Marburg Winery's home retail store closes

When news came out about the lineup for the 2009 Uncork York tour, Marburg Estate Winery was missing from among the group that took part in it the past couple years.

Now I understand why. A note on the winery's Web site indicates that the retail store that had been open at the home of Andy and Joan Smith permanently closed yesterday. The store and home, with a Spring Grove mailing address, took a few lefts and right off the main road to find, but the time I was there to taste yielded a couple of wines I liked (admittedly, my palate really leans toward dry) and a spread of munchies and desserts to die for.

The note on the site indicates that private tasting will be available in the near future and that its stand at the Hanover Market will cotinue to be open on Saturdays from 6 a.m. to noon at 210 East Chestnut St. Wine orders also can be placed by calling 717.633.7760.

Sixteen wineries set for Farm Show stint

OK, I admit. I always head to the Farm Show in Harrisburg as much to watch the rodeo as anything else. But, almost a year into this blog, I'll have to add the "Culinary Connection" section of the show to my list of places to visit.

According to the Pennsylvania Wine & Wineries site, these wineries will be appearing at the show, which starts next Saturday, Jan. 10, and runs through Jan. 17. Results of the Farm Show competition held recently at the Rutgers Fruit Research and Extension Center in Cream Ridge, N.J. , also will be announced.

Jan. 10-11: Eagle Rock Winery, Christian W. Klay Winery, Mount Hope Estate & Winery, Starr Hill Winery
Jan. 12-13: Paradocx Vineyard, Glades Pike Winery, Naylor Wine Cellars, Chaddsford Winery
Jan. 14-15: Shade Mountain Winery, Long Trout Winery, Adams County Winery, Benigna’s Creek Vineyard & Winery
Jan. 16-17: Brookmere Winery & Vineyard, Nissley Vineyards, Sand Castle Winery, Blue Mountain Vineyards

The skinny on buying grapes

So a reader, Marc Plesse, asks by e-mail: "I stumbled across your site. My question is, can you buy grapes from a vineyard to make wine at home? Have you done this, any recommendations, etc.? I live in the Brandywine area."

And Lee Miller, from Chaddsford Winery, takes a few minutes off from celebrating her birthday and New Year's to offer this insight. Thanks Lee.

"Like most things, the answer is 'it depends' . . . on the vineyard. Usually those of us with large vineyards sell by the ton and pick mechanically with a harvester into one ton bulk bins. So it's a bit of a bother to sell a few pounds to a home winemaker. BUT, some of the smaller vineyards who pick by hand might be willing to have someone come out and pick with them and sell small quantities. I would suggest they contact Carole and Jim Kirkpatrick at Kreutz Creek Vineyards or Dave Hoffman at Paradocx. If not, I would keep trying the smaller vineyards, maybe Stargazers in particular."

Plesse said he won a home wine-making kit through a raffle and thought he'd give it a try.

Any more questions regarding wines or winemaking? Just direct them to editorp@comcast.net.

Happy New Year, and what's ahead in 2009

I felt like the best way to wrap up 2008 on this blog was to ask the winery association heads in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia to look ahead to 2009. You can find their responses below.

To all, a very happy and healthy new year. For those crunched by all that has happened these past few months, here's hoping that the new year offers a quick turnaround and an abundance of optimism.

Jennifer Eckinger, spokesperson, Pennsylvania Wine Association:
"PA has had a strong growth over the past few years and each year it seems that approximately 10 new wineries open their doors. In the latest listing of limited wineries that I received from the PLCB it showed 135 licensed wineries. Several of the wineries are looking to open in the coming year and others are dormant licenses. Averaging out the wineries that will be starting up in the coming year, I anticipate more than 115 wineries that will be open to the public."

