Blue crabs are iconic in Maryland. Few food and wine aficiniados, however, would point to premium wines, when talking about Maryland; instead, Maryland has the reputation of being a mediocre wine producer. But Maryland winemakers are very successfully changing that. Increasingly, winemakers in Maryland are moving away from fruit wines and non-European grape varieties that have long plagued the East Coast to produce wines that can compete with the best wines in the world. As Drew Baker of the brand-new Old Westminster Winery explained to Frank Morgan, a popular wine blogger, “Maryland has great potential and I believe that the quality bar is rising quickly. Soon, poorly made wines will be the exception in an otherwise great region.”
Old Westminster Winery, led by the three siblings Drew, Lisa, and Ashli, who manage the vineyard, winemaking, and marketing, respectively, has not yet released any wine, but is already generating a buzz. Other promising newcomers include Black Ankle, Slack, Sugar Loaf Mountain and Port of Leonardtown. Add to that the Maryland classics Boordy, Basignani and Elk Run, which are in the process of changing gears.
See also:
At the Fifth Annual Drink Local Wine Conference in Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Grand Tasting of Maryland Wines and Twitter Taste-off - Drink Local Wine Conference 2013 in Maryland, USA
Touring Wine Country Maryland, USA
Maryland Crabs and Wine
Schiller’s Favorite Crab Houses in the Washington DC Region, USA
This is a posting in a series of 3 profiles of Maryland wineries:
Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard in Maryland - A Profile, USA
Boordy Vineyards in Maryland - A Profile, USA
Black Ankle Vineyards in Maryland - A Profile, USA
Boordy Vineyards
Boordy Vineyards is the oldest commercial winery in Maryland. Boordy was founded in 1945 by Philip and Jocelyn Wagner. The Wagner’s enthusiasm for experimentation and the winery’s rapid growth eventually lead to a partnership with the Deford family who purchased Boordy in 1980. The Defords moved the winery to its present day location at their Long Green Valley farm, just north of Baltimore. The farm has since been placed in permanent preservation with the Maryland Environmental Trust, demonstrating owner Rob’s commitment to agriculture.
The winery is currently housed in the ground-floor level of a 19th century barn. Next to the barn a new similarly sized building is going up. The new building will become the home of the winery. As it is purpose-built, future wines will see more gravity and less pumps along with being raised with more accurate temperature control. The original barn will become a barrel cellar.
Boordy Wine Portfolio
Boordy produces three tiers of wines: Just for Fun, Icons of Maryland and the Landmark series. The Landmark series is the very best of each vintage year; the Icons of Maryland are designed with food in mind; and the Just for Fun series offers sweet, party wines.
At a recent visit at Boordy with Aaron Nix-Gomez from Hogshead (Aaron took and published notes, see below) and other wine writers, we only tasted Landmark wines. These wines are produced from 100% Maryland fruit of which 95% is estate fruit. The Landmark Project was begun in 2006. It follows the guidance of viticulturist Lucie Morton which initiated a complete replanting of the vineyards. The vineyards were replanted with closer spacing, 1 meter by 8 feet, averaging 1500 vines per acre for all 45 acres.
The Wines I Tasted
2010 Boordy Vineyards, Landmark, Cabernet Franc Reserve – $25
Aged for 18 months in French oak.
Hogshead: There were concentrated aromas of black fruit and violets. The wine had a weighty mouth feel, power, and an inky finish. Nice.
2010 Boordy Vineyards, Landmark Reserve – $35
Blend of 69% Merlot, 19% Syrah, 6% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 6% Petit Verdot which were fermented separately. Aged for 24 months in French oak.
Hogshead: The nose was light with racy blue and black fruit. There was good fruit in the mouth along with concentrated drying tannins. There were racy, weighty flavors in the finish. The drying tannins mixed with vintage perfume in the finish. The aftertaste brought some spicy, citric tannins. This could benefit from a few years of age.
2010 Boordy Vineyards, Landmark, Merlot Reserve
Hogshead: This had a nose of low-lying perfumed berries. There was more structure to this wine with expansive almost grainy, blue and black fruit. It had focused and a powerful structure at the end. This needs age.
schiller-wine: Related Postings
At the Fifth Annual Drink Local Wine Conference in Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Grand Tasting of Maryland Wines and Twitter Taste-off - Drink Local Wine Conference 2013 in Maryland, USA
Touring Wine Country Maryland, USA
Wine and Crab Cakes: Amy Brandwein from Casa Nonna and Chris Clime from PassionFish win the 6th Annual Crab Cake Competition in Washington DC, USA
Maryland Crabs and Wine
Schiller's World of Seafood
Chef Spike Gjerde's Farm-to-Table Food of Woodberry Kitchen and Sarah O’Herron's and Ed Boyce's Premium Organic Wines of Black Ankle Vineyards, Maryland, USA
Schiller’s Favorite Crab Houses in the Washington DC Region, USA
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