Showing posts with label maryland wine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label maryland wine. Show all posts

Friday, August 27, 2010

Mendocino Lives Local

I am away for a little while, and I wasn't sure what I would find to write about during this trip to the West coast. What I found on the first leg was quite a treat, though, so I figured I'd pass on some of those notes. We were in Mendocino County, California, a few hours north of San Francisco, south of the Redwoods National Park, and along the coast. Having flown into Sacramento and driven nearly four hours to get to the hotel, we had already seen an incredible variety in landscapes.

North of Sacramento everything was agriculture. No surprise there, of course. But, a surprise to me was how big the fields were and how few inhabitants. Where in Central Maryland, the countryside is dotted with small farms and farm buildings, while not close together, aren't that far apart either. Guessing measurements is certainly not my strong suit, but I figure in Carroll County, even in heavily farmed area, you have farms that are 5-100 acres and houses along them. Not the case in this part of northern California. The sunflower, corn, and grape fields stretched out as far as the eye could see and along Interstate 5 going north, we were surprised by the occasional farmhouse or other building. This is BigAg.

The other thing that was interesting was that it was farm land at all. What wasn't part of the crop fields was bone dry brown in color. And the hills to our West were clearly high desert. Brown and full of low lying scrubby bushes, or simply bare ground. I didn't see large overhead irrigation systems, but there must be massive irrigation to make those crops work. The sunflowers had all gone to seed and were dying down, but there were large orchards, corn fields, grapes, beet fields, and other things we didn't recognize at 65mph.

We turned West and headed over the mountains that separate that flatland from the coast. Another hour or two of windy roads, and we suddenly found ourselves on the edge of green and Redwood trees. Logging trucks started passing by. Making our way through the shaded forest, we finally came out into the sunlight again and directly into Pacific Highway 1, running North-South along the coast. We had made it to Fort Bragg and Mendocino County.

A quick stop into the visitor's center. We were met by signs that said "Buy Local. Think Local. Be Local. Mendocino County." And brochures for "America's Greenest Wine Region". Lots of organic restaurants. and advertisements for the coast's farmer's markets. In a few days, we were able to check out a little of the wine region, the farmer's market, and discover local candy cap mushroom ice cream.

According to the advertising, the Mendocino wine growers are proud to grow sustainably and organically. Their figures state that in 2008, 22 wineries use sustainable practices, 28 grow organically, and 20 are certified organic, six are certified biodynamic, ten are fish-friendly certified (nope, no idea what that means), and one uses 100% solar energy. We drove to one of the county's wine appelations, the Anderson Valley, to check it out. Not wanting to subject the family to too much wine tasting, we just headed out in the car and checked out three wineries based on their name or the look of the tasting room as we went past.  I wasn't sure what to expect of this region, and given all the Big Ag was saw near Sacramento, I figured there would be a lot of Big Wine. Wrong.

Our first stop was Toulouse Winery, pronounced "Too Loose". We chose it because it had a cool duck motif on the sign, which later we discovered was meant to be a goose. It was still cool. This is a very small winery in great environs. They make about six wines, using their own or other Anderson Valley farmer's grapes. The area terroir is similar to the Alsatian area of France, so the primary grape is Pinot Noir, and there is a lot of Muscat and Gewurztraminer. We also saw Riesling and Zinfandel at each place, with some Pinot Gris. Toulouse Winery doesn't take itself too seriously. It has adorable t-shirts with the duck/goose in a frenzied pose that say "Too Tense? Toulouse Pinot Noir", and another with a drunken goose holding a wine glass, "Got Too Loose." But their wines were good too. I'm not a huge Pinot fan, but I did like all the ones I tried that day reasonably well. They all seem to make dry muscats, which were indeed dry, but still tasted like muscat; not my favourite. I found a few good Zins and Sauvignon Blancs along the way.

Our second stop was the larger Navarro Winery, or at least it feels larger. It feels more commercial, and I think indeed, it is larger. But they too only sell direct. And they don't ship to Maryland, unfortunately. They have a slightly larger selection of wine, and they sell gewurztraminer and pinot noir grape juice, which are fabulous. All of these wineries were kid friendly, offering them their own drink of some kind or another. The estate grown Pinot Noir at Navarro was absolutely fabulous. They were selling futures on the current vintage, which would be available in 2012 for pick up. Something I hadn't seen before. Large gardens outside gave kids something to do after they downed the grape juice.

Finally, we ended up a Handley Cellars, a woman-founded and owned winery over 30 years in business.  The vintner and co-owner, Milla, is featured in the book Women of Wine. They have some certified organic fields, and they have been practicing organic since the beginning. I asked about how they handle fungus issues, which seem like they would be huge in an area that gets so much fog. She said they use sulfur, which is okay for organic gardening, and that this year, they have had to because it has been so cold. They get grapes from the Anderson Valley, but they also grow in Sonoma and incorporate those into their wines. Like the others in the Anderson Valley, they were heavy on the Pinot.  The woman helping us heard we were in Fort Bragg, and recommended we try the local candy cap mushroom ice cream there. So, off we went.

