♪♪ The Eastern Shore of Maryland is another region that one typically associates with wine.

But with dozens of new and quality vineyards popping up across the state it may not be long before this mindset changes.

Wow Wine production in this region dates back to the early 1700s.

And while many early attempts failed, the experimentation and persistence of our first colonists and modern day farmers alike discovered a way to cultivate tasty grapes that are perfect for winemaking.

For this episode, I'll be visiting a third generation farm that is perfecting the art of this craft utilizing the unique terroir of the Chesapeake Bay region.

I also meet an old friend to assist in the preparation of a pairing menu that will tantilize the taste buds.

[Paul] It's beautiful [Walter] And all this for a spectacular Taste of History.

[Narrator] This program is made possible by the Blue and Gray Education Society, whose mission is to preserve American history through its historical guidebooks, nationwide tours, and philanthropic endeavors.

♪♪ [bike bell rings] [birds chirping] [clippers snipping] I'm here at Crow Vineyards in Kennedyville, Maryland.

With my really good friend Paul McCormick.

So great to have you here.

It's been too long a time.

Good to see you again.

In the meantime, I understand you're a lover of fantastic grapes, you're a beekeeper, you're a fireman, you're an entrepreneur, you're a chef extraordinaire.

So when we talk to you about what we're going to do today.

Tell me your philosophy.

[Paul] Everything here at the vineyard and the farm is all based on what grows here naturally.

We're right between the Delaware Bay and the Chesapeake Bay.

Land that gets beautiful water.

Wind.

Wind is huge for growing grapes and airflow associated with growing the grapes.

We also raise boutique beef here.

So all the varietal wines that they produce here, we came up with a menu and a few dishes that actually complement and contrast some of the wines that they make here right at the vineyard.

The first thing I see, they look very familiar to me because I know the man that grows them.

-Sure, they are phenomenal.

They came right here from the Chester River, grown right here in the Chesapeake.

They're absolutely beautiful.

They have this wonderful, subtle flavor.

I see shallots, I see fennel, I see tarragon.

I like doing something really, really simple.

They're all very subtle flavors.

None of them are very strong.

And I'm going to top it off with cream, and Anisette so it's going to have a little licorice and spinach, a little licorice and green.

It's going to be beautiful.

[Walter] So this then combines extremely well to the varietals that you have picked.

-Exactly -Chef, it's all yours.

-I'm going to get going.

I'm going to start with these beautiful oysters.

I'm going to take my little towel This is to keep my hand from sliding.

I'm going to stick this right in the back, turn it slightly, and you see that the top shell will come off Go down and cut the abductor muscle, which is the thing that holds this oyster together.

And that's right here.

Now, I have this beautiful oyster.

I'm going to cut this abductor muscle down.

So release it from the shell.

-And make sure not to spill the liqour.

-Don't spill the liquor.

You can actually almost smell the.. You can smell the water.

Ohh, Oh You just had a mouthful [Paul laughs] I... [Paul laughs] I can't find the words to describe it.

The same water that flows underground, that feeds these grapes, feeds these oysters.

[Walter] The flavor is so.

Oh!

[Paul] What I'm going to do is I'm going to do this prep, but I'm going to do the prep kind of easy because this all reduces lovely in the pan I have a fellow, an old Italian guy who sharpens my knives.

-Nice, I can see.

-He makes a paper hat.

He still wears his paper hat to do this.

And we end up with these razor sharp knives.

-And, you know, I'm a big believer in shallots I mean, I tell you what, there is no substitute where I come from -They're beautiful.

-The sweetness.

-Yeah, they're sweet.

They're not overpowering.

-And then fennel, obviously happens to be my mentor, Thomas Jefferson's favorite vegetable when he traveled to the south of France.

You know, he got excited, so much so that he started growing it up in Monticello.

You know?

So that's beautiful.

-Switch to this knife.

It's got a bigger heel and a bigger blade, because I want this fine.

The same type of julienne that I'm making... -But you want to keep the vegetable still al dente.

-Oh, yeah.

And the beautiful thing is when we do cut this, it's a root.

It's basically just like it looks a lot like celery.

It has the same fibrous type of crunchiness.

So if I put this in order, the fennel would be the crunchiest, the shallots, not as much.

And the fennel is actually very, very light and wonderful.

