New Vendor: Linganore Winecellars

photo via Linganore Winecellars' blog

We are very excited to welcome a new winery to Cheverly Community Market this Saturday: Linganore Winecellars. According to winemaker Anthony Allen, “We provide wines for people who don’t need to be told what to like," while noting that many people prefer wines with residual sugar. "We're just a group of people up here having a lot of fun.” Sounds like our kind of people -- and our kind of wine.

Berrywine Plantations/Linganore Winecellars, the largest winery in Maryland, is a family-operated vineyard and winery nestled on 230 acres of picturesque rolling countryside, near historic New Market, Maryland. Established by Jack and Lucille Aellen in 1971, the winery opened in 1976. In 1977, Linganore Winecellars held Maryland’s first wine festival, and in 1978, they introduced the state’s first semi-sweet grape wines. Since 1982, Linagnore Winecellars' schedule has expanded to include five major festivals and more than 20 smaller indoor events throughout the year. In 1983, recognizing the growing interest in regionally produced wines, they worked to establish the first federally-designated grape growing area in Maryland, the Linganore Viticultural Area, which encompasses 90 square miles of land around the winery in the heart of Maryland. In 2011, power supplied to the winery was converted to 100% wind power, leading the winery to win 2011 Green Business of the Year, in the small to midsize business category, from the Baltimore Business Journal.

Melding German-Swiss winemaking heritage with Italian winemaking roots and always conscious of their customers' tastes, Linganore Winecellars has created a splendid variety of wines which have won over 200 medals in national and international competitions. Producing over 30 wines, ranging from stylish white and red dinner wines to elegant semi-sweet grape, fruit, and honey wines, the winery enjoys a reputation as a fun place to visit and a relaxed place to sample wines in a casual setting.

The wines are broken down into three basic categories: Dry Wines, Sweet Wines, and Fruit Wines (including the highly regarded Medieval Mead and Tej honey wines). Each major category is broken down into further subcategories so you can narrow your search. Visit Linganore Winecellars at Cheverly Community Market this Saturday and enjoy great Maryland wines!