Maryland winery ‘by the water’s edge’ offers plenty of enticements to whet your interest

Tom and Lisa Shelton are the co-owner and winemakers of Bordeleau Vineyard & Winery in Eden, Maryland, on the southern tip of the state.

That places it, not less than in driving time, midway between Baltimore and Virginia Seaside, and an identical distance of two hours and 20 minutes from Washington, D.C. It’s a couple of miles south of Salisbury.

With an early curiosity in agriculture and utilizing administration expertise developed at Perdue Farms, Tom adopted an curiosity that was generated when he began making fruit wines whereas nonetheless in his teenagers.

After they purchased a farm in close by Allen in 1998, they planted their first grapevines in 1999. That early planting, in response to the web site, included Chardonnay, Vidal Blanc and Chambourcin, and so they continued planting extra varieties equivalent to Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon by means of 2003.

After eight years of assessing the standard of fruit they had been getting, they determined to hunt their business license in the summertime of 2006. Quickly afterward, Bordeleau Vineyards & Vineyard was born.

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Situated at 3155 Noble Farm Street, Bordeleau is open at 11 a.m. Wednesdays by means of Sundays and by appointment Mondays and Tuesdays.

It’s a producer of dry purple and white varietals together with severasl off-dry and sweeter wines, together with a Port-style and ice wine. Lots of these have gained awards in each Maryland and nationwide competitions. The entire listing of award winners can be found here.

As you’ll be able to see from the picture on the prime, there may be loads of room to stretch out on the property and savor the surroundings, which is enhanced by the presence of Wicomico Creek. Per the website, the identify “displays not solely the distinctive atmosphere the place we hand-harvest our grapes but in addition the favorable local weather similarities to the Bordeaux area of France.”

Beneath is the most recent within the “6 Questions” collection of interviews with winemakers and homeowners of East Coast wineries, which seems to be behind at what has been a turbulent 12 months and, with optimism, seems to be forward. Because of Tom Shelton for taking the time to reply these.

Q, Since a few of that is introducing my readers to wineries they don’t learn about, how would you outline what your vineyard and the expertise there may be all about? What 12 months did you formally open?

A, Bordeleau vineyard is understood for wonderful wines at an affordable worth. We develop 12 varieties and make greater than 20 completely different wines. Our first vines had been planted in 1999 (one acre) extra vines had been added via 2008. At the moment we produce roughly 14 acres of grapes.

As well as, we develop apples, peaches, strawberries and blackberries. Every of those is used to make fruit wines. We obtained our business farm vineyard license in 2006 and opened our tasting room in Might 2008. The vineyard is positioned on Wicomico Creek, which empties into the Wicomico River after which the Chesapeake Bay. Clients typically come to the tasting room by boat. We provide some meals objects equivalent to pizza however many shoppers carry picnic lunches. We usually have dwell music on Saturday or Sunday and supply vineyard excursions on Saturdays.

Q, What number of acres are you farming and is all the pieces you make out of your grapes? Are you replanting something or placing in something new this 12 months or subsequent? I’m asking as a result of I take a look at how lengthy your vines have been rising now and I’m curious what has performed effectively and what hasn’t, and the patron traits which have taken place since then.

A, Most of our wine is comprised of fruit produced on our farm. This 12 months we’re changing our Viognier vines with Cabernet Franc. I’ve been disenchanted with the efficiency of the Viognier and wish extra Cabernet Franc to fulfill buyer demand.

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A lot of the twelve varieties have carried out fairly effectively. I’d additionally say that Merlot can current a problem. In 2014 we skilled extraordinarily low temperatures in January and misplaced a number of of the Merlot vines. These vines have been changed with Merlot. This was the primary time in 20 years that temperatures dipped this low. Hopefully, this is not going to occur once more. Relating to client traits, I’d say that prospects have bought extra of our dry wines over time, particularly our seven dry purple wines.

Q. What has the final 12 months been like for you there and are there any variations you made that you simply’ll proceed even after the pandemic?

A, Our gross sales had been truly up in 2020 in comparison with 2019. We weren’t allowed to supply wine tastings however may supply wine flights. This has labored out nice and I doubt that if we now have the choice to return to tastings we most likely would select to not and stick with the flights. We added heated tents exterior to house prospects in the course of the fall and winter months and have become extra aggressive in providing occasions to draw prospects.

Q, You deal with the winery and cellar, sure?? That’s plenty of work. Something you understand now that you simply didn’t while you began? What’s the most pleasurable half for you?

A, I do plenty of the surface work and in addition make the wine. I usually work plenty of hours however get pleasure from staying busy. The problem of making an attempt to make wines which are memorable has been probably the most pleasurable factor that I do. My aim is for every new wine is to be higher than the one which it replaces. Most of our wines are recognized by lot numbers as an alternative of a particular classic. This enables us to pick out solely one of the best barrels of wine for a brand new bottling. Our purple wines are aged in barrels for a for much longer interval than the trade norm. We really feel this provides a high quality that’s price the additional price. For instance, our present Chambourcin was aged for 60 months and our Meritage was aged in oak for 48 months.

Q, I discussed traits above. Have you ever seen pursuits change since you bought into the enterprise within the sorts of wines folks need?

A, I believe common prospects of Bordeleau have developed a extra discriminating palate as our wines have developed.

Q, Do you have got leisure and meals vans by means of the summer time? Simply making an attempt to get a way of what guests can anticipate.

A, We provide weekly leisure year-round. Different occasions equivalent to our annual chili cooking contest and our harvest competition within the fall have change into a practice.

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