Maryland Wine Boosters

Despite extreme weather throughout the growing season, 2010 is proving to have been one of the best harvests on record. Reports from around the state indicate that that 2010 vintage will be stellar—perhaps the best in a decade.

So far, 15 vendors have signed up and Johnson is hoping for more. The vendors offer goat and dairy cheeses, honey, beeswax and other candles, baked goods, organic eggs and beef, quilts and stitched items, apple butter, herbal tinctures, maple syrup, herbs, household plants and soaps and creams.

A Better Choice Bakery and Market
16 W. Potomac St.
Brunswick
HOURS:
10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday
10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday
Noon to 5 p.m. Sunday

Next year is the year, advocates have promised, that Maryland residents will be given permission to order wine from wineries and have it shipped directly to their homes. This is legislation that has been long stymied in the state Assembly by wholesalers.

But now attention is also focusing on Maryland’s ban on corkage.

Click through to read the full story in the Washington Post.

Cork 57 has increased their selection of local wines due to growing customer interest in 'drinking local.'  "People have been asking so we've stepped it up for local wines," Brian explains.  

For local wines that go well with Thanksgiving turkey, Brian suggests a Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, or Circe, a Bordeaux blend, from Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard in Comus, on the border of Montgomery and Frederick counties.    The Chardonnay or Cabernet Sauvignon from Elk Run Vineyards, in nearby Mount Airy, are other good choices.  While local wineries produce both red and white wines, Brian especially praises Maryland's white wines.  "The Maryland whites are great right now," says Brian.  St. Michael's Winery, located on the Chesapeake Bay in St. Michael's has an excellent white wine that is a blend of Seyval and Chardonnay, as well as a Merlot that would also be great to serve with Thanksgiving dinner, according to Brian.

OK, I've been a stemware skeptic for many years. The glass was always just a means of getting the wine from the bottle to my mouth without causing people to shake their heads in pity and quickly distance themselves.

I knew that a wine glass was better than a paper cup. I also knew that a bigger bowl was better than a smaller one because the larger space and surface area allowed more effective swirling and helped the wine release more of its aromatics.

But just a few months ago I finally had the chance to go through a formal tasting of several wines each poured into four different Riedel glasses. Now I'm a believer. No question about it. And the difference is prounounced, not subtle, especially in the aromatics. But unless you try the wines side by side you may not even realize what you're missing. As the article below says, the glass can't take anything away from the wine but it can hide things. If you're like me you find yourself drinking from a festival glass more often than not. :-) And that's fine until your realize there is a lot going on that you're missing out on. I liken it to watching a tube TV and then getting your first HD flat panel. Whoa! Nice!! :-)

It's true that some glasses have more impact on a wine, either positive and negative, than others. The difference between putting the wine in the best possible glass vs. the worst possible glass is striking.

That said, I, for one, am not currently planning to make an investment in six different sets of glasses. Even if I could afford it I simply don't have the storage space. But I am going to try to get the right glasses for the wines I drink most frequently. The holidays are coming and you can buy reasonably priced Riedel in Target and Bed, Bath, and Beyond now. So you might consider putting a few different styles on your wish list this year. Or get with a friend or your wine club and split up some four-packs.

I really do encourage you to try playing this game yourself. And please report back. I'd love to hear what you discover!

See the original article at WineSpectator.com

Glassmaker Georg Riedel explains how the shape of the Burgundy glass enhances Pinot Noir flavors.

2010 New World Wine Experience: Riedel Glass Tasting

What’s the one thing that can make a wine taste better? The right stemware

Alison Napjus
Posted: November 1, 2010

At the first seminar of the New World Wine Experience, the very first sip of wine everyone took was from a plain plastic cup,

 

Flavor trumps all when choosing what to put on restaurant menus, but chefs across the country said they have modified their practices over the past year with sustainability in mind, according to a new survey by the James Beard Foundation.

The New York-based foundation's “Sustainability and the Foodservice Industry” survey is based on responses from 173 member chefs.

When asked what their top sustainability concern was, 73 percent of respondents said they were “highly concerned” about food sourcing; 62 percent pointed to profitability; and 62 percent said public health.

All respondents said they see change in the nation’s food system on the horizon, and most said

Sweet Wine - Yum!

NAPA, Calif., Oct. 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A consumer study released today shows that physiology plays a major role in determining wine preferences and that White Zinfandel drinkers are often the most sensitive tasters shattering the myth about sweet wine consumers.