Now, what I'll do is I'm going to take on top of this I'm just going to julienne some quick spinach, baby spinach, so that when this goes in, I'm going to put it in this order in one shot right into the pan.

-So it's basically almost like a quick stir fry, if you will.

-Exactly.

That's what it is.

♪♪ [Paul] I have a cast iron skillet which accepts heat tremendously.

-You can tell -Basic oil.

It's already starting to sizzle.

Then I'm going to put everything in [sizzling] I had this pan preheated on the fire so it gets really, really hot.

I don't have to stir this and manipulate this at all.

It'll go pretty much by itself -Oh, the flavors.

-Look at that you can smell it I'm going to deglaze this with Anisette But I don't want that to flame.

-You want the flavor Oh yea!

[sizzling] -Carmelize.

Look how that caramelized so beautifully.

-Quick!

-Now I'm going to add the cream this just helps me bring all the flavors together.

-Yeah.

-It's just primarily for blending.

I want this to reduce just a little bit and after this reduces and you're seeing a change of the color right over here from the carmelization of the fennel and the shallots.

-Mhm -The spinach is completely wilted, chef.

-Yep.

-We're just going to pour them in and save the shells because we're going to serve from the shell.

And I want the liquor and the oysters.

-So it's actually your version of Oyster Rockefeller -Exactly.

What's different about that is this has many more subtle flavors.

So, they only take a few seconds.

See, they're done Look at that.

Absolutely Beautiful.

-Beautiful.

-This is basically my salad.

I'm going to have that on the inside of each shell, I added no salt.

Did you see that?

-I noticed that.

-Absolutely no salt.

-And you don't want it, no.

-Even though these are raised in brackish waters, which is it's half fresh and half salt water, they're still relatively salty.

You don't have to add salt.

-So Paul, maybe a little piece of fennel right in the middle.

Oh, oh.

-That works.

-The only thing that will make this perfect.

Is a little varietal.

-Beautiful.

Vidal blanc.

-It's literally grown right behind us It's right behind us they were actually picked last week for next year's vintage.

-It's so crisp and so delicate and so beautiful.

There we go.

Get this oyster here.

Let me see.

[slurping] If I had a mic, I would drop it.

[Paul laughs] -Yes, there you go.

Everything there was exactly what we put in front.

No pepper, no salt.

Just the natural taste of everything.

Doesn't get better than that.

Huh?

What do you think?

Oh, my god that's good.

-Isn't it spectacular?

I mean, really, seriously.

-This is so perfectly matched to the wine.

You can taste every single ingredient.

Paul, It's been too long.

We got to do this more often.

[Walter laughs] My pleasure.

♪♪ [Narrator] Throughout the early colonies, many failed attempts at cultivating the highly desirable European style wines failed repeatedly.

[Regina] Native American grapes are often described as having a foxy flavor and aroma and the early colonists really preferred the aromas and flavors that they found in Vitis Vinifera, in those European grapes.

-One of the most significant events in East Coast winemaking occurred in 1756 when the Secretary of the province of Maryland, Colonel Benjamin Tasker Junior, planted a two acre vineyard using the Alexander Grape.

First discovered in Philadelphia by the gardener of William Penn's son, this grape was a cross between the European vinifera vine and the native North American labrusca vine.

-The parentage of the native variety would make those vines more resistant to the native pests like phylloxera, for example, The disease pressure, the mold and mildews.

Having the parentage of the vitis vinifera vines would offer the flavors and aromas that they preferred in those table wines.

-This new hybrid proved successful for Tasker in making wine similar to the European varietals, and it quickly gained popularity -Tasker is credited for bringing awareness to this variety, and then it was propagated and planted broadly in the 19th century.

The Alexander Grape would produce the first commercial wines in America.

Since 1945, when the first post- Prohibition winery was licensed in Maryland, there have been over 100 wineries licensed in the state.

Each of these different regions grows different grapes and we're really starting to see which grapes will thrive in this part of the world.

It's a really exciting time to grow wine in Maryland.

♪♪ [Walter] So Paul, I see one of my favorite cuts, unbelievable.

-This is oxtail.

Oxtail and homemade sausage here from the farm.

When you raise cattle, you're not going to take the tenderloins and the prime ribs and all the beautiful cuts of meat and save 'em for yourself, you're sending them to market.

