Chesapeake Wine Country

This program is me night empty tea to serve all of our diverse community and is made possible by the generous support of our members. Thank you. I'm Hugh Sisson and I mouse ball or anywhere in the middle of Baltimore Harbor which believe it or not puts us right in the middle of wine country. No matter which way you go north or south east or west. Somebody is making wine. In fact there are over 30 wineries in Maryland today. Maryland wines have never been better. And getting to know them and their stories is a pleasure in itself. So join us as we take you on a tour of a place we call Chesapeake wine country. Cheers everyone. Production funding for Chesapeake wine country has been provided by Barbet Co.

Growing rural ventures. The Baltimore County Department of Economic Development in association with the Maryland Office of Tourism. Queen Anne's County Office of Tourism. The Tourism Council of Frederick County. And the Hagerstown Washington County Convention and Visitor's Bureau. In the spring and summer Maryland welcomes the great grapes wine art and food festivals annually in Annapolis and Oregon Ridge and cork the fund dot com. Everybody loves a getaway especially if you can have a great time and stay close to home which is why touring wine country is such a great idea. No expensive airline tickets no car rentals because they are already there everywhere around us cons. vainer Virginia Maryland it's all wine country. Now to do this touring there's two things you're gonna need a good road map right here and a designated driver which would be

me. So if you can't make the harvest in Napa this year you can still pick a few grapes in your own backyard. So how good are Marilyn once well let's talk some people who should know. And. This is the annual Maryland governor's Cup Wine Competition. Allen runs and I'm one of the judges were looking for gold medals and I was finding. The last like every. Couple. I mean. We're fried. Let's make it a goal. The winds are always awesome. We have them on the line with sip of clerks and Abercrombie. If you're interested in farm to table eating then you'd better get interested in Vineyard to glass drinking in Maryland in the wine certainly deserve it thoroughly impressed with a knockout Chardonnay. So do you still need proof. Well then check out the Maryland wine press this popular and that will result in almost one third of the sale of marijuana by any given year. Which one. Kind. Of like. My.

Time like. This is my favorite. I. Mean. Like. Anything you like. Time and my thanks to the Governors Cup winner and deservedly so. There's great wine festivals all year. In May you've got the great great wine arts and Food Festival in Annapolis and wine in the woods in Columbia in June. There's a second great grapes wine arts festival in Cockeysville and at the Chesapeake Bay wine festival in Queen Anne's County in October. You can visit the Riverside Wine Fest at Satterlee in southern Maryland. So now that we've got you interested let's start our tour of Chesapeake wine country. Our first stop in wine country is the eastern central region Maryland. Home to Cygnus Woodhall. Boston YANI. Fiore. Mt. Felix and the granddaddy of them all. Already. We're aboard a vineyards north of Baltimore and we've got someone we want you to meet this is

the for the current owner aboard a vineyard So Rob this is this is where it all started. Well this is really the second board and the first was started by Philip and Jocelyn Wagner in their home and ride with Marilyn in mid-1930s Wow. And they actually found cuttings in Europe that they brought to the U.S. and planted in their vineyards in Ryder would help out that this is how they got them in the country. I carefully put it back in the 1950s. Nobody thought you could progress American habit. Philip Wagner thankfully set out to prove them wrong and other people followed suit. They did and this is an example this is the champers and we played in 1965. Oh yeah that's about the same time that California got going. It is it's when I started also and I'll tell you the learning curve is really steep. But Morty persisted and today they can sell everything they make. This is a. Team. Headed. To northern New South Mountain near Frederick Maryland. So what do you think this is excellent. OK it's only one year. You know every Thursday they have a farmer's market right here. 41 years they have local produce from local

farmers like one strong arm that caught Ned Atwater's bread say 40 wine. It's all locally produced and it's all the product of the soil. Grape growing is farming which means we need to worry about the weather the soil bugs drought anything that can affect the quality of your crop. Now in the middle of these rolling hills the vines share these fields with a number of other agricultural products such as corn or soybeans winemakers used a French term to describe the sum total of all the growing conditions in a vineyard. You've got your war here. We got scared what's going on. We have limestone soils in the bottoms and we have just the soils on the top. No one loves being here. Shorten ANP degrees you know white wine white wine white wine country a great that does very well here in Maryland is the red hybrid chambres sad we are here at Fiore winery in northern Harford County with Mike Fiore and Mike this is one beautiful vineyard you've got here. Thank you. And these grapes are your baby.

