Maryland Has Wine; And It's Good!

Virginia has wine so why wouldn't its northern neighbor, Maryland, have wine? That was my question while in Annapolis last weekend while supporting a friend as she participated in the Polar Bear Plunge. Thank goodness for smart phones because a quick Google search told me that Maryland does have wine on the eastern shore! Unfortunately the Maryland Wine website is not nearly as easy to navigate as the Virginia Wine website, but I was able to find one about 40 minutes east of Annapolis, St. Michaels Winery in the historic town of St. Michaels "the town that fooled the British."

I had Megan and Debbie in tow and we made our way to the tasting room, which was behind a brewery and around an old flour mill. The tasting room was packed! It seems it was the last day to redeem a Living Social deal there so it was full to the brim and the staff was working hard. We were originally told it would be a 20-30 min wait for a tasting, but some friendly tasters who were finishing up made room for us at the main bar.  There we were greeted by a friendly server who told us that St. Michaels has been making wine since 2005 and a lot of the Maryland wineries were taking notes from Virginia's growing industry. She also told us about the Maryland wine passport that has codes for each of the 50 wineries in the state; once you register yours you are eligible for discounts to tasting events, festivals and bottles. Virginia, you've got to get in on this!

The tastings were a la carte and a $1 for each, if you tried more than 3 you got to keep your glass. We tried about 9 of the 16 available, they were sold out of an additional 4 wines. We all tried the same first 3, Long Splice dry white, steel barreled Chardonnay, and a steel barreled Viognier. The Long Splice, a seyval blend, had a very fruity fragrance and we all enjoyed the Chardonnay & Viognier.  I went straight in for the reds starting with the Maryland Merlot, a smoky merlot that is grown on a former tobacco farm, followed by the Island Beauty which a wonderful smooth and dry red. The Syrah had a nice nose, but it was a bit too dry for my palate, that was followed by the Martha Chamborcin which was light and named for the Martha Skip Jack that brings the grapes down the channels. I finished up with the Gollywobbler Red, made from the Concord grapes that grow well in Maryland. While I was busy with these Debbie and Megan had skipped down to the off dry whites, the Pinot Blanc and St. Michaels White (vidal). Megan was head over heels for the Pinot Blanc which had notes of mint in it, a very refreshing cool white, also the wine makers favorite. Debbie tried it next and also loved it so I gave in and tried it as well, it was amazing! I mean you all know I'm learning to like more whites, but this was amazing! Lucky for us they were having a sale on whites, 3 for $10 so we walked out with a couple boxes of the Pinot Blanc, Viognier and Chardonnay. There was also a "bargain bucket" of wines marked down because of their imperfect labels and Megan jumped on the bottle of Pinot in there.

While the tasting room was a bit cramped, the service was great and the wines were wonderful! Next time you are heading out to Maryland's eastern shore make this stop for sure!