Wine on a Tuesday Morning

On Tuesday, I participated in a media panel at the Maryland Wineries Association’s annual seminar for winemakers. Public speaking makes me nervous but I was excited to be there. I love visiting Maryland wineries and trying different wines.

Oh, let’s be honest, I just plain love wine. Responsibly, of course.

I saw many familiar faces – like the folks from Boordy and Elk Run – and met many new ones – like Richard from Knob Hall, the only winery in Washington County, and Matt, from the soon-to-be-first-and-only winery in Somerset County.

I probably learned as much from them about the business of wine as they, hopefully, did from me about best ways to approach the media. It was a great experience and I hope to share more soon about the exciting things happening at the Maryland Wineries Association.

In the meantime, here’s a tip I learned from the seminar: the glass you drink from makes a difference in how the wine tastes. I had no idea! And unfortunately, I didn’t get to stay for the Riedel glass taste test. I guess I’ll have to try it out on my own.

Which Maryland wine should I try? What’s your favorite?

Comments (3)

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reply to gospigyina

I love that you had all Maryland wines at your Massachusetts wedding. That's fantastic! And I totally agree with you about visiting the wineries in person. The love these winemakers have for their craft is just contagious.

Shannon Morgan more than 2 years ago

favorite wine?

Ok I'm a homer so I'm having Fridays Creek Traminette with some spicy seafood tapas tonight. It's not on the store shelves yet, but we have it here at the winery and will have it at the Maryland Wine Festival. The entire Maryland Wine industry is growing so fast, both the number of new wineries and the number of wines, the only way to choose is to taste a lot. I recommend make time to get to one of the MD Wine Festivals listed at http://www.marylandwine.com/mwa/events/festivals.shtml

Fridays Creek more than 2 years ago

Visit a Winery!

We had all Maryland wines at our wedding...in Massachusetts. We hand-picked all the whites, but knew our limitations on selecting reds and just went with the professionals: Sugarloaf Mountain's Merlot won the governor's cup that year, so we brought half a case of that, and half a case of another medal-winner I've now forgotten. The officiant, a wine-loving retired Episcopal priest fulfilling his dream of working at a fine wine store, sent tablemates around late in the evening to scavenge for unfinished Sugarloaf bottles. I call that a success.

We almost always have a few Basignani Reisling on hand--it's not too-too sweet, and goes nicely with the spicy foods we tend to favor. ALL of Penn Oaks' (incredibly cheap) whites and many of Frederick's whites are standbys as well.

Fiore's prosecco is lovely and very dry--good on its own or mixed with fruit juices. Prosecco with raspberry juice...mmm.

There are plenty of nice dessert wines as well. Elk Run's Sweet Katherine (great for sangria, great on its own) and Lord Baltimore Port are must-buys at Wine in the Woods. Far Eastern Shore's chocolate raspberry port isn't an everyday thing, but it's certainly fun; you can almost use it instead of chocolate sauce over pound cake or ice cream. We took Lowe's Honey and Grape to the home of a friend who collects meads from around the world, and we had to go home to get a second bottle--of all the many options available, that's the only one people actually drank.

And we use Deep Creek's vanilla. I could go on, but I don't have my notes on me. :)

We've visited at least half of Maryland's wineries in person, and I know this shouldn't color my opinions of the wines, but it does: at the vast, vast majority of these places, the people are just really nice. They're not trying to lecture you about what you don't know about wine, they're not doing a hard sell, they just want to share their love of wine with you. Sure, some of the larger places have jazz nights and whatnot, but even most of the smaller wineries have facilities for just hanging out--Basignani will sell you a gorgeous handmade pizza, or you can bring your own picnic and just sit.

We know Maryland's lack of direct shipping is a ridiculous, pointless pain. I'm not going to get into that here. But there are fantastic festivals across the state where you can buy directly from the wineries, and if you can't get to one of those, just find the winery closest to you, pack a lunch, and make a day of it.

@gospodyina more than 2 years ago

Wine on a Tuesday Morning

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reply to gospigyina

favorite wine?

Visit a Winery!

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