But you have these other beautiful cuts of meat that are left, that make phenomenal dishes that go very, very well with the wines that we're growing.

-Absolutely.

The only challenge with oxtail is obviously the cooking time.

Once your prep is done, I guess you can go take a snooze or like us, pick up some grapes -We go pick some grapes -Of course -That's what we do.

We have a rutabaga.

I fell in love when I saw the rutabega and I know that you have bees, so I know you have beeswax.

-And beeswax.

And when we raise bees, we use bee pollen, we use beeswax, we use honeycomb and we use the honey.

Bees are fantastic, but one of the beautiful things they give us with the wax is this is a way we can preserve our root vegetables -All winter.

-Cover the outside of the rutabega and it will stay all the way through to the spring until your next harvest.

We have celeriac, white turnip, cremini mushrooms, Vidalia onions, red onions, blue potatoes, fingerling potatoes, and of course, garlic.

-And obviously Paul not to forget, I'm waiting for the marrying of this oxtail with this unbelievable merlot -Beautiful 2015 merlot.

It's just beautiful.

Chop garlic, loose chop you know nothing real fine.

-It's all rustic basically.

-It's all rustic, it's all it's all going to hang out.

-The thing is you're also thinking of a three hour cooking time.

So everything will disintegrate.

-It will reduce effectively.

And like I said, if you cut them really really fine it literally disappears and turns into the sauce.

-And that's why I like that you have turnip in there because the turnip will be disintegrated but the consistency stays with it.

That's why I like it.

-Exactly, without using an artificial thickener, I'm not using any flour.

-You won't need it.

-I won't need it.

I have all these beautiful vegetables that are going to do this wonderful job of holding their shape, the gelatin and the cellulose that's in all these.

-You know, being from Europe, Navè as we call it, or turnip, is a big part of making soups and sauces because it's a natural thickener.

-It's a natural thickener.

-Yeah.

-Celeriac.

-Early years in Philadelphia, I had a really tough time getting celeriac.

Now everybody has it.

-Now Everybody has it.

-But way back when, it wasn't the case.

Great flavor to it.

- I love the smell of it.

It smells like celery.

-Yeah.

-You know?

I want to keep the mushrooms quartered in big pieces.

These will add liquid to what I'm doing without compromising the thickness.

-And I love that you, because I only use cremini myself.

-We're very close to Avondale, Pennsylvania where all of the mushrooms come from, but they have huge mushroom farms down here, so they work in hand with all the other farmers, because when the mushroom beds are done, they come and they spray 'em on some of the fields where they're growing, soybeans and whatnot, because it's loaded with nutrients.

Are they growing any funny mushrooms?

They could be they could be.

We would never know, right?

Well, it's strange when you see a mushroom farm with barbed wire around it.

So I'm just saying [Walter laughs] I have these beautiful variety of colored carrots.

And I'm actually not going to take the peels off.

I'm going to just cut the tips off.

-The only way to do it.

The tops off because they were close to the earth.

They've been washed.

-Yep.

-And they're beautiful.

And that is going to help me when we go to serve.

This adds as a beautiful amount of color -Yep -Two tomatoes.

-You use any kind of tomato?

-I use, I like Roma.

-Roma.

Same here.

-Plump tomatoes that have a lot of meat to them.

And here again, just a rough dice.

These are probably going to just disappear.

You probably won't even see them in the end product because these are beautifully ripe.

-And the oxtail, you're just going to still.. -That gets separated here.

-That's it.

I got you.

So that it's easier to.. -Yea, just so that it hangs out.

-Yeah.

-All right.

So I just want to cut it in a few pieces.

These pieces aren't going to yield a lot of meat, but they are going to add tremendously to the flavor.

Plus the other thing, don't forget, the marrow in here that cooks out.

The marrow is the beautiful thing that adds.. -The power -Power.

It's like the power ingredient.

The Dutch oven is on there and it is amazingly hot.

It's going to take about 3 hours to cook.

A little bit of oil.

Butter will burn instantly.

Caught the fire.

Sausage first.

-Well, thank God I got a firefighter next to me.

-Exactly right.

Take a little bit of my seasoning.

Right on the outside.

All this beautiful fat is going to render and all this beautiful protein is going to make all this wonderful caramelization.

I have to let that sear -Sear really good.

