Vinotrip.com is one of Maryland’s most well-known wine blogs. In fact, search for “Maryland Wine Blog” on Google and you can’t miss it! After some discussion and much deliberation, Gary (the current author) and I have joined forces to bring you what will undoubtedly become the Best. Maryland. Wine. Blog. Evar.

In all seriousness, this move helps both Gary and I focus on what we do best, and in the end make a better blog for you. All my future posts will be exclusively on vinotrip.com. You can also follow my wine-related tweets on @vinotrip.

As you may recall from this earlier post, Adam Borden resigned as executive director of consumer advocacy group Marylanders for Better Beer and Wine Laws (MBBWL) back in March amid accusations of… “aggressive” tactics in support of a bill that would have allowed direct shipments of wine to Maryland consumers (and wine bloggers). Despite Adam’s sacrifice – his only intention in stepping down was to allow the rest of the group to continue it’s work without any distractions – and all the effort on the part of MBBWL’s tireless volunteers, the bill ultimately never made it out of committee.

Now, MBBWL is gearing up for another push in 2011. The first step, of course, was bringing on a new executive director. Today the group named John Hesse, an experienced advocate at both the federal and state level in Maryland. It looks like John should have no trouble picking things up right away and moving the group even further toward a successful direct shipping bill. We wish him and all the supporters of MBBWL the best of luck during the next legislative session in what could be a very different political climate following state elections this fall.

You can read the complete announcement from MBBWL here and on their website at www.mbbwl.org. We’ll keep you posted on what you can do to help support direct wine shipping in Maryland as the opportunities arise.

**This article is cross-posted at vinotrip.com. I will post on both sites for the rest of June as we permanently merge the two sites on the vinotrip website. Please update your bookmarks, RSS feeds, etc.

The following weekend (June 12-13), we hit the Great Grapes festival at Oregon Ridge Park, just north of Baltimore on I-83. While a third-party promoter puts on this festival, giving it a different vibe than the MD Wine Association-run events, the lineup still featured all local wineries. This is a little different from the event by the same name held in July at the Anne Arundel County Fairgrounds, which offers a more national/international selection from large-scale distributors.

Each festival presented a stark contrast to the theme park-like atmosphere often seen at the larger festivals. If you aren’t into the crowds at Wine in the Woods or the Maryland Wine Festival, this might be a perfect alternative for you. Not only were the pouring stations far more accessible, I had several opportunities to engage some interesting conversations with principles from some of the wineries. Special thanks to everyone I spoke with! If I listed out all the names, I’d run over my word count.

Here are some of my notable finds from the two festivals, which I look forward to enjoying soon:

• Knob Hall Winery, Chambourcin: Not usually my favorite grape because it typically comes off with strong cherry notes (yuck), I really loved this one. Almost more like a merlot or cab franc. This is a relatively new winery with a strong focus on the grape; many of their wines are either all or some part Chambourcin.
• Port of Leonardtown, Vidal Blanc: It’s already won some awards (but then, lots of wine does) and will serve as a nice, balanced table wine. Similar to a chardonnay but with a much more locally-viable grape.
• Bordeleau, Chardonnay: Speaking of Chardonnay. They actually offer three at the moment, a barrel-fermented, California style with lots of oak; an oak/steel blend; and a completely unoaked. Although it’s trendy to make a ‘non-California’ chard right now, I’m a sucker for that oak finish so the all-barrel version wins for me.
• Terrapin Station, Better Red than Dead: Post-style wine in a box. This is a new one from them, released since Wine in the Woods. It isn’t overly sweet, but like any port is better saved for a cool evening in front of a warm fire.
• Orchid Cellars, Hunter and Archer: Wouldn’t be another Maryland wine festival without the chance to mention these excellent meads. Hunter leaves a spicy taste, while the archer is still dark and smooth but a little more mellow. Can’t wait for them to open a tasting room (hint, hint)!

Didn’t make it this year? Mark your calendar for 2011 now! And don’t forget to make your plans for the Maryland Wine Festival the weekend of September 18-19. There’s also the Annapolis Great Grapes festival the weekend of July 24-25; although not strictly a local wine festival, they will have some MD and VA wineries on site.