Yeah it's almost like a member of the family. Well that's a good thing as I think you make some of the best in the world. Thank you you're very kind. Of the crew a lot of the credit to the school and decide which is a beautiful song and you can see this breeze cause the Woodlawn and that this shale rock is ideal for this thought of a grave. 40 and Fiore are part of the Mason-Dixon Wine Trail a drive that takes you through parts of northern Maryland and southern Pennsylvania not just across the line you'll find Naylor Allegro Seven Springs and Adams County wineries and north of Tulsa you will find a little piece of Italy. Up falls or it is Boston Yani winery a classic family operation and Bert Fost and Jani. It's so classic. You name some of your best wines after your kids. That's right I did. We've got Laurence genome Merissa Alaina and Eric's big zit. Well they better be good and they are good they're very good ones good kids too. Yes they are up past Hereford.

You'll find Woodhall wine sellers Well Woodhall makes some of the biggest Reds in the state what we have here Al. We've got a part interesting a Cabernet Sauvignon Copernican and a fan have a thing ready to drink right now. Then who they think might be but I wouldn't drink the other one for five or six years. Well these are some of the most age where the Reds and all Americans in Manchester you'll find Cygnus wine cellars where they make some of the best sparkling wine in there. And it's a thing of beauty I'll tell you why. Just driving through this region along the Mason-Dixon Wine Trail is a pleasure in itself. You can enjoy a day in horse country. Do some antiquing in Cockeysville and top it off with a great dinner in Hunt Valley Townson or Glyndon. It's a great way to begin exploring Chesapeake wineries trees here over the years. Thank you. With the nearby bay flat terrain in sandy soil the Eastern Shore has a distinctive. At the top of the bay. You can swing by Dove Valley and Terrapin Station. Further south is Queen Anne's County this is the

little town of Centerville and planned stops at Tillman's Island Cason Ellie and cash on Kent Island in Talbot County you can tie and stops in Easton and St. Michael's with visits to little Ashby and St. Michael's winery itself. And if you're heading down to the ocean you can stop a bordello in Somerset County. It's an impressive operation. We're pulling in the can Highland gateway to the Eastern Shore. And if you can't have fun here check your heartbeat. This is Queen Anne's County home to three new Maryland wineries. This is the brand new cache of vineyard on Kent Island very much a work in progress and it's a great place to learn about the bay effect. So Mark you're right here on Thompson Creek no more than about a mile from the bay. That's right. What sort of Bay effects are you noticing in terms of the effect on your vineyard the bay moderates the temperature quite a bit in the vineyard in the summertime we get reduced temperatures when it's really hot out the breezes also help to cool the vines and keep them dry and in the winter time we don't

get real cold winters and it's about five degrees different than most places inland. So what kind of soil are you working with here on the Vineyard. We do have a sandy soil and on the top but it's followed by a heavy clay soil down underneath that. So our privacy working where we work with about 14 or 15 different varietals the traditional was Morello Cabernet Sauvignon Chardonnay. Right. We've also tried some different grapes like batik for dough which is one that those quite well here in NV Anya which is from the south of France which is also those quite well here. You can make an appointment to stop by Mark Rasch of the in your town can island while you're down there. There's a lot more to see. This is Kent narrows the celebrated stock for seafood lovers and Maryland's intrepid yachtsman immigration bill you can stop by the Chesapeake Bay environmental center or go a few miles inland and try your hand at getting at the weekly Crompton antiques auction. Love the dollar the eighty eight hour day. Owners love Pinto point resorts center and bargain hunters know all about the outlets in Queenstown. And while you're in Queen Anne's County you want to stop by one of our newest wineries

