Admittedly, I was not expecting much from Maryland wines and as much as I would love to say that the St. Michael's Winery proved me wrong, the wine has a looooooooong way to go. I took a bunch of notes at the winery, but rather than bore you with all the gory details, I'll just share the key points:
-What is up with almost every one of their white wines having a nose of cat urine? Have they been hanging out with the New Zealanders (a.k.a. "Kiwis" - like the bird, not the fruit)?
-Concord grapes = Manishewitz. These grapes are wonderful to eat but they're little sugar bombs and should not be used for anything other than Manishewitz wine and White Zin drinkers who think they are wine drinkers.
-The free cheese they served us at the tasting was quite good - especially the truffled one.
-They gave away logo'ed glasses with each tasting which many of the California wineries used to do but no longer do. I wish all wineries did that because whether the wine was good or not, it's a nice memento of the visit. Plus, it's a good way to brand.
Luckily we had stocked our rental house with enough good bottles of wine that by Friday evening our wine tasting was left well in the past.
Oh, and for those who enjoy good beer, we visited the local brewery. I didn't take any notes, but if I had, I would have written: If this brewery succeeds, then there's no way that Chris*, who is a masterful home brewer, won't be successful.
*Chris is my friend, Grace's, fiance.
*Chris is my friend, Grace's, fiance.
Thanks to Amy, Amy, Wendy, Trish, Irene, and Grace for indulging my note taking. I'm glad my "outdoor voice" proclamations about the urine nose didn't get us kicked out into the rain.
Until my next sniff, swirl, sip and quaff,
Alli M.