Growers and vintners start tasting success

Wine industry in Southern Maryland benefits from government's encouragement

When Todd Connick's family stopped growing tobacco on their farm at Zacharia's Crossing, he turned to grapes.

Four years later, 1,000 vines take up about an acre of his 130-acre Hughesville farm, and with this season's harvest complete, Connick's vidal, chamberson, seyval, Traminette and Cynthiana grapes are at Fridays Creek Winery in Owings being turned into wine.

"It's a hobby and it's paying for itself, but you're not getting rich off it," Connick said. "They claim if you're making wine and selling wine, it can be lucrative, but I'm not a winemaker."

Connick is part of a movement in Southern Maryland, where vintners are banking on establishing a brand and stoking a growing, profitable industry.

"Our intent is to be able to put that 'So. Maryland, So Good' sticker on just about every bottle of wine that we make," said Rich Fuller, president of the two-year-old Southern Maryland Wine Growers Cooperative, which has 15 members.

Sales of Maryland-made wines were a record $15 million in 2008, and four wineries are producing their first bottles this year, according to the state agriculture department.

The Port of Leonardtown Winery, one of the newest, expects to cork its first bottles in March, Fuller said.

The winery is owned by the commissioners of Leonardtown, who leased the building to the Southern Maryland Wine Growers Cooperative. Fuller will serve as a temporary manager of the winery until a permanent manager can be found.

"Calvert County is the smallest county in the state and it has the most wineries," said Frank Cleary Jr. of Fridays Creek Winery. "The county commissioners have been very supportive, and that certainly helps."

The commissioners set aside a half-million dollars to support St. Mary's first winery, Port of Leonardtown Winery on Newtowne Neck Road in Leonardtown.

Fuller said the funds used to renovate the winery and purchase equipment were set aside by the St. Mary's County Board of County Commissioners and transferred to the commissioners of Leonardtown.

Over the past decade, there has been steady growth in the state's wine industry.