The Event Grapevine: Dec. 19-21

Most wineries have wrapped up their events for the year, concentrating on retail sales as the holidays approach. One exception is

Woodhall Wine Cellars in Parkton, Md. For those who missed the event last weekend or liked it so much they want to return, the winery will hold a More Cookies and Wine Sale this weekend. It wil run Saturday and Sunday, noon to 4 p.m. Bring the kids to frost sugar cookies. Enjoy a cup of hot mulled wine (the kids get hot chocolate) and pick out your case of holiday wine at the “first 100 days” discount price of $100. We’ll be featuring gift items from Moose Ridge Alpacas, The Pampered Chef, and jewelry by Silpada and crafts by Victor DiPace.

Oh, and tell Debbie and Al that I said hello.

Also, you can leave the winery and step next store to Patricia Della for a gourmet wine dinner. The five courses are fixed at $50, plus tax and gratuity. Here’s the menu.

MENU
- Scallops with a key lime gastrique

- Butternut squash bisque
- Mixed greens with candied pecans, dried apricots, and apple slices with maple vinaigrette

- Macadamia nut encrusted lamb chops with pineapple BBQ sauce
or
- Fillet mignon filled with herb goat cheese and served with balsamic reduction
- Bailey’s ice cream with Kahlúa whipped cream

The restaurant is open Thursday through Sunday evenings from 5 to 9 p.m., by reservation. For reservations, call 410.357.5078.

Otherwise, here’s what’s happening this weekend and beyond.


PENNSYLVANIA WINERIES

Chaddsford Winery, Chaddsford: Open noon to 6 p.m. throughout the holidays, except for Christmas and New Year’s, http://www.chaddsford.com

Clover Hill Winery, Breinigsville: Sparkling wine tasting, Dec. 27-31, all locations, http://www.cloverhillwinery.com

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

Country Creek Winery, Telford: Local string trio, Saturday, 1 to 3 p.m., 133 Cressman Road, http://www.countrycreekwinery.com/

Crossing Vineyards & Winery, Washington Crossing: Riedel Crystal Wine-Tasting workshop ($$), Sunday, Dec. 28, 2 p.m., 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.; Candle Light Friday/Happy Hour, the last Friday of every month, 5 to 8 p.m.; satellite shop opened at 17 Lincoln Square, Gettysburg, http://www.hauserestate.com/

Kreutz Creek Vineyards, West Grove: Music at West Chester tasting room, 44 E. Gay St., Fridays and Saturdays, 6 to 9 p.m., http://www.kreutzcreekvineyards.com/

Moon Dancer Vineyards & Winery, Wrightsville: Music every Friday (6 to 9 p.m.), Saturday (2 to 5 p.m.) and Sunday (2 to 5 p.m.); holiday brunch ($$), Sunday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., http://www.moondancerwinery.com

Naylor Winery, Stewartstown: December Weekends, Fridays and Saturdays (11 a.m. to 6 p.m.), and Sundays (noon to 5 p.m.); cookies, cheeses, fruits and hot spiced wine, www.naylorwine.com

North Wales Winery and Tasting Room, Montgomeryville: Open noon to 9 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 20-24, 26-28, 30-31; Bonnie Hauck’s artwork show, Saturday, 1 to 5 p.m., http://www.cardinalhollowwinery.com/

Penns Woods Winery, Chadds Ford: Tasting room hours, Wednesdays-Fridays, noon until dark, Saturdays, 11 a.m. until dark, Sundays, noon until dark, http://www.pennswoodswinery.com/

Va La Vineyards, Avondale: New holiday hours starting Dec. 1, weekdays, 12:01 to 5:27 p.m., Saturday and Sundays, 12:02 to 5:48 p.m., http://www.valavineyards.com/

VyneCrest Vineyards & Winery, Breinigsville: Christmas open house, Friday til 8 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Christkindlmarkt in historic Bethlehem, Saturday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., www.vynecrest.com

Wycombe Vineyards, Furlong: Tasting and sales rooms will be open Friday through Sunday, noon to 6 p.m., http://www.wycombevineyards.com

MARYLAND WINERIES

Black Ankle Winery, Mt. Airy: Open for business, winner of Maryland Governor’s Cup in 2008; winter hours start Dec. 1, Saturday and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m., other times by appointment; festive afternoon in the vineyard, Saturday, Dec. 6, 3 to 5 p.m., information on winery at this link

Boordy Vineyards, Hydes: Celtic Christmas Weekends ($$), every weekend in December, winery link

Frederick Cellars, Frederick: Holiday Shopping for Guys, tonight until 9 p.m., Saturday, noon to 9 p.m., Sunday, 1 to 6 p.m.; Holiday Troubadour Music by John Durant, Sunday, 4 to 6 p.m.; plus in-store free wine tasting, Saturday, 1 to 4 p.m., at Trout Liquors in Braddock Heights, and get a special 10 percent discount on the wines being poured that day. Call the winery at 301.668.0311 or Trout Liquors at 301.371.4400 for details, winery link

