Wine and business flowing at Black Ankle Vineyards

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.

The wine's name and taste both derive from the soil at Black Ankle, she said.

"We look to our soil for what defines our wines," O'Herron said. "And we have these crumbling rocks. The crumbling rocky soils are part of what make the wine so interesting."

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. The state association established the trail, the first in the state, in May 2007 to generate more interest in Maryland wineries and wines. It seems to be working.

"I have been hearing from wineries that visits are up 20 percent since we started the wine trail," said Kevin Atticks, executive director of the association, based in Timonium.

Lois and Bill Loew established Mount Airy's Loew Vineyards in 1982 and sold their first wines in 1986. Planting their vines in a former cornfield, they grow 80 percent of the grapes they process.

Loew Vineyards offers two dry white wines and three dry reds, but its signature products are its semi-sweet and sweet wines. These are "the ones that people will drive a long distance for," Lois Loew 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.

Jack and Lucille Aellen launched Linganore, which is now run by their son Anthony Aellen.

One of Linganore's signature wines is Sweet Chessie, a dessert wine made from Vidal grapes and named for the mythical Chesapeake Bay Monster. This popular wine, introduced 15 years ago, is made from grapes that stay on the vine an extra four weeks.

Sales across the state for locally produced wines are up 20 percent from last year, said Atticks, adding that Maryland wine consumers are buying more Maryland wines as they learn more about the state's wineries.