those people are pleasantly surprised.”

Melissa: “And then you have others who walk in who have never been to a winery before, who really don’t know what they want, who really don’t know what we have”

Q: But they do know what they like and don’t like?

Tim: “That’s the real key there is that you buy what you like, and I think that’s one of the greatest things about the tasting room and having people in here that talk to you about wines and find out what you like and what you don’t like.

Tim: “If it was up to me, I would produce three wines, three or four wines, instead of 14. But we have such a diversity of grapes here -- when they first planted the place they didn’t really know what they wanted to plant, and so they planted a little bit of everything [30 acres planted, 12 different varieties]. That’s pretty normal for Eastern wineries, but you know in California you have those wineries that just grow Chard, Cab, Merlot, or they grow Cab Sauvignon, Cab Franc, Merlot so they can make a meritage. They’re very specialized. In the East you don’t have that very much, and I think one of the reasons is that no one has really figured out what is the specialty of the East. What is the specialty of the east yet? No one really knows. We’re trying to define that now.”

Q: Is it Chambourcin?

Tim: “Well, Chambourcin, yes, I would think so. I would think that’s definitely one of the ones . . .”

Q: It seems most if not all the regional wineries have a good Chambourcin and a good Vidal Blanc.

Tim: “But you see, those are both hybrids, and that’s a stigma. You can’t . . . nobody else in the world knows what that is except for people who come into the Northeast. So it’s kind of hard to say, yes, we specialize in Chambourcin when nobody knows what it is. In fact, that’s the reason when this one was named, the Consiglieri, nobody knew what Chambourcin was. That was back in 1985, nobody knew. And that’s why they name it Consiglieri, because nobody knew what Chambourcin was. A lot of the names we have on our private wines, like Traminette; the Clocktower White we make is made from Traminette, but we don’t call it Traminette because when we planted it . . . it was called NY65.533.13. So nobody knew what that was and so you had to call it something, and then when they did eventually name it, by that time you had a clientele for Clocktower Whites and you gotta go back to that. Same way with Vignoles. It was a Ravat 51 for many years. And the only person I know of that still calls it that is Bully Hill [Vineyards in Hammondsport, N.Y.]. One of the girls that works for me actually, she goes to New York a lot and she’s like, talking about how she likes the wines and everything. And I said something one day about the Ravat 51 and she’s like, ahhh, that’s a wine myth. And, I said, well, it Vignoles. They named it . . . eventually. So I think that the East Coast is still so young that we don’t have a, I guess, a signature. There’s really no signature wines. We can produce Chards just as good as anybody else, in my opinion. Especially on the good years, when it hasn’t been raining.”

Q: Is it a goal here to shoot for new blends every year, just to diversify more?

Tim: “At Twin Brook, we’re kind of maxed out on what we can do. And one thing we don’t do is, we don’t throw the Cab Sauv, Cab Franc and the Merlot into a meritage. I don’t believe in that. I have a few customers come in and a whole lot of winemakers that say, ‘It’s great to see that you’re still producing a Cab Franc instead of throwing it in.a meritage. And I like that. I like keeping them all separate. I could be doing that, and that would cut down on my winemaking a lot just to make a blend from those. But it’s just something that I like. I like having the different wines and, if you go to [France] or there’s actually a couple of places in California still doing Cab Franc, that you can still get good Cab Franc. I think that’s great, you know. And nobody knows what that is. Everybody comes in and say, ‘Cab Franc?’ Well, it’s the father of Cabernet Sauvignon, but nobody knows what it is.”

Tim: “I do try to tailor what I make to what will sell. We all have to do that. That’s why I have six or seven wines that are sweet, but also, I have my own opinions about like the Cab Franc and the meritage. I like to keep mine separate.”

Q: How much of what you make is an expression of why you’re in the business?

Tim: “You have to do a little bit of that, but the majority of it has to be what is going to sell.”

A letter from (wine) camp: Day 3

The campers gather for a goodbye pic.

Courtesy of Nina Kelly, the director of communications for the Chester County Conference & Visitors Bureau, here's a summation of the third and final day of the inaugural Brandywine Valley Wine Camp. You can check out this site and the Brandywine Valley site for a followup on the camp and a list of other activities and events scheduled for that area in Chester County.

