Celebrating Maryland Wine Month with Kristin Hanna & Love Point Vineyards

Summary

In this episode of The Sipping Point, host Laurie Forster discusses Maryland Wine Month with guests Kristin Hanna of Maryland's Best and Tim Seppi of Love Point Vineyards. They explore the significance of Maryland's wine industry, the various events taking place during the month, and the unique offerings of Love Point Winery. Tim shares his journey into winemaking, the importance of terroir, and the love story behind his winery. The conversation also touches on food pairings, resources for aspiring winemakers, and the approachable nature of Maryland wines.

Takeaways

• Maryland Wine Month celebrates 110 wineries in the state.
• Experiencing wineries firsthand enhances appreciation for wine.
• The Maryland Wine Experience March 21-23rd offers a weekend of wine-related activities.
• Terroir plays a crucial role in grape growing and winemaking.
• Love Point Winery's location provides unique advantages for grape cultivation. 
• Grants and resources are available for aspiring winemakers in Maryland.
• Unique grape varietals like Gruner Veltliner & Noiret are emerging in Maryland.

Wines Tasted

Love Point Bloody Point Light Red $48

Love Point Gruner Veltliner $25

Check out all the Maryland Wine Month Activities HERE

Read more about Love Point Vineyards and how to visit them in April HERE

Transcript

Laurie Forster (00:00.986)
All right, Kristin and Tim, welcome to The Sipping Point. I'm so excited to explore all things Maryland Wine Month. As many of my listeners know, I am based here on the Eastern Shore of Maryland in Easton. having lived in Maryland more than anywhere else that I've lived in my life, I consider myself, although not originally a Marylander, a Marylander honorary, I guess, at this point. And so thank you for being on the show.

Kristin Hanna (00:29.042)
Hey, thank you so much for having me. I'm very excited to be here and to talk about wine.

Laurie Forster (00:33.38)
Yes. So, Tim, I can't wait to get to you and we're going to talk about your winery and your wines in a minute. But Kristen, maybe you can give us a little background on Maryland Wine Month and what actually goes on in Maryland Wine Month. How can people get involved?

Kristin Hanna (00:49.384)
Yeah, absolutely. So Maryland Wine Month is a celebration of the 110 Maryland wineries that we have across the state. And it's a great reminder about the agricultural product that we have right here in our backyard. So out of those 110, about 90 of them are using grapes here in Maryland, which is amazing. And so it's really a chance to remind people to go out and actually experience the wineries. That's one of the best.

parts of wine is actually going to the vineyard and seeing it, meeting the winemaker and really learning about what they're doing. And so every year Marylandwine.com, which is the association, actually puts together a list of any events that are happening in the month, if anybody's doing any type of promotion. And then from our side with the Maryland Department of Agriculture, we try to help promote. And so we're working on kind of a campaign to help amplify the message of Maryland.

month.

Laurie Forster (01:47.73)
love that. And I know part of Maryland Wine Month is this big event called the Maryland Wine Experience in Frederick, Maryland. And that is the weekend of March 23rd, I believe. Tell us what people can do on that weekend. Can they still get tickets? What happens?

Kristin Hanna (02:06.994)
Yeah, absolutely. you're right. It's the it's actually the 21st, 2nd and 3rd. And so it's the whole weekend. There's an option on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. And there's a multitude of things that you can do. You can go down to Frederick and experience different wines that are available at the different restaurants downtown. You can attend some classes and actually dive deeper into your knowledge about wine.

There's a grand tasting on Saturday that will feature over 20 different Maryland wineries. And then Sunday follows up with a wine themed brunch. So really you can make a whole weekend out of it. You can go for one day. There are still tickets available, although I will say that they are starting to move. So you definitely want to get on there and start purchasing.

Laurie Forster (02:53.776)
I know. And with the weather just being so starting to be spring-like, it seems like the perfect time to get out and experience that. And one more thing, Kristin, I know you guys have such a fun social media presence out there and you did something a little different. I think it's just this year, but it's called SOMMthing Tasty. And you've had some sommeliers pair Maryland wines with Maryland foods. Tell us about how people can see those videos and

Kristin Hanna (02:57.012)
Thank you.

Kristin Hanna (03:13.534)
Yeah.

