2007 Maryland Wine Awards

Especially for those in the Washington Metro area:

http://www.marylandwine.com/mwa/awards/govcup07.shtml

Thanks Jon. Do you have experience with any of these? I have not tried Maryland wine in years but was thinking of going to Sotterley this year to see if things have improved.

Well, I'll say that I was pleased to see Linganore making the list of gold medal winners and best of class awards. I can vouch for their Chambourcin and Traminette. We all may have friends who like a wine with a bit of residual sugar and that Traminette usually hits the mark for them. (I like it, too.) The Chambourcin, as you may know, grows pretty well in the area and Linganore has done a nice job with this bottling. I think it says a lot that these wine types are at opposite ends of the spectrum but this winery did very well with both. Their SkipJack is very popular at wine festivals, too. They seem to run out of that wine first. I don't have the grape components available right here but they may be on their website.
I also like the Elk Run Vin de Jus Glace - about as close to an Ice Wine as you'll get from MD.
I'm going to Frederick Cellars tomorrow to taste their wines. I'll let you know if there's anything outstanding.

This is interesting. We were just discussing the other night at a tasting I attended how bad Maryland wines are in general.

The presenter had put on a dinner several months ago titled "Treasures of the Chesapeake Bay" which featured VA and MD wines, but he only had one MD winery represented, Elk Run, because he said there were so few good ones to choose from.

I'll forward these results to him - I'm sure he'd be interested.

This is interesting. We were just discussing the other night at a tasting I attended how bad Maryland wines are in general.

This is interesting. We were just discussing the other night at a tasting I attended how bad Maryland wines are in general.

You know, K, I have to say that your observation generally fits the case pretty much any area where there hasn't been either a long tradition of winemaking or where there is no concentration of winemaking knowledge and talent. In Niagara, for example, the wines are largely of high quality and although the prices of some may be inflated, they are at least sound.

By contrast, I attended an "outer limits of Ontario wine" tasting in the summer that showed me just how nasty some of those amateurish efforts can be. The one "outer limit" wine that was truly outstanding, a Seyval Blanc from the shores of Georgian Bay where there virtually are no other wineries, was made by accomplished Niagara winemaker Leslie Puddicombe.

In Niagara, for example, the wines are largely of high quality and although the prices of some may be inflated, they are at least sound.

That sort of paradigm comes to my mind when I think of Virginia wines. There are some pretty good quality wines being produced, but I find very few examples where the price is worth it. IMHO only, of course!

I have to say that your observation generally fits the case pretty much any area where there hasn't been either a long tradition of winemaking or where there is no concentration of winemaking knowledge and talent

I agree Paul but unfortunately Maryland has a long history with both Philip Wagner and Lucy Morton. I don't think one can write it off to lack of winemaking knowledge.