It is hard to believe that we are at the last day of our first Wine Camp - time does indeed fly when you are having fun. Our last winery visit is to Stargazers Vineyard & Winery in beautiful Chester County, just north of Unionville. John and Alice Weygant began growing grapes on 30 beautiful acres in 1979 and sold them to other winemakers. In 1996 they began to produce their own vintages and today specialize in sparkling wines. John spoke to the campers about the chemistry of winemaking. It really is a science at the start of the process and an art at the finish, he states. Use of sulfur dioxide (to inhibit bacteria growth) and types of yeasts used were discussed. Champagnes have become Stargazers' niche market - they produce it for themselves as well as some other area wineries. John explained that the process for making a sparkling wine included a double fermentation process. A tour of their winery ended with the tasting of several sparkling wines. Ones made from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir (a blush/sparkling wine) were simply delicious. John had a great thought to describe the effect of champagne as we were tasting: "Champagne should feel like you need to keep your mouth closed or it will float out." Indeed it did, and as all good things must come to a close so ended our wine camp.

Part of the Wine Camp package included Brandywine Sampler coupons (admission to eight area attractions including Longwood Gardens, Brandywine River Museum, QVC and more.) Many participants were going to one of the attractions and since the coupons are valid through 2008, several were planning a return visit also.

As we said goodbye, kudos were given to all the hosts at the Bed and Breakfast (their hospitality was exceptional, stated our campers; "We felt like family," was exclaimed more than once.) Staff and owners of each of the wineries were commended also. "What a unique experience to meet the owner/operators and hear their stories," said one of the camping couples who have been to wineries in California and New York. Finally, something must be said about the campers themselves. Had we been able to hand-pick a group of participants ourselves, we could not have come up with a nicer, more fun group of people. Many thanks to them for participating in our inaugural camp. Look for the second annual Brandywine Valley Wine Camp, June 12-14, 2009, and visit www.brandywinevalley.com for upcoming events and camps.

A letter from (wine) camp: Day 2

Photos courtesy of Nina Kelly: from left, the vineyard tour at Kreutz Creek, co-owner Mark Harris addresses the group at Paradocx, where campers also take a hayride.

Courtesy of Nina Kelly, the director of communications for the Chester County Conference & Visitors Bureau, here's a second-day summation of the Brandywine Valley Wine Camp. We plan to continue these posts throughout the weekend for the filled-to-capacity event, which runs through Sunday:

The first full day of the Brandywine Valley Wine Camp on Saturday was really a FULL day! Camp started out at Kreutz Creek Winery in West Grove with a walk through the vineyards. Campers were greeted by owners Jim and Carole Kirkpatrick on a deck overlooking the vineyard. Jim tells the story that this all started with Carole giving him a wine-making kit for Christmas several years ago. They purchased the land in West Grove, planted vines and began making wine in 1989. Today they grow 13 varieties on 8 of their 20 acres.

It was a beautiful day (albeit hot) for a walk through the vineyard, with Jim pointing out lovingly his varieties of grapes. During the walk Jim highlighted the processes of pruning, showing us the "sappers" that would sap the nutrients out of the fruit. Questions of irrigation came up and Jim answered that is all by mother nature - no artificial means is used to irrigate the vines. This seemed unusual until we learned the incredible depth of the roots (some can reach as far as 20 feet). Finally we tasted the fruits of this beautiful vineyard in the custom basement winery in their home. Kreutz Creek currently produces 18 wines including Chardonnay, Cabernet Franc, Niagra, Steuben, Port and more. Like Chaddsford Winery, Kreutz Creek also has an evening concert series and serves unique wine "slushies" as a signiture drink.

