I finally took the plunge and sampled the wine from 4 of the 5 wineries that have opened in Southern Maryland. For those that are not sure where Southern Maryland is it sits south of Washington DC with the Chesapeake Bay on the East and the Potomac River on the East. However, all the wineries are in the eastern portion of the area between the Bay and the Patuxent River. All the wineries have opened in a very short period of time, the oldest being in commercial operation for no more than 5 years.
I visited Cover Point Winery & Vineyard, Perigeaux Vineyards & Winery, and Running Hare Vineyard. I also tasted the wines from Solomons Island Winery at a recent festival. Across the board the wines were not as bad as I feared. I found something drinkable at each stop and bought two bottles from each place to try again later at home. However, there is a long way to go before the wines would come anywhere close to competing with Virginia. It’s obvious that the folks are early in the learning curve and I hope to see vast improvement in the next 5 years.
General impressions are all I feel comfortable with at this early stage.
1. Fruit is an issue. There is not enough Maryland fruit to go around. Of the Maryland fruit that is available most of it is from young vines with growers that are new to the business. Many of the wines possess traits of under-ripe fruit. Acidity however was not excessive. All of the reds I tasted from one winery had an element of black pepper to them regardless of variety. None of them were syrah BTW. Since there is not enough Maryland fruit, fruit is being imported from other states most predominately New York and California. In many cases the imported fruit is cheaper and the wine made from it exceeds the quality made from Maryland grapes. While this situation may be better for the wineries over the short term it could hurt the industry overall. More on that later under prices.
2. Winemaking practices. One winery had a number of wines that appeared to be oxidized but with the exception of a pinot noir, none of them smelled or tasted oxidized. All the wines tasted from a different winery carried a whiff of VA some slightly noticeable to some completely flawed. Two of the wineries pour wines with noticeable RS. Talking to them, I learned that in both cases, it was a result of a stuck fermentation that was bottled and sold. Both wineries report that these are their best selling wines.
3. Knowledge, honesty, and the issues with starting something new. It was refreshing that all of the wineries presented things honestly. I was shocked that one winery admitted picking their Cabernet at 18 brix because they feared rot. It was also refreshing to find that the tasting room for one winery is the kitchen of their house. Obviously they want to build a tasting room but today you walk to the back of the house and the kitchen counter is the tasting room. Lastly, it was discouraging to find the lack of knowledge that existed even when talking to the owner/winemaker. For example, when talking about other grapes being grown in the area, I had to explain to one wine maker that the Lemberger being made at the winery closest to his is a red wine.
4. Prices. Plain and simple prices are out of line with quality. Prices are around and sometimes over $20/bottle for wine that is not on par with bargain wine from Argentina. While I could live with this for the wines that are true local products using grapes from the area it is hard to accept for inferior wine made from California grapes. If the prices don’t align with quality soon I fear that there is not much of a future for wine here.