Cason alley up in Churchill Cason only winery and vineyards is a great place to bring the kids for a lesson in agriculture. Al I'm looking around here and I gotta say you really have a whole lot going on. We do have all of that going or you know it's in the animals we have 25. Black Angus. We have five Buffalo with the two donkeys as you can see here. And in crops of some of our 50 apple trees seven or fifty peach trees and going down a driveway we have the Japanese plums. We also have. A proxy 5500 bottles. The French out here writes Yes we did out. Such a class for 2008 for the Chardonnay. So starting a winery can be pretty tough. It has been pretty tough Lobaton from what we thought we tried to spread sheet Mother Nature and it just doesn't work. I guess the romance goes out pretty quickly. The romance part was good at first I'm kind of lost a little bit now a little blood sweat takes over all from the romance is not quite the way you see it on the telly. Pictures and things like that but there are rewards for a young winery Let me show you something

this is the first one we ever made right here. What is it. SUMMER LOVE help us to look especially why we're looking forward. Thank you. For sheer beauty it's tough to beat this short it's a big place and there's a lot to see. This is the land of country ends in BND so it's easy to make a weekend of it and what a weekend it can be. They've got a great tasting room here and it's a good place to learn a little tasting rheumatic and. Tasting arm etiquette. Rule number one for. The tasting room not a bar so don't get booked. Rule number two but don't last for seconds. Wrong number three. Some places charge some places don't. So once applied to ask. Rule number four it's OK to let them know what you think of the wine. Well there's certainly no obligation if you enjoy the wine and you enjoy the experience it's customary to buy something to take home.

And remember one of you is always the designated driver. If you ever wonder what Maryland's most State of the art thing year looks like. There it is. This is border low vineyards and Winery in Somerset County the brainchild of Tom Shelton a retired executive from the poultry industry. One thing I notice this is a very impressive looking when you're you've got a lot of really nice things going on I see some drip irrigation in here. Yes and really nicely. Maintained canopy. And I've got some new varieties that I'm hoping are going to do equally as well maybe but deeper no vines that's a future Maryland wine right there. Leave bordello welcomes visitors so check it out. The Eastern Shore has a charm by the boatload little towns like Oxford and Chester town are great fun to visit. Down south near the ocean Berlin has great shops. And Solsbury has the ward waterfowl museum a world class attraction. And everywhere you go. Great dining opportunities and a chance to sample the local wines.

Back on the western shore you'll find a little cluster of wineries near Mount Airy. Low. On. Black ankle. And a very winding and or Frederick wine cellars has its home in downtown Frederick and Sugarloaf Mountain Winery is in the shadow of the mountain itself. Finally Penn Oaks winery has set up its tasting room in Silver Spring. Frederick County is a gorgeous part of the world. Tourists love to stop a new market for the antiques and fine restaurants. Frederick itself has emerged as a dynamic city with exciting cultural assets and a beautiful park system. Nature lovers flock to Catoctin Mountain and history buffs can explore Civil War sites. You remember that movie Sideways when everybody was so gaga over Pino and what we have in Maryland in fact you're looking at it.

So Fred this is your pinata walk. Yes we planted that 1995 and that time it was the only thing on Wednesday. Well looks like has taken root. Yes it has and it makes some pretty good ones. There's a really interesting cluster of wineries right here in the Mount Airy area. Why do you think that is. Well we're in the central part of Maryland we have a temperate climate. We can get some really good temperatures in the summertime. But more importantly in the fall we can get them to around 50 degrees which helps the grapes ripen better. Wow what kind of grapes are you growing right now here adulthood. Well aside from the pain on the water we have started now recycling Marlow 70 crown 77 You know and survived quite well cooking the rules and you can sample them all right here at ALC runs tasting room. This is one of Maryland's newest wineries it's also in the Mount Airy region it's called black ankle and this is a property to keep your eye on. They're superb cabernet blend crumbling rock is a Governors Cup winner. What made you decide to get into the wine industry in the first place. Were