**This article is cross-posted at vinotrip.com. I will post on both sites for the rest of June as we permanently merge the two sites on the vinotrip website. Please update your bookmarks, RSS feeds, etc.

Wines you COULD be enjoying from other states if Maryland would let you - New Jersey, Virginia, Delaware, and Pennsylvania (left to right)

In compromise for denying Marylanders the same right to directly purchase wine enjoyed by residents of 37 other states ‘because the liquor lobby pays our salaries innocent kids can’t protect themselves,’ the state legislature commissioned a study of shipping laws and their implementation around the US so that we’d all be a little more informed for the 2011 session. That study kicked off last week, as reported by the Baltimore Sun yesterday.

The very critical article takes a harsh tone with the office for not including consumer advocacy group Marylanders for Better Beer and Wine Laws in the opening meeting. While I’m certainly glad they’re invited to round two, let’s put at least a little faith in the good people from the Maryland Wine Association, who were neutral on the bill in 2009 but have every interest in opening up additional markets for wineries around the state.

What’s your gut feeling on MD direct wine shipping in 2011? Will your vote in November hinge on the issue?

Is anyone going to either festival? Let me know and we’ll use @FreeStateWine on Twitter to meet up. And if you’re stuck at home, shoot me a message about anything you want me to check out!

This year, more than 30 wineries from all across the state participated. Perfect weather and a rising recognition of Maryland wine in the local media helped push attendance on Saturday to one of the highest levels ever. Unfortunately, one of my favorites – Black Ankle Vineyards – didn’t make it this year, but I tasted a lot of other really great wine from both well-established and new wineries alike.

Old and New Favorites

Two newer Maryland wineries that impressed me the most at this year’s festival were Serpent Ridge and Knob Hall. Both make a limited selection at this point, but both specialize in high-end reds. That just so happens to be my favorite market segment, so cheers to them!

Of course, where would we be without a few standbys? Bordeleau’s California-esque oakey chardonnay remains one of my favorite whites from the region. I was also delighted to rediscover Orchid Cellars and their line of meads. Since they don’t have a tasting room yet, I made sure to grab two bottles this year!

Also This Week in Maryland Wine…

In the week leading up to the festival, Howard County Executive Ken Ulman announced his support for new legislation that would make it easier for wineries to open and operate within the county. Howard County has been home to Wine in the Woods for 18 years, yet remains one of the few counties in the state without any wineries. The move fits well with other county initiatives to preserve farmland in the traditionally agricultural western part of the county that has been under siege from growth in Columbia to the east and Frederick to the west.

Closing Notes

It was great to connect with a number of other enthusiastic Maryland wine makers and consumers, but I wanted to give a special shout out to Jim Robinson who manages the winery database site VineyardTrips.com. He debuted the project at the festival and it’s a great resource for discovering wineries on your next getaway! Best of luck to Jim and I look forward to watching the site grow.

Did you make it to Wine in the Woods? How many bottles did you take home, and which was your favorite?

A row of brand-new Sangiovese vines

There isn’t a single winery in Howard County, Maryland – not yet anyways. Tin Lizzie Wine Works in Clarksville, MD is hoping that will change if the county council passes key changes to zoning regulation laws. In the meantime, owners Dave and Rob, who currently run a winemaking school – you choose the grapes, they show you the rest – recently put in a test plot with the hope of someday expanding their business to include a full winery. For now, though, it’s our own local version of what CrushPad started out in California, offering just about anyone the chance to see the wine-making process all the way from fresh fruit to filling bottles.

I was on hand to help plant some of the first vines, including Sangiovese in the photos. If you’ve ever been curious as to what goes into planting a grape vine that will one day produce delicious local wine, read on!

A Sangiovese grape vine - prior to planting. The light brown roots are on the right, and the bundle on the left is where the Vinifera plant is grafted on the new world rootstock.

