Cascia Vineyards

Overlooking the waters of the Chesapeake Bay, nestled on Kent Island in Queen Anne's County, you'll find the 12th oldest winery in Maryland. Cascia Vineyards has been making quality wine on its twenty plus acre property that includes a gorgeous house from the 1600's. We had the pleasure of stopping by the vineyard on December 2, 2023 and meeting winery owner, Mark Cascia. They were closed for the season but he was available and kind enough to let us come by to see the winery and pick up some bottles so we could try his wines. We got to chatting for a while and learned a lot about both Cascia Vineyards and Mark. Most interestingly, he spent a lot of time in France back when he was younger, specifically in bordeaux. One of his best friends while he was in school over there was the son of a well known grand cru winery owner so he learned  everything from harvesting, to pressing to bottling wine while in the country and spent quite a bit of time on the property. As both a winery owner and an aerospace engineer he has a lot of education and has led a very interesting life. When we arrived on the  property, we were greeted by his two friendly, playful dogs and taken back past his  beautful home from the 1600's, that has had a few additions added to it over the years and includes a large pool, to the tasting room. With lovely views of the bay, tables, a nice patio and a tasting bar, this was a great room you could stay in for a while and enjoy the day during the season from April to November when they are open. He told us stories about the first wine festivals in Maryland, how Cascia planted the first  viognier in Maryland and how his French influence impacted his decision to grow his nebbiolo grapes. His vineyard is an exact match with the piedmont region in France so he new it would do well. It certainly did, with his 2009 winning double gold and best in class at the 2013 Maryland Governor's Cup. We were lucky enough to go home with 7 bottles which included the viognier, tannat, nebbiolo and cabernet franc. Chesapeake Manor Vineyard is a vineyard not yet open to the public who has been selling and sharing grapes with vineyards in the Queen Anne's County area for years. Mark shared with us they plan on opening in the spring of 2024 so keep an eye out and check them out next April!