Laurie Forster (03:23.602)
They're not just the same old pairings that you see every day.

Kristin Hanna (03:27.358)
That's right. So through Maryland's Best, which is the marketing arm of Maryland Department of Agriculture, we are hosting SOMMthing Tasty and it's spelled S-O-M-M. And the idea is that we're working with sommeliers or wine educators and asking them to pair with iconic Maryland food. So a little twist on the typical pairing. We reached out to companies like Otter Binds and Getz's who does Poutails and Caramel Creams.

and we're working with Old Bay. And so we're highlighting just the way that wine can be very approachable in all types of foods. It doesn't always have to be this fancy five course steak dinner. It can literally be popping some Old Bay cheese puffs alongside a really nice vignette. So we're really excited to kind of highlight a more approachable way for people who are interested in wine and maybe don't really know where to get started with pairings.

Laurie Forster (04:08.764)
Right?

Kristin Hanna (04:24.902)
And there's so many grape varietals in Maryland that you can really find something for every snack that's available. So every Wednesday we're posting a new video on at MDS Best. And also the at Maryland Wine, the association is also posting these videos as well so that people can learn more about it.

Laurie Forster (04:45.49)
That's great. And I love that because, you know, I think sometimes people get intimidated. Wine has to be always fancy and it doesn't. It can just be with everyday foods, even junk food. So thank you for highlighting that. And everybody go check out their Instagram and Facebook pages for those fun videos. All right, Kristen, I hear Tim getting his wines ready. So I think we need to bring him into the party.

Kristin Hanna (04:56.403)
Really.

Kristin Hanna (05:07.604)
Bye.

Laurie Forster (05:10.888)
Tim Seppi from Love Point Winery. Thank you for joining us. We're talking all things Maryland wine, so we need to have a winemaker present. And you're not that far from me, even though we're on different screens here. You're just about a half an hour down the road on Kent Island. So Tim, thanks for joining us. And then maybe you can tell us a little bit about how your winery came to be.

I know Kristen mentioned 110 wineries. I think when I moved to Maryland, there were only like 20 or 25 wineries. So it has grown so much over the course of the 20 years that I've been here. But Tim, how did you get started?

Tim Seppi (05:54.604)
Well, Laurie, thank you for having me. This is Tim Seppi. I'm with the Love Point Vineyards and Winery here. We're on the northern tip of Kent Island. And I'll explain Kent Island in just a minute. But the way I got started was my father, my grandfather immigrated from Italy to the United States during Prohibition. And so he would buy grapes and make his own wine in his basement.

Of I wasn't around back then, but my father was. And my father would help him every now and then. And he would occasionally go down to the basement and sip a little bit until he spilled a bunch of it. And it happened to be Sangiovese. And I'll explain that just a second. But he got a spanking he never forgot. And he never drank any wine after that. But I think it's in my blood.

Laurie Forster (06:25.608)
BANG!

Laurie Forster (06:37.51)
Yeah.

Tim Seppi (06:50.804)
and San Giovese specifically because we grow that here. It's not an easy grape to grow in the whole eastern United States, but we're doing a good job at it and I can explain why that is in just a minute.

Laurie Forster (07:04.433)
Great.

Well, we're kind of seeing a little of your background, but I know having been to the winery, doing tastings there, and even leading a group in a tasting there, that you are surrounded by the most beautiful views of the Chesapeake Bay. Your location is ideal. So tell us a little bit about why that location gives you an advantage, or maybe even some challenges in making great wine.

Tim Seppi (07:34.228)
Excellent question. So this is something in the vineyard industry called terroir. And that's the French word for the location where your grapes are grown. So that has to do with geography, the soil type, and the climate. Now in California and other major wine growing regions in the world,

They have one thing in common that is hot and dry. So what that does to grape vines is that they don't put all of their energy into leaves, but they'll put it into the fruit to make the best fruit that we see today in some of the best wines. Now on the East Coast, we have kind of a different problem. have lots of rain, lots of humidity. The soils are very fertile. And that's why you see farmers growing

watermelon and corn and beans and all kinds of different things that they can't grow in California. so we in the wine, Maryland wine business in whole eastern coast, Virginia included, but Maryland specifically, we've come a long way in the last, I'd say 10 years. And I would argue that we are better grape growers and winemakers because it's a challenge. Now back to the terroir here at Love Point.

