Mount Vernon Fall Wine Festival and Sunset Tour
September 30, 2008Join fellow Virginia wine lovers this Sunday for a wine festival with a historic twist. Mount Vernon will be holding a sunset wine festival this Sunday, October 6, 2008 from 6-9 pm (Friday and Saturday already sold out). Enjoy wine from numerous Virginia wineries on the east lawn overlooking the Potomac River. In addition to wine tasting, attendees can learn about the successes and failures of our Founding Father’s wine endeavors, enjoy live blues, and meet “George Washington” on the Mansion's piazza.
Guests have the opportunity to experience an evening tour of George Washington's home and are invited to visit the rarely-open basement cellar vaults where he stored his wine. Guests can take home a remembrance of Mount Vernon’s Wine Festival and Sunset Tour from the Shops at Mount Vernon, open until 9:30 p.m. Cases of wine purchased at the Wine Festival can be transported by wine valets to the Shops for easy pick up at the end of the evening.
For tickets to this popular event click here. See you at the festival!
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Cork and Fork Wine Shop
September 25, 2008I recently dropped into the new Cork and Fork wine shop in Bethesda, Maryland. It is located in the newer retail space at the corner of Bethesda Avenue and Old Georgetown Road where the very very old Giant Foods used to be. I had the pleasure of meeting one of the owners, Anna Landragin, and chatted with her about the store. Right now they are just selling wine and a few pre-prepared dry food items, pasta, oils, and cheeses, but she hopes, in the near future, to have a small selection of cafe offerings including desserts.
What is really great about this shop is how it is organized. The wines are first organized by region for the Old World wines, and by both region and grape varietal for the New World wines. But it goes a step farther. Within a region or varietal, the cheaper wines are toward the bottom of the shelving closest to the floor and the more expensive wines within that same category are at the top of the shelving right at eye level. This is not advertised or even obvious at first glance, but is smart marketing and makes for really easy shopping. Once you figure out the layout of the store it becomes very simple to quickly locate a bottle of wine of both the type and price range that you are looking for. However, if you make the trip without a clue as to what you want, you can count on Anna or the other proprietors to help you make an informed selection. They carry an impressive selection of wine from around the world including a significant section from Israel.
Alas there is one drawback to the Cork and Fork....not much local wine! They carry the Barboursville Vineyards Octagon from Charlottesville and the Horton Viognier. I suspect that their sister store in Gainsville, Virginia probably has a slightly larger Virginia selection, but I guess I'll just have to venture out that way and confirm it for myself!
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Thirsty Thursday - Frederick Cellars Riesling
September 25, 2008Thirsty Thursday goes "semi-dry" this week with the Frederick Cellars Riesling purchased at the winery, in the City of Frederick, Maryland, for $16.00. This wine is billed as semi-dry (moderately dry) with 1% residual sugar and 13% alcohol by volume.
It's appearance was clear with a medium to deep intensity of lemon-gold. You don't need to stick your nose in the glass to smell this wine because an odd aroma of beer hits you from about 6 inches away. But don't let that fool you - when you do put your nose closer to the wine at the rim of the glass the nose improves considerably with pleasant notes of apricot and a touch of citrus.
What is most strange is that when I poured the first glass I thought I saw bubbles reminiscent of carbonation, but I thought that I must have been mistaken because they didn't last and the wine didn't taste sparkling. So I proceeded with the tasting. The wine has medium length with nice stone fruit flavors of apricot and peach and is not overly sweet. In fact, it is almost completely dry - the residual sugar is just barely there. The beginning and middle of the taste are nice and well rounded but there is an odd bite at the end that leaves a weird sensation to the rear of the roof of the mouth. It was almost a tingling sensation. So I decided to pour another glass and reinvestigate the elusive bubbles. Sure enough, there was a slight bubbling/carbonation effect when the wine was first poured into the glass. This usually indicates that something went awry in the filtering or bottling process that allowed for additional fermentation in the bottle. The result is that a wine with good potential takes a bad turn at the finish of the taste. This condition is also probably what gives it a beer like smell at first whiff.
NEXT WEEK: Victorian Red from Grey Ghost Vineyards in Ammisville, Virginia. Click here to find a list of retailers that carry Grey Ghost wines and join me for Thirsty Thursday!
