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!!