Laurie Forster (08:59.944)
Mm.

Tim Seppi (09:03.458)
we're surrounded by water pretty much. And so what that does is create a breeze all day long. It could be very dead calm someplace, you know, five miles either direction. And, but we have a breeze and what that does is it dries out the mold, sort of the humidity and the mildew that you see all over your yard and garden every morning. So what that humidity does is

Laurie Forster (09:29.383)
Mmm.

Tim Seppi (09:33.462)
makes a prime for things like mold and mildew, which gets on the leaves, it gets on the grapes, and that's the bad thing about the whole East Coast. So here, and so we've learned that Maryland wine industry has helped us learn how to take care and hedge excess leaves because the grapes have the nutrients, they have the water flow, and so they grow, they put all their energy into the leaves. So we cut them off.

leave mostly just fruit and that's how the majority of the East Coast wine industry or grape growing industry works.

Laurie Forster (10:12.07)
Yes, and lots of the great wine regions of the world that I really appreciate, like the Rhone and even parts of, I was just doing a seminar on Chile, have these great currents and breezes that, like you said, will keep the vines dry so that you don't have to worry about things like mold or other things that can affect the grapes. And when we were deciding what to taste today, because

I'm getting thirsty. I was very intrigued by the fact that you have, and I don't know if I realized this last time I visited you, you have a Gruner-Veltliner, which is a grape typically associated with Austria. And I love, I call them GruVs because it's easier to say, but I love the groovies of Austria and yours is delicious. So tell me a little bit about what motivated you to.

feature this grape and is this like an up and coming grape for Maryland?

Tim Seppi (11:12.276)
I hope so. It's not grown very widely in Maryland yet, but it's easy to grow and it goes well with oysters. And by the way, April, we have oysters here every weekend with some music and we'll be serving the gruner And I love how you pronounce it both ways.

Laurie Forster (11:30.6)
Yes, absolutely.

Tim Seppi (11:33.614)
And so it has, it's a lighter body and it's more citrus and crisp and even with hints of white pepper. like I say, so everybody's taste in wine is different and unique. It's not that it's bad or good unless it has flaws. We as winemakers, we recognize flaws right away. And so we here at Love Point, we don't.

Laurie Forster (12:00.466)
Right.

Tim Seppi (12:02.752)
sell any wine with laws, we rarely even make it, but sometimes mistakes happen.

Laurie Forster (12:08.038)
Yeah, and this type of crisp white, if you are listening and you already love Pinot Grigio, you love Sauvignon Blanc, I don't know, Kristin, what your favorite white is, but those sort of crisp, acidity whites are great with anything you can squeeze a lemon on, I always say to people. So you already said oysters, which is one thing that we love.

but also any salads or seafoods, even like some fish tacos. I could see this going with so many great foods and especially our Maryland seafood.

Tim Seppi (12:44.046)
Very good. That's the comparison with Sauvignon Blanc is a good one. In Australia, when they have oyster festivals, that's what they serve is Sauvignon Blanc. And so this Gruner of a Veltliner is very similar in body.

Laurie Forster (13:02.962)
Absolutely.

Awesome. Kristin, what is your favorite pairing for a crisp white like this? Do you have any favorite Maryland seafoods or preparations?

Kristin Hanna (13:15.584)
yeah, like I'm thinking of like a light pasta with like a lemon butter sauce and some like either oysters or crab meat, like just real simple, but so refreshing and I love a cold glass of white with that.

Laurie Forster (13:24.925)
Yes.

Laurie Forster (13:30.298)
Yeah, that's a really great choice. So, Tim, I know we didn't get to this yet, but I just have a quick question. I know Love Point is the place that you're in, but your winery kind of came out of a love story between you and Karen. And I love, you know, a couple doing this winery together. I mean, I think that's so inspirational, probably for a lot of people. Tell me a little bit about that.

How did you guys meet and, you how did you decide that you're also gonna work together? Because that probably has its challenges as well.

