This evening I’m flying to Baltimore for Drink Local Wine 2013 where I will explore and celebrate Maryland wines alongside other writers as well as local winemakers, wine industry professionals, chefs and Maryland wine enthusiasts. (Full disclosure: I’m a member of the Drink Local Wine board of directors).
Similar in mission to my own TasteCamp programming, DLW seeks to draw attention to wine regions outside of California, Washington and Oregon and celebrate regional and local wines overall. Previous editions of the annual conference have been held in Virginia, Missouri and Colorado. I’m hoping to bring the event to New York at some point in the next few years.
I’m admittedly not that familiar with Maryland wines. In fact, I’ve only tasted visted and tasted wines from one winery, Black Ankle Vineyards in Mt. Airy. Luckily, Black Ankle is considered by many to be the jewel of Maryland wine and after visiting last summer I can see why. Beyond being a beautiful location and setting, the wines were impressive and — much more importantly I think — distinctive. If Black Ankle is touching on the potential for the region, the future is bright.
Tomorrow, there is a media tour during which we’ll visit Black Ankle but also Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard and Boordy Vineyards. We will also enjoy some locally sourced meals by Woodberry Kitchen and Waterfront Kitchen.
But Saturday is the conference itself and we’re expecting the biggest crowd ever for DLW. You can check out the agenda online.
To wrap up the day, we’ll host this year’s Twitter Taste-Off where more than 20 Maryland wineries will pour for an expected crowd of more than 200 attendees.
Follow me on Twitter for updates throughout the weekend and look for a report back here on NYCR early next week.