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Uncork the Holidays at Maryland Wineries
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By Bert Basignani
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Maryland.com
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 | | Maryland Winery Festival |
The holiday season in Maryland is filled with wonderful adventures and exciting celebrations, charming places to visit and treasured local cuisines to explore. This year, more and more families are seeking unusual and meaningful places to visit within driving distance. Luckily, Maryland's 11 wonderful wineries are hosting more events and seasonal celebrations than ever before.
The holidays are an especially enjoyable time to visit a Maryland winery. You can take an intimate tour of the winery with the winemaker, and discover how Maryland's award-winning vintages are created from the picking of the grapes to the bottling the wine. Find unusual gifts for those hard-to-please people on your list in winery tasting rooms overflowing with wonderful wine-related gadgets and gizmos. Naturally, the wineries are eager to offer you tastings of their delicious wine and homemade treats.
Looking for a romantic adventure? Cuddle up by a warm fire while sipping a delicious glass of a newly discovered treasure or an old favorite. Want to entertain the children? Decorate cookies and show them the beauty of Maryland's landscape. Need to impress those finicky out of town relatives and guests? Share with them the splendor of the Maryland farmland and introduce them to an actual winemaker. Searching for a meaningful holiday experience beyond the shopping mall and TV special? Discover the serenity and beauty of Maryland's wineries.
Maryland's wineries host a wide variety of special events during the holiday season that are perfect for a leisurely day trip or a weekend getaway. The seasonal festivities begin before Thanksgiving and run through the New Year. Many events are free and open to the public while some require an admission and/or reservations. Be sure to check out each winery's events at www.marylandwine.com.
Several wineries will evoke the spirit and memories of yesteryear with classic holiday celebrations. Boordy Vineyards in Hydes will present Celtic Christmas Weekends Saturdays throughout December, with live harp music, hot Wassail, and holiday treats. Elk Run Vineyards' annual Dickens's Open House on December 1-2 recreates an 18th century Christmas in the winemakers' 1750's home in Mt. Airy. At Fiore Winery in Pylesville, visitors at A Vintage English Christmas on December 8 will enjoy an evening of English culinary delights and traditional holiday music.
What would a holiday season be without festive open houses, and many Maryland wineries are pulling out all the stops (or is it corks?) at theirs. Cygnus Wine Cellars in Manchester will be pouring its Classic Method Champagne on December 1-2. During the first two weekends of December, Basignani Winery in Sparks celebrates its 15th annual open house with wine tasting, treats, gift items and vineyard wagon tours. In Mt. Airy, Linganore Winecellars hosts a "Thank You" Wine and Cheese Tasting throughout the month with tastings, decorations and music. And you can enjoy hot-mulled wine and holiday music every December weekend at Loew Vineyards' Holiday Delight event.
And don't forget the kids! Woodhall Wine Cellars in Parkton invites children to bring their favorite cookie recipe and decorate cookies at the Kids Cookie Challenge on December 8- 9.
Maryland's wineries have something for everyone. Come in from the cold, taste some award-winning wine, and treat yourself to all that Maryland's wineries offer this holiday season.
Bert Basignani is the president of the Association of Maryland Wineries, the coalition of Maryland's eleven wineries. Maryland wineries produce more than 120 varieties, which are proudly served at the region's finest restaurant, and available at quality retailers. Maryland wineries are all open to the public for tours and tastings; schedules vary. For more information on Maryland wine, visit www.marylandwine.com or phone 800 237-WINE.
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