Black Ankle birthday (and wine) party on Oct. 3-4

You've read here and elsewhere about Black Ankle Vineyards in Mt. Airy, Md., and the remarkable start that winery has had, both in sales and recognition. It has owned the Maryland Governor's Cup, earning best of show in its first two years of entering wines into the competition. Its Bordeaux (red) blends have won consecutive years, the 2006 Crumbling Rock ($40) winning last year and 2007 Crumbling Rock earning honors just a couple of weeks ago.

And owners Sarah O'Herron and Ed Boyce are proudly touting that its Left-Stone Syrah, which hasn't been released as yet, took first in the Atlantic Seaboard Wine competition.

So if you want to see what all the fuss is about, you might want to circle Oct. 3-4 on your calendar and head to the winery to help celebrate its first anniversdary. The winery will be open noon to 6 p.m. that Saturday and noon to 5 o'clock the next day. And if you can't make down to the winery, here are some other places that Black Ankle wines will be poured over the next six weeks.

Saturday, Sept. 12, from 1 to 4 p.m.
Di Pasquale's Italian Market in Baltimore

Sunday, Sept. 13, all morning
Bethesda Central Farmer’s Market

Tuesday, Sept. 15, at 6 o'clock
Volt at Whitmore Farm
Award-winning chef Bryan Voltaggio will create an elegant 6-course dinner at the certified-organic Whitmore Farm, and Black Ankle's wines will be among those poured for the dinner. For more information, please visit Volt Restaurant or call Volt Restaurant: 301.696.8658.

Friday, Sept. 18 from 4 to 8 p.m.
Wells in Baltimore

Saturday & Sunday, Sept. 19-20, The Maryland Wine Festival in Westminster, Maryland's biggest wine festival

Tuesday, Sept. 22, at 7 p.m.
Chesapeake Wine Company
$25
Enjoy a flight of wine paired with a delicious selection of antipasti in the warm and friendly atmosphere at Chesapeake Wine Company. $5 from every tasting fee goes to benefit Partners in Health.

Thursday, Oct. 8, at 6:30
$49
Drink Local: MD & VA Wine Seminar and Tasting
Whittemore House in Washington, DC

Friday, Oct. 9, from 5 to 8 p.m.
Upcounty Fine Wine & Beer in Clarksburg, MD

Saturday, Oct. 10, from 1 to 5 p.m.
Longmeadow Wine & Liquors in Hagerstown

Friday, Oct. 16, from 4 to 7 p.m.
Bay Ridge Wine & Spirits in Annapolis

Tuesday, Oct. 20, from 4 to 7 p.m.
Mount Airy Liquors in Mt. Airy

Friday, Oct. 23, from 4 to 7 p.m.
Calvert Wine & Spirits in Hunt Valley

Saturday, Oct. 24, from 1 to 2:15 and 3 to 4:15
Great Gatherings in Annapolis
Join us for a fun and casual wine tasting in the home store that specializes in everything you need to have a great time or throw a great party at home! Please contact the store to RSVP in advance.

Thursday, Oct. 29, from 6 to 8 p.m.
Bin604 in Baltimore

Friday, Oct. 30, 4:30 to 7:30
Lyndwood Square Wine & Spirits in Elkridge, MD

Wine 101 starts Monday at Crossing Vineyards

Maybe someday I'll get to teach a Wine 101 course. But, for now, I'll be content to attend them and get out the word about them, including one that Crossing Vineyards and Winery in Washington Crossing, Pa., has cooked up.

The six-course series will debut on Monday, Sept. 14, and then continue the next five Mondays at the winery, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. You can go once or all six times; that's up to you. Visitors will receive an insider’s access to the vineyard and winery - and a taste of Crossing’s wines.

Presenting the Wine 101 courses will be the winery’s French-born sommelier Eric Cavatore, who taught wine and table service at The Restaurant School in Philadelphia . He holds a bachelor’s degree in Restaurant Management/Culinary Arts from Thonon-Les-Bains on the shores of Geneva Lake and worked at fine restaurants in France and the U.S. before joining The Restaurant School.

Cost per course is $30 or $150 for the series. Courses will be presented at the winery, 1853 Wrightstown Road , Washington Crossing, through Oct. 19.

Additional courses are: Sept. 21, “Types of Wine”; Sept. 28, “Wines of the World”; Oct. 5, “White Wine”; Oct. 12, “Red Wine”; and Oct. 19, “Food & Wine Pairing.”

For additional information and registration, call 215.493.6500, ext. 19 or visit the Web site.

