Piedmont Wine trail open for Vinophiles

Mary Paramore
HBL Associate Editor
9/25/09

Harford County Executive David Craig, in green, and Baltimore County Executive James T. Smith, Jr., right, toast the opening of the Piedmont Wine Trail, which meanders through both counties.

Wineries in Harford and Baltimore counties are the latest to be strung together as a wine trail to promote tourism in the state. Maryland’s eighth wine trail, called the Piedmont Wine Trail, promises tourists a drive “deep into the state’s agricultural heritage, where Maryland wine began and award-winning wineries thrive today.” Fiore Winery hosted an official kick-off for the Harford County section Sept. 16.

The Piedmont Wine Trail features eight wineries -- Fiore Winery & Distillery, Harford Vineyard & Winery, Legends Vineyard and Mt. Felix Estate Vineyard & Winery in Harford County and Basignani Winery, Woodhall Wine Cellars, Boordy Vineyards and Dejon Vineyards in Baltimore County.  Boordy Vineyards is the state’s oldest winery.

The Maryland Wineries Association, which worked with Maryland and local tourism officials to create the trails, notes on its Web site that “Baltimore and Harford counties’ countryside provides a vibrant landscape of rolling hills dotted with thoroughbred horse farms and nationally-recognized wineries producing cellar-worthy reds and lively white wines.”

In a news release, Harford County Tourism and Marketing Manager Wini Roche said Maryland’s wine industry is growing at a rate of 20 percent each year. She said a 2008 economic impact study revealed that Maryland wineries contribute $40 million in revenues to the state each year.

To learn more about the Piedmont Wine Trail, go to www.piedmontwinetrail.com.