From a wow perspective, there aren’t many wineries in the mid-Atlantic that can match the grandeur of Chateau Bu-De Winery & Vineyard near Chesapeake City, Maryland.
There’s the view from the tasting room and patio of the Bohemia River as it flows by the property and off into the distance, with picnic tables dotting the grounds on land that slopes down to the water.
Then there’s the extravagance of the winery and 15,000-square-foot tasting room that includes a wine library, private tasting room, 200-seat banquet room, barrel room, meeting space and administrative offices.
All of this is located on the 440-acre Bohemia Manor Farm, just a piece of a historic property once belonging to a Bohemian explorer, merchant & cartographer named Augustine Herrman. Per the website, he produced a map of the Chesapeake Bay and Delaware Bay in exchange for permission to establish a plantation on the grounds where the vineyard and winery are located. Brenda and Warren Dedrick purchased the mansion and property in 2013.
Winemaker Jacques van der Vyver hails from Cape Town, South Africa, and oversees an operation that makes a mix of dry red, white and sparkling wines. You can click on this link to find the variety of wines he and his produce.
Chateau Bu-De was one of a number of Maryland wineries rated by International Wine Review in 2018, with all four wines scoring 90 and above. That story can be found at this link.
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The winery is located at 237 Bohemia Manor Farm Lane (Md. Route 213), and is currently open Wednesdays through Sundays. It’s around an hour’s drive from Philadelphia and less than two hours from Harrisburg and Washington D.C.
It is a popular venue for weddings in addition to bringing in music on the weekends. You can view the events schedule here.
Below is the latest in the “6 Questions” series of interviews with winemakers and owners of East Coast wineries, which looks behind at what has been a turbulent year and, with optimism, looks ahead. Thanks to winemaker Jacques van der Vyver for taking these on.
Chateau Bu-De Winery & Vineyard in Chesapeake City, Maryland.
Q, Let’s start with the vineyard I saw you picked your first Pinot Blanc last fall. What prompted the decision to plant it and how do you plan to use it? And, I might as well ask, how does that 2020 vintage look 6 months later?
A, We really wanted something “unique.” Pinot Blanc is not something you find easily on the East Coast and we just loved what we saw in wines we tasted from around the world, great elegance with plenty of brightness and complexity. It will be featured as a singular wine, as well as in blends and maybe even in the sparkling program down the road. As for 2020, I aimed at making a wine of great purity so I could learn what the fruit is capable of. No oak, no malolactic fermentation, and I used a Burgundian yeast.
Q, Are you doing any planting or replanting this year or next? Anything new beyond the Pinot Blanc? I’m trying to remember the acreage you’re farming.
A, We have 20 acres under vine, 70 / 30 split, with white being dominant. Most are planted in 7-foot rows with 3-foot spacing. Single Guyot trained and spur pruned. We are not planting anything new right now but will have our first estate Gruner Veltliner this coming year and multiple clones of Sauvignon Blanc to look forward to.
Q, What was the past year like just in terms of running the winery? Are there things you started that you’ll continue – knock on wood – after this pandemic fades?
A, This past year, wine sales were at an all-time high and my team at the winery has grown as well. One big change we made as a business was that we did not offer wine tastings due to health and safety reasons related to COVID-19. The public has been extremely understanding and supported this change. We are also very fortunate to have expansive indoor and outdoor spaces, which allows people to safely visit and successfully social distance to enjoy our wines and property.
We are looking to eventually resume wine tastings in a planned, structured and safe atmosphere. This will allow us to give more in-depth and unique tasting experiences while simultaneously enhancing customer experiences.
The inside the of production area at Chateau Bu-De Winery & Vineyard.
Q, And, that said, how much business is coming back now? And how much are you planning ahead? I know a lot of wineries have told me they were apprehensive to plan too far ahead because so much was in flux.
A, We are grateful to our many customers who have supported us loyally through the uncertainty of COVID-19. They trusted us with their health and well-being as we complied with all local and state safety regulations. Thanks to them we are happy to report that the “business” never left Chateau Bu-De.
No one could have planned for the COVID-19 curveball but we remained flexible and nimble through that experience and will continue to do so. We are absolutely planning ahead; excited for what the future holds, the wines that will reveal themselves, the repeat and new customers that will visit the 400-acre estate, and the socially distant events that we will host thanks to the size of the property and the multiple event spaces to choose from.
Q, I saw a mention of the premier wine program on your website what is that? How many wines are part of it?
A, The premier wine program is a descriptor of the elite level and quality of fruit the vineyard produces and the wines that we create. It also alludes to the formal processing methods used throughout the fruit’s growth and each wine’s creation and development. All the grapes grown on Chateau Bu-De are of noble variety, tended with immense care and resulting in top-tier fruit, which allows us to blend one-of-a-kind flavor profiles that continuously evolve.
A glimpse of the banquet room at Chateau Bu-De, taken in summer 2018 during a Maryland winemakers summit.
Q, I had your Cabernet Franc a couple of years ago and really like it. Do you like working with it? How much do you have growing? Do you like it as both a varietal and part of a blend?
A, So happy you enjoyed our estate Cabernet Franc. I enjoy working with all of our grape varieties and coaxing their flavor profiles to maturity. We have 3 acres of Cabernet Franc 327 clone, on 101-14 rootstock, which will produce an average of 10-12 tons of fruit annually. This grape is fantastic; expressing aromatic elegance with age-worthy structure. I enjoy it as both a varietal and part of a blend, and several of our wines contain an expression of this grape.
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April 26, 2021 at 12:02PM
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Maryland winery taking rich history of historic property in a whole new direction - pennlive.com
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