Black Walnut plowing toward opening

Posted a story last month on Black Walnut Winery in Sadburyville, Chester County, a hop, skip and a jump off Route 30 as it heads east onto the bypass toward Coatesville and Downingtown.

Co-owner Lance Castle talked then about opening in a month or so. Well, that month flew by in a blur, as it usually does for anyone trying to tie all the final loose ends and open the doors. Castle said earlier today that the opening “probably is going to be closer to mid- to late December than late November, which is what I was hoping for.”

Castle said he just received approval on all of his labels and brought them to the printer last Friday. Meanwhile, the last bit of work continues on his 198-year-old bank barn that will serve as the tasting room. “We put in an underfloor,” Castle said, “to support it up. It was an antique shop and a residence, so they wanted us to bring the grade of the building up . . . so we had to rip out the old floor and put in a new sub-floor. And I have to put in the new tongue and groove floor and get it sanded and finished. But the ceilings are done, the walls are done … the fireplace is almost all stripped and ready to go. So I’ve made a lot of progress.”

Once it open, the winery will become the seventh member of the Brandywine Valley Wine Trail, which recently completed its Harvest Fest Celebration and now turns its attention toward the annual Vintners’ Dinner Celebration on Saturday night, Nov. 8, at Longwood Gardens.

The view from NY: Biz booming this fall

Saw these two items in the weekly New York e-letter and thought I'd share them. From what I've seen, business indeed does seem to be good at most wineries despite the economy, although we'll see over the next couple of weeks if we can't get more concrete evidence of that.

2008 GRAPE HARVEST is moving right along, with another week of cooperative weather ripening the grapes so vineyard crews and winemakers can get them into presses, tanks and barrels. Cornell Cooperative Extension’s weekly “Veraison to Harvest” e-letter reported basically good news from all regions of the state in terms of both quantity and quality. Cash registers also are humming along, according to several winery owners I spoke with this week, with Columbus Day weekend bringing record visitors and sales to some despite (or maybe because of) the country’s dreary financial climate. The harvest should be pretty much over by Halloween except on Long Island where some of the late-ripening red varieties are left hanging into November.

FRESH TABLE GRAPES are a very small and fleeting but delightful part of our industry, and the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle did a great job reminding people of the tasteful treats all around them this time of year. As with wine grapes, New York grows a wide variety of table grapes—some seeded like Concord, Catawba and Niagara and others seedless like Himrod, Marquis and Vanessa which were developed by Cornell University scientist Bruce Reisch. They are truly nature’s candy: sweet and tempting, but with natural sugar and other substances that are good for you. Since supply is limited, many of the grapes are available only at U-pick farms and roadside farmers’ markets, but they’re definitely worth seeking out. The same edition of the paper had a great article about the many wineries which will soon host winemakers’ dinners to celebrate the end of the harvest.

The Event Grapevine: Oct. 17-19

Sugarloaf Winery, Dickerson, Md.
Grape Stomp
Saturday and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.

One of the great joys of updating this blog is having the excuse to call Jim McKenna, co-owner of Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard in Dickerson, Md. There isn’t a story he hasn’t seen fit to tell, including where he got the idea for the Grape Stomp, which will be held for the second time this weekend at his Frederick County winery after a successful debut last year.

“My wife and I used to own a house down in Virginia, in the northern neck of Virginia,” he said the other day, “and a guy down there who’s a heck of a promoter put in a vineyard and he had a stomp and I thought, ‘Wow, that’s really sounds kind of cool, and it went over very, very well. Bill Westbrook, I think his name is. . . . He was up in New York and he was a real maker and a shaker, but he loved it down in northern neck, and in this little town, and so he decided he’d put in this vineyard. He didn’t build a winery. Not yet anyway. He may some day. And he had this stomp and I thought, now, the reason why I thought it would be a success is because he actually pulled a Tom Sawyer on the townsfolk. You have to guess what he did. His place is called White Fences, and he literally managed to snooker about 60 people to come in and to pay 10 dollars apiece to have the privilege of painting his fence, and they came in. And I thought, if this guy can pull this thing off, then he knows what he’s doing. So I followed his lead on the stomp . . . we decided to go ahead and do it, and we really were playing it off the seat of our pants, and we got a couple of bands, one on a Saturday and one on a Sunday, and then we stole the idea of how to try to do this thing. We took half a barrel, three half-barrels, and put them up on a platform. Now we didn’t get as elaborate as he did; I mean he got the thing to be on springs and do all sorts of stuff. But we decided that could just simply put it on tilt and we could have little contests.

