Maryland - New Market - New Market Plains Vinayards

New Market Plains Vineyard - (October 2018) This was the last of the four wineries for my sensory class and I tasted the following (all available) wines:
 

• 2014 Chardonnay, aged six months in stainless steel, was very pale with a melon aroma. Cantaloupe and star fruit flavors highlighted this crisp, light-bodied wine with a slight sweetness then crisp lingering finish. Nice.
• 2015 Chardonnay, aged a year in stainless steel, was very pale with a clean, guava aroma. The light-bodied wine was flat with almost no flavor. The extra aging did not help.
• 2014 Rich Forest Chardonnay was a pale straw color with light melon aroma. The light to medium-bodied wine had a slight creaminess to it with melon flavors and a mild oak, lingering finish. Much better than the stainless steel Chardonnay's.
• 2016 Muscat Blanc was a pale yellowish orange color with floral, honeysuckle and bold orange aromas. The light-bodied wine had light floral and honeysuckle flavors with a slightly sweet lingering finish. For a drier style wine it had aroma and flavor without the sugar.
• 2015 Windy Day, a blend of 63% Muscat and 37% Chardonnay, was pale yellow and had competing aromas from the grapes. The light-bodied wine also had competing flavors with a sweeter, but short finish. There was too much competition in the glass.
• 2015 Rose, a blend of Cab Sauv, Cab Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Syrah, was alight garnet color with light fruity grape and cherry aromas. The light-bodied wine had flavors of currant and cherry with a mild fruit, sweeter short finish. It was dark for a blush, but nice.
•  2015 Hogshead Red, a blend of Cab Sauv, Syrah and Merlot, was a deep garnet with currants and black cherry armas. The medium-bodied wine had dried fruit notes, heavy tannins, but balanced with a fruit and vanilla lingering finish. It was similar to the Slate 4 at Black Ankle.

Although the tasting took place in a test, which had an acoustic band playing, the tasting was at my pace. I chose to stand at the bar instead of taking a seat and being waited on. The tasting staff, when they realized I was taking notes, suggested I try the three Chardonnay wines side by side. This is not something I see regularly so I welcomed it and was able to determine the more preferred vintage. They also asked if I would like a bottle of water to drink while I was tasting the wines. When I asked about additional red wines, I was told there were several in the cellar, but they were not sure when they would be released.