Cowlicks is a handmade ice cream on Main street in Fort Bragg. It has a huge array of flavours, but the most intriguing was definitely ice cream made from locally grown candy cap mushrooms. It tastes like maple. Exactly like maple. Except there are small pieces of mushrooms in the ice cream, so you are aware it's not maple. This place was like a few other places we ate in the area; full of good vibes.

On Wednesday, we visited the Fort Bragg farmer's market. Similar in size to ours in Westminster, it was clearly an attraction for locals and tourists alike. I wasn't sure what to expect, because the Mendocino coast sure doesn't look like a place you can grow food. I think several people had come from further inland, but within 30 miles range. They are behind us in the growing season, with farmer's offering the last of the strawberries and the first of the blueberries for the year. There was tons of garlic - I think I saw six varieties - and at great prices. I almost went home with a brade of fifteen large heads for twenty bucks.  One organic farm from Fort Bragg boasted potatoes grown without irrigation. Another woman, from Pacific Preserves, made a fabulous lemon ginger marmelade. She said she tries to get her fruit as local to "her" as possible; her parents, living in southern california and florida grow her lemons! Another interesting stall was that of the Noyo Forest Farm, a community farming group that teaches children and adults organic, sustainable farming practices in the town and runs demonstration gardens.

Also along the rugged coast there, we visited the picturesque town of Mendocino where I found these itsy frogs littering the leaves of some kind of salva flower (I think). They were so close in color to the leaves, you hardly saw them.

We headed north to the Redwood National Park yesterday. A stop in Garberville at Getti Up Coffee and Cattle company for a quick bite to eat: country music blaring on the outdoor speakers, the wind-driven water pump for the fish-in-a-barrel-pond, drive up espresso (of course), and a sign on the door "our beef is all local, grass-fed, and never frozen." Now that's a tall order.

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Serpent Ridge Winery

Two thoughts immediately come to mind as I turn into the driveway at Serpent Ridge Wintery: "Wow, this place is beautiful" and "there's a winery here?!". A cedar family home sits near the entrance and its design seems in complete harmony with the surrounding forest. The drive wraps up and behind, and soon it opens out to a small parking lot at the bottom of a slope lined with grape vines. Whooda-thunk??


Greg and Karen Lambrecht opened their winery a few years ago with the aim of producing small quantities of high quality, European style wine. Maryland has had wineries forever, but in the last fifteen years, there has been a surge both in the number of wineries and the quality of their product. There are even several wine trails in the state that lead consumers through scenic countryside to vintner's tasting rooms (visit www.marylandwine.com for details). Serpent Ridge is one of a handful of wineries in Carroll County, and it is just south of Westminster.

I first ran into Karen last year, as we both were purchasing cheese from the farmer's market. She was wearing a Serpent Ridge t-shirt, and I just had to ask: is that a local winery? Shortly afterwards, I was pulling up the wooded drive.

The couple aim to grow most of their own grapes, or buy what they need from local growers. They aren't quite able to do that yet and, due to lack of availability nearby, do purchase some grapes from out-of-state. They have just added more vines, white Albarino grapes, to their vineyard this year. In three years, these will produce a full harvest, but for now they have to purchase them elsewhere. In the meantime, on their own property in Westminster, they grow Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc.  These are supplemented with grapes grown near Annapolis, though ideally, they would to use a Carroll County grower. And, for their Seyval Blanc, they purchase grapes from a producer in Damascus, Maryland.

Serpent Ridge is designed as a small wine producer. As you talk to the couple, it becomes clear that they aren't attempting to create a mass market product, but something that represents their passion for wine. They have found, by talking to experts, that the land and climate they live in best suits Bordeaux-style wines. Karen told me about the various classes and groups they are involved in, constantly learning and trying to find the right position for their business. Part of that means patronizing local businesses and thinking about how their decisions influence the community around them. This is not just about the grapes they buy. As an example, they now have their wine glasses made by Baltimore Glass. I imagine this is not the cheapest source for glass. This is a decision that reflects choices that people will make to support a larger community.

I asked Karen about their use of chemical sprays. They do spray for disease. With the high heat and humidity in Maryland, she told me that fungus is particularly problematic. But they don't spray on a schedule as the manufacturers suggest. They try to use the least amount of sprays possible. This makes good business sense too, of course. Many farmers who do spray have told me they no longer follow recommended schedules. Spraying is expensive, if nothing else. They don't have much of a problem with pests, and only use insecticides when they threaten the fruit, not just the leaves. So, they've made the choice to use limited chemicals because the environment and business considerations, they believe, don't support organic grape growing.

Given the dry spell we've had this summer, I also asked about watering. It turns out this isn't too much of a problem because the grape vines have deep tap roots. So they don't water the vines. Only in the major drought several years ago did they need to irrigate. They did so by bringing in tankers of pool water to the top of ridge and using gravity to feed water down the hillside.

Their harvest is done by volunteer crew, rather than day laborers. In return for some hard work picking grapes, volunteers receive a meal and wine. And, an experience to tell about.

I really like this winery: the owners, the setting, and the wine. As I have time to check out other area wineries, I'll write about them too. You can check out Serpent Ridge online at www.serpentridge.com, find their wines at some area liquor stores, or buy and taste at the winery.