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Wine and the woods, and people who enjoy both
Saturday morning broke rather overcast, with a good chance for rain. It instead brightened up, warmed up, and became a beautiful warm spring afternoon for those who made it out to Wine in the Woods.
Located in Symphony woods right next to Merryweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Wine in the Woods is a celebration of Maryland wineries held every May. It has grown steadily, with almost 30 wineries making an appearance this year. Ticket prices at the gate was $25 for adults, and $20 dollars for designated drivers. For your money, you received a wine glass with which to sample all the various wines that the vendors brought with them. Most of the wine was free, with a few of the premium wine offerings costing a dollar for an ounce or two.
While their where a few notable misses, most of the wine was surprisingly good, with a few outstanding offers. The number of wineries seems to have exploded over the past five years. Many where making their first or second festival appearance. The consensus within the group I was with was that Black Ankle Vineyards 2006 Crumbling Rock Red was the best wine that we tried at the event. Another was the entire selection from Orchid Cellar. Instead of traditional wine, they offered mead, a wine made from honey, not grapes. Of particular interest was a mead named The Hunter. The Hunter was made with various spices, including hot peppers. This made for a novel drink that many found amazing. An quick unofficial poll of those pouring the samples found that this was the favorite of many.
Along with the wine was a nice selection of food. It seems that every local festival brings more varied food selections each year. Among the regular festival foods, it was nice to see Baltimore's own Ostrowski's Polish sausages being served. Other more high end fare was there to be tried as well. A raw bar was situated close to the entrance and Greystone Grill was serving up its delicious food as well.
No major national music acts where showcased this year, but that does not mean it was bad. It was not all standard festival music either. On the second stage, jazz was followed by a very eclectic sounding Victoria Vox, playing acoustic stepped down versions of everything from hip hop to the Talking Heads. Not for everyone, but it does beat listening to the same rock standards over and over again at any of the area festivals.
Maybe it was the threat of bad weather, or the Preakness, but I was told by those who attended this festival in years past that it was not as heavy a crowd as usual. This was a good thing, since it was still fairly large. You did have to wait in some lines, especially for the more well known area wineries such as Boordy.
All in all it was a wonderful spring day in which I discovered some new fantastic wines with good friends. Make sure to mark your calenders for next year, I'll be there again.
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