St. Michaels Winery

The big, barn-like structure houses a small four-seater bar and a half dozen or so tables, situated in a quaint, high-ceilinged, nautically themed room. Though it took a bit longer than we would have liked to be seated, the staff was lovely, and the wait gave us plenty of time to plan our tastings. As I said before, St. Michaels has almost 20 wines available to try, ranging from well-known French varietals like Pinot Grigio and Syrah, to more obscure native varietals and hybrids like Niagra, Seyval and Concord. Unlike some wineries I have visited, they make it pretty simple for you, offering up everything for $1 a taste.

My experience with Maryland wines, previously limited to a handful of fruit wines, was greatly expanded that day, and what I found was generally pleasant. The 2007 Chenin Blanc -- made from grapes from Lodi, California -- had some nice floral notes, and ample acidity. The Sangiovese, made from local grapes, was also amply acidic, with the high cherry notes of a light Chianti. We brought home a bottle of 2007 Sauvignon Blanc, which had great balance, and pleasing, tropical fruit notes. I wish I had had a chance to try more of the native grape wines, but what we had were generally quite good. Prices were pretty high at $16 to $35 a bottle, but that is not unexpected of a small winery that, because of Maryland's draconian wine-shipping laws, must rely almost exclusively on on-site purchases.
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Looking for some wine with a nautical theme to spank the summertime heat? Here's a unique wine we picked up at the License to Steal wine marketing conference held at Geneva, Ohio, that will have you feeling ship-shape.

St. Michael's Winery is a boutique winery in the Chesapeake Bay resort town of St. Michael's, Maryland. Their Long Splice is a unique blend of 73% Seyval (a French-American hybrid grape) and 27% Chardonnay. The long splice is an especially difficult rope splice done by sailors. The matching of Seyval and Chardonnay is a challenging splice as well -- one that I think works.

We tried the 2008 vintage. When I sampled it at the conference, it struck me as a notch above some of the other regional wines. This is, to my knowledge, the first Maryland wine I've tasted and I liked the freshness. The Seyval gives it a bit of spice that differentiates it from straight Chardonnay. The body is medium and, as you may expect from a winery on the Eastern Shore, it goes well with seafood -- especially oysters.
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