Step one: order your vines

When you start a vineyard, it isn’t as simple as throwing some seeds in the ground. The European vinifera varieties require special treatment, as the old-world plants must be grafted on to American rootstock to improve their resistance to particular diseases and pests. You’ll probably want to try a few different vines, because every soil type, sun exposure level, and drainage condition affets them differently!

Here's the vine at the half-filled point. You'll want to pour enough water in to soak the roots, but don't completely flood the soil either or you'll wash out the nutrients.

Step two: the planting

Since the vines are already about 2-3 feet long, you’ll be better off with something mechanical like a post hole drill! The vine roots should be spread wide at the bottom of the hole, and then you just fill ‘er up all the way around until it’s about halfway full. Pour on some water to help moisten the soil around those roots and then top off with more soil to grade, leaving just a couple inches of rootstock exposed below the graft. Doing all this by hand, I’d say we spent maybe 5-10 minutes per vine; makes it easy to see why modern wineries spanning hundreds of acres need machine assistance to be cost-efficient.

A fully planted Sangiovese vine. Note the lump in the stem where the two plants were grafted - that should be a few inches above the soil.

Step three: wait

The planting is all done! Of course, you should protect your young vines from deer with plastic tubing and, eventually, other measures – I’ve heard of everything from fences to tripwires to roadkill (hint: it’s the smell). Make sure you have some time on your hands, because it’ll take several years before your first harvest, and then several more until the vines reach maturity and produce grapes at their full potential quality.

I’m looking forward to joining up with a group and making my own wine at Tin Lizzie sometime in the near future. Would you believe that they still haven’t found anyone interested in using local grapes? If you’re interested in going in on a barrel, let me know in the comments!

Check them out at tinlizziewineworks.com.

A view from the back of the room at #DLW10

Ah, spring. A time for buds to break, vines to grow, and trading reds for whites. With the local wine festival season beginning to come into focus too, what better time for the Drink Local Wine conference? The Drink Local Wine team is dedicated to advancing the cause of wine that’s grown near you – wherever you may be! Fortunately for me, there’s a booming wine industry right across the Potomac river in Virginia that’s getting all the right sort of attention to reel in the second annual gathering for local wine makers and enthusiasts. Don’t worry: Maryland got in on the action too, with positive buzz from the floor around up-and-coming Black Ankle Vineyards and Serpent Ridge Vineyards.

If you haven’t heard of drinklocalwine.com, hit the link and get educated! Then read on about their conference and all the ways they’re helping to connect local communities with their local wines.

Session One – Thomas Jefferson was right: The grapes that work best for Virginia

What it was all about: Just like oranges, which grow well in states like Florida but not so much in the northeast, different varieties of grapes grow with varying levels of success in a particluar microclimate, soil type, altidute, etc. So while a Cabernet grape is genetically a Cabernet grape anywhere, the wine you get from that grape could vary dramatically from one winery to the next.

The panel featured three different Virginia winemakers and each sounded off on their grape strategies. It’s generally agreed that cabernet franc and viognier thrive in virgina while piot noir has a hard time with all the moisture. Beyond the traditional vinifera grapes, however, each winemaker has a different strategy when it comes to lesser known options like norton or albarino. Virgina grows lots of these grapes well, but is that what consumers will buy? Is it better to make the best norton in the world that might get great reviews but little interest from tasters, or a middle of the road chardonnay that critics pan but everyone will recognize? While this generated a spirited debate on the floor, I believe the market is fortunately large enough to support both niches. It’s more for the winemaker to decide which approach best fits their business model and to form long term goals that best serve the niche they’ve identified.

What it means for Maryland: Maryland, while simar in climate to Virgina, also has strengths and weaknesses when it comes to grape varieties. Don’t be afraid to try a grape you’ve never heard of, like a vidal blanc. And don’t expect to see malbec on tasting sheets when you get to the Maryland Wine Festival. Judge your wine by whether it tastes good, and not the grape name on the bottle.

