Maryland’s Wine Industry: A Long History

Figure 1. Complete wine bottle from the King’s Reach site.

As the days grow longer and the weather warmer (finally!), my thoughts begin to turn to a nice glass of Chardonnay or Pinot Grigio. And how lucky we are to have Perigeaux Vineyards and Winery right up the road from us at Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum-a nice Friday happy hour venue!

Sales of Maryland wines totaled over 24 million dollars in fiscal year 2011 (Maryland Wine 2014) and the industry continues to grow. The late 17^th-century wine bottle shown here was recovered at the King’s Reach plantation site (18CV83) in Calvert County, today home to at least five wineries. The modern production of wine in Maryland can be dated back to 1945, when Philip Wagner opened Maryland’s first winery, Boordy Vineyards, in Baltimore County (Appellation America 2014).

But winemaking has a long history in our state, dating back as far as the early days of the colony. In February of 1638, Father Andrew White wrote to Cecil Calvert, Lord Baltimore to urge him to consider viticulture as a viable source of income for the colony. Father White had apparently tasted wine made from the local muscadine grape the previous year and pronounced it “not inferior in its age to any wine of Spaigne” (Lee 1889).