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Anthony Aellen explains how a tornado ripped the roof of the winery as Terry and Whitney listen to the fascinating story.
Yesterday we started the Drink Local Wine Conference early by picking up Whitney Rigsbee at BWI and heading out to a couple Maryland wineries. Whitney works for Nomacork, one of the sponsors of the conference. Our first winery stop was Linganore Wine Cellars in Mt. Airy. There we met Anthony Aellen, one of the most enthusiastic and entertaining wine makers we have encountered over the years. Anthony likes to talk about his story of making wine from the beginning to today. Anthony has made wine in Maryland for decades. He noted some of the changes in the Maryland wine industry over those years.
One change he discussed was the importance of making wine more accessible to the people. Festivals gets the wine out to the people. Consumers need to be aware that your winery exists. Many years ago, Linganore was know for making sweet wines. At the same time they also made dry wines. Other wineries in the state would send customers to Linganore that asked for sweet wines. Now, many Maryland wineries have added semi-sweet wines and/or sweet wines to their portfolio.The Maryland wine industry has come to realize that you have to make the kinds of wines that the local communities want to drink. Another change in the industry is the number of varieties of wine grapes grown in the state. The planting of different vinifera has increased along with hybrids. There are also planting of experimental grapes that have numbers and no names.
We then visited Elk Run Vineyards. Fred Wilson also spoke of the changes in the Maryland wine industry over the years. He noted that many years ago, the state had a certain hostility towards the wine industry. Today they are accepting and helpful to the industry. This can be noted in the numbers of wineries when compared to Virginia. About 40 years ago Maryland and Virginia had approximately the same number of wineries. Now Maryland has over 60 wineries while Virginia has over 200 wineries. Many of Maryland’s 60 plus wineries have opened over the past couple years and more are scheduled to open this year and in the near future.
Today we are off with the media group to explore Sugarloaf Mountain, Black Ankle and Boordy.
Cheers,
Terry
A Day at Serpent Ridge Vineyard
A Day at Serpent Ridge Vineyard
Serpent Ridge Vineyard, Maryland
Yesterday we met great folks at Serpent Ridge Vineyard, located a few minutes outside of Baltimore. The weather was delightful, sunny with a light breeze – perfect for a Sunday drive to the winery.
In addition to signing our book, A Wine Journey, we spent quite a bit of time talking and learning about the visitors’ wine stories.
One couple we met are home winemakers and recounted the numerous wines they have made at home including wines made from grapes, fruits and juice. They also belong to a wine club whose members are home winemakers. They gather together several times a year for dinners and or meetings. They talk about their winemaking techniques. On occasion they bring one varietal wine they have made and compare the wines with others.
This must be a great entertaining and learning experience. Wine does provide a commonality among people. How many other things have the conviviality of wine? Wine is something to be enjoyed: a food/drink, social, history, art, science, viticulture, and math.
There are many home winemakers in the United States. If you are a home winemaker, why not start a wine club for home winemakers? If you are interested in becoming a home winemaker, look for home winemakers in your region and join a group. Winemakers are a friendly group of people and most are willing to share information and suggestions with others.
Many thanks Serpent Ridge Winery for hosting our book signing and to everyone who stopped by to talk with us about our wine journey and related their own wine journeys to us.
Serpent Ridge Vineyard Events
Be sure to check Serpent Ridge Vineyard for special events. In addition to First Friday events, they also have special events including an upcoming yoga class. In the past they have had Wine Glass Painting classes and are looking forward to scheduling more.
Cheers! Kathy