2011 was quite a year for Maryland wineries – and I’m not just talking about that little direct shipping bill kerfluffle. A whole crop of new wineries – pardon the pun – opened their doors for business (so many that I lost count, of course), among them Royal Rabbit Vineyards in Parkton. Winemaker Roy Albin was kind enough to welcome us in for an appointment on an unseasonably warm Sunday back in December to try their cleverly-branded wines featuring names like “The Duke” and “Il Barone” in line with the regally-themed winery.
The wine selection leans somewhat more towards reds and definitely stays in the dry territory. Roy told us his goal is to emulate the style of wines produced in Rhone and Burgundy, which typically feature blends of several grapes to bring out unique flavors in the final product. Although eastern and central France share some of Maryland’s “continental” climate type marked by warm/hot summers and cool/cold winters, our soil types are pretty different, and in recognition of that you’ll see a familiar set of ingredients in said blends – cabernets, chambourcin, petit verdot, and chardonnay. However, Royal Rabbit is also pushing forward and experimenting with some new varieties for the region, like the white wine grape marsanne.
Overall, I was really impressed by their set of wines, both in terms of the quality and the number (11 in total) for such a new winery. The winemaker does have a number of years’ experience in winemaking, coming up through the ranks of amateur winemakers – the “homebrew” club of the wine world – that give him years of experience in that department. That experience really came out strongly in the professionally-finished feel of these wines. Of course I found myself drawn to the cabernet sauvignon (“The Count”), but would recommend trying any and all of them, including a dry-style rose that sacrifices none of the complexities found in a solid table wine. The chambourcin is also a strong offering in an increasingly crowded space – I still think Knob Hall does the best chambourcin in the state, but Royal Rabbit’s take on the grape is well-balanced and goes easy on the cherry flavors that can be overwhelming in other interpretations.
Due to limited production capacity, Royal Rabbit will be very limited in terms of festival attendance during 2012, so your best bet is to make the trek up 83 to Parkton, which is just south of the MD-PA border in Baltimore County (on of the Piedmont Wine Trail, if you’re keeping score at home – although they’re considering a switch to the multi-state Mason-Dixon wine trail given the vineyard’s proximity to PA). And although the holidays delayed my writing this post by a few weeks, the timing does allow me to include a mention of their upcoming “Woodwinds and Wine” event on January 28, featuring a variety of chamber music performances. Not sure any of the Vinotrip staff will make it out to that, so please let us know in the comments if you get up there!
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