Linganore Winecellars/Berrywine Plantation, Mt. Airy: Simmering Holiday Wines / Food Pairing, daily through December ($$), sample simmering, spiced grape and apple wines, along with inspired holiday food pairings, Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sundays, noon to 6 p.m., winery link

Woodhall Wine Cellars, Parkton: More Cookies and Wine Sale, Saturday and Sunday, noon to 4 p.m., winery link

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

$$ – Admission charge

NY wine foundation cutback threatened

My "partner" from www.drinklocalwine.com sent an e-mail out after reading in yesterday's Rochester, N.Y, paper that the state's governor is thinking of significantly cutting back its support to the New York Wine & Grape Foundation. For an Eastern wine industry that's still comparatively young, at least when held up to California, this is bad news indeed. I'm going to post McIntyre's note with the link to his blog, then will post any reaction from winery association officials as I get them.
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Dear fellow Regional Wine Writers

In case you didn't see it, Thursday's Rochester Democrat & Chronicle carried a report on NY Gov. Patterson's proposal to slash state support for the New York Wine & Grape Foundation.

While understandable in the current economic climate, such a move would have important implications - not only for the NY wine industry, but for wineries across the country. I've posted an item on my blog about it, with links to the story itself as well as to the Governor's Web site.My concern - shared by Jeff Siegel, my co-conspirator on DrinkLocalWine.com - is that other states may follow suit and cut their support for local wine industries.

Here's how you can help:

Post about this on your blogs, too, so your readers will know how the NY cuts might affect wineries in Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Missouri, Michigan or elsewhere.

Post a comment on my blog (and on any other blogs where you see this issue raised - let's cross pollinate!) with TrackBacks or whatever blog-toy you can think of.

E-mail Jim Tresize of the NYW&GF to voice your support (I've cc'd him on this e-mail, so you'll have his address).

Send your blog posts to Governor Patterson - show him that the Foundation's work resonates outside the state.

Encourage your readers to do likewise.Given the economic situation, we probably won't have much effect. But I'm certain we'll have no effect whatsoever if we don't speak up.I'll be opening a New York wine this weekend, and raising a glass in support of the NY Wine & Grape Foundation.

Dave McIntyre

Sand Castle kiosk among '08 highlights

These 2008 highlights come off the e-letter from Sand Castle Winery in Erwinna, Pa.

• Great Dry Weather Aug & Sept.
helped to create a Great Harvest

• Repairs of River Road finished and
after 4 years the road is open from
Easton to Bristol both directions!

• 20th Anniversary of the first bottle of
wine sold at Sand Castle

• Partnership with Open Aire Affairs
for catered events and weddings

• Kiosk in Montgomery Mall

• Distribution of the wines to Montana,
Michigan and West Virginia in
addition to New Jersey and
Pennsylvania.

And I'll mention this January party:

Hit the New Year in Style
Everyone is invited to our Holiday Party in January
Sunday January 11, 2009 2-4 pm
Please RSVP by Jan. 7th (name and number of attending)
Phone: 610. 294.9181; Fax: 610. 294.9174; E-mail: winesand@epix.net

Vynecrest alters its Web appearance

The Web site for Vynecrest Winery in Breinigsville, Pa., has a new look. Talked to owner John Landis yesterday and he said they unveiled it earlier this week.

“We’re still feeling the pain,” Landis said, laughing. “Some things just didn’t go the way we wanted. But we were anxious to try it out.”

Landis said the site rearranges some information and includes a link to its award-winning wines. At some point they’d like to add more links to other wineries and regional hotels, motels and entertainment sites.

Otherwise, things generally are quiet outside of the holiday sales. Landis said business was brisk for their recent holiday open house. Perhaps the only other news is the winery’s participation in Christkindlmarkt in Historic Bethlehem. Vynecrest is producing gluhwein, or mulled wine, for the festival.

The one other thing Landis touted was an instructional series on wine series on youtube.com. “Go to pawinelife,” Landis said. “There’s a gentleman in your area [York] who’s doing videos at different wineries on different subjects. There’s like seven or eight different wineries, one in Adams County, a couple others as well. They are sort of interesting for people who want to learn a little about wine.”

'Study session' brings us to Chaddsford

Among the photos: Eric and Ronnie, a shot in the cellar, the table in the library, and a lens full of those big, big bottles.

Brought Daily News columnist Ronnie Polaneczky out to Chaddsford Winery last week and we both enjoyed the hospitality of owners Lee and Eric Miller. Oh? Ronnie? She was off. I’m a few days from leaving for the Harrisburg Patriot-News, so I’m basking in the farewell tour. That’s a lovely limbo to occupy for a bit.

Eric took us out back and then through the cellar, where we tasted a couple of Cab Francs, if my memory serves me. Showing us the storage area, he mentioned that the price of French oak barrels has started to come down. Certainly those in the industry know the numbers, but learning that those barrels now cost $800 apiece, down from a higher of about $1000 because the euro has lost some value, made me appreciate why some of those wines cost what they do. A grand??!! Talk about being over a barrel …

From there, along with Lee, we headed into what they call their library, located downstairs at the base of the steps. Lee said they use the room for special tastings when “there are between two and six people and we want an intimate, friendly atmosphere.” She said they get in there a couple of times a month. A table sits in the middle of the room, with shelves lining all the walls and laden with what the Millers call vanity bottles. There are definitely not something you bring to dinner. They are a mixture of 3 liters, 5 liters, 9 liters and 12 liters, she said. Some fill a lot of glasses at parties, while others are donated for auctions and other charity events.

