Boordy Vineyards

Boordy Vineyards is a  67 year old winery that is located just north of Baltimore, in Jacksonville, Maryland. This is about five minutes from my house and ever since I was little I have always wanted to try their wine.

As I drove into the winery I saw the barn, outside amphitheatre, and the vast fields of vines that I have past on my way home so many times throughout high school. Then it was time for the tour. Unfortunately, the day we went was very cloudy and cold and since it was march and they had barely started their growing season if at all, the tour they gave us was a little half assed. 

The fields of vines runs about 15 to 20 acres and at this particular spot it is better for growing whites. They have a second location about an hour and half west of Baltimore that has a 2 week longer growing season making it better for reds. Unfortunately, there were no grapes on the vines and so they just sort of pointed out where they planted their Chardonnay, Seyval Blanc, Vidal Blanc, Chamourcin, Cabernet Franc, and Pinot Grigio grapes.

As we made our way to the barn, they pointed out where the Chateau de Boordy (farm in this case) was. They also showed us where the amphitheatre is and where they have parties each week. We made our way into the upstairs of the barn where they showed us the several barrels that were stored and I forgot to take a picture which sucks.

As we made our way to the downstairs, however, they had a little shop set up with several wines and trinkets and as we made our way into the next room I finally saw it. The Tasting Room. The best part of the trip. Here we tried 10 or 11 of their 20 wines. Note before we start that they told us they do not have any heavy full-bodied reds because of their short growing season.

They have 3 different series. First is their Landmark series which are wines made from 100% Maryland grapes and mostly from Boordy. These are the wines that are made to show off the terroir and vintages of Maryland.

The next series is their icons of Maryland wines which are named after favorite animals icons in Maryland, like the oriole or rockfish.These are fun wines that pair well with food or just to enjoy while sitting on a porch drinking with friends.

The last is the fun wines. these are wines that they make just for fun. The let us try one so we picked the Spiced Wassail, which is the spicy red wine of "good cheer". Served heated to warm the soul. when we drank it was not heated, however it tasted like a mix between clove and pumpkin pie and it was awesome. it something to definitely drink during the holidays.

I went with my mom and she said she was the worst taster there was so as I was trying to pick out flavors I started asking her and she started doing better which was cool. My favorite wine was the Cabernet Franc, which is an elegant red with soft tannins and a silky finish with Aromas of cedar and raspberry and aged in French oak barrels. Her favorite was the Chardonnay.

Luca

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Name: Da Luca
Variety: Pinot Grigio
Region:Veneto

Country:Italy 
Year: 2010
Price: 8.75

Shop/wine critic/winery review: 

Elegant, dry, fruity Da Luca Pinot Grigio from Triveneto in Italy. This is crisp and fresh, made from 100% Pinot Grigio grapes from the north-eastern part of Italy, showing beautiful notes of apple and a little lemon and lime citrus fruit. Enjoy on its own or sip alongside a plate of shellfish.

My Review: Very clear with a hint of gold color. Very grapey smell. Very balanced! It kind of gets your taste buds going at first with a burst of grape flavor for the mid pallet. Its a really good wine, not really any interesting or complex flavors but very clean and smooth. I had a good time tasting this wine. It was not with food.

Marques de Moral Crianza

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Name: Marques de Moral Crianza 
Variety: Tempranillo
Region:Valdepenas  
Country: Spain
Year: 2007
Price: 7.95

Shop/wine critic/winery review: 87 points -- Stephen Tanzer

Medium Red. Aromas of redcurrant and cherry, plus a hint of dried rose. Fleshy and smooth, with moderate depth to its slightly bitter fruit flavors. Finishes with decent readth adn grip, with the redcurrant element joined by a hint of white paper.

My Review: When I smelled the wine I caught flower smells. I thought it smelled really good. Had a nice red color and had a hint of pepper. Once tasted the pepper smell really came through and it came to be really good. I really liked this wine. The balance of flower and pepper really did work out and it was the best wine tasted at the vintage cellar.

Poggio Vignoso

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Name: Poggio Vignoso
Variety: Chianti
Region:Tuscany
Country:Italy
Year: 2009
Price: 9.99

hop/wine critic/winery review:
Abundant, easily expressible cherry and strawberry fruit elide attempts at complexification. This is charming, free wheeling wine: clean, pure, simple and delicious. It also happens to be rockin’ tasty with pretty sweet fruit, leather and medium body. Perfectly suited for high acid pastas, pizza and anything with tomatos. In many wine lover’s search for greatness, they can miss the inimitable basic purity of a wine like this Chianti.
13% ABV. 85% Sangiovese, 10% Canaiolo, 5% Malvasia.
Very Good+ and Highly Recommended Value

My Review: This has a great ruby red color color and has an awesome cherry and floral smell. The taste was really great. It is one of the best red wines that i have tried. It is the first wine that i had tried that I could really taste the mid pallet. I did not, however, taste the strawberry flavors.. It does seem very balanced and I had a good time drinking this wine. I did not try it with food.

Coldstream Hills

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Name: Coldstream Hills
Variety: Sauvignon Blanc
Region:Yarra Valley
Country:Australia
Year: 2009
Price: 7.95

Shop/wine critic/winery review: Predominantly fermented at cool temperatures in a stainless steel tanks. The nose shows frangrant goosberry characters with underlying passionfruit and lychee aromas. The palate is a is a fine and elegant style with zesty lemon acidity and lengt. Varietal characters of passhonfruit pulp and gooseerry dominate with hints of lemon peel in the background.
My Review: It was first a nice light gold gold color. The smell was very smooth and silky. The silkiness in the taste I seemed to think was honey. The gooseberry and passionfruit were more underlying then actually at the forfront. This was very well balanced and it was a pretty good wine. The silkiness was cool to taste but it was almost a little bland, the honey taste was what i taste most and i thought it was going to be a better overall wine.

Maipe Sauvignon Blanc

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Name: Maipe

Variety: Sauvignon Blanc

Region: Cuyo

Country: Argentina

Year: 2011

Price: 9.99

Shop/wine critic/winery review:100% Sauvignon Blanc. Manual harvest.
5 year old vines.
6 hour maceration on skins in temperature controlled steel vats; fermentation with selected yeasts at 13°-15°C

Yellow color with green hints.
Expressive wine, fresh, very aromatic. This Sauvignon Blanc displays grapefruit flavors, with hints of melon and honey. It finishes with bracing acidity and fresh mouth feels that make it a terrific aperitif and an excellent accompaniment to virtually all seafood, especially shellfish.

"Filled with notes of honeyed grapefruit, honeydew melon, and figs, it is a light to medium-bodied, fresh, lively Sauvignon Blanc that has significantly more character than one would expect in a $13 wine. It, too, should be drunk over the next year."

87 points in 2010

My Review: I had a glass of this wine last night and now two tonight. The smell is pretty awesome. You can smell a blend of grapefruit, honeymelon, alchohol, and a hint of fig. However, the intial taste is kind of a bland blend between fig and grapefruit with little to no mid palette. The honey is very hard to find. The aftertaste has way to much heat and overpowering amount of grapefruit (Which i do not like). However, This is my first post so i dont know what i am talking about but i would say it has to much heat and is a little out of balance.