So we put them up on the platform and we have the three half-barrels and we have a little contest of 30 seconds you stomp away, and I play the tarantella, cause I kind of like that … dat-da-dat-da-dat-da-da . . . that kind of thing . . . I have a little boombox, and they really got into it. Mostly it was little kids and women of any age. The men they’re too machismo, nahhh, that’s beneath their dignity. But the women loved it and so when the band takes a break for about 20 minutes or a half-hour, I have a bullhorn and I say whatever comes into my head and get them going. And whoever gets the most juice out of the there gets a free glass of wine. And if it’s a kid we give them a chocolate bar or something like that. And so it’s been a great attraction. We had had about a thousand people or more last years and we expect maybe twice as many this year. We’ve had a lot of interest.”

McKenna said the grapes of choice for the stomp are brought in from other vineyards; last year they were a mix of 60 percent Chambourcin from Pennsylvania and 40 percent Cabernet Sauvignon from Virginia. And, no, the juice did not go into a bottle, although indirectly the stomp provided the impetus for a new wine by the same name.

“We weren’t searching out the finest wine grapes,” McKenna said, continuing his story. We were looking to find something that people would go stomping on. But the funny part of it is, once we finished with the stomp after the two days . . . we had all these grapes left over, and we said, ‘Well, what are we going to do with them?’ And decided, let’s make some wine. That’s the Stomp wine. Now some people look at you kind of funny and think, ‘Am I drinking wine that somebody’s feet have been on?’ And we have to tell them, ‘No, no, no, don’t be worried about that.’ It’s regular grapes that were left over and then we put a lot of sugar in it. Let me just tell you. It’s our fun wine, but it sells.”

One other note. The winery has been looking for volunteers to work the stomp, essentially pouring wine samples. For doing that, you would receive free admission, a complimentary bottle of Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard wine, and a chance to hear Jim orchestrate the tarantella. In other words, a pretty doggone good time. Training is provided. Contact Kathy O'Donoghue at ksodonoghue@aol.com or 30.-365.5044 or call Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard at 301.605.0130.

As for what else is on the docket this weekend, take a look:

PENNSYLVANIA WINERIES

Adams County Winery, Ortanna: Saturday, home winemaking class with John, the vintner; 1 to 3 p.m., tuition is $25 and reservations are required. You’ll learn tricks of the trade and how to get the best product from a kit, http://www.adamscountywinery.com/

Amore Vnieyards, Bath: Chambourcin Weekend on the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail, Saturday and Sunday, www.amore-4u.com

Big Creek Vineyard, Kunkletown: Chambourcin Weekend on the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail, Saturday and Sunday, www.bigcreekvineyard.com

Blue Mountain Vineyards, New Tripoli: Fall Foliage Tasting ($$), Sunday, 2 to 5 p.m.; Chambourcin Weekend on the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail, Saturday and Sunday, http://www.bluemountainwine.com

Chaddsford Winery, Chaddsford: Reserve tastings ($$), Saturday, sittings at 1, 2:30 and 4 p.m., Spiced Apple Sundays ($$), Oct. 19 and 25, noon to 5 p.m., picnic on the grounds, music from 2 to 5 p.m., tours and tastings, fee is for hot mulled wine tastings; Wine 101: The Basics ($$), Thursday, Oct. 23, 7 to 9 p.m., learn how to taste, how to identify basic wine types & styles and how to order and buy the wines you like successfully and confidently. Reservations at 610.388.6221, http://www.chaddsford.com