For someone like me who comes home and has a half-glass or full glass of wine, that 12-liter bottle would take weeks to drain.

Atticks has sites set on Md. Web upgrade

The executive director of the Association of Maryland wines and I have had an ongoing conversation since I began my blog in April. Kevin Atticks has been a big help, both in providing fodder for stories and offering encouragement.

His association’s Web site serves as a reservoir for stories, and that site only will get better over the next few months. Atticks said by phone the other day that he has been dabbling with a program called Joomla! It’s a free, open source content management system for publishing content on the Web, one that should make the site more dynamic and add a number of new components for its visitors.

Noting that it’s a system developed by programmers that lacks a comprehensive instruction guide. Atticks said he has spent an extended period researching and now experimenting to learn it. But the payoff, he noted, should be significant. “There are some amazing features,” he said. “Blogging is the least of what I can do. It does it very easily, but beyond that, with the flip of a switch, put your own survey on there. Polls are built in [and you can rotate random images and articles]. It would automatically rank your most-visited blog entries; very, very dynamic in how it lays things out. You can turn on a log-in feature so you can create a special section for people to get on there. Something that’s of interest to me is, for our winery members, they always have equipment that they want to buy and sell, so there’s a built-in classified feature. It comes all set up so you don’t need to know how to do any of that. You just give it a title, turn it on and tell the program who is allowed in and out.”

Other features currently being developed, called extensions, will give the site even more power and versatility. Of course, one thing at a time. Atticks said he has developed a ghost site to try the program out. A professor in journalism and communications at Loyola College in Maryland (who earned his master’s in environmental journalism from the University of Colorado at Boulder and his doctorate in communications design from the University of Baltimore), he admits that the push to transform the site will require the free time he gets during semester break. Expect to see the first wave of improvements by early January.

“The first new thing that we’re going to do is add a blog feature,” he said, “and it’s probably going to be me and we’re looking to hire someone [to write about Maryland wines and wineries]. And not promo stuff, but legitimate stuff that’s happening, like a conversation you had with a winemaker about a cool new thing they’re doing. Something that’s not promotable; it’s not a PR thing. It’s not going to drive people necessarily to the winery, but it’s of interest to people who like wine.”

Morton gathering draws from several states

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Looking down the driveway to Black Ankle Winery in Maryland.



I mentioned in post earlier today about the Karamoor wines. It’s a name that crops up, so to speak, during conversations with a number of regional winemakers, primarily because of the connection to consultant Lucie Morton.

Some of her disciples gathered a couple of weeks ago in Southeastern Pennsylvania for an annual two-day conference. They discussed any number of issues the first day, tasted samples of wine they all brought, then had a chance for additional fellowship that evening. In fact, I happened to pull Boordy Vineyards partner Rob Deford out of a game of pool with a mid-evening phone call. The next day they hit some more topics, then headed off to look at a vineyard owned by Brad Galer, by Longwood Gardens in Chester County. Galer recently bought what was formerly Folly Hill Vineyards. Morton is assisting with the renaissance going on there. That winery doesn’t figure to reopen until 2010 at the earliest.

Deford was asked what it is about Morton’s beliefs that attract those in the business to her.

“It just is the big Q word,” he said, “it’s all about quality and forward-looking. Our time horizon is about 10 years, and we talk about every step from preparing the soil all the way up to finishing the wines, and what happens sort of off agenda is as important as on agenda, which is we’re talking about every minute step in making the best possible wines. I cant say what anyone of us do is any different than the outside world; I just believe that the commitment and the focus on the vineyard is what’s so critical here.”

Around 20 people were invited, from wineries such as Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyards in Maryland and TheBoxwoodWinery in Middleburg, Va., about 50 miles south of Washington, D.C. Attendees also tasted the Karamoor juices that I tried yesterday at Allegro. And Morton also has worked with Black Ankle Vineyards in Mt. Airy, Md., winner of the 2008 Governor’s Cup for a Bordeaux blend called Crumbling Rock. Based on their success and from what I’ve tasted of the Karamoor just-off-the-vine juices, this evolution of mid-Atlantic wines is about to take a significant step forward.

Deford said those attending share a lot of stories about success and hardships. “There are some very difficult things happening in vineyards,” he said. “Sometimes you need to know what’s going on with people and that you’re not the only one suffering.”

They also veered into a number of issues, such as “spray schedules and environmentally friendly viticulture and stuff like that, but it’s a tremendous learning experience. The greatest proof for us [however] is the wines. And the wines we are tasting here are absolutely eye-popping. There’s a whole other generation of mid-Atlantic viticulture that’s coming along that’s going to be just really, really exciting.”