Sunday, January 11, 2015

DeJon Vineyards

It was a cold and rainy Saturday afternoon when we arrived at DeJon Vineyards in Hydes, Maryland. We were definitely not disappointed, however, as the gray and overcast day quickly transformed into a pleasant and enjoyable experience.

This winery is small and friendly. On Saturday afternoons they have a food truck for lunch fare and live music playing in the tasting room both of which combine to create a festive and welcoming atmosphere in which  to sample wine. 

And the wines are definitely worth tasting.  Friendly and knowledgeable people staffed the tasting area and were able to answer all of my questions. As an added benefit, they were bottling in the building next door and allowed us great access to the completely manual operation. This is wine making at its basic level and that makes it all the better.

The tasting fee was a reasonable $5. All of the juice used to create the wines is presently purchased from other wine growing regions, including the Finger Lakes of New York, Maryland, and Chile. 

The price point of the wines is great. The whites are solid wines. The 2011 Chardonnay is unoaked with flavors of apples, pears, and vanilla. The 2012 Vidal Blanc was exceptionally crisp with citrus and bright flavors.

The highlight of the tasting was the Dragonfly 2013. The tasting notes indicate that this full-bodied, Bordeaux styled, Maryland wine offers a luscious blend of cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, and chambourcin grapes. At $25, this is a good price point for this wine.

To warm us up on the cold rainy Saturday a mulled version of Festivus 2011 was being served. It was a delicious way to warm the spirits and complimented the ribs I enjoyed for lunch from the on site food truck.
Bottling the 2014 Chambourcin

We are extremely excited about the chambourcin that was being bottled on the day we visited. It was a 2014 sourced from the Finger Lakes region of New York. We sampled the wine shortly after it was bottled and found it enjoyable, but are waiting for about 6 weeks before doing a full review on the wine. 

DeJon Vineyards is very excited about 2015 because they will be bottling a chambourcin from vines grown on the estate. We are excited as well because chambourcin is one of our favorite grapes--it blends well, makes a very fine varietal, and port-style and dessert wines. It is an underrated versatile grape that grows well in this region.

Recommendation: Visit this vineyard and enjoy the wines and the atmosphere. This is a gem of a winery right in Baltimore county!

-- Bob and Christina Doan, Elkridge, MD