Hmm Cabernet or Malbec Watson?

Now if I could pick one talent to have (and comic book superpowers were off the table) it would be a toss-up between being able to play the guitar like a rock god, speaking several languages fluently or being a supertaster a la Robert Parker.  Who, as an aside, claims that he can remember every wine he has ever tasted!  One thing I’ve learned is that don’t improve on anything by sitting around, so I was really happy that I had a chance to attend one of the regular wine classes that the Frederick Wine House co-hosts.  It was titled ‘Wine Detectives- The Art of Identifying Wine Blind.’

Not surprisingly it turned out to be a great evening with good company and a wonderful wine exercise.  The host, Shawn Clopper, from Monument Fine Wines led about 80 of us through a tasting of eight different bottles of wine. He helped us break down the tasting process starting with appearance (clarity, color, brightness and viscosity) and then the smells and then finally tasting the wine.  He gave everyone a wonderful handout with the categories and subcategories of flavors.  Breaking it down into a standardized methodology allows you to isolate the variables with the goal of helping you to identify the wine.  In this case we were going for the varietal.  After we went through all eight wines and made our notes the winemaker’s tasting notes were provided to us.  It was fascinating to see how divergent our notes were from the winemakers’.  After that came the great reveal and then everyone made a bee line for their favorites and finished off all of the leftover wine.  I could not believe how fast two hours went by.  I am embarrassed to say that I went 1 for 8 while Mrs. F went 2 for 8.  Of course there is only one solution for this situation practice!  Reportedly one of the participants got 6/8

Lastly I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention the nice hors d’oeuvres that were served with the tasting and that the evening started off very nicely with a vintage prosecco.  An excellent way to spend an evening.  I will post here when they announce the next class.

Purchased at the Frederick Wine House for $49.99

Good op-ed piece in the Sun on this issue by Adam Borden president of MBBWL.

And finally on Monday I posted about the best rose I have had in ages.  Well it seems that I am not the only one who feels this way.  In today’s wine column in the Washington Post Dave McIntyre gives the Alexander Valley Vineyards Dry Rose of Sangiovese the highest rating out of all the rose he reviewed.  Refined palate or just plebeian tastes?  I know which theory I’m going with.

Brewer’s Alley released a special wedding beer, Wedding Alt, with customizable labels.  How about a divorce one?  Should it be something dark and heavy or light and celebratory?

The Grateful Gourmet tries a Frederick County wine and finds he likes it.

West Frederick Farmer’s Market re-opens Saturday May 5th for the season!

Corkage:  The practice of bringing your own bottle of wine to a restaurant to drink is commonly known as corkage.  Up until now this has been illegal in Maryland (in fact I believe that Volt got into a bit of trouble last year for allowing this).   As of July 1st,  2012 patrons of Maryland restaurants will now be permitted to bring that special bottle when they dine with a couple of conditions:  the restaurant must allow it and have a permit to do so from the local liquor board, the wine must be consumed with a meal, and the wine is not available for sale on the restaurant’s wine list.  As an aside the last condition should  be honored simply as a matter of proper etiquette law or no law.

Middletown Wine Festival:  A bill passed the legislature that allows a wine festival to be held within the municipal boundaries of the town for no more than two, one-day festival per year.

Packing Heat:  Lastly I’m sure you will all feel better and safer that the Legislature will now allow Frederick County’s alcoholic beverage inspector(s) to carry firearms in the course of their duties.  I predict that a SWAT team will not be far behind.

Toast to Frederick wine festival- April 21st and 22nd at the Frederick fairgrounds

The Maryland Craft Beer Festival at the Frederick fairgrounds.  May 12th from noon to six.

Frederick Beer Week- May 12-19th.  Events all over the Frederick area.

Wine in The Woods- May 19 and 20th at Merriweather Post Pavillion.

Also  someone (or someones) else liked the Knob Hall Chambourcin as much as I did.  It won  the top award at the American Wine Society’s Annual  National Conference in a competition of the top varieties and wines of the Maryland and New Jersey region.  Article here.

Quite frankly I do not care what the tasting area looks like as long as the wine is good. I did get to taste all of Knob Hall Winery’s current releases.  As usual with my Maryland wine tasting adventures I am always pleasantly surprised, uncovering wines that can hold their own against others from better known areas.  My two favorites were their Chambourcin and their semi-dry rose.  The rose was only slightly sweet and had nice fruit and acidity.  The Chambourcin was full bodied and very interesting, with lots of sour red fruit and hints of earth and leather.  It is unusual to see a single varietal made from Chambourcin, a fairly obscure grape, and I was excited to try it.  Defintely worth a trip and bringing  home a bottle or two as well.

Knob Hall Winery is located at 14108 St. Paul Road in Clear Spring, Maryland.  Their phone number is 301-842-2777.

Previous thoughts on this event for 2010, 2009, 2008, more 2008, and 2007.

Full article here.

Is this the future of the USPS?

The food was very good.  I started with the  butternut squash soup which turned out to be the highlight of my meal.  Rich creamy soup with fried goat cheese balls and a drizzle of olive oil.   I came close to licking the bowl on that one.  I also sampled the sheep’s milk agnilotti, the heritage pork belly and the Border Springs Farm lamb flatbread.  All three of which were delicious.  I cannot stand overcooked pasta and I am happy to report that the agnilotti was cooked perfectly.  The pork belly had a nicely crisped exterior and a juicy inside.   The menu is not huge, but there is plenty to choose from.

Of course, like the name implies this place is about wine.  The best way to enjoy this is get one of their flights.  These are groupings of three wines, thematically tied together.  They come in high quality glassware and each flight was accompanied by a little set of cards explaining the three different wines.  I ordered the Italian Renaissance, which was the only flight that had both white and red wine.  I had the white (Fuso Verdicchio) with the soup, which made for a terrific pairing.  The other two were reds.  The only down note was that I felt like the last wine of the flight, the Marabino Noto Nero D’Avola, was a little old and flat tasting.  I always have a little bit of a concern about freshness in places that have a lot of wine by the glass available on the menu, yet just keep the partially full bottles out on the counter with the corks  stuffed in them.  On the plus side there are lots of interesting flights to try:  Pinot Evil and a flight of three bubblies caught my eye.

The service was good and the lunch with appetizer, entrée and a flight of wine each came to about $40 each including tip.  All of us agreed that it is well worth a return trip.  On the way out we noticed a nice set of leather sofa surrounding a fireplace.  That would be the spot to while away some time while sampling their wines!!