We left Kreutz Creek for the short drive to Paradocx Winery. It was opening day of their new winery and we were met by co-owner Mark Harris. After a glass of wine, he took us off on a hay-ride to the vineyard. There under the cypress trees lay a magnificent spread of Italian delights from Carlino's in West Chester accompanied by various delicious Paradocx wines. Mark's wife Joann and two beautiful daughters greeted us as Mark told the story of he and his partner (both doctors with wives who were doctors- hence the name Paradocx) on a handshake purchased 80 acres in Landenberg and began their dream of becoming wine-makers. Mark credits Eric Miller of Chaddsford Winery with being an inspiration and a great help to the budding winemakers. Paradocx produces 15 varieties of grapes. Mark and Joann poured wines throughout the lunch and explained the process of making the wine as well as what foods might pair best with them. A favorite packaging technique at Paradocx is their unique "paint cans" of "White Wash" and "Barn Red." Several campers purchased these as well as other of their favorite wines to sample at home.

Finally the last winery of the day was beautiful Twin Brook Winery in Gap. Twin Brook is on 30 acres and produces about 100 to 140 tons of grapes. We were met by General Manager Tim Jobe, who took the group on a tour of where grapes are captured to be crushed, stored and fermented. Plastic holding tanks were seen for the first time in the wine camp and Tim expained that much like barrels, plastic tanks can aid in the oxidation process. He also explained the importance of yeast in the fermenting process. He showed us where 50,000 bottles are filled and corked by hand! A retreat to the loft tasting room where Tim poured Pinot Grigio, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, to name a few. Tim spoke of the positive relationship with other winemakers in the region and how the area was a natural for growing and producing. Visitors were already gathering for a concert on the grounds as we were leaving.

A weary (but happy) group retreated to their B&B's for some R&R before dinner. We later met at Brandywine Prime, where general manager and co-owner Michael Majewski escorted us to a private room for wonderful hors d'oeuvres and Stargazers Sparkling Chardonnay (we'll see Stargazers on Sunday. Blair Mahoney, executive director of the Chester County Conference and Visitors Bureau, greeted the campers and got caught up on the activities thus far and some ideas for other camps. "I couldn't be more thrilled with the outcome of our first Wine Camp effort" says Mahoney. "This group could not be better and from all accounts they are having a great time! Wine Camp will become an annual event and we are in the process of developing other camp programs." A fabulous dinner followed - served with Brandywine region wines of course! The first full day was indeed full - full of fun, food, wine and great memories. Still to come, our last day together . . .

H.B. 2165 tough to swallow in present form

Anyone living in Pennsylvania interested in buying wine from outside the state and having it shipped directly to their home should be following with interest House Bill 2165. Introduced by Rep. Paul Costa, D-Allegheny, it would provide for the direct shipment of wine by both in-state and out-of-state wineries through the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, or PLCB. In order to ship products directly to customers, wineries would need to obtain a limited winery license and direct shipper license from the PLCB.

It’s already meeting opposition, including this editorial that ran in the May 10 issue of the Pittsburgh Post –Gazette. Bob Mazza, president of the Pennsylvania Winery Association, said he missed the first hearing on June 9 in Harrisburg, but that one and perhaps two others are planned once the state budget in approved. Those could occur in Philly and/or Allegheny County, although Mazza said he’s planning to write and request that one of the meetings is held in Eric County, where 95 percent of the state’s grapes of produced.

Where ever the meetings take place, Mazza said, there needs to be changes made in the legislation.

“In its current form, we’re dead against it. It does a lot of negative things,” he said Thursday night. “One of the things addressed in there is that currently a Pennsylvania winery is permitted to produce up to 200,000 gallons of wine. They want to reduce that down to 80,000 gallons, and the purpose for that is to keep wineries that are larger than 80,000 gallons from shipping to customers in Pennsylvania, to keep parity in keeping with the Supreme Court ruling. Well, I mean, that’s silly, as far as I’m concerned. So we’re going to limit our industry now so that we can limit the size of wineries that ship into Pennsylvania. It doesn’t make a lot of sense in my book.”

Mazza said he missed the first hearing, but did work beforehand with the association’s lobbyist, who spoke along with a representative from one other winery. Saying that “hopefully we’ll resolved this because it’s something that needs to be resolved,” he added that there are enough parties in the discussion sensitive to what the association wants to give him confidence that both sides can find some common ground.