wine lovers and I guess we loved it so much we decided to make it all right. Why did you think Frederick County and we set out to do some research we tasted always gain time when we started. Some really great potential in the area and we know it. Shine What have you discovered are your keys to quality in this area. And we've got some very good help from really good songs up front and so we've done things differently like planned 2000 miles an acre versus the usual five six hundred. Well you know we have triple the number of plants. We actually take less fruit per acre than most vineyards each buy makes about a bottle of wine for us. Well industry average maybe four five six. That's huge. Well you've got a beautiful spot here and you can come and visit and I'm sure that they will be coming in droves. I hope so. And black ankle is also green. That new tasting room is filled with hay bale walls and tree trunks from the property. Not all wines are made from grapes we're here at Lincoln or wine sellers aka berry wine

plantations and they make some fabulous fruit wines. They also know how to throw a really good party. People want to know is making wine from fruit any different from making wine with grapes. Oh yes. But there's some major differences but I can explain that when we're up in the winery. OK what's going on. Truth comes in against jumping up into the receiver Teddy comes out the bottom crushes the fruit makes it look very much like a baby food. OK. And is pumped over through a hose in this tank right into the square from entering the unoccupied juice comes in from the press room is pumped into the fermenter. And here it will sit for about two months on a long slow time cold for new patients. And this is the modeling right here. Where it. Goes in the bottles. And there is a final product. Speech playing or has musical events all summer long in fact many of the Maryland wineries are also in the entertainment business. Grown Woodhall already Solomons Island and St. Michaels to name a few.

All have regular musical events. Check out their websites for the dates. Frederick County has its own wine trail designed to show off the wineries as well as the beautiful countryside. This is some of Maryland's most spectacular farmland. Marilyn's grape growers are proud to be doing their part planting a vineyard is a great way to keep the countryside green. We're standing here on Route 17 just a few minutes southwest of Frederick Maryland. For my money this is some of the prettiest countryside in the entire state. Behind me is South Mountain site of one of the more important Civil War battles just over there you can see Sugarloaf. And that's prime hiking country. After you come down from the summit you can have a rest at Sugarloaf Mountain Winery that's a very new place. But they rack up a lot of medals. But maybe the foothills or something in the soil but the western central region of Maryland is the heart of wine country and the City of Frederick is a great place to start your tour with all the cultural and

historic attractions around here. A day trip or even a weekend getaway will be an experience you will long remember. Right now Western Maryland has two wineries. Deep Creek Sellers is in Garrett County and the newly minted nob Hall is in clear spring. Just 10 miles west of Hagerstown near scenery is your thing it's hard to beat Western Maryland mountains rivers streams and lakes blend in with the fertile valleys and rolling hillsides to produce landscapes that are guaranteed to enchant you. In Washington County you can use Hagerstown as a base of operations. Check out the Museum of Fine Arts and the Maryland theater. Then swing south and visit the great battle field of Antietam. You can stay at one of the region's many fine bed and breakfast before you push out west to visit the resort at Rocky Gap bar the playgrounds of Deep Creek Lake. We're located at the vineyard to the brand new nob hall winery in Washington County. And here it's

amazing how many new vineyards and winery SIV opened up. Yeah just a couple of years ago there were what maybe 10 wineries in Maryland 11 yeah there is that was over 30. What people don't realize what a huge gamble with this to start this business. The odds improve if you talk to people like Joe Fiola of the University of Maryland. He makes it his business to advise new growers like Knob Paul's dick Seibert. Well Dick I've been thinking a lot about your vineyard. You have a great site you've got a well drained soil and you're in the Piedmont of Maryland about 600 feet so that gives you some great opportunities for getting some good varieties to grow here. Next year we're thinking about planting 24 acres and we're thinking about planting now back and chardonnay and then Dick finishes planting Navajo will be one of the largest vineyards in Maryland and he's had to ask a lot of questions. Is this a good site for grapes. What root stock should I use. How many vines per acre. How am I going to harvest. How am I going to prune and train the vines and most importantly what varieties should I plant in this site.

