Frederick Cellars adds bistro to downtown facility

Frederick (Md.) Cellars has just opened a bistro with a casual dining menu that allows for a chance to try one of its wines with a salad, wrap, melt or gourmet pizza. They'll serve that wine as a tasting, by the glass or as a group in a flight. You can purchase lunch or dinner, and expect either live jazz or blues if you stop by on a Friday or Saturday night. Check out the menu at this link.

Even if you've never been to the area, the winery shouldn't be difficult for you to find, located on one of the main streets at 221 N. East St. It's among a handful of wineries in the region located in the downtown district. As for the wines, they're a mix of red and white, a few getting merit from state Governor's Cup competitions in 2008 and 2009. We wound up taking home a bottle of City Lights, a semi-dry, something that normally doesn't appeal to me as much as the dry reds and whites. But that one did. And the line goes drier and sweeter than that one. They've been lauded the most for their Merlot and Riesling, but give them all a try and see what you think.

Ahead for Sugarloaf: stomp, wine and food dinner, and release of newest Bordeaux blend

First met partner Jim McKenna and the folks at Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyards in Comus, Md., which sits on the border of Frederick and Montgomery counties, by phone sometime last year. This summer we traveled down to the scenic spot where Sugarloaf Mountain serves as the backdrop. Pretty tasting room, comfy patio, good eats, plus a line of wines that appeals to all tastes.

They are one of the few wineries (but the number is starting to grow) that holds an actual grape stomp, this one schedule for the weekend of Oct. 17-18. There will be tours and music and food and, yes, prizes for those who stomp the most juice. Online advance tickets are $12, and tickets at the door are $15 for ages 21 and over. Those under 21 are free. You'll need you ID. You can find out more at the winery's Web site.

Several Sugarloaf wines are served at the Kennedy Center Roof Terrace Restaurant in Washington, D.C., site of a food/wine pairing dinner starting at 7 on Wednesday, Oct. 7. Sugarloaf's wines to be poured will be its 2008 Pinot Grigio, 2007 Cabernet Franc and 2007 Comus. Mike McGarry, an owner of Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard, and Carl DiManno, SMV’s winemaker, will discuss winemaking and wines. No offense guys, but I'd go just to meet Lucie Morton, an internationally renowned viticulturist and consultant to Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard, who will also participate in the discussion. She is putting her stamp on a number of new wineries throughout the region. Tickets are $95 per person. Reservations are necessary. Call 202.416.8555 or visit www.opentable.com. For more information www.roofterracerestaurant.com.

Finally, the winery is about to add a third wine to the family of Bordeaux blends that draw names from classical mythology. There's Comus and Circe and soon to be EVOE! (yes, with the exclamation point). They say the wine is named after the joyous cry of the ancient Bacchanal at festivals honoring Bacchus, the god of wine. No doubt that might be what lingerers at the grape stomp will be yelling after a day of fun. They will start opening some bottles out of the lot of 150 cases of the wine, a 2007 vintage aged for 24 months, at a by invitation only prerelease party on Saturday night, Nov. 7, then be available to the public thereafter. Purchases will be no more than two to a customer, with the wine available for sale only at the winery. The price per bottle figures to land between $42 and $44.

McKenna noted by phone the other day that they if they had any debate at all about the wine, it was over whether to use the exclamation points at the end of EVOE. "I hate exclamation points as a general rule," he said, "but in this context I thought that the exclamation point would catch a few more eyes, and that's the name of the game for merchandising and marketing. What until you see the label. It's gorgeous."

Waltz Vineyards adds expands tasting/events area at their site in Manheim

The French Oak Barrel Room: Where the wine
and its friends go to relax.

Touting wines from Waltz Vineyards in Manheim in an article in the November/December issue of In Central Pennsylvania that's put out by the Harrisburg Patriot-News. They have a good mix of mostly dry wines, so that alone merits my attention and interest. And while you cringe before tasting the juiced of some new wineries, you won't with this place. Interesting the strides they've made in terms of business, not a member of any wine trails yet pulling in a lot of folks from the surrounding community, including Mt. Gretna.

And they've found a clientele willing to pay more for a bottle than you'd expect to pay in this part of Pennsylvania with prices ranging from $18 (Rose) and $23 (a red that's an equal blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot) up to $36 (Merlot) and $42 (Cabernet Sauvignon). You might need mapquest or your GPS to find the place, but it's worth the trip just to see the Tuscan designed tasting room and what they are called their French Oak Barrel Room (as you see by the photos, called that for an obvious reason).

Fall hours are noon to 6 p.m. Thursda and Friday, including Thanksgiving Friday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Monday through Wednesday by appointment.

Debbie Morris: Woodhall's superb 'cruise director'

I've mentioned before the name of Debbie Morris, who is about as jack-of-all-trades as one can get at Woodhall Wine Cellars in Parkton, Md., and is one of the nicest people we've had the pleasure of meeting at any of the wineries we've stopped by. The subject of a note in the Woodhall newsletter for October-November, the piece notes that Morris has been part of the Woodhall team for more than eight years and schedules all the winery' special events: private parties, tastings and weddings. Indeed, the blurb adds, "There's practically no part of the Woodhall operation that Debbie hasn't participated in." And, I'll add, done it with a fabulous demeanor.

The newsletter notes that harvest time also is busy at a place such as Woodhall, which is importing all of its grapes these days. The newsletter notes that grapes for its 2009 Barbera will come from Jennie Schmidt's Golden Run Vineyard in Sudlersville, Md. That vineyards provided the grapes for Woodhall's 2008 Barbera, which took a gold medal at this year's Governor's Cup.

