What gives a wine aging potential? Md. producer plans program to offer some insights

Catoctin Breeze Vineyard in Thurmont, Maryland, has a unique event planned on Saturday, Sept. 19. Called “To age, or not to age,” the program will explore what makes a red wine’s ability to age. Monika Barman, the wine educator at Catoctin Breeze, will run the event that will start at 11 a.m. in the lounge at the winery, located at 15010 Roddy Road. Per an email sent out to wine club members, Barman will take a closer look at one of the defining characteristics of Catoctin Breeze’s red wine program: ageability. Guests will get to taste and understand the blend program at Catoctin while learning the three distinct expressions of wines cultivated with different drinking windows in mind. During this tasting, those attending will explore varying vintages of Catoctin Breeze’s three red blends — Concerto, Nocturne and Fauteux — and discuss what makes each wine different, why they have different aging potential, and how those differences reveal themselves in the glass over time. It’s a chance to taste not only where the wines are today but where they are headed – and to better understand why certain wines are encouraged to be enjoyed in their youth, while others are meant to be further aged. The price to attend is $65, include a sampling of six wines and light charcuterie. Club members usually get advance notice on these events, but it looked too interesting to hold off writing about. So, tickets — for members and nonmembers — can be purchased at this link. Adam Fizyta, the owner and winemaker of the winery that his parents founded in 2010 when they planted their first vines, with it opening for business seven years later, said they try to brainstorm interesting events to put on for their members. This one was Barman’s idea, he said. “We figured that it would be fun to highlight the different structures for each of our blends,” Fizyta said. “While Concerto is built to age for decades, our Fauteux blend is meant to be drank now. Why is that? I think our guests will be interested in learning how blending decisions influence the structure of the wine, ultimately defining its ageability.” As for the year, Catoctin Breeze has experienced the same roller coaster that most mid-Atlantic producers have ridden, with the low point being April 21 and the freeze that laid waste to vineyards and orchards in multiple states. Here’s a link to what Fizyta wrote on his winery blog on May 13. A few months later, with some perspective and harvest beginning, the effects of the freeze don’t look as paralyzing as they did then. “If I had to guess, the blocks that were hit the worst probably suffered a 20-30% loss,” he said Tuesday in an email. “But we won’t know until we pick the fruit, so I’ll report back. All things considered, we feel very fortunate. In fact, our yields will actually be up this year thanks to Cabernet Sauvignon finally hitting its stride in year 5. We were for sure lucky — and we credit that luck to our steep hillside and perhaps some divine intervention. “Aside from the 4/21 freeze, the summertime heatwaves sunburned a small percentage of clusters which further reduced yields, but only a tiny bit. At the moment we’re battling a wet August and dealing with our Cabernet Franc that has uneven ripening. Today we went through (at about 90% veraison) and dropped all of the under developed clusters. I doubt we got all of them though, so we’ll just be very careful with extraction on Cabernet Franc during fermentation. Probably cooler temps and shorter maceration times. Balanced and fresh is better than over extracted and green 10/10 times.” Here’s a link to anyone planning a visit to the winery, with details on the “Catoctin Experience” (reservations required), on guaranteeing a table in the tasting room, cru lounge or the adjacent outdoor patio overlooking the vineyard, and also for those who plan to visit without reservations. The winery offers seated tasting, wines by the glass, and also by the bottle. ALSO READ No shortage of takeaways from East Coast wine tasting summit A year in, Md. winery enjoying all the benefits of having a food truck permanently on site ‘Md. legacy winery that provided the ‘road map’ for the industry recognized in ceremony