Welcome to my second post. As it is Maryland Wine Week, I'm going to use this opportunity to introduce you to some Maryland wines. I understand most people don’t take Maryland wine seriously but we are starting to see some really good juice coming out of our state. While I would love to be able to profile several, I am just going to discuss Boordy Vineyards.
As Maryland’s first commercial winery, Boordy has a long and rich history. The winery opened in Baltimore in the forties and was sold and moved to its present location in the eighties. Boordy has two main vineyards: Long Green Vineyard north of Baltimore and South Mountain Vineyard in Burkittsville. Both Vineyards plant different varietals to take advantage of certain climatic and soil differences.
Boordy makes a lot of good wine but I will focus on two. First up is the Landmark Reserve Chardonnay. The fruit is hand selected from each of the two vineyard sites. Some of the fruit is aged “sur lie” in French Oak barrels and the remainder is done in stainless steel. The mix of the two makes for an extremely well balanced wine that is neither over the top oaky or too acidic. Crisp and clean with notes of apple and tropical fruits surround the light vanilla and soft butter flavors. Next time you are entertaining the neighborhood wine snob bring this out and surprise them. They probably will not believe that Maryland can make such a wonderful wine.
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The Landmark Reserve Red is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Petit Verdot; all of which are allowed in the blend of red Bordeaux. The fruit is all hand harvested and then aged in French oak barrels. The barrels are then tasted and only the best are selected to be in the final blend. This is no light wine. It is big with plenty of dark fruits like plum and currant. Tobbaco is also present with some leather notes and a hint of vanilla rounds out the mix. This is a complex wine that would like some aging or at least a good splash in a decanter. Great with hearty beef dishes.
Hopefully these wines will peak your interest and you can go out and support some local farmers and winemakers. You never know, you may find your new favorite wine is a Maryland wine!