Kevin Atticks, executive director, Maryland Wineries Association:
"My guesstimate is we will have at least six wineries licensing in 2009," he said this morning. You can find those listed on the Maryland wines site. "Most of them are up there [on the site]. Two aren't there yet. And we're launching two new wine trails, which is pretty exciting for us." Neither has a name yet. One will encompass Eastern Shore wineries, and the other will bring together southern Maryland wineries. As for one big issue for '09? Same one as last year and the year before that. "We'll spend the first half of the year in the state capitol," he said, "attempting to clean up some ancient alcohol laws." It's an ongoing effort, he admitted, that has a ways to go.

Annette Boyd, director of the Virginia Wine Marketing Office:
"We currently have 144 wineries in Virginia. Up from 131, this time last year. This number is dynamic since we always have a few wineries that close in addition to the ones that open. To average this, I’d say we usually have about 15 new wineries open a year. But that number is brought down by the few wineries that close in the same year. I’d say one of the largest issues that Virginia wineries will face in 2009 will be continued zoning issues from local governments that want to separate agricultural practices from manufacturing and retail practices that are all important parts of any farm winery business. Most small farm wineries are dependent on tourism to build their customer base."

First 'chocolate sighting' at Crossing on Sunday

Wrote the other day about the Riedel workshop at CrossingVineyards in Washington Crossing, Pa. Proprietor Christine Carroll, also the director of marketing and public relations, wrote in an e-mail that they were pleased with Sunday's turnout. And the way it worked out, and this is my line not hers, those who left had a chance to head home, watch the Eagles win, and toast to the victory with the king of all wine-drinking vessels.

Carroll noted that they sell Riedel at their store, and to participants in the workshops they offer a 20 percent discount on the day of the class. She said the next clas is scheduled for Sunday, Jan. 25. "So anyone who is interested in buying Riedel at a good discount can take the class," she wrote. "For $99, participants get a 4 glass tasting set, the class (including wine tasting) and the discount. When you take the 20% off, CVW is about competitive with Amazon for the purchase of Riedel glassware."

Today is the end of the current promotion that revolves around free shipping on case purchases. They've still yet to decide whether to continue that in the new year.

With the calendar being replaced after tonight, many wineries roll into the new year with at least one promotion centered around chocolate. Some wait until February and Valentine's Day. Crossing Vineyards is planning to hold a wine and chocolate pairing class at 2 p.m. this Sunday, Jan. 4. The course will be led by winery sommelier Eric Cavatore and chocolate and confectionary aficionado Stacey Glynn-Brady, store manager for Lindt & Sprüngli chocolates.

According to a press release, they will share tips on the finer points of producing chocolate and wine, what creates the variety of flavors in both, and how to enjoy the two together.

Lindt chocolate still is made from a “top-secret” recipe, devised in the 1800s by Swiss Master Chocolatier Rodolphe Lindt, who invented the first melting chocolate with the creation of the “conching” machine, according to Lindt history. The delicacies produced by parent company Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprüngli AG also are influenced by the Sprüngli family, confectioners whose recipes date back to 1845

Cost of the course is $35 and includes wine and chocolate sampling, learning materials and the Lindt Chocolate bar of the participant’s choice. Reservations can be made by calling 215.493.6500, ext. 19, or by going to the winery Web site.

Label this winery eager to share info

Opened a bottle of Albarino, a dry white we had bought from Black Ankle Vineyards in Mt. Airy, Md., earlier this year. It was one we tasted during a visit and really liked; that and the fact that it's almost a novelty, difficult to find from anyplace in the world outside of Spain and still a very rare commodity coming out of the East Coast. Luscious just to sip or with seafood, it was a perfect complement to a post Christmas meal.