Tim Seppi (14:06.824)
Yeah, very good point. Thank you. So I've been growing grapes and making wine as a hobby for about 30 years. And on the southern end of Kent Island is called Bloody Point. And there was an old vineyard there that was not doing well, wasn't producing grapes. And I offered the owners, because I was living nearby at the time, and I offered the owners to go in and revive it.

make good grapes and good wine out of that. And they accepted it. And Karen was also working for this big mansion that was there. And the owners had asked Karen to go out and help me in the vineyard a few times. And she kept coming out there and bothering me and asking all these questions. And anyway, I don't want to...

cut to the new wine, but the new one, the next wine we have is called Bloody Point as a, a memento for us falling in love. But before we get to that, shortly after we met, we sort of fell in love. And, and then I bought land up here at Blood, sorry, Love Point and planted the first

10 acres in 2015 and then another five acres in 2016. So we have 15 acres total and started selling wine in 2020, a new tasting room in 2022. Until here we are today. And if you wouldn't mind, I'd like to show, take the camera and pan.

Laurie Forster (15:50.234)
Yeah, give us a view because it is a gorgeous. I loved my visit there. It was such a gorgeous view. I mean, to be on the water and drinking great wine, that is just the best in my mind.

Tim Seppi (16:02.222)
So that's a new pier this year. And this is actually the Chester River and it's sandy bottom. So you could go out there and swim. And here's our new tasting room. It's obviously very close to the water. Seats about 30 people, but a lot of folks like to sit down here in the chairs. Yeah. So.

Laurie Forster (16:09.096)
Okay.

Laurie Forster (16:20.968)
It's really nice.

Laurie Forster (16:28.011)
I see the Adirondack chairs. Yes.

Tim Seppi (16:31.542)
Wine drinking is about good quality wine, but it's also the experience of where you are, who you're with, and what you're doing. And we try to make all that possible here at Love Point. It's not just about the wine.

Laurie Forster (16:46.738)
Well, it looks like you're doing a great job and I know I did experience that. So you brought up Bloody Point in the love story and now the second wine that you gave to me so that we could talk about is called the Bloody Point Light. It is light, but it's a red wine. So tell me a little bit more about this.

Tim Seppi (17:10.84)
So this is quite an interesting wine. You won't see this very often here in Maryland or Virginia or anywhere really, it is a... So there's two types of grapevines. One is called Vinifera and those are your standard names like Chardonnay Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon. So that's a specific variety. And lately...

there's more production of hybrids. And you can think of your tomato plants that you plant. There's heirloom tomatoes and there's hybrid tomatoes. And there's different qualities to each. And so the hybrids are increasing popularity because number one, they produce more fruit just like your hybrid tomatoes. And number two, more importantly, I think, is that they're resistant to some of the diseases on the East Coast, like

things you'll see in your own garden like powdery mildew and those things. Now this specific Bloody Point Light has a picture of the Bloody Point Lighthouse down at the old vineyard where Karen and I met and our story is on the bottle. The wine that's in it is one of my favorites. It's called Noire. It's spelled N-O-I-R-E-T and it's out of the university.

Laurie Forster (18:33.5)
Mm-hmm.

Tim Seppi (18:37.602)
Vineyard Program at Cornell University. They're famous for it. They've produced hundreds of hybrids and they're all very good. 80 % of the wines grown on the East Coast are hybrids out of Cornell University. Now this Noiret is, think of it as Pinot Noir, and that's what it is. It's a hybrid of two grape vines, two grape roots.

They graft them together, one's a Pinot noir and the other is a variety that's resistant to diseases and other things. So it's called Noiret and it's...

Laurie Forster (19:16.124)
Yeah, it is. I was going to say it really reminds me a lot of a Pinot Noir. It has all that awesome red fruit up front. It's very elegant. It's soft. It's not too tannic. Tan in it. You you're getting that sort of dry astringency from bigger reds like Cabernet or Petite Syrah or that sort of thing. This is just smooth. And I could see if you're having a party or a dinner.

Kristin Hanna (19:26.964)
you

Laurie Forster (19:44.434)
that this red will appeal to a lot of different kinds of red wine lovers in my mind.

Tim Seppi (19:48.36)
absolutely well said. It's silky and rounded but it doesn't have the astringency that some of the Cabernet Sauvignon and other reds have.

Laurie Forster (19:51.132)
Yeah.

Laurie Forster (20:03.144)
Great. And if people want to visit your website, Tim, just go ahead and give that out.