The study was conducted in conjunction with the Consumer Wine Awards at Lodi. Tim Hanni, Master of Wine and originator of the study, says, "We have uncovered a glaring error and misunderstandings by the wine industry that has led to the disenfranchisement of millions of consumers and a significant loss of market share to other beverages."

The study reveals a major disparity between expert and industry opinions about wine quality and wine consumers. According to Dr. Virginia Utermohlen, M.D., Associate Professor at Cornell University, individual differences in taste and smell sensitivity relate to

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Family Festival at the Farm

 

The Frederick County Office of Economic Development and the Agriculture Business Council’s Public Relations Committee would like to invite the general public to participate in the 2010 Family Festival @ the Farm. This free weekend event, scheduled for October 16th and 17th, will provide the general public in Frederick County and around the region an opportunity to learn about Frederick County’s diverse agriculture industry. Rain dates have been set for October 23rd and 24th.

The Family Festival@ the Farm will provide hands-on activities for families that would like to spend a day of fun on the farm. The public will have an opportunity to

Lots of people would be dismayed to find a fungus growing in their refrigerator. Lucie Morton actually likes having them in hers.

 

"These are my experiments," she said recently, grabbing three plastic bags filled with grapevine cuttings from the crisper drawer of the fridge in her Charlottesville home. "I like to practice my fungal identification skills."

And there's always a chance she will discover something new: "I'm quite sure some of these little dudes are causing problems," she said, scrutinizing a sample inside a bag.

Talk with Morton, 59, about her work as an ampelographer, and you will quickly learn that not only does she call fungi "dudes" but she has a fungus named for her.

Phaeoacremonium Mortoniae was christened in 2001 after she helped identify another fungus responsible for "black goo," her name for a disease that afflicts American grapevine rootstocks and causes young vines to wither and die. Morton was instrumental in establishing that nurseries were selling vines infected with the fungus.

While that established her fame among fungus enthusiasts, Morton's influence skyrocketed in recent years with the initial success of

Here are Dave McIntyre's picks for wines made by local clients of Charlottesville ampelographer and viticulture expert Lucie Morton. They are primarily available at the wineries (though Boxwood sells its wines through its Tasting Room outlets in Middleburg, Reston and Chevy Chase). Each has limited distribution in area stores and restaurants. Your best bet is to visit the wineries and keep tabs on when new wines will be released.

This Story

• Wine: Lucie Morton, a vineyard expert worth her salt

Black Ankle Vineyards, Mount Airy, Md. Black Ankle's Bordeaux-style blend, dubbed Crumbling Rock, rewrote the book on Maryland wines with the 2006 and 2007 releases. The 2008 ($45) will be released soon. The winery also makes an outstanding syrah called Leaf-Stone and several fine, austere and focused whites, including a racy gruner veltliner and an unusual and delicious blend called Bedlam ($26).

Boxwood Winery, Middleburg. Boxwood specializes in red blends. Topiary is modeled on the merlot-based blends of St.-Emilion, France, while Boxwood, based on cabernet sauvignon, echoes the wines of Bordeaux's Medoc region. (There is also a nice rosé of cabernet franc.) Both reds are outstanding, with a slight edge to the Topiary, which is a good thing because they make more of it. The 2008s of both blends are just now being released ($25), and they might be even better than the 2007s.

Chatham Vineyards, Machipongo, Va. Jon Wehner grew up on his parents' vineyard in, of all places, Great Falls. Now on Virginia's Eastern Shore, Wehner is producing a number of wines that are slowly making their way onto Washington area shelves and wine lists. Most notable is the 2009 Church Creek Steel Chardonnay, a crisp, delightful white that seems destined to wash down Chesapeake Bay crabs or oysters.

Rosemont of Virginia, LaCrosse, Va. This newcomer winery won best in show in the 2010 Atlantic Seaboard Wine Competition with its 2007 Meritage and a gold medal at the Virginia Governor's Cup for its 2007 Kilravock red blend. The Meritage is ripe, lush and complex in a way that might surprise you.

Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard, Dickerson. Montgomery County's only vineyard - so far - is situated on an old cattle farm at the foot of Sugarloaf Mountain. The winery used some California fruit at first but has gone entirely estate with the 2009 vintage. Whites are best, including an excellent 2009 reserve chardonnay that will be released this month. At $23, it is a great value.