Dove valley
On Sunday October 22, 2023, Ian and I finally made it to the oldest winery in Cecil County, Maryland. After parking, we walked up the stairs outside onto a large deck, through the door and into a big, open room. There was a food truck outside, musicians performing for one of their regular open mics and the place was pretty busy for 3pm on a Sunday. At the bar on the back wall, the wine owner's son was dressed in his Raven's jersey and eager to help us get set up with tasting flights. We each picked out 4 half glasses so we could try as many wines as possible. The winery produces predominantly sweet and semi-sweet varietals but there were also 3 dry wines to try. We started with the drys - vignoles, pinot noir and merlot. Vignoles was very lemon forward and lightly oaked. Pinot was light with cherry notes and a peppery finish. Merlot was also on the lighter side, smooth with dark fruits on the palate. Then we got into the sweeter wines. Summer hill had concord grape notes. Bianca was more pineapple and red apple. Blues-berry had an interesting root beer vibe along with the tart blueberry flavor. The riesling was very floral. My favorite was definitely the pumpkin patch. Perfect for a fall Sunday and had a very warm, cinnamon flavor. All the while, the Ravens were on the TV's and winning and the open mic performances were impressive. BB King and Jimmy Hendrix covers completed the scene and really just made for good vibes from start to finish while we were in this winery. It is a family-owned vineyard and winery that has been around for 19 years. The grapes have been around for 26 years. The winery owner's daughter got us checked out and she was lovely. Everyone in the winery seemed to know each other which just added to the atmosphere that when you are in this winery, you almost feel like everyone is all family. We couldn't be happier to have finally gotten to check out this winery that has been around for quite some time and been winning awards at the Finger Lakes International Competitions and the Maryland Governors' Cup for years. Next time you're in Rising Sun, stop in and check them out.
