Wine festival includes improvements, new wineries
A Trivia Road Rally and a premiere ticket are just two of the new features organizers of the 25th annual Maryland Wine Festival added by officials in an effort to show that like a fine wine, the festival only gets better with age.
Excitement for the two-day festival got started Aug. 1 when the first ever Trivia Road Rally kicked off in celebration of the festival抯 25th anniversary. Wine lovers had until Sept. 3 to visit 10 of the 19 participating Maryland wineries and get a form stamped and a trivia question answered.
揟he wineries are reporting that they抳e seen a lot of folks doing the Road Rally, having their sheets stamped and asking the trivia questions,?said Kevin Atticks, executive director of the Maryland Wineries Association. 揑t was a success.?BR>
A random drawing was held from the names of all Road Rally participants that successfully completed the challenge by visiting 10 wineries and getting their trivia questions answered. Prizes included a two-day bed-and-breakfast vacation, gift cards, bottles of wine and free passes to the festival.
According to Dottie Freeman, administrator of the Carroll County Farm Museum, 36 entries were submitted, making the contest more successful than she initially expected. 揥hen you抮e doing something for the first time, you抮e not sure if people are getting [the word] or not,?Freeman said.
The premiere ticket is another new way for wine lovers to maximize their wine festival experience. For the price of $45, festival goers can purchase the premiere ticket which will allow them access to the premier tent which is adjacent to the Almshouse Barn.
Samples of various wineries best wines will be available for sampling in the premiere tent, and samples of some of Maryland抯 newest wineries will be in the premiere tent as well, according to Atticks.
揟here are some unusual wines with very low production that won抰 be available on the regular grounds,?Atticks said.
According to a press release from the Carroll County Farm Museum, premiere ticket purchasers will have access to a private bathroom and additional seating in the tented area.
With six new wineries open since last year抯 festival, there are now 34 wineries in the state of Maryland, and most will be represented on the festival抯 main grounds this weekend.
Black Ankle Vineyards, Dove Valley Vineyard & Winery, Bordeleau Vineyards & Winery, Cassinelli Vineyards & Winery and Terrapin Station Winery are the five wineries that have opened since last year抯 festival. Orchid Cellars isn抰 yet open to the public, but they will be at the festival, according to Atticks.
Atticks said he was pleased with the speed at which new vineyards and wineries are opening in the state.
揑t抯 a tourism industry, so the more we have, the quicker it抣l grow,?Atticks said. There will be a large selection of wine for sampling on Saturday and Sunday, including some new ones. Terrapin Station has Maryland抯 first boxed wine, and Atticks said it抯 not what most people think of when hearing the words 揵oxed wine?because most people associate that with poor quality wine and it抯 high quality.
As always, there will be an amateur wine competition for people to enter their homemade wines in to and see how they rate. Wines can be made from grapes, fruits other than grapes and non-fruits and are judged based on the standard American Wine Society 20-point scale, which assesses appearance, aroma and bouquet, taste balance and aftertaste, according to Emily Johnston with the American Wine Society.
Johnston said the most unusual wine she抯 ever encountered while judging the competition was a wine made from cornhusks, and she refused to try it.
揑 think by and large they are getting better. I have noticed that the scores get higher every year,?Johnston said.
The Farm Museum has taken steps this year to alleviate some problems associated with the large crowds of last year, including ordering an additional 50 portable restrooms and added more volunteers to help with wristbands and expedite foot traffic faster, according to Freeman.
揈verything that may have been a negative we turned into a positive,?Freeman said.