Chesapeake Wining & Dining
Dave McIntyre
- Wine Enthusiast Magazine
Apr 14, 2010
When you envision Chesapeake Bay and food, what comes to mind? Oysters, rockfish (striped bass) and crabs. It’s true: the quintessential Chesapeake meal is a bushel of steamed crabs, with diners seated at picnic tables covered with brown paper, their fingers stained with the pungent paprika-based spice mix called Old Bay, surrounded by piles of empty crab shells, pitchers of beer and rolls of paper towels. The Chesapeake Bay region is so much more than the bay itself. That regional bounty includes wine. Virginia now boasts 157 wineries. Winemakers like to compare the climate here to Bordeaux, with humidity and the potential for rain at harvest making each vintage an adventure. As a result, the wines tend toward an Old World balance that emphasizes acidity and freshness rather than big, bold California-style ripeness. While Virginia has a reputation for Viognier and Cabernet Franc, Albariño and Petit Manseng are strong challengers for pride of place among whites, while wildly perfumed Petit Verdot is increasingly popular among reds. Maryland’s crisp white wines from Seyval Blanc, a French-American hybrid that resembles Sauvignon Blanc, seem to be created for oysters.