Session Two – Social media: How regional wineries can get the word out

What it was all about: this one played well to the blog- and Twitter-heavy crowd, and focused on how social media can help wineries grow their business. Using social networking tools, a number of wineries find that they can connect with fans and use those channels to build relationships and go beyond simply blasting out specials. From there, things devolved a little bit into a debate over the authoritative voice of digital vs. print outlets. The proliferation of blogs and bloggers makes it more difficult for wine marketers and consumers alike to know who to trust, and which outlets are worth working with.

What it means for Maryland: like reporting for other types of news, consumers are increasingly forced to evaluate both the information and the source of that information. My advice when it comes to learning about wine via social media, or any media, is to take a step back and really consider how the taste of the writer matches your own. Not everyone has the same taste as Robert Parker, or yours truly. And find your favorite local wineries on twitter and facebook – if they’re using it to get their fans involved and imporve your enjoyment of wine, you’ll both get something out of it.

Lunch

Lunch at the Lansdowne resort was outstanding. You should have been there!

If local food, why not local wine?

What it was all about: lately, a lot of restaurants are all about local produce. They’ll tout the food as sourced from this farm, that community, or another local resource. What you don’t typically see is that same restaurant going the same extra mile for their local winemakers. Panelist Todd Kliman of Washingtonian Magazine called out high end restaurants on this double standard, but acknowledged they were unlikely to change positions anytime soon as they serve an entrenched customer set who are not looking for local wine. In this case, it seems the revolution is taking place from the middle, with quirky restaurants that are plugged into he locavore scene already taking the charge to build regional wine lists and seeking out those local wine makers rather than taking only what large distributors offer.

What it means for Maryland: if you read this blog, you probably already know a few things about local wine! Take it to the next step and look for it when you’re out at dinner, too. Restauranteurs need to know that demand exists, and you can let them know by asking your favorite sommelier whether they’re carrying the latest from Black Ankle or Sugarloaf. And when you find a spot that does carry the local stuff, like Bistro Blanc in Howard county, thank them by going back and telling your friends!

Twitter Taste-Off

I don’t think I’ve ever tried to taste 50 wines (25 wineries, two wines each) in two hours, but it was unfortunately less than ideal. It’s also more difficult than you might think to juggle a Twitter device and a wine glass and a ballot. To be honest, I didn’t remember much of what I tasted immediately folowing the session, let alone several days later as I write this post. However, I did taste a couple reds from recently-opened Serpent Ridge vineyard that make me really excited for the upcoming Wine in the Woods!

The Virginia Governor's Cup - on display at King Family Vineyards

In honor of spring break, a couple weeks ago we ventured down I-95 to taste some wine in the Charlottesville, VA area. The wine-growing region around Charlottesville is known as the Monticello AVA, named for the site of Thomas Jefferson’s nearby plantation where the third president first attempted to cultivate European vines.

While I think we sampled more than 100 vintages over the two days about a dozen wineries, here are some of the highlights of the trip:

• Cardinal Point winery: west of town and up in the hills with a spectacular view of the Blue Ridge mountains, this newer winery nonetheless produces some great wines; in particular, I remember the Cabernet Franc. Although the region is famous for that variety – I believe we tasted one at every stop – this one stood out for me.
• King Family Vineyard: head winemaker Mattieu Finot was on hand to pour our tasting and at every turn made it clear that his approach to winemaking involved a careful consideration of acidity levels throughout fermentation. Must be paying off: Mattieu’s Meritage blend won the 2010 Virginia Governor’s Cup for reds. The freshly engraved cup actually arrived during our visit!
• Barboursville Winery: one of Virginia’s oldest established vineyards, they produce an especially exceptional set of red wines. Unlike many wines grown in the US, they bottle some reds that are particularly well suited to aging. Among these is their famous Octagon blend that the Washington Post selected to run in blind taste tests against top vintages from California and France to illustrate the evolution of the Virginia wine industry.

I’m hoping to see all of these wineries and many more at the upcoming Drink Local Wine conference (hosted by the good folks from drinklocalwine.com), which will take place this year in Loudon County, Virginia (near DC) on April 25.

Do you have any favorite wines from Virginia that you’d recommend for our next visit?