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The 33rd Annual Virginia Wine Festival
September 23, 2008Tis the season for fall wine festivals and Virginia is no stranger to the process. For the 33rd time, Virginia will be hosting it's annual wine festival this weekend, Saturday and Sunday September 27 and 28 from 11 am to 6 pm. You can get more information including location and ticket prices here.
For those of you that are interested in some Virgina wine history before turning out for the festival, here is a summary of the history of Virginia's Wine Industry as compiled by Chris Pearmund of Pearmund Vineyards. The full article can be found here.
Many argue that Virginia is the birthplace of the American wine industry despite the more well known success of the regions on the west coast. Grape growning in Virginia began in the 17th Century when Britain wanted to find cheaper agricultural products than those imported from France. The British planned to make "domestic" wine that they would ship directly from the colonies. They passed a law in 1619 that required every landholder in the colonies to plant ten grape vines per acre of land. Virginia was considered ideal for this endeavor, but the native varieties did not pass muster.
Almost 200 years later, Thomas Jefferson invested in Italian vines and hired two Italian vintners to oversee the winemaking process. But farmers soon realized that crops like tobacco were much more successful and profitable than grapes. Just as Virginia wine production was starting to peak, the Civil War broke out. Most vineyards did not survive the war. The next strike to Virginia wine production was Prohibition. Thankfully, wine producers continued to work toward successful wine production in Virginia, but it was not until the 1970s that grape growers were permitted to actually make wine from their grapes.
Today Virginia is proud of Norton as a native grape that continues to grow well in the area as well as Viognier wines that are gaining widespread notoriety even outside of the local region. Virginia currently boasts 135 wineries that can be visited and their wines sampled. For more information on Virginia wine and winery locations, please visit www.virginiawine.org or check out this year's festival!
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Red Wine Stain Removal
September 22, 2008Recently a friend of mine discovered red wine stains on her couch and carpet that had been there for at least 24 hours without treatment. She was able to completely remove the stains with the concoction below. Hopefully this will be of some help to others:
Mix equal parts of hydrogen peroxide and cleaning soap. If you are working on carpet and upholstery you use carpet cleaner as your soap. Clothing would require laundry detergent. Work this into the stain with a sponge or rag. Use water to clean up the solution after the stain is removed for carpet and upholstry. For clothing simply run through a regular washing cycle.
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Thirsty Thursday - Elk Run Chardonnay
September 18, 2008This Thirsty Thursday features the 2006 Chardonnay from the Cold Friday Vineyard produced by Elk Run Vineyards in Mt. Airy, Maryland. I purchased this bottle at Gilly's Craft Beer & Fine Wine in Rockville, Maryland for $13.99. The bottle labeling is not clear as to how much of the wine is actually Chardonnay, nor does it indicate the percentage of alcohol by volume.
This wine has a clear, medium to deep lemon color. There is a clean, pronounced oak nose with a bit of green apple. It has a very fresh and clean smell. The wine is dry on the palate with medium acidity, full body, and a nice long length. Unfortunately, the first impression regarding taste is oak. Only after a few sips can you start to taste a bit of light green vegetation. There is no fruit on the taste at all.
The label says that the wine is aged on French Oak which gives the Chardonnay a "soft vanilla richness." It goes on to say that the use of malolatic fermentation "produces traditional butter flavors..." I agree that both of these descriptions are true in terms of the body of the wine. It is a rounded, buttery wine that sits nicely on the tongue. Unfortunately, it falls short in the taste department. The vanilla, butter, and traditional fruit flavors just are not present. It tastes wholly of oak with the slightest hints of green vegetables. It's too bad because this wine comes very close to being an extremely enjoyable Chardonnay. With a little less oak and a lot more fruit and it could be excellent.
Next week: Frederick Cellars' Riesling. Once again, this winery does an excellent job of providing information on where to buy their wines on their website. Unfortunately it doesn't look like it is sold in Virginia at this time. So pick up a bottle at your local retailer and join me next week for Thirsty Thursday!
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The 25th Annual Maryland Wine Festival
September 17, 2008Join wine lovers from Maryland and beyond for the 25th Annual Maryland Wine Festival this Saturday and Sunday, September 20 and 21, 2008. The Festival will be featuring wines from all over the State as well as highlighting this year's Governor's Cup Winners. Also available at the Festival will be food and craft vendors, live entertainment, wine education seminars, and an amateur wine competition. Click here for all of the details including location and ticket information.