They'll also be proceddig Merlot grapes from Wick Dudley on the Eastern Shore and Chardonnay grapes from Galloping Goose Vineyards in Hampstead. Wrapping up the section under HARVEST, the newsletter notes: "Winemaking is indeed a magical trip and you, our loyal friends and patrons, are invited along for the ride."

Va La site gets a new look, but old charm remains

Looks like Va La Vineyards in Avondale, Pa., recently made some improvements to its Web site. The winery is a must-visit if you're anywhere in the mid-Atlantic looking for good wine to sample, as is Chaddsford and Pinnacle Ridge and Allegro in Pennsylvania and Black Ankle in Maryland.

The wines at Va La are superior, using a number of grapes you won't see made into juice at other regional wineries. And it's a comfy atmosphere, either out in front of the main tasting bar downstairs or relaxing at a small table upstairs amid the brights colors and vivid shapes of whichever local artist's work is being featured. And I could listen to owner Anthony Vietri talk baseball for hours (while sipping the Silk or Mahongany or Castana or other unique names that grace his labels).

Why else do I like the place? The sense of humor, found in large doses either in person or on the Web site. To wit, on the page under TO CONTACT:

Your suffering shall be legendary...

Attempting to contact Va La has been likened to attempting to contact the dead.
We can not lie. We are farmers who actively avoid electronic devices. For the latest info on hours, etc, we usually make a telephone recording of our voices for people to listen to. Hopefully, the info on the recording is somewhat accurate. Occasionally, people have been known to leave a message on the offhand chance that one of us accidentally wanders by the answering machine.

610 268 2702

And

We can accommodate groups of six or more persons by reservation only. We regretfully cannot accommodate buses, stretch limousines, wedding parties, professional tour groups, or ocean liners during our regular weekend hours. For reservations, info, pricing, private events, life counseling, root canals, etc, please leave a message for Ms Kelly at 610 742 3981, or by computer device: events@valavineyards.com

Birds helping themselves in NY; state expects to top 300 producers by sometime next year

Saw a few notes in the latest weekly e-letter from the New York Wine & Grape Foundation, courtesy of executive director Jim Trezise, that warrented passing along.

2009 GRAPE HARVEST is slowly getting under way, with both similarities and some differences among the various regions. Every region is late in terms of ripening, but recent decent weather has helped, and flavors seem to be developing well, a key component in wine quality.

Each region has unique challenges, and one of those for Long Island is birds, which migrate annually and feast off the great grapes. Many growers have responded by covering their vineyards with huge nets—but now the birds have figured out how to eat the grapes through the nets!

Keep up with the harvest through Cornell Cooperative Extension’s great “Veraison to Harvest” newsletter at http://grapesandwine.cals.cornell.edu/extension.

NEW WINERIES just keep popping up all over the state, confirming that the wine industry is about the only growth industry in New York State. Today there are 273 fully licensed wine producers, 33 satellite stores (linked to wineries but in other locations), and 15 pending winery licenses, meaning we’ll probably top 300 actual producers next year if not sooner.

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While some of the pending licenses are in traditional wine regions, an increasing number are elsewhere, like The Saratoga Winery (www.thesaratogawinery.com) in that tony horse-racing and spa city north of Albany; and Elfs Farm (www.elfsfarm.com), a combination cider mill, farm stand, and now farm winery in the Lake Champlain region bordering Vermont, which has an increasing number of grape growers and wineries.

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We commissioned the New York State Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) to conduct an updated New York Winery Survey using 2008 data (vs. 2003, the last survey), which should appear sometime in October. But even that will be outdated, given the way the industry keeps growing.

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(Vigna note: A story on the winebusiness.com site in February 2009 showed New York with 232 bonded wineries in operation, fourth highest in the country and the most outside the West Coast triumverate of California, Washington and Oregon. Virginia was sixth with 152, Pennsylvania was next with 127, and Maryland was tied with Arizona for 20th with 37).

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RIESLING keeps growing in acreage, according to NASS, which every five years conducts a vineyards survey (different from the winery survey). In 2001, there were 461 bearing acres, and another 30 planned; in 2006 there were 683 bearing with 103 planned; and based on my own anecdotal evidence, I would estimate there are now about 1,000 acres of Riesling, with 90% in the Finger Lakes region.

Serpent Ridge among 3 MD wineries pouring at tasting/workshop fund-raiser with VA wineries

I don't think when I posted about the Maryland/Virginia "pourdown" sponsored by Marylanders for Better Wine & Beers Laws that I mentioned the price to attend the seminar/tasting. Was reminded of that by an e-letter that came from one of Maryland's bet new wineries, Serpent Ridge Vineyards in Westminster.

Serpent Ridge will join Black Ankle Vineyard and Bordeleau Vineyards as represeentatives of Maryland wineries. Michael Shaps Wines, Chrysalis Vineyards and Barboursville Vineyards,, all from Virginia, will share their wines at the function on Thursday, Oct. 8, at the Whittemore House, Dupont Circle, 1526 New Hampshire Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. The wine and cheese tasting will last from 6 to 9 p.m. and will cost $59. You can register at http://www.giramondowine.com/events. A portion of the proceeds will go toward the fight to legalize wine shipping in Maryland.

The events also will include workshops on understanding the terroirs in both states and on the politics of wine in both states.

Also wanted to note that Serpent Ridge is planning to hold a second wine dinner/demonstration with L'Ecole Culinaire School of Cooking sometime in late October. The first time they teamed up, the event sold out quickly.

This dinner will be centered around preparing dishes for your holiday meals paired with Serpent Ridge wines. Reservations will be capped at 20 settings. The announcement on the date should be released soon. And if you don't want to hear it from me, just reach out to them and get on their e-mail list.

The winery has justifiably been touting its recent awards in the 2009 Governor's Cup competition, including a gold medal for a 2007 vintage of a red blend it produces called Basilisk.