Despite the risks people are planting Joe Piolo thinks he knows why. Well we've always had great conditions for growing great great to making wine. But now the state government has been very supportive of the industry. So now the growers are much more confident and secure in their investment in the vineyards in the state. So Dick did you realize you were playing Maryland's biggest venue. Heavens no I heard that I went right Roe. Well you must have had a lot of confidence in this site. When did you decide this was a good business decision. We looked at traditional crops such as soybeans and found we could only net at most one hundred dollars per acre. So that's when we decided to look at wine in the numbers made sense. So did you have to go it alone when you started. Not at all we've had a lot of support from Joe Field the University of Maryland and from the university's marketing people helping you make all the right choices. Helping me make all the right choices. And there were a lot to make. Great growers are making educated guesses all over Maryland these days especially in Calvert County. Cove Point Solomon's Island running Herr.

Herring go and Friday's Creek all make their home here. The quiet farmland of Southern Maryland is a great antidote to stress. Visitors love stopping by old St. Mary's City Maryland's first settlement and it's hard to beat a day's fishing out of Solomons Island. The lighthouse at Point Lookout shines a bright beacon for tourists and the charming Bayside communities of Chesapeake Beach and north beach are popular destinations. When you think of Southern Maryland you think of tobacco but that's a dying industry. Oddly enough. Grapes may be the answer. Joe feel it's a unique situation that a lot of tobacco has been taken out. We have the opportunity to replace those acres of tobacco with acres of grapes tobacco and grapes. Both have a lot of hand labor providing And also there's a high amount of profitability in a small acreage. And that made sense to the folks behind Friday's Creek winery. Do you think that the tobacco farmers that are contemplating conversion to grapes are going to be comfortable with working with the vines.

It is it's a new skill set. But I think that they certainly could pick that up or these are very intelligent people doing the farming. Well here in Southern Maryland we know tobaccos Well how about grapes. Well here in this area we're looking at a large number of grapes there's a lot of hybrids available. We're finding out what grows well and then from there we're finding out what makes good wines and got a lot of people coming by. Oh it's fun to stop by every day as a party. So people come by and they come by they taste the wine and I guess they call it agro tourism the other Southern Maryland wineries are also drawing crowds. Solomon's Island is known for their dry whites and their Premium Blend. Mary Taj. In Cove Point discord with their chardonnays and full body directs and newcomer Perry go is planning to make their mark with Bordeaux style wines and nobody has bigger plans than running hair. This is a really lovely place. Guy here what kind of plans do you have for this face. Ideally what we'd like to do is build a custom style fence building's slash production facility so we can do the events on this side of it and then they get to look

over over the vineyard So we have the whites that are here in the red that are that are in the distance. But we think this is really going to turn out to be a just a fabulous location for us. Well by the time you're finished this is going to be a pretty sizable investment you're going to have here. You must be fairly bullish on the long term for Marilyn why. I am I think everything that the Merrill is going to need for the one mistress to succeed is really here. We have the soil we have the climate we certainly have the demographics of the people and so we take a combination of those and I think question is one industry is going to choose floors and floors very well. Obviously once this is done I guess you want people to come and visit by Osama with you on that. Southern Maryland is a perfect place to get away from it all for a few days. The new wineries down here fit right into the relaxed country lifestyle. That is the trademark of these historic counties. Maryland winds have really come a long way and today we think they're among the very best on the East

Coast. These winds have become part of the fabric of Maryland life and getting to know them and following their fortunes from vintage inventions can be a lot of fun. Go to the website. Maryland wine dot com for information on every single winery in Maryland. Check it out make your plans. We think you're going to fall in love with the pleasures of touring wine country. I know we certainly have. Oh yeah. I'm here Sis and I'm Al Spolar. And we'll see you in Chesapeake wine country. Production funding for Chesapeake wine country has been provided by Barbet Co. Growing in rural ventures. The Baltimore County Department of Economic Development in association with the Maryland Office of Tourism Queen Anne's County Office of Tourism. The Tourism Council of Frederick County. And the town Washington County Convention and Visitor's Bureau.

In the spring and summer Maryland welcomes the great grapes wine art and food festivals annually in Annapolis and Oregon really uncork the fun of Duck Town. This program was made by NPT to serve all of our diverse communities preview and support our programs at NPT dot org slash real changes.