Cherry Valley Vineyards, Saylorsburg: Chambourcin Weekend on the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail, Saturday and Sunday, http://www.cherryvalleyvineyards.com/

Clover Hill, Breinigsville: Chambourcin Weekend on the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail, Saturday and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m., wine pairings and cooking demonstrations, www.cloverhillwinery.com

Clover Mill Farm Vineyards & Winery, Chester Springs: Open again, Sundays, 1 to 5 p.m., http://www.clovermillfarm.com/

Country Creek Winery, Telford: Country Creek Winery in the Barn, Saturday, 6 to 9 p.m., the Britton Brothers, http://www.countrycreekwinery.com/

Crossing Vineyards & Winery, Washington Crossing: Wine Tasting for Singles ($$), Friday, 7 to 9 p.m.; Wine Tasting for Dummies ($$), Sunday, 2 p.m.; Harvest Winemaker’s Dinner ($$), Saturday, Oct. 25, 7:30 p.m., five-course dinner with Crossing’s award-winning reds, http://www.crossingvineyards.com

Hauser Estate Winery, Biglerville: New winery open, Monday to Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m., http://www.hauserestate.com/

Franklin Hill Vineyards, Bangor: Chambourcin Weekend on the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail, Saturday and Sunday, http://franklinhillvineyards.com/

Galen Glen Vineyard & Winery, Andreas: Chambourcin Weekend on the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail, Saturday and Sunday, http://www.galenglen.com

Moon Dancer Vineyards & Winery, Wrightsville: Music Friday (6 to 9 p.m.) and Sunday, 2 to 5 p.m.; Meet the Artist Reception, Saturday, 2 to 5 p.m., Jim Sullenberger, with original music by A.D. Chandler and his Imaginary Band, http://www.moondancerwinery.com
Mount Hope Estate and Winery, Manheim: Annual Mount Hope Wine Sale, 25 percent discount mix and match, goes through the end of October, http://www.parenfaire.com/

Naylor Wine Cellars, Stewartstown: Home for the Holidays dinner ($$), Saturday, Nov. 8, 3 to 6 p.m., and Sunday, Nov. 9, 2 to 5 p.m., reservations required, http://www.naylorwine.com/

Pinnacle Ridge, Kutztown: Chambourcin Weekend on the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail, Saturday and Sunday, www.pinridge.com

Sand Castle Winery, Erwinna: Harvest Festival, Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Cabot Cheese will be there Saturday, noon to 4 p.m., for wine and cheese pairings, cellar tours, $5, tastings of nine wines, $5, you can also be there as they crush the Cabernet grapes, see how that’s done and be afford ed a taste, www.SANDCASTLEWINERY.COM

Vynecrest Winery, Breinigsville: Chambourcin Weekend on the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail, Saturday and Sunday, http://www.vynecrest.com

Va La Vineyards, Avondale: The Last Little Vineyard Concert of the Summer, Saturday, Far Cat Bar B Q, The Fat Cat Jazz Trio, open 12:01 to 5:54 p.m. Saturday and Sundays (no, this is not a misprint), www.valavineyards.com


MARYLAND WINERIES

Black Ankle Winery, Mt. Airy: Open for business, winner of Maryland Governor’s Cup in 2008; hours: Wednesday - Friday: noon to 5 p.m., Saturday: noon to 6 p.m., Sunday, noon to 5 p.m., information on winery at this link

Linganore Wine Cellars, Mt. Airy: Vintage Jazz Wine Festival ($$), Saturday and Sunday, information at this link

Other MARYLAND winery events can be found at this link, VIRGINIA events at this link and New York events at this link

FESTIVALS

Shrewsbury Fall Fest, Shrewsbury, Pa., 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Shrewsbury Historic Village, Seven Valleys Vineyard & Winery will be offering tastings and light appetizers in their Shrewsbury shop, information at this link

Autumn Wine Festival ($$), Salisbury, Md., Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sunday, 12:30 to 6 p.m., $20 in advance, $25 at the gate, includes glass and tastings, information at this link


$$ – Admission charge

Lots to like about trip to Black Ankle

Even Sarah O’Herron looked a wee bit surprised last Saturday afternoon at the number of visitors buzzing around the bar in the Black Ankle Vineyards tasting room in Mt. Airy, Md.

