State's wineries see benefits from wine trail

It's a new year and it looks like a promising one for the state's wineries and wine drinkers.

Late last year saw the newest entry on the area's wine circuit with the opening of the tasting room at the Black Ankle Vineyards in Mount Airy. Owned by the married couple Sarah O'Herron and Ed Boyce, Black Ankle's first vines were planted in 2003 and its first bottle was produced three years later.

The results have been impressive. The winery's Crumbling Rock Bordeaux Blend 2006 won the 2008 Governor's Cup Competition sponsored by the Maryland Wine Association. The Governor's Cup goes to the best wine in the state, according to the association.

Wine buyers have taken notice, and have been buying lots of Crumbling Rock.

"We have probably sold 150 cases. It's been going like crazy," O'Herron said recently.

Black Ankle produces 10 different wines — six whites and four reds — all from grapes grown on its 145 acres.

There are several other wineries in the area, with six on the Frederick Wine Trail, including Frederick Wine Cellars in downtown Frederick. Frederick Wine Cellars was also a big winner in the Governor's Cup Competition, snagging a gold medal for its Reisling.

This weekend Frederick Wine Cellars is having what it bills as its Inauguration Celebration, with singer-songwriter Karyn Oliver appearing Saturday and an event to "inaugurate" its new winemaker, Garrett Consenza, on Sunday.

Charlie Daneri, co-owner of Frederick Wine Cellars, said Consenza, originally from New Jersey, interned at the winery last summer and the winery decided to bring him on board permanently.

"He actually started this week, so we thought we'd have an event to officially welcome him as our new winemaker" Daneri said. "He has a refreshing philosophy. He got his master's degree at Fresno (Calif.) State, but he likes the challenge of working on the East Coast, where we don't have the same temperature, weather they have in California. He realizes we know we can produce good wines here, it just takes more work."

The Maryland Wineries Association established the Frederick Wine Trail, the first in the state, in May 2007 as a way to generate more interest in Maryland wineries and wine production.

"Frederick seemed the ideal place to start because it had a high concentration of wineries," said Kevin Atticks, executive director of the Maryland Wine Association, based in Timonium.

And the wine trail seems to be working.

"I have been hearing from wineries that visits are up 20 percent since we started the wine trail," said Atticks, who said in an interview last month that sales across the state for locally produced wines were up 20 percent from the previous year. He said Maryland wine consumers are buying more Maryland wines as they learn more about the state's wineries.

"It's a realization that ‘Maryland produces wine. I like wine. I should be buying local,'" Atticks said.

Linganore Winecellars in Mount Airy is the largest vineyard in Maryland, according to the association. This year the winery expects to sell more than 50,000 cases. Linganore planted its first vines in 1972 and has been selling its wine since 1977.

Daneri said Frederick Wine Cellars, in its third year of operation, had a "modest gain" for business last year and is "hopeful for the upcoming year." He said the winery is working toward selling 3,000 to 4,000 cases a year.

For this year, he said, "We will be conscious of the economy and what people can afford and will adjust our product offerings to go with the realities."