Vineyards

This is a higher-than-average price for a pinot gris, but this is a New Zealand white wine of exceptional quality - perhaps the best I've tasted from anywhere outside the grape's ancestral heartland of Alsace. It's very much in the Alsace style - rich and full-bodied. Obviously picked at a high level of ripeness, the grapes have yielded an off-dry wine with a creamy texture. The wine offers intense flavors of hazelnuts, almonds, pears, melons, oranges, honey and spices. Despite a hefty alcohol level, it goes down smoothly.

If you're a fan of no-holds-barred zinfandel, this is a sterling example of the breed - with true "old vines" character and intense blackberry, spice and black-pepper flavors. Made from vines older than 80 years old, it's not for the faint of palate. For all its power, its texture is smooth and there's no sign of alcoholic heat in the finish. Serve with - - pizza, pasta, red meat

MARTHA'S VINEYARD, Mass. - The clerk behind the counter at Capt. Porky's Bait and Tackle spends a lot of time assembling the colorful rods and reels that parents buy and kids dangle off the nearby Edgartown wharf. You see the fruits of her labors everywhere. After a couple of days on this island, you get used to seeing families of fishermen - dads, moms and young ones - walking downtown streets with fishing rods in one hand and tackle boxes in the other. No doubt about it, this island is an angler's paradise.

LEXINGTON, N.C. - For generations, farmers in the Yadkin Valley have grown tobacco. But the demand for that plant has dropped, so many are turning to another green, leafy crop - grapes. As in the wine-making kind. And if the image of Tobacco Road morphing into Winery Way sets North Carolina stereotypes on their ear, consider this: The valley's biggest wine producer, a man who lives in a Tuscan-inspired estate, packs impeccable good ol' boy credentials. Richard Childress, 59, once made early-morning moonshine runs, raced stock cars and owned NASCAR's most famous car, the No. 3 of the late seven-time champion Dale Earnhardt.

Lovers of wine, and of free markets, toasted a Supreme Court decision yesterday that struck down bans on home deliveries from out-of-state vineyards. But in Maryland, the hangover came in a hurry. Wine aficionados here are not expected to benefit from the court's widely anticipated decision because Maryland is one of a handful of states that outlaw all direct wine shipments, whether from homegrown wineries or out-of-state vineyards. In its 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court said it is discriminatory for states that allow in-state wine shipments to prohibit deliveries from wineries in other parts of the country.

Some of the finest grapes in Maryland are grown in a small town off Route 70. The three vintners who call Mount Airy home were drawn to the area by its terrain and soil. Now the wineries are drawing attention to Mount Airy, thanks to their award-winning wines and popular wine tastings. With spring in full swing, Berrywine Plantations/Linganore Wine Cellars, Elk Run Vineyards and Loew Vineyards are open for tours, tastings and other events this weekend. Among the highlights is Sunday's April Champagne Release at Elk Run. This once-a-year tasting includes gourmet treats and live music.

LAST APRIL, Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. stunned hundreds of Maryland business leaders by practically begging them to "be dangerous" politically and accusing them of displaying "Patty Hearst syndrome" by snuggling up to liberal captors. Almost as unusual as the message was the medium: a luncheon thrown by Maryland Business for Responsive Government and its president, Robert O.C. "Rocky" Worcester. For the second year in a row, Ehrlich brought gubernatorial prestige and attention to a conservative, pro-markets group long accustomed to neither.

More Maryland homeowners are turning their back yards into small vineyards to fulfill a hobby or to earn a small profit by selling grapes to local wineries. It's the latest boom in a real estate market that has enjoyed three years of unprecedented growth. Many consumers have taken advantage of record home appreciation and historically low interest rates to buy larger houses or land, to remodel or to build vacation homes. Those who have purchased large plots to escape sprawl have looked for things to do with their property, including farming and other hobbies.

EDGARTOWN, Mass. -- A European celebrity flew into Martha's Vineyard the other weekend, thrilling jaded locals and luring crowds from the mainland. They came by plane and car, bus and taxi, ferry and bike to stand for hours along a rural beach road, hoping to catch a glimpse. No one like him had ever set foot in North America before, much less the Vineyard. In fact, this particular fellow was flying from Europe to his winter place in Africa and blew in just by chance. His native habitat is Eastern Europe and Russia.

It was just weeks ago that balmy temperatures rushed into Baltimore, causing area green spaces to flourish with an annual display of vibrant floral life. But the mild spring has already made way, early this year, for summertime's heat - and many of those delicate blooms have begun to wither and die. Not every flower is shrinking in June's hot afternoon rays, however; buds on local grape vines are just beginning to open. To celebrate the start of a hearty new season, Berrywine Plantations and Linganore Winecellars in Mount Airy will hold its annual open house Saturday and Sunday afternoon.