Layton's Chance Vineyard & Winery

Wine: Winery: Ambiance: Jan 28, 2019

Favorite Wine: Norton Reserve

And I was wrong update, ~ *two years ago I noted that Layton's Chance Norton may not mature in bottle significantly. Oh, how I missed this badly. With a couple additional in bottle years their 2015 Norton proved to be one of the better eastern produced Norton wines. Though gentle, typical in body, color, style. / The Layton family has been farming corn, soybeans and wheat on this land for almost 100 years, but in 2007 the decision was made to add grapes (Traminette, Vidal Blanc, Chambourcin & Norton) to the mix. Interestingly, the light Vidal Blanc ($20) was only slightly oaked with French 'chips'. Red blends included other Maryland grown Marquette & Cab Sauv grapes. Their Chambourcin ($20) again included French oak chips in the processing, but their Norton Reserve ($26) was uncharacteristically produced strictly in stainless steel. *With no obvious tannins in this fun to drink now tart Norton, I do not suspect age will enhance this wine over the next few years. I have a bottle set aside to see if I'll be proven incorrect. I applaud Layton's Chance Winery for setting aside two wines specifically for generously fund raising (a light rose United-Chambourcin for the United Way and a Freedom - Catawba, Chambourcin blend for the nearby Harriet Tubman Visitors Center). It will be only a few years and you may find an Eastern shore Cabernet Franc appearing on the scene. It was interesting to learn that the Norton grapes needed fungicide spraying three times a year as compared to the other grapes which needed attention every two weeks. Of course with the addition of the varietal grape, Cab Franc, this spraying could increase to every ten days. A big thank you to the personable owner/vintner, William Layton, who joined us in our visit. It will be fun seeing what directions this winery takes over the course of the near future.