But this isn't a post so much about the wine as the winery and its decision to provide so much detail on the back label. On the back of my bottle, for instance, was the following:

Geology: Decomposing slate laced with veins of quartz

Slope orientation: North

Number of vines/acre: 1895

Yield/per acre: 2.6 tons

Date of harvest: September 18

Quantity produced: 80 cases

I've spent much of my time with this blog writing about what's inside the bottle. But a lot of research has been done on the value of the labels when it comes to sales. Mark Chien, the first wine grape extension agent for Penn State Cooperative Extension, wrote in a newsletter last month that, on the whole, this state's wineries need to put more time and thought into their labels. This came in the middle of a review of the Farm Show competition held in New Jersey. Chief wrote:

"Some comments from judges on topics other than wine . . . as a group, Pennsylvania wineries need to upgrade the quality of their labels including design, color schemes, freshness, cleanliness, etc. Packaging and design are WAY out of my area of expertise except as a consumer. But there is no denying the importance of design to selling wines. One person commented that he would not buy a particular wine because the label looked amateurish and gave the impression that the wine would be also. I admit, most of our wines are hand sold so maybe it isn’t quite as important here but we need to be thinking past our own tasting rooms into the realm of popular and critical wine consumerism. It was also pointed out that too many Pennsylvania wines carry proprietary names and do not indicate what grape varieties are in the wine. This goes against the trend by most wineries to include more information about the wine, not less."

I wrote to Ed Boyce, co-owner of Black Ankle, asking why they decided to put so much information on the label. His response?

"The idea for the back labels was to communicate that we are focused on the vineyards, and that we are serious about the wines first and foremost [we need to fight the stereotype of the typical eastern wine]," he wrote. "We loosely patterned the back labels on the the Calera labels [you can see them on the Calera Web site); we would like to do a map like they do, but haven't yet figured out how to make it work for us."

Black Ankle opened in September and has kept limited hours compared to most other wineries in the region. Yet, between those visiting the winery and the numerous other locations around Maryland where the wines are sold, Boyce said sales have been a "bit wild. We are almost out of Chardonnay and Gruner Veltliner, and the Albarino is not too far behind," he wrote. "The reds are actually selling even faster, but we started out with a lot more of those. Anyway, we are pretty happy with the first few months!"

Look for Kog Hill site in next week or 2

Have spent plenty of time writing about three of the Pennsylvania wine trails, not intentionally ignoring a fourth one, the Berks County Wine Trail. These eight wineries fill in the gap between the Leigh Valley trail to the east and what would informally be called the Uncork York trail that encompasses wineries in and around York and Gettysburg.

Kog Hill Winery, located in Morgantown, Pa., is among those eight members. And for every Chaddsford and Black Ankle and Crossing Vineyards that has poured big sums of time and money into their operation, there are probably twice as many wineries that while scaled down by comparison have carved their own niche in the regional market.

This winery has no vineyard; it contracts with other grape producers and then turns that juice into 21 wines, a line that’s predominantly sweet. Brad Jordan, a member of the Kog Hill “family,” was at the winery Sunday afternoon when I called. He said that the business has come through this year pretty well, crediting much of that because of their prices. “We only have one bottle over $25; that’s our ice wine,” he said. “Other than that that all of them below $20 [one or two bottoming out below $10]. I think that’s the reason we’re doing so well. You get really good value . . . and the prices are so low compared to other wines.”

Jordan said the tastes of the region dictate a line heavy on sweet wines. Their best-seller is a Sunset Blush, which he compared to rose or a blush. The Kog Hill blueberry wine also has been a big seller. Perhaps the next release will match those others in sales, a blueberry Merlot. Jordan said that should be in the bottled in the next two weeks. To his knowledge, the only other winery that sells something similar is in Alaska. It should be available for sale by Valentine’s Day.

Tastings at the winery are $3, and allow visitors to sample as many of Kog Hill’s wines as they care to. Among some of the other additions to the business in 2009 will be an upgraded Web site, at www.koghillwinery.com, which is expected to be up and running in the next week or two. And that will facilitate a more vigorous program of Internet sales.

Jordan said the winery is hoping to add a weekly happy hour that might run 4 to 8 p.m. on Fridays or Saturdays starting in the late spring, which would include live acoustic music. By that time, visitors should be able to sample some new “concoctions” the winery is planning to introduce, a blend of some of the wines that Kog Hill already produces.