Written By James Rada, Jr.
In 2011, more than 800 retailers and 300 restaurants sold 345,599 gallons of Maryland’s 420 different wines, an increase of 11.6 percent over the previous year. That represents about 1,744,275 bottles of wine.
You can sample the best of Maryland’s different wines at the 29th Annual Maryland Wine Festival, the state’s largest wine event, at the Carroll County Farm Museum in Westminster on September 15 and 16.
But before you enjoy some of Maryland’s finest wines at the festival, you might want to check out their sources right here in Carroll County, which is home to four wineries. There are also several nearby in Baltimore and Frederick counties.
For a tour of Carroll County vineyards, you can begin with Serpent Ridge Vineyard, then move to Detour Winery, Cygnus Wine Cellars and Galloping Goose Vineyards. If you would like to add some more stops to your tours, other nearby wineries include: Elk Run (410-775-5089), Linganore (410-795-6432), Black Ankle (301-829-3338) and Loew, all in Mount Airy (301-831-5464).
You can also have Maryland wines shipped to you. Because state law has been changed, Maryland wineries that have a Maryland Direct Shipper’s Permit can now ship 18 cases per household annually.
Cygnus Wine Cellars
www.cygnuswinecellars.com; 3130 Long Lane, Manchester; 410-374-6395
Ray Brashfield founded Cygnus Wine Cellars in 1995. The cellars are located one block east of Manchester’s Main Street behind the Maple Grove Business Center. However, the grapes for the Cygnus wines are obtained from all over Maryland and south-central Pennsylvania. Cygnus Wine Cellars offers dry table wines (Cygnus Red, cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay and julian), semi-dry table wines (Manchester Hall and Carroll’s Blush), a sweet table wine (Port of Manchester) and sparkling wines (Hampton Cuvee Brut Rose, Catawba Cuvee and Catawba Extra Dry Rose). You can sample wines and buy your favorites there or enjoy a glass with a meal locally at Spargo’s in Manchester and Antrim 1844 in Taneytown.
Galloping Goose Vineyards
www.gallopinggoosevineyards.com, 4326 Maple Grove Road, Hampstead, MD 21074, 410-374-6596
Ed and Diane Hale started their farm in northern Carroll County in 1969 and ran it as a working farm that produced hay and vegetables. They then began raising livestock. In 1998, they realized that the best crop for the land was grapes. The first plantings were Cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay, seyval and vidal. Cabernet franc, barbera, petit verdot, and chambroucin were added in later plantings. Galloping Goose Vineyards began bottling its own wines in 2008. The Hales produce a cabernet and fruit wine each season in small bottlings aged in oak of no more than 500 casks that are available at the vineyard and a few other locations. The vineyard is open most weekends from noon until 4 p.m. for wine tasting and tours. During special events at Galloping Goose, food is provided by Patricia Della Casual Fine Dining. Otherwise, you can find many dining options in Hampstead.
Serpent Ridge Vineyard
www.serpentridge.com, 2962 Nicodemus Road, Westminster, 410-848-6511
Greg and Karen Lambrecht opened Serpent Ridge Vineyard in Westminster in 2009 and have been winning local and international awards since then. Serpent Ridge grows its own grapes and buys grapes from select Maryland vineyards to bottle small lots of handmade wines. The Lambrechts began bottling wine in the 1990s when Greg became fascinated with winemaking after a visit to the Russian River Valley in California. Serpent Ridge grows two acres of grapes that are pressed and aged in a stainless steel or aged oak casks. Some of the Serpent Hill wines include a 2009 Vintner’s Cabernet, a medal winner in the Maryland Winemaster’s Choice Competition; a 2009 Basilisk gold medal winner in the Maryland Governor’s Cup Competition; a 2010 seyval blanc; a 2010 albarino, winner of the 2011 Best of Class White Varietal and Gold Medal Winner in Maryland Winemaster’s Choice Competition. You can sample wines and buy your favorites there or enjoy a glass with a meal locally at Maggie’s and Paradiso Restaurant in Westminster as well as other locations.
Detour Winery
7933 Forest and Stream Club Road, Detour; 410-775-0220; www.detourwinery.com
The Detour Winery is one of Maryland’s newest and the most recent in Carroll County. Detour not only offers its own wines and vineyard tours, but visitors can attend annual festivals, summer concerts and youth sporting events. If you have a real interest in winemaking, Detour Winery offers classes in basic wine making and a completed wine to show for your efforts. Detour makes fruit wines (pear, blueberry, blackberry, black raspberry, red raspberry), red wines, blush wines and dessert wines (pineapples, belleza verde, Passion). The winery is open Mondays through Wednesdays by appointment, Thursdays and Fridays from noon until 5 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 6 p.m. You can sample wines and buy your favorites. Fine dining is available nearby in Taneytown.
The Origin of Maryland Wines
Tenis Palee, a French immigrant, is the first person known to grow grapes for wine in Maryland. Maryland’s climate and latitude is similar to wine-growing regions in Portugal, Spain, Southern Italy and Greece. Palee began making his wines in 1648.
Maryland has four wine-growing regions; Piedmont Plateau, Eastern Shore, Western Mountains and Southern Plains. Each has its own climate and soil that make it suitable for different varieties of grapes and wines.
The Piedmont Plateau is good for cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc, chardonnay and pinot gris.
The Southern Plains have hot nights and days during the summer growing season-making it excellent for barbera, sangiovese, montepulciano, chardonnay, vidal, blaufrankisch and symphony.
The Western Mountains grow cold-hardy grapes that can grow quickly, such as cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, petit verdot, chardonnay, norton/cynthiana, chambourcin, vidal and seyval.
The Eastern Shore has sandy, well-drained soil, warm days and cool nights. The combination supports a wide variety of grapes.
Carroll County’s wineries are located in the Piedmont Plateau. The region extends from the foothills west of Frederick to the head of the Chesapeake Bay and is where most of Maryland’s 54 wineries are located.
Many of Carroll County’s wineries not only use their own locally grown grapes to create their special wines, but they also import grapes from Maryland’s other growing regions to add to the variety available in the county.
