Clean Currents staff member Nicole Dvorak had a chance to chat all things wine with Sarah O'Herron, co-owner of Black Ankle Winery (a Clean Currents wind powered business). 

Black Ankle Winery, located in the rolling hills outside of Mt. Airy Maryland, is a three-time Maryland Governor's Cup award winner (MD's most prestigious wine award) and has been wind powered by Clean Currents since 2009.

Nicole:  What do you love most about making wine?

Sarah:  I think what I love most about making wine is how magical the transformation from juice to wine seems.  We spend months in the vineyard trying to grow perfect grapes, and when all goes well, we end up with delicious juice, which is lovely, but at the end of the day, it is still just really good grape juice.  But then we let the yeast get to work eating up all that sugar, and after a few days the wine begins to emerge.  As delicious as the juice is going in, the wine is something completely different.  New flavors appear and layers of complexity become evident that it would have been hard to even imagine before.  Every year, I am a little bit awed by this transformation.

Nicole:  We want to know:  What is the funniest or most unexpected thing that you’ve encountered in your wine-making journey?  Any good stories?   

Sarah:  One funny moment that comes to mind:  We ordered a good deal of our winery equipment from South Africa.  In 2007, as we were harvesting our first whites, we learned that our new press was held up in customs at the Port of Baltimore.  We were a bit frantic, as the grapes were picked, and needed to be pressed quickly so they would not start to lose quality, but there was little we could do except wait and hope for the best.  It turned out our press was sharing a shipping container with a batch of costumes destined for the Baltimore Opera and the people from the Opera were able to get the necessary inspections expedited.  We were the lucky beneficiaries, and it all worked out in the end.

Nicole:  When you envision your ideal pairing of food and wine (with one of your wines in mind), what does that delicious picture look like?

Sarah:  Right now I am envisioning a seafood risotto paired with our Albariño, because one of women who works at the vineyard just described having such a meal and how perfect it was.  I can’t get it out of my head!

Nicole:  What made you decide to purchase renewable energy?  Was it an easy switch?

Sarah:  We try to be as sustainable as possible in everything we do at the vineyard.  From a wine perspective, it just makes sense – the healthier this environment is in which the grapes grow the greater their potential quality.  We have carried that idea out as much as possible in our lives and at Black Ankle Vineyards.  We use Biodiesel in our tractors, we built a very energy efficient, low-impact straw bale tasting room, we bottle our wines in lightweight glass bottles, we are manic about reusing and recycling – basically whatever we can do to minimize our footprint.  Renewable energy was just one more choice is support of out goal of environmental sustainability.  Yes the switch was easy!

Nicole:  We love your quote that states “..we believe that grapes grown in harmony with nature will make the best wine.”   Can you tell us more about how you have tried to work more with nature than against it, and how doing so has enhanced the quality of your wine?

Sarah:  Before we do anything in the vineyard, we try to look at the overall impact on the environment, and choose the route that will lead to the best result over the long term.  For example, we have surrounded the vineyards with grassy meadows and wildflower gardens to provide havens for predator insects that eat the insects that can harm our vines.  We manage all of our weeds mechanically instead of spraying them with chemicals – this takes significantly more time and work, but keeps chemicals out of the vineyard and helps to maintain good soil structure – in the long term, we believe it is well worth the effort!

Nicole:  Any special events or news that Black Ankle has coming up soon that we should know about and be sure to check out?

Sarah:  We are open for tasting, sales and tours every Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  The fall is an exciting time of year to visit, as it is harvest time, and visitors can often catch a glimpse of one winemaking activity or another!

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