Corks

Life has been insane these past two weeks since my last post. Work piling up, babies being born, out-of-town guests, engagements, and so on. All these festivities have been accompanied by great dining opportunities, and I will eventually get around to sharing them all.

For now, I have to dish about Corks in Federal Hill. Corks recently got both an interior and a menu facelift. I never went to the old Corks, so I can't make a comparison, but I was very impressed with the new and improved Corks. The interior was designed by Baltimore designer, Patrick Sutton, who also designed Cindy Wolf's Charleston. Exposed brick walls, warm orange tones and dark wood with tall ceilings in the first dining room to make it feel larger than it really is. 

Corks, as you can imagine, has an extensive wine list that focuses on small vineyards you've probably never heard of. Since we couldn't agree on a bottle, the five of us got glasses of our choice. I ordered the Hendry Pinot Noir, recommended by our server to complement the House Blend of cheese fondue that we all split with sauteed mushrooms, bison meatballs, bread, and apples. Both the wine and the fondue were delicious, and I think if no one had been watching, one of us would have tipped the fondue back and licked out the remaining cheese! SO good!

For dinner I had the salmon with shrimp and couscous. The plate was very simple, but nicely arranged and seasoned perfectly. Joe had the sweetbreads, which he insists were pancreas. Well, he should know. Friends got vegetable strudel, the grilled pleasant ridge (tomato confit and basil on wheat berry bread) and a beef dish with sweet potatoes and green beans. 

I sampled the vegetable strudel and really liked it. It was quinoa, goat cheese and veggies wrapped in phyllo dough. We all took turns tasting each other's desserts. Chocolate mousse was too rich to eat much, pumpkin gelato was refreshing, but a little heavy on the serving size, and the PB&J with nutella was the clear winner. (Unfortunately it wasn't mine, so I couldn't go crazy).

The wine selection is interesting but very pricey. I would recommend taking advantage of their selection by ordering by the glass so you can sample more than one wine. Also to note - beyond the front dining room is a great bar in the back room. The interior is darker, but it looked like a great place to hide away.

 

Frederick Wine Trail. Or part of it.

Ok, so it's been a while since I posted. Guilty as charged! Joe was in Australia for a good week, and to be honest, my nights were pretty predictable. Then I spent a few days in Virginia Beach doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING with my family, which was bliss.

Joe and I had our first full day together in two weeks on Saturday. We had picked up some pamphlets on local wineries at Great Grapes in July, so I suggested we follow the Frederick Wine Trail. Frederick County has done a great job of trying to market their wineries, and we fell for it hook, line and sinker. Any semi-knowledgeable wine drinker will tell you that Maryland wines leave MUCH to be desired, but we are always on the hunt for nice scenery, so we hit the road.

First stop, Elk Run Vineyard in Mt. Airy. Tastings were $4 for 5 wines, so we indulged. Our favorite was the 2006 Liberty Tavern Reserve Chardonnay. Very warm and buttery, aged in oak barrels. We learned that the Elk Run Pinot Noir is produced from the only Pinot Noir grapes that are actually grown in Maryland! Pinot Noir is a very delicate grape to grow and is usually best suited to the Pacific northwest. It was a good wine, but not great. 

Joe grabbed a glass of the champagne, I took the Chardonnay, and we went outside to sit on a picnic table overlooking 10 acres of vines. The grapes were still swelling on the vines, which we'd somehow never seen anywhere else. Gorgeous variations of green, blue, and purple grapes just fattening up for a September harvest. The backdrop was the Elk Run homestead, built in 1756. I talked to the teenage boy living there now and asked if it was haunted. He told me stories about how a man died dozens of years ago in his parents' room and they sometimes hear the floorboards creaking at night when everyone's in bed! Another night, his brother, who sleeps next to the 2nd floor porch, woke up to see a man standing on the porch outside his window! Ah! I love it!

But moving on. We knew we wanted to sit outside at our next vineyard, so we drove about 15 miles to Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard in Dickerson, outside of Bethesda and Rockville. The tasting room is attached to a beautifully restored red barn, and the fermentation tanks are completely visible inside a modern glass building with floor to ceiling windows. We did a tasting here as well, and then I got sangria and a fruit and cheese plate for us to share on the brick terrace. 

We recently talked to Sugarloaf staff at Great Grapes, and they'd mentioned their plans to open this outdoor terrace for tastings and entertainment. It was great! They had about 15 wrought iron tables with umbrellas set up for you to enjoy their wine and listen to live music. People brought their dogs (including an ENORMOUS Great Dane and a Weimaraner), and we listed to an acoustic set with a guitar and upright bass. Had ourselves a little sing-along.

It was the perfect way to spend a Saturday afternoon. Until Joe, bless his heart, started falling asleep in his chair. Wine tasting when you're post-call maybe isn't the best idea :) He was exhausted.

So back to Baltimore we went and finished off the day with live blues at Bertha's in Fell's Point.