To gear up for the Festival and share some knowledge of the history of Maryland wine, Kevin Atticks, Executive Director of the Maryland Wineries Association, recently gave a presentation on the history of Maryland wine at the Carroll County Public Library. With his permission, I am summarizing his presentation here for those that are interested in learning a bit more about the development of this industry in Maryland.
The first year for grapegrowing and winemaking in Maryland was 1648. Over the years many tried to successfully grow grapes and make wine in Maryland, but it was not until 1945 that Boordy Vineyards opened as the first bonded Maryland winery. Two more opened after Boordy, but subsequently closed. The next winery to open that remains open today was Linganore Winecellars in 1976. From there, a number opened, some closed. But in 1981 the Maryland Grape Growers Association formed to educate the public and those in the industry about grapes.
In 1983 the Linganore American Viticultural Area was formed. There are currently 4 AVAs in Maryland, including Linganore, Cumberland, Maryland, and Catoctin. Thre are no wineries in the Cumberland AVA - only 1 of 10 AVA's in the Country to contain no wineries. In 1984 the Maryland Wineries Association was formed in order to organize and hold the annual Maryland Wine Festival.
Throughout the late 80s, 90s, and 2000s numerous wineries have opened and continued to thrive in Maryland. There are currently 33 licensed wineries in 11 counties and 10 are currently in the licensing process. Maryland wine is sold at more than 600 retailers and over 200 restaurants.
2008 will continue to show exciting developments in Maryland wine including two wineries that are producing Mead. New wineries will be opening in Harford County, Washington County, Carroll County, and Dorchester County. There are plans in place by Kilby Cream to produce ice cream made with Maryland wine.
So come check out all of these exciting developments and great wine at the wine festival this weekend!!
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Going Local: Support your local wineries and help improve the entire American Industry
September 14, 2008Ok, so California has the corner on the American wine market and has for years. But wine is being produced all over the country. And as more is produced and small wineries strive for better quality, we all benefit. Wine columnist Michael Frantz has written an excellent article for Wine Review Online about how going local will help the entire American wine industry. So get out there and support your local wineries! Increased demand for quality local wine wlil help bring our Maryland and Virginia wineries up in quality and benefit everyone.
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Thirsty Thursday - Horton Cabernet Franc
September 11, 2008This Thirsty Thursday has a slightly different format. This is the special wedding edition of Thirsty Thursday. My sister is getting married this weekend and the whole family is at the beach gearing up for the big day, so I asked the bride and groom-to-be to taste along with me and shout out their impressions of this wine. We tasted the Horton Vineyards (Gordonsville, Virginia) 2005 Cabernet Franc purchased for $10.99 at the Frederick Wine House. The label indicates that it is made in the traditional method by blending with Tannat, but doesn't indicate what the percentage of the blend is. It is aged in American and French Oak and is 13% alcohol by volume. Here are our thoughts:
Mary: It has a strong alcohol smell and is bitter.
Landie: Slightly astringent. Not complex - doesn't leave much to the imagination. It's weak tasting at first and then it's gone.
Me (I'm a nerd so you know this will be wordy): The wine has a clear deep garnet color. The first smell is of fruit, but is quickly replaced with the smell of alcohol. It almost burns the inside of the nose a bit. The fruit is a blackcurrant aroma with a bit of plum.
Landie hit it on the nose when he said that this wine is not complex and that it doesn't have much length. It is a light bodied dry red wine at first, but has almost no length - the taste is gone almost as soon as the wine hits the tongue. It has low tannins and medium acidity. There is a bit of spicy flavor, but unfortunately the wine has a medicinal taste that really dominates and overpowers any fruit flavor that was meant to be there.
So after deciding that we really didn't like this wine very much I decided to put it in the fridge and let it chill - more so than red wines are typically chilled - just to see what would happen. We all agreed that chilling it a bit made it smoother and easier to drink. However it still remained a basic wine without any interesting complexity or flavor. At that point it just became an easy wine to slug down if you are looking to tie one on (not saying its a bad thing!) as opposed to truly enjoying a glass or having it with a meal. Cabernet Franc is my favorite varietal, so this was a disappointment, but drinkable for 11 bucks a bottle. I probably wouldn't buy it again, but I certainly wouldn't pour it out either.