Tim Seppi (20:09.62)
Easy it's lovepointvineyards.com. We're also on Facebook and other areas. So feel free or we'll be open April 1st. So not long.

Laurie Forster (20:12.68)
Perfect.

Laurie Forster (20:19.632)
Okay, absolutely guys. The wine and the view together is just spectacular. So you definitely have to get out there. Even if you're just on your way to the beach or back. What a great pit stop off of Route 50 to stop there at the winery. And Chris and I have a question that I just popped in my head. So tell me if I'm totally crazy, but.

If somebody is listening to Tim and Karen's story and maybe they have a dream of starting their own vineyard or winery, are there any incentives or any help from the state of Maryland to help? Because to me, what a great use of the gorgeous land we have. I'd rather see, you know, another winery than another strip mall. That's just me. But is there any incentive from the state or any help for people that say, you know what, I think I'm going to start a winery?

Kristin Hanna (21:04.126)
You

Kristin Hanna (21:12.51)
There was recently just a grant for people for the exact scenario to get started. And that was through the University Extension Program. And so I would highly recommend anybody who's starting out to start with Extension. They have a lot of great resources there. And then follow up with the Maryland Department of Ag because you'll need some permits to make sure that you do that side too. But yeah, there's a lot of resources.

Laurie Forster (21:36.284)
Right.

Kristin Hanna (21:41.236)
Of course, grants come and go, so it's always great to check. But like I said, this past year, they actually just had one for those purposes.

Tim Seppi (21:50.734)
That's it.

Laurie Forster (21:50.888)
Perfect, thank you so much. And Tim, I was just thinking real quick, because we didn't touch on food pairings on this one. This Noiret I think I'm saying that right, is so unique. I think this might be the first one that I've tasted. So that's kind of exciting. But I could totally see this with a pork tenderloin on the grill, even with the salmon, if you're trying to get more fish in your diet. Because it's lighter, you could do it with a meat, but you could also do it with a meatier fish.

What's your favorite?

Tim Seppi (22:22.062)
I think it goes with, you know, barbecues. It's served, you know, slightly chilled, not warm, but not cold like a white wine. so, again, that's all people's general taste. But your lighter dark meats will go well with it. Duck, for example. The darker fish is also a good pairing. Pastas, any kind of pastas would

would go well with this, especially the spaghetti base sauces.

Laurie Forster (22:54.994)
Love that. Well, guys, I'm so excited. Of course, Maryland Wine Month is till the end of March. So we're going to keep on marching on. This coming weekend is the Maryland Wine Experience that Kristin, you gave out all the information. There's still some tickets left for that. But get out there, visit your local wineries or just grab a bottle of Maryland wine at your shop and pair it with, you know, whatever you think is fabulous. Last week, we had Karen McNeil.

from the Wine Bible, if you've ever seen her use that book. And she's part of a whole effort that starts on the 23rd of March called Share and Pair Sundays. So you can keep your Maryland wine pairings up even into April and May, just every Sunday, share a Maryland wine with somebody that you know, like or love and pair it with something fabulous, hopefully for Maryland, but you you choose. But guys,

Thank you so much for being on The Sipping Point. Tim, I think you have some parting words here.

Tim Seppi (23:59.702)
I would just like to offer one other wine that's kind of unique for Maryland, and that's a sparkling wine. You don't see it very often, and this is, we make it the traditional champagne method. It's very laborious. You can't call it champagne unless it's made in champagne, but it's worth it. And it's great for celebrations or gifts and graduations or.

Laurie Forster (24:08.589)
yes.

Tim Seppi (24:28.254)
Anything you'd want to celebrate the sparklings work best and it's one of my favorites here, and I hope you come out and try it

Laurie Forster (24:28.668)
Yes.

Laurie Forster (24:34.588)
Yeah, and we should have people know that in Maryland, our wineries do make sparkling wines and I've had some of yours and they are delicious. So when you get out to Love Point, ask for the Bubblies and I'm sure Tim or Karen will set you up. Guys, thank you so much. Just, you know, I appreciate you coming on and telling us all about Maryland Wine Month.

Kristin Hanna (24:55.23)
Thank you so much. Cheers.

Tim Seppi (24:55.448)
Thank you. Cheers.

Laurie Forster (24:56.89)
All right, cheers. Thank you.

All right, thank you.