Westminster Eagle

Days of wine, judging for Westminster couple

09/16/04
By Meagan Dilks
Twenty years ago, at the first Maryland Wine Festival, a group of amateur vintners asked instructors at the wine education seminar if they would mind tasting their homemade strawberry wine.

Emily Johnston of Westminster was among those instructors, and she and the others tried to break the news as gently as possible.

"I don't mind saying it was awful stuff," Johnston says of that homemade wine, which was bottled in mason jars.

"But we tried to tell them as politely as we could."

Ever since that first festival in 1984, Johnson and her husband, Jack, have been involved with the Maryland Wine Festival, and the two have helped organize the festival's amateur wine judging - an event which came about in part because of that strawberry wine.

After that first festival, those who had tasted the strawberry wine got to talking, Emily says.

"These people needed help," Emily recalls, referring to all the amateur vintners who attended that first festival, "and we thought (the wine judging) would be a good way to do that."

Since then, the amateur judging has become an integral part of the wine festival, which this weekend celebrates its 20th year. The festival runs Sept. 18 and 19 at the Carroll County Farm Museum.

The amateur judging is just one facet of the festival, which includes music, food, more than 50 craft vendors and, of course, representatives and samples from wineries throughout Maryland.

Emily explains that the wine judging is more about giving vintners advice than finding the best wine.

"We're trying to help these people make better wine," she says. "And I think it works because, over the years, the wines have improved."

The amateur wine judging at this year's festival will be held Sunday, Sept. 19, at 1 p.m. All preregistered entries will be judged on a scale, assessing appearance, aroma and bouquet, taste and balance and aftertaste.

Clinging vines

The Johnstons know how hard it is to get started - they have been making their own wine since the 1970s and today own Copernica Vineyards, a 6-acre operation in northern Westminster. Emily calls it a hobby "out of control."

Jack adds, "Sometimes it's like we bit off more than we could chew."

When the couple lived in Silver Spring in the 1970s, Jack used to drive to Baltimore to buy California grapes. Emily readily admits those first few batches of wine Jack made in their basement were not really drinkable.

"He became more determined to learn because of that," Emily says.

The Johnstons moved to Westminster in 1978 and a year later moved into the house they still live in today. At that time the property had acres of corn, but the Johnstons were warned that the soil conditions constantly cried out for fertilizer.

That was bad news for ears of corn, but music to the Johnstons' ears - good grape-growing soil doesn't have to be exceptionally fertile, Emily says.

"The roots won't go deep if the land is too fertile," she notes.

The Johnstons lived in Westminster about a decade before they started the vineyard on a full scale. In the meantime they studied grapes, experimented with what Emily calls their "backyard vineyard," and became members of the American Wine Society in the mid-1970s. In the early '80s, they also joined the Maryland Grape Growers Association.

In 1988, the Johnstons and 20 of their friends _ "some whom we haven't seen since" Emily jokes _ planted 5,000 vines on 5 acres in about one weekend.

It was a huge undertaking - going from their backyard vineyard to 5 acres, but as Emily recalls, "It seemed like a good idea at the time."

In 1998 the Johnstons added half an acre to the vineyard, and another half acre in 1999.

Today Jack and Emily split their 6-acre crop and sell half of their grapes to Basignani Winery in Sparks and the other half to Woodhall Wine Cellars in Parkton. "I think we've come as far as we're going to go," Jack says.

And they still dabble in wine making. The couple use some of the grapes from their commercial crop, as well as the grapes from their backyard vineyard, to make their own wine. Due to licensing requirements, though, the Johnstons do not sell any of the wine they make.

"We make about 80 to 100 gallons of wine," Emily says.

"We should cut back," she adds, "because there's only so much wine you can drink."

The two-day Maryland Wine Festival runs Saturday, Sept. 18, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday, Sept. 19, noon to 6 p.m. at the Carroll County Farm Museum, 500 S. Center St., Westminster. Admission is $20 for adults 21 and older with valid ID.

Children under 21 are admitted free with a paying adult.

For the admission price, patrons receive a logo-engraved wine glass, 12 tickets for 1-ounce samples of Maryland wines, entertainment, admission to education seminars, farmhouse tours and artisan demonstrations. Food will be available for purchase from 30 vendors, and there will also be more than 50 craft vendors selling handmade creations.

The Carroll County Artists Guild will host a show and sale of artists' works, and a special display in the farm museum will be "Stitching Through Time," a display of Carroll County quilts from the late 1800s.

Entertainment will be on stage both days, as follows:

A free, handicap-accessible shuttle service is available at Carroll Community College on Route 32. For more information or directions, call the farm museum at 410-848-7775 or 410-876-2667.