I have been writing about Black Ankle Vineyards since 2010. That's a nice long time. And I am so happy to be able to say that I am still in love with their wines. Black Ankle Vineyards has been a leader in East Coast wines since they opened their doors! Ed Boyce and Sarah O'Herron have done a remarkable job growing their winery as well as improved the quality every year. I was lucky enough to taste some of their newest wines at the Maryland Governor's Cup with wine educator Dennis Smith, and Janna Howley of Maryland Wine. All three of the wines were among the most remarkable of the tasting.
One of the absolute stars of the entire tasting, for me, was the Black Ankle VGV 2024. The wine is 100% estate grown fruit, 56% Gruner Veltliner and 44% Viognier. The fruit was "harvested by hand in the fall. After an overnight rest in the cool winery, the Viognier and Grüner Veltliner wine grapes are sorted, de-stemmed, and are gently whole-cluster pressed before the juice is transferred to be co-fermented in stainless steel tanks. Fermentation is done at a cool temperature and typically takes about a month to complete," read the winemaker's notes. "The harvest started out dry, and actually resulted in the most beautiful white wines we’ve seen to date." I have always been a huge fan of their Albarino, but this wine was an eye opener this season. Big fragrant notes of apricot, white peach, pineapple, tangerine, green melon, and fresh apple and pear, pour out of the glass. This is an incredibly aromatic whine. There's also notes of minerality and wet slate countered by a citrus touch of lemon-lime on the back end and on the finish. Green apple and other tropical fruits dominate the back end of this wine which gladly lingers forever in the mouth. An absolutely astonishing wine. One of the best white wines they have ever produced, and I dare say one of the best white wines of the season.
The Black Ankle Consecha 2023 was also incredibly impressive. The wine is made from 58% Petit Verdot, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Syrah, and 2% Cabernet Franc. According to the winemaker's notes, "Once the fruit is picked, destemmed, and crushed, the berries, juice, pulp and seeds all go into a stainless steel fermentation tank. Once the tanks are filled, we run off or "bleed" a portion of the juice, which can be anywhere from 15% to 40% of the total juice volume. This bleeding process allows for a
greater skin to juice ratio... This bleed juice is fermented separately. The remaining juice will rest cool for a few days to extract as much color and flavor as possible. The juice will then ferment at a warm 80-90 degrees with frequent "pump overs" to provide for even extraction. Once fermentation is complete, the wine is drained out of the tanks and put into oak barrels for malolactic fermentation and aging." The wine is then aged in oak until bottling.
Consecha 2023 is a medium-bodied Bordeaux-style blend. The nose is a combination of violets, lilac and whiffs of lavender with herbs and spices. But there is the presence of red and dark fruits as well -, dark and bright cherry, raspberry, blackberry, and plum. Notes of tobacco, cooking herbs, and cedar. Lovely finish of white and black pepper. An absolutely wonderful red wine with tremendous character, balance, and complexity. The fruit lingers on the palate a good long time. An excellent wine.
Crumbling Rock 2022 is Black Ankle's flagship Bordeaux-styled blend of 100% estate grown fruit, 47% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Cabernet Franc, 18% Merlot, and 6% Petit Verdot. The winemaker's notes say, "Rarely do we get generosity and high quality in the same year. However, the 2022 vintage gifted us with both! A warm dry summer with just enough rain... The wines have very good acidity, even better than the 2021's. The reds were uniformly healthy... so we could wait for just the right ripeness levels without worrying about weather events.
This big, sophisticate red wine has all the power and complexity one would expect, and hope for, from such a formidable producer. This purple-red wine starts off with big notes of dark stewed red fruits - a veritible compote of dark cherries, cassis, black berry, prune, and a note of bright cherry as well. There's notes of dark chocolate, mocha, cedar, fresh cured tobacco, and some earthiness. There's a dollop of black and white pepper at the end, And then some lovely acidity which gives those dark fruits some freshness and vibrance, which lingers and lingers. A big red wine with lots of complexity, balance, and elegance. One of the best red wines on the east coast.
Congrats to Ed and Sarah and their crew.