Having been forced to push back the opening a couple of months, she and husband Ed Boyce had finally cleared the final hurdle and turned the lights on at noon the previous Saturday, Oct. 4. But you wouldn’t have known that the estate winery, one that uses only grapes it grows on the 146-acre farm in Frederick County, had just opened for business by the size of the crowds that kept O’Herron and two others jumping from one end of the bar to the other, greeting people, pouring samples of a few of the wines that Black Ankle produces, and then stepping over to the cash register to ring someone else out.

While the delay might have been agonizing, it probably was a blessing. Black Ankle already had started to reap the benefits of positive publicity from those who had visited the winery and saw firsthand the investment and energy of the couple. Then came the Maryland Governor’s Cup competition in September and, lo and behold, the winery that hadn’t officially opened for business yet was seeing its top-of-the-line red, a blend called Crumbling Rock ($40), finish atop the list as the grand-prize winner. Indeed, look up on a shelf above the bar and there’s the Cup, standing amid bottles of Black Ankle wine.

Tastings were $5 apiece, and we were served several splashes of three reds -- the Passeggiata ($22), the Syrah ($26) and the Cosecha ($26) – and three whites – the Gruner Veltliner ($30), the Chardonnay ($22) and the Bedlam 2006 ($22). We followed up by purchasing glasses of the Albarino ($30) and Bedlam 2007, ($30, winner of the 2008 Winemasters’ Tasters Choice Award) just to sample a couple more whites.

We had the choice of finding a seat inside the cozy, high-ceilinged tasting room that was built primarily of materials found on the farm, or in an adjacent breezeway that is designed to cool guests in the summer and warm them in the winter, or at one of the outdoor tables, where we could admire the rolling countryside that stretches out in every direction from the tasting room. On a cloudless day with temperatures in the 70s, outside seemed like the perfect choice. And it was.

From York it took a little over an hour, zipping down 83 and west on Mt. Carmel Road and into Westminster, then south on Route 27 and, after a few twists and turns that included driving past 25-year-old Elk Run Vineyards, we drove up Black Ankle Lane and turned right onto the long driveway that leads to the winery. It's one of four wineries with a Mt. Airy address that sit within a few miles of each other, and all should benefit as Black Ankle continues to gain more regional and national exposure.

And as that coverage expands, expect more days like we had there: enjoying not only the wine and the view but the joy of people-watching as they made themselves at home in a room that has a passive solar design and a masonry fireplace that should add a capital "C" to the word comfortable when folks visit through the winter months.

Posting a few photos with this account of both outside and inside the tasting room. If you’re interested in seeing the various stages of construction, click here.

Oh, what did we take home? Well, it was hard to quibble with any of the samples. Determined to take along a white and a red, we settled on the Albarino -- as much because of the uniqueness of finding an East Coast winery that even makes it in addition to how good it tasted (the Gruner Veltliner was a very close second) -- and the Passeggiata, a wine that's 100 percent Syrah and 110 percent delicious.

MD's Woodhall announces fall wine dinners

The lovely and hospitable folks at Woodhall Wine Cellars in Parkton, Md., just off I-83 on the way south to Baltimore, have just announced plans for four fall wine dinners. They will be served on each of the first four Saturdays in November at Patricia Della Casual Fine Dining, located just out the front door of the tasting room. The "gourmet, five-course wine dinner" will cost $60 per person, not including tax and gratuity, using wines selected by the owners and winemaker (Chris Kent) of Woodhall.

Reservations are required. Seatings will be 6 and 8 p.m. each evening. Call 410.357.5078 to make your reservation.

