The Old Line State isn’t all that old in wine years. And it certainly isn’t known in the overall grand world history of wine. Sure, there’s been something of a wine industry here in some small form for a few hundred years. But in terms of serious players, let’s face it: Maryland hasn’t popped off the map.
But that’s changing. And it’s always been our intent to be a part of the evolution. When we first sat down to write a vision statement for our little vineyard here, the suggestion “putting Maryland wine on the world map” sounded a bit over the top, even to our ears – certainly too crazy to actually write down. But here’s what we knew then and now: There’s nothing about our soil and climate that prohibits the growing of world-class wines in Maryland. So we set out to do just that.
Fast forward to now. Wine Enthusiast just published an article that offers our little state a long-awaited hat tip: “At 370 years old, the winemaking industry here [in Maryland] is ready for prime time.” Minds... blown. We couldn’t believe our eyes.
Citing Maryland’s recent “wine renaissance”, Enthusiast’s Dave McIntyre reminds us that we only had 12 wineries here at the turn of the century and that now that number “is up to 85 at the beginning of this year” and that “more than 900 acres are planted to vines.”
“Top wineries” named in this highly regarded national publication are Old Westminster, Black Ankle, Boordy and Big Cork. But there are many, many more quality producers behind this wine awakening. And they made it a point to mention the 117 acre farm we recently purchased for our next-level project that we affectionately refer to as Burnt Hill.
Another mention of note is the role of experimentation in the emerging craft of Maryland winemaking, and of course, we’re referring to our foray into the world of Pét-Nat – a bubbly first for the emerging Maryland wine-scape.
Since the paper version of The Wine Enthusiast is their primary mode of circulation, a web version of the article won’t be available until the magazine hits the old newsstands. But we’re accustomed to waiting. We’re winemakers. We’ll send out a link as soon as it’s out!