“We have a lot of respect within the legislature,” Mazza said. “The PLCB (Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board] has vowed to work with us to reach a compromise. We’re not out to eliminate the PLCB. We want to work within the system, but we truly feel that the consumer in Pennsylvania is certainly entitled to purchase wines from another state and have them shipped directly to his or her home, as they do in many other states. They don’t have to go through the state store system.

“But appropriate taxes, if they need to be collected; that can be accomplished. We have no problems with that. But we certainly are on the side of consumer now in terms of their getting the royal shaft right now in terms of their ability to purchase wines from out of state.”

Mazza: Growth has been a 'mixed bag'

The wine caucus at the Pennsylvania Winery Association on June 4 followed the unveiling of “Vintage 2012,” a five-year plan to double the impact of the Pennsylvania wine industry that was launched last year. Association president Bob Mazza said during a wide-ranging chat Thursday night that both the plan and the caucus are essential to fulfilling long-term goals as production increases and wineries continue to multiply.

“What [Vintage 2012] really means,” said Mazza, “is basically developing a funding steam that’s going to be consistent and something we can count on year after year so that we can begin to do some of the long-term marketing and some of the long-term quality initiatives to develop a reputation for Pennsylvania wines. It can be done to a certain extent, by individual wineries, but that’s very, very difficult. And we don’t have the size and scope of wineries in this state to accomplish that. Certainly if we had a Robert Mondavi located in Harrisburg or Adams County or something like that, Pennsylvania would get noticed. But we don’t have that type of producer. There’s a couple that kind of think they are, but they’re a long way from it. But, you know, we just don’t have the notoriety. I always say, boy, it’s a darn shame that Mario Andretti had to go to California to open up a winery when he was basically from Pennsylvania. It’s a darn shame he didn’t open up his winery in Pennsylvania. That would have been a real boost for our industry to have someone with that name recognition to be in our industry.”

Mazza Vineyards is located in North East, Pa., smack up by Lake Erie, with New York a hop, skip and a jump to the east and Ohio a bit farther away on the western horizon. Welch’s is the major employer, and it’s one of only a couple of towns in the United States that has more than five wineries. Six currently are in operation there. Mazza said his was the seventh winery to be established in the state, back in 1973. He noted that while there has been plenty of growth across the state, “in certain areas we probably have not met our expectations and in other areas we’ve probably exceeded them, so its kind of a mixed bag.”

He continued: “To be honest with you, I didn’t envision as many wineries as we have in Pennsylvania, but I also had expected that he the wineries that would be in business would be considerably larger than they are. I guess I expected fewer wineries and larger producers, but in fact we have the numbers greater but they’re tending to be smaller operations. . . . I guess I just expected the growth curve to be a little bit different.

“Some of them start fairly small and very conservative, and others are starting out almost California-style, investing millions of dollars in their facilities . . . and, you know, I don’t know what their expectations are. But often times I see a lot of money being spent and I look at wineries that have been around 20, 25 years and those wineries could barely justify that type of investment. But everybody gets into the business for different reasons, I guess. Some folks, as I say, [it’s] California style. They’re looking to make a statement. Put up a facility perhaps that’s very prestigious and that’s fine. That’s good for the industry. But if I take a look at what their return will be, it will never be an operation that . . .will give a decent return on their investment.”

This recent caucus was encouraging, Mazza said, not only because it’s the first of what hopefully will be many but that so many legislators participated. More than 25 attended along with members of the wine association and the state Department of Agriculture. No doubt, Mazza agreed, part of the lure is how much making and drinking wine are in vogue these days.

“I firmly believe that it’s a type of business that’s exciting and its growing and there’s a lot of interest in it,” he said, “and people want to be involved and they want to be associated with it.

“It’s definitely a very sexy business, there’s a certain amount of romance and sizzle . . . to the wine business. It’s got a certain amount of cachet in the business world. I see it in different events that I attend. I’m sitting at a dinner. It s a diverse group of people, and as soon as they figure out you’re in the wine business, boy, the attention and the conversation just kind of swings over to the wine. You maybe have people in the construction business, whatever else they’re in, but it just seems like wine just kinda like, boy, it’s something people want to talk about, they want to learn more about it. It just has that kind of draw, I guess.”