-Because the sear and all of that caramelization that happens is what gives me all my beautiful final flavor.

Usually we season at the end.

Whenever you see a recipe, or you always see salt and pepper on the table is because of what happens to moisture with salt and with pepper.

With pepper, it increases the Scoville units by a factor of about four.

So if you're putting it in wet and you let it cook, it gets four times hotter than what you're actually shaking on.

What you're used to tasting.

Salt disappears.

You're left with the sodium, which is not that good for you, but you lose that beautiful savory flavor.

For the most part, if you let all the natural flavors come out, you're not going to need the salt.

-I got it, yep.

-Now I'm going to add my onions, my herbs, I'm leaving the herbs on the stem.

-Makes sense.

Because I remember the cooking time that you have.

-I have 3 hours.

-Yea -This will last a good long time.

There with the potatoes.

These are the tomatoes, the rutabagas.

-Oh, look at that.

Look at that.

-That's just beautiful.

-It looks like the cover of Bon Appétit already.

What do you think?

-That's exactly right!

There's going to be fat in here.

But I'm going to add some butter and this is going to help me with my caramelization process.

Now, I don't have to stir this that much because everything is caramelized on the bottom.

Is just absolutely beautiful.

-Look at that -Look at the color of that.

That's where the caramel color comes from.

All right, now I'm going to deglaze with my red wine.

[sizzling] [Walter] Nothing better than the smell of red wine reducing.

-I have a little beef stock Add some chicken stock and what do you say I'll just have the rest of the wine.

How's that sound?

That's beautiful.

So we'll stir.

These vegetables are going to change their nature and configuration by the time we're done, this is going to look completely different.

-And then you say, what, it took about two and a half to 3 hours depending?

-Two and a half to 3 hours because this was split at the butcher and opened up it'll tenderize a little bit faster.

-I got to take one more look before we close it down.

-That's a good idea.

-It's too beautiful.

Look at that.

And the flavor of the wine.

I mean, unbelievable.

-I could stay here.

Why don't you go pick grapes?

-By myself?

-I'll help you.

-I'll take Judy.

[both laugh] ♪♪ [Walter] While winemaking is one of the newest ventures on this third generation farm, the team at Crow Vineyards is quickly becoming globally recognized for their award winning blends.

[Judy] In our 12 and a half acres, we have seven different varieties.

Everything that we do in the vineyard represents our ability to be able to grow something that is sustainable for the environment and well-cared for.

[Brandon] Growing grapes on the East Coast in general, what you're looking for is well drained soils.

We tend to get a good bit of moisture throughout the growing season.

Here at Crow, we have some really nice draining soils.

[Michael] We're lucky enough to be sandwiched between the ocean and the Chesapeake Bay, and there are two rivers within 15-20 miles on either side.

The storms that come across the Chesapeake tend to break up and follow those rivers, so it keeps us a bit drier than we might normally be during the summer months.

-A lot of West Coast wines can be more homogenized because the growing conditions are very similar season to season.

East Coast wines are very vintage-specific meaning every year you're dealing with a potentially totally different wine.

So we might get a lot of rainfall and we have to change up our protocols of what kind of wines we're going to make.

And then some years we might get a really dry season and make some bigger, bolder reds.

No year presents the same factors and situations that we had in prior years.

It's always our hope that every sip that you take reveals a new flavor and a new complexity that you might not have tasted before.

[Judy] Maryland wines are unique and reflect the ability of a young industry to make some good quality wines.

Today's technology allows us to use some modern equipment, but French Oak allows us to be able to create some very fine wines.

It's an expression of who we are and what we can do right here in Kennedyville.

Wow So sweet.

That's going to make a fantastic bottle of merlot.

But who is waiting for that?

I might as well eat them now.

Mmmm.

So, Paul, while you were stirring the pot or taking a snooze, guess what I was doing?

[Paul laughs] Well I think we both made out here because this just looks beautiful.

[Walter] Unbelievable.

Look at that Oh!

The flavors reduced nicely down, huh?

-It's beautiful.

It's uniform.

Our root vegetables all held up wonderfully.

-Just the way you wanted them, right?

-Just the way I want it.

Now, I'm going to put inside each bowl.

-A nice piece of.. -A big old lump of the oxtail.

A little bit of these beautiful vegetables and the potatoes and the mushrooms and the sausage.