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

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

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

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

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

Twin Brook to release Chard Reserve in a few weeks

Been trying to no avail to actually talk to winemaker Jason Price at Twin Brook Winery in Gap, Pa. But he has an excuse, with harvest season just beginning, increasing the hours in the field and in the cellar. We'll eventually catch up.

He did give me enough to post with a short e-mail earlier this week. Twin Brook, a member of the Brandywine Valley Wine Trail, produces eight dry wines, three off-dry wines, and nine sweet wines, including a 2006 Vidal Reserve. The tasting notes describe the Reserve as a sweet, fruity white with hints of guava and pineapple. It sells for $15/bottle.

As for Jason, he writes: "Hey Paul, doing well. Getting geared up for harvest, so we are wicked busy. Chard Reserve is still a couple weeks away. This wine will be perfectly balanced with just the right reduction in acidity, a soft mouthfeel without tasting like a stick of butter and everyone that has tasted it agrees the oak aging was more than agreeable with this Chard. Just like the Naked, this barrel aged Chard is something we are going to be proud to pour. We are everyday (as long as it isn't raining) in the vineyard . . ."

Needless to say, the periods of rain, some heavy, forecast for tonight and tomorrow is the LAST thing that waterlogged regional wineries need at this point.

New York foundation trumpets upcoming Restaurant Week in Buffalo, Rochester

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Filing this item under the heading of things I'd like to see happen in various Pennsylvania and Maryland communities. This note comes from Jim Trezise, the head of the New York Wine & Grape Foundation:

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LOCAL RESTAURANT WEEK is slated for September 21-28 in Buffalo and Rochester, with over 200 restaurants featuring three-course menus for $20.09 along with an array of New York wines and beers.

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Spearheaded by Peter Longo, President of the Buffalo chapter of the New York State Restaurant Association, the program brings together farmers, chefs, suppliers and customers, highlighting the great local products available to consumers in these areas.

In March, 150 restaurants participated in Buffalo, with 75 Rochester restaurants in April. The fall promotion, which we support, will include more restaurants and will occur simultaneously in the two markets. For more information, go to www.localrestaurantweek

Kreutz Creek, Manatawny Creek both looking for volunteers to assist with the harvest

It's getting to that time of the year to pick grapes. If yo haven't done it, you have your choice of a handful of wineries looking for help across Pennsylvania and Maryland. I wouldn't call it backbreaking work; depending on how warm a morning it is you likely will break a sweat. And you might have to brush away a bee or two, but even those aren't as disruptive as they once were. But generally what awaits -- usually a lunch or dinner that includes the uncorking of more than several bottles of wine -- makes you forget about any hardships in the vineyard.

Two wineries looking for help include Kreutz Creek Winery in West Grove and Manatawny Creek Winery in Douglassville. Carole Kirkpatrick in her e-mail said that Kreutz Creek will harvest sometimes on weekends and sometimes during the week, depending upon the ripeness of the grapes. If you want to help, let them know when you're available by calling Carole at 610.869.4412.
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In fact, they enlist help several times during the year, including coming up on Labor Day when they'll do some bottling. If you missed that deadline, they'll give you another shot next Memorial Day.
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Joanne Levengood of Manatawny Creek said in her e-mail that they'll pick grapes from the last week in August until the end of October and ask for volunteers on five or six days during that time period. Since they do not know when the grapes will be ready, they'll call people on their picking list only a few days before the picking day. If interested in being on the volunteer picking list, email (manatawny@aol.com) or phone (610.689.9804) in your:
1. Name,
2. Phone number,
3. Whether you can pick on weekdays or weekends only, and
4. Any lunch preferences (i.e. vegetarian).
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"We will make every attempt to contact everyone on the list at least once," Joanne said.

Logan's View opens at Brown's Farm Market

Logan's View Winery is officially open for business.

Operating out of Brown's Orchards & Farm Market in Loganville, in Pennsylvania's York County, the winery made a soft opening a couple of weeks ago. You'll find the wines available in a room adjacent to the market. Jeff Brown said by phone on Thursday that they have bottled more than 15 wines, including Chardonnary, Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling. As anyone who has shopped at Brown's -- where there's delicious fruit aplenty -- might expect, they also have seven fruit wines for sale, including cherry, blueberry, strawberry and an apple ice wine.

It might be another six months to a year before the red wines that are aging will become available for sale.

Those involved in this project initially talked about a tasting room facility a few miles from the site of the market. That idea has been shelved, with everything being sampled and sold out of an approximately 400-square-foot room at the store, located at 8892 Susquehanna Trail South.

Mentioned in the last post on Logan's View about a potential relationship with the Uncork York trail. If that occurs, it won't likely become official until early next year before the annual spring event.