NEXT WEEK: Elk Run Vineyards' Chardonnay. The winery's website does a nice job of helping you locate local places to purchase their wines so click here to find your local retailer and have a sip along with me next week and post your own thoughts on this wine.
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Enology - An American Wine Bar
September 9, 2008From American Wine to American Food, Enology is all things American in a wine bar. Located on the corner of Wisconsin Avenue and Macomb Street in NW DC, Enology is in the old Zebra Bar spot right across from Cactus Cantina. This newcomer to the area has a small patio out front with 5 tables - 3 four tops, 2 two tops - and plenty of bar and table seating indoors. The decor is bright, modern, and clean with colorful artwork and floral accents. The soft lights were still up at 9 pm, fostering a relaxing atmosphere for conversation as opposed to a hotspot for wilder nightlife. But what you really want to know about is the wine!!
Enology (which is the science and study of all aspects of wine and winemaking) has an extensive wine menu. It begins with wines by the glass followed by flights, dessert wines by the glass, and wines by the bottle. The list includes obscure grapes and exciting new things to try. If that isn't enough to make you giddy with selection options, the end of the menu is food including cheese selections, charcuterie, salads, and flatbread pizzas for two. Listed by each of the flight options is the bar's suggested cheeses for that flight. The same is done with the dessert wines and the chocolate truffles that are handmade by j. chocolatier. And what you will notice while perusing the menu is that everything, I mean EVERYTHING, is from the Good Ole U S of A. Despite having a full bar with liquor you cannot have a margarita. America doesn't produce Tequila. Enology follows their theme to the end by providing wines as local as Maryland and Virginia, to New York and North Carolina, and to the west coast regions you expect to see like California, Oregon, and Washington.
The best part of this impressive wine list is the number of wines that you can sample by the glass. They have a wine dispensing system similar to the one pictured here that runs the length of the bar. The system is designed to keep a bottle of red good for weeks and whites even longer. But the bartender indicated that Enology's bottles usually don't sit around that long because they get consumed so quickly. Enology does not offer small single "taste" pours except in their flights of 3.
Local wines you can try include:
By the glass:
Watershed Red, Deep Creek Cellars, Friendsville, Maryland (see my previous post on Watershed Red before ordering this one)
Touriga, White Hall Vineyards, Monticello, Virginia
Petit Manseng, White Hall Vineyards, Monticello, Virginia
By the bottle in addition to those listed above:
Viognier, Jefferson Vineyards, Charlottesville, Virginia
Petite Verdot, White Hall Vineyards, Monticello, Virginia
My experience at Enology was enjoyable. Our server did a good job of explaining the American theme, going over the menu layout, and taking our initial orders. We ordered flights which were brought out with a slip of paper listing them in order for us to reference. Unfortunately, the cheese and charcuterie were brought out by a food runner who did not explain which was which. The waiter was happy to tell us once we called him over, but it took a bit to track him down. It turns out that most of their waitstaff just went back to college, so our guy, as good as he was, was slammed. As the night went on, and the bar got busier, service slowed down. But I think it was just an off night because the waiter was extremely pleasant and the wine and food delicious.
Enology has specials different nights of the week including Sparkling Sundays for sparkling wines and Half Price Cocktail Wednesdays. Happy hour specials apply each day from 4-7, but be sure to check out the website for the post 7 pm special of the day. Enology has a great relaxing atmosphere with an awesome selection of wine and good food. Put it at the top of your list for places to check out soon!
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Black Ankle Vineyards' Favorite Color is GREEN
September 6, 2008For a "Green" approach to Maryland wineries, read Meghan Sullivan's article on newbie Black Ankle Vineyards in this month's Wine Trail Traveler Newsletter.
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Thirsty Thursday - Loew Vineyard's Harvest Gold
September 4, 2008Thirsty Thursday brings us back to Maryland and the Loew Vineyard's Harvest Gold. It is a blend of Chardonnay and Seyval Blanc and is 12% alcohol by volume. I purchased it at The Frederick Wine House for $12.99.