We're going to use the bread and the bread is what we're going to use to pick up all this beautiful essence, which has all the marrow and all that beautiful protein in with it.

Just as beautiful as it can be.

-If you tell me about a vintners luncheon or dinner.. -This is it.

Right from the farm to the fork.

-Perfect example.

-Perfect.

While everybody's out harvesting this can be cooking.

-Oh!

-Isn't that amazing?

[Paul laughs] Is there anything better than that?

We now have to try with the merlot because there is also the merlot inside this stew.

I mean.

It's absolutely fantastic isn't it?

The combination.

It all fits.

[Walter] The searing of the oxtail and sausage just takes it over the top.

[Paul] This is the only thing that I thought would actually improve this wine.

-There's only one thing better than that.

[Paul] More of it [Walter laughs] ♪♪ [birds chirping] [Paul] At this farm, we have a seckel pear tree.

These are not the sweetest, and not the juiciest or easy to eat, but they're perfect for making a pear crisp.

And perfect to make schnapps.

Perfect to make schnapps.

[Walter laughs] What we end up doing is we're going to sweeten it up with a beautiful oat and crumb topping with local blueberries, which are out of this world.

Paul, this is your honey?

This is my honey.

This is what I produce.

This is last year's harvest.

Just like we would do with wine.

We look at the color, the clarity.

The honey is a direct product of what the bees are eating.

I have a big tulip poplar in the back of the property, and that's where I get a lot of the pollen from.

As they go back to their hive, I can look at their back legs and look at the color of the pollen that's on their back legs.

Lime green, bright orange, yellow, even white.

So you know where they have been.

And that affects the color and the flavor the same way how we grow grapes at Crow Vineyards, how it reflects the flavors of each individual wine.

So the honey is kind of interrelated to all the things we're doing here.

Let me try that here.

Try that.

Wow And it's just like the wine you're going to get a second flavor and maybe even a third.

Yeah.

Based on what my bees were eating.

[Paul] I'm going to start with my butter my oats a little bit of cinnamon, tiny bit raw sugar, a little bit of brown sugar.

I'm going to zest some lemon in here.

And I don't want to put a lot of lemon in because I don't want it to taste like a cough drop.

And then I'm going to add my honey.

This is just going to be mixed across the top now, the other thing that we're going to add to this for a little bit extra touch of flavor.

Ginger.

Now we're going to start with the pears.

OK, so I'll put these face down I'm going to butter this and I'm going to dump this into the hot pan.

This is the fun part.

I'm going to take this literally and over end it right into the pan so everything ends up right side up.

Then my blueberries then my topping.

[Walter] Nice!

There you go.

[Paul] 10 minutes.

I can see from the bottom, it's starting to bubble.

Butter burns.

So if I give this a few minutes, I'm going to get a beautiful carmelized reaction on the bottom and the oats are actually going..

They're not going to be crisp on the top, it's going to be crisp on the bottom.

-So if you would do it in a commercial oven at home, what like 375?

-375 for 15 minutes and you're ready to go.

-Oh, nice.

Look at it how quick.

-It's beautiful.

It came out but you can still hear it.

[sizzling] It's caramelizing.

-Absolutely beautiful.

The flavor that comes out.

-It's unbelievable.

-Let me try this baby here.

-What a way to finish.

-Mmmm The lemon zest!

-The lemon zest and the ginger.

and the blueberries all to take the subtle taste of the pear and try and balance it out.

-That is an interesting dish.

-Now we have to taste it with the rosé.

[Walter exhales] Oh, my God.

It's beautiful.

Paul, what a spectacular job, right here in the vineyard.

I mean, it don't get better than that.

Give it up.

The oysters and the oxtail.

And this dessert is spectacular.

And the wines speak for themselves.

-Fantastic -So glad to have you here.

I drink to you and I drink to.. -Maryland wine.

-And all this for A Taste of History from Maryland's Eastern Shore.

[Narrator] This program is made possible by the Blue and Gray Education Society, whose mission is to preserve American history through its historical guidebooks, nationwide tours, and philanthropic endeavors.

Viewers can find DVDs and cookbooks at atasteofhistory.org including the all new “A Taste of History Cookbook ” complete with step by step instructions of recipes seen on the show.

Exclusive content can be found on A Taste of History's Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube pages.