My Nicely Bottle-Aged & Very Fond Memories Of Rob Deford , Owner Of BOORDY Winery In 1980's-Till Now / Great Times - Looking For Many More!

Just like for the me the sixties was the decade for music the eighties was the decade for wine. I learned so much in those really formative years back in the 1980's. Rob Deford and the BOORDY wines of those white hybrids in particular were key for me.

I met Rob back when I was working at the Mayflower Wines & Spirits with Michael Downey and Sidney Moore. Back then I was the one in charge of buying the American wines of California and everywhere else. Actually I shared the East Coast wines I believe with Michael Downey as he also knew some of the owners and wine-makers back then. Chris Smith was a real inspiration and a real facilitator when he left Morris Miller and began to champion many of these wines. Thanks Michael and Chris. You both helped me to open my eyes to what was there almost right at my doorstep.

This morning in the Food section of the Washington Post I read this article on the Maryland wine business written by Dave McIntyre called FROM THE GROUND UP. There's a beautiful picture of the rolling green vineyard rows on the front page of the Food section with a smaller picture of Rob Deford looking older and wiser and more like Sting! Now that's a complement Rob : hope you like it! The quote under it reads : " Above, Rob Deford has been transforming the way he grows grapes and makes wine at his Boordy Vineyards in Baltimore County.

Back in the mid eighties we sold the BOORDY wines at the Mayflower Wines & Spirits at the intersection of New Hampshire Avenue and M Street N.W. Washington D.C. Rob used to come and taste us on the wines and then he came and tasted our customers on the wines, too. Sidney's monthly mailed newsletter would get everyone to come. The Mayflower Wines & Spirits was a destination point and " the place to be ". It bustled and it moved and there was activity and motion and lots of joy and excitement. Rob you were a part of all of this and certainly added to it. Thanks for that.

The eighties was a completely different time : blank white canvases to be filled, dreams and small businesses thriving and lots of hopes and muscle grind from the family members. They were really inspiring times where it was really all about the basics and the real quality of these basic ingredients and concepts. Less about big business and the idea of let's make some money : find a concept, design a label, get a bottle and then what wine will we put into it?!?

Back in the eighties the wine was always front-and-center. It was always center stage. I liked/loved these days and remember them fondly. So many things were just starting. So, when I read Dave McIntyre's sentence : " It was first planted to vines in the mid 1970's to supply red grapes to Catoctin Vineyards. Catoctin was part of the heydey of Maryland wine in the 80's, along with wineries such as Montbray, Byrd, Boordy and Basignani. Then Montbray, Byrd and Catoctin ceased operations... ". This hooked me and I had to keep reading!

I'm late for work so will post this now " as is " and finish it later. Come see me Rob at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008 Tel : 202-363-4265 clevelandparkwine.com, http://www.clevelandparkwine.com/, anthony.quinn@clevelandparkwine.com, also now on Facebook at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits and on Twitter at : cpwinespirits ).

Rob, I'd like to have you back to the store to launch your wines when they are finally released. Consider this an offer to use Washington D.C. as a point to showcase your wines of your first release with new vines and grapes. Cheers, TONY ... ... I want to add a bit here that I just read recently in Dave McIntyre's wine article called : " A wine region is defined by a common terrain, not state lines ". ... ... Dave quoted ... ... Rob DeFord as saying : ... " The growing season is about 10 days to two weeks longer on each end in the Blue Ridge than here , " near the winery ... That's why the reds do better out there . " Closer to Baltimore he says, ... " we get a cooling influence from the bay " ... ... that helps white wines maintain their aromas and acidity. Dave writes : Rob DeFord , owner of Boordy Vineyards in Hydes, Md., north of Baltimore makes wines using grapes from throughout Maryland. His top-line red blends are made from grapes grown at South Mountain Vineyard, just north of Burkittsville in central Maryland, and his top whites are from grapes grown near the vineyard in Hydes, a short drive north of the Baltimore beltway, where the rolling hills of the Piedmont meet the maritime influence of the Chesapeake. ... ... thanks Dave for including all of this. It really helps to bring it all that much more alive and real for us. I can almost taste and smell this all, very nicely-written. ... ... LIke I said Rob, I do look forward to seeing you sometime soon and planning a wine-tasting of your wines here at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits if it is okay with you? Cheers, TONY Monday afternoon here in northern Virginia where I live on my day-off, April 22nd, 2013. Take care, ...