Here's what the menu looks like:

Nov. 1 and 15

A panned seared scallop with a blood orange gastrique and
A filet mignon rosette with an agave nectar wasabi crème fraiche

Butternut Squash and roasted red pepper bisque

Baby spinach, red onion and dried apricot salad
with a maple tarragon dressing

Striped Bass with a white wine sauce featuring
limes, shallots and picholines

Blood orange sorbet

Nov. 8 and 22

A jumbo prawn with persimmon coulis and a lamb chop encrusted
With macadamia nuts served with a sweet pineapple BBQ sauce

Roasted tomato and basil soup

Mixed green, apple slices and candied pecans
with a maple tarragon dressing

Filet mignon filled with herb encrusted goat cheese served
with a balsamic reduction

Praline semifreddo

Squeezing out news across the region

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Wycombe Vineyard in Furlong, Pa., has announced that beginning Oct. 17 it will be open Friday, Saturday and Sunday from noon until 6 p.m.

The Brandywine Valley Wine Trail still has openings for its Vintners' Dinner Celebration on Saturday, Nov. 8, at Longwood Gardens, Pa. Joel Peterson, the winemaker and president of Ravenswood Winery, in California, will be the guest speaker. Dinner, wine pairing and dancing to the Brass Ensemble of the Kennett Symphony of Chester County is all included. The event will run from 6:30 p.m. to midnight. Admission is $135 per person. Black tie is optional. You can sign up by calling 866. 390.4367 or 610.444.3842 or fill out the online form.

Wine writer Dave McIntyre, one of the creators of the Regional Wine Week that ran through last week, said by e-mail today that "we averaged well over 100 hits each day last week . . . plus 150 yesterday after Robin Garr plugged Kentucky wines to his mailing list." To catch up on everything that was written during Regional Wine Week, visit www.drinklocalwine.com

Oct. 25 Harvest Dinner still has openings

Some seats remain for the Harvest Winemaker's Dinner Oct. 25 at Crossing Vineyards and Winery in Washington Crossing, Pa.

Vintner Tom Carroll Jr. will share with guests Crossing’s new focus on its red varietals during a five-course gourmet dinner and wine pairing beginning at 7:30 p.m. at the winery, 1853 Wrightstown Road. The meal will feature the winery’s latest award-winning reds, Cabernet Franc ’06 and Cabernet Sauvignon ’06.

Cost of the dinner is $89, plus tax and gratuity. Entrée substitutions may be arranged in advance. Seating is limited. Reservations may be made by calling 215.493.6500, ext. 19, or online at the winery's Web site. Directions to the winery also may be found there.

We just posted about Crossing and its five-year anniversary as part of last week's Regional Wine Week series. While it has earned plenty of attention for its whites - its 2005 Chardonnay won “Best of Class – Top Gold” in the 2006 Starwine International Wine Competition – producing world-class reds in Pennsylvania’s short growing season is more challenging, says Carroll, who, with his parents owns the winery. “It’s hard for East Coast wineries to be respected for their later-ripening varietals,” he said, but Crossing has embraced the challenge. And it has met with success, he said. The Cabernet Franc ’06 earned a Critic’s Gold in May at the Critics Challenge International Wine Competition in San Diego and the Cabernet Sauvignon ’06 won a Critic’s Silver in that competition, as well as bronze medals this year at the Finger Lakes International Wine Competition in Rochester, N. Y. and the Keystone Wine Competition in Mystic, Conn.

Crossing’s wines will be paired with each dinner course, beginning with cornmeal cake with fig and walnut sauce, paired with Blanc de Blancs (NV), followed by cream of butternut squash soup with roasted apples, paired with Vintner’s Select White (NV) and Blush (NV), then apple cider brined grilled pork chop served with golden raisin and sausage bread pudding and haricots verts, paired with Chardonnay ’07, Apple wine (NV) and the Cabernet Sauvignon ’06.

Dessert will be pumpkin caramel tart, paired with Late Harvest Vidal Blanc ’06, followed by a cheese course of Buche de Chevre, Dorothea, Mountain Gorgonzola with multigrain crackers, paired with the Cabernet Franc ’06.