The wine was clear in appearance and a deep gold color. (Shocking, I know, considering it's name.) The nose smelled extremely oaky at first smell. And at second. And at third. It was a while before I could smell anything besides oak. Eventually there were notes of very ripe soft apple, a bit of banana, and some pineapple. Then I went in for the taste. It is a high acid wine that made me pucker. It has a dry, sharp taste. The flavor is of an overly ripe and very soft red delicious apple mixed with oak. It was a simple taste with no complexity and had a medium length. After the fruit taste left my tongue I was left with a somewhat bitter aftertaste.
This is a very basic table wine that will probably appeal to beginning wine drinkers that are looking for basic fruit flavor without much else. It is not bad, just not particularly noteworthy.
NEXT THIRSTY THURSDAY: Horton Vineyard's Cabernet Franc. The winery, located in Gordonsville, VA, sells their wine at numerous retail stores in the area and even in stores as far as New York and Chicago. For a listing of retail stores that carry Horton wine click here. As always, I encourage you to grab a bottle for next week and join in on the tasting fun. Post a comment with your take on the wine. Enjoy!
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Hiking and Wine-ing at Sugarloaf Mountain
September 2, 2008With the beautiful weather this past Labor Day weekend I just couldn't justify staying indoors. So what better way to get outside than to combine exercise with wine drinking?? Thankfully, Sugarloaf Mountain in Dickerson, Maryland provides the opportunity for both.
Sugarloaf Mountain is about 10 minutes off of I-270 right at the Montgomery County/Frederick County line. It offers numerous hiking trails, picnic areas, and splendid views. It was a great day for a hike, but we bit off more than we could chew and were exhausted after two hours of up and down the rocky mountain. But not too tired for wine!
When you are finished your hike (or on your way to your picnic) make sure to stop by Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard. You will pass the winery to and from the mountain itself. Sitting right up on the country road, the winery has converted barn style buildings into their wine enterprise. The tasting "room" is a tent that is pitched between buildings, but just recently they added a beautiful patio that is perfect for sipping a glass of wine on a warm weather day. And their wines are worth sipping on. Much improved from the last time I was there, these wines, particularly the 2007s are very enjoyable.
For $4, they pour 8 wines. The Pinot Grigio has nice fruit and medium flavor. It is a bit bitter at the end. Very impressive is the Chardonnay. It smells like nuts and citrus and the taste reveals even more of that aroma. There is a bit of oak, but not a ton and it is well balanced. The 2007 Rosé is also delightful with great hints of strawberry and pepper in this dry wine.
Their reds were good as well, but perhaps a bit pricey. Circe is a light bodied Bordeaux Blend with red fruit on the nose and a taste of bing cherry. It is a good wine for burgers or pizza but not necessarily worth it's price at $20. The Merlot has a peppery nose without much fruit. This wine had a savory flavor, but not much complexity and didn't linger on the tongue. In contrast, the Cabernet Sauvignon smelled of vanilla and black fruit and had good fruit flavor. It did taste young, however, and will likely improve with age in the bottle. At $21 it might be a good investment to put in the wine cellar for 6 months to a year. The best red of the day was the Declaration Meritage. This is one of 2 wines (the other being the Rosé) that is made from grapes that the winemaker brings in from Virginia. All of the other wines are made from estate grown grapes. The Meritage has good complexity, nice fruit, and a medium body. It is absolutely the most well rounded of the reds.
Finally, Sugarloaf has a fun dessert wine they have named Stomp. It is made from the grapes that were essentially left over after last year's harvest. It is an off-dry easy drinking red wine that has flavors of raspberry and cranberry. While off-dry, it is not as sweet as a typical dessert wine. Sweet wine lovers will find this to be their favorite as the other wines at Sugarloaf are bone dry.
If the hiking/wine-ing combination is for you, consider making your own day trip out of it. Or if you are looking for someone to do the planning for you, let Wine Excursions handle the hard work! This company plans monthly trips in both Maryland and Virginia where they start with a 2 mile hike and then move on to 2 area wineries. Sugarloaf does participate in this outing. I have never attended an event through this company so I can't personally vouch for it, but if my self-directed excursion is any indication, this is a great way to spend a sunny Saturday.
Happy Trails!
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