Links Bridge Vineyards

Links Bridge Vineyards is located in Thurmont, Maryland and is owned by Joan Cartier and Robert Thompson. They purchased the farm in 2003, planted some cabernet franc vines in 2008 and started selling their grapes to Old Westminster Winery in 2011. In 2013, albarino, chardonnay and merlot were planted along with small amounts of petit verdot and cabernet sauvignon. They started making their own wine in 2015 and were officially ready to open as a winery in Spring of 2018. We had the pleasure of meeting Joan during our recent. During our tasting flights of 7 wines served in a very cool wooden tray with full-sized wine glasses, she came over to say high and told us about the sparkling wine on tap. While currently it is serving wines that they have carbonated, the hope is to be able to serve champagne-style wine on tap in the near future. There is a foam issue they can't make work with the current kegerater but they are getting a new machine that hopefully will work. I think they would probably be the only Maryland wine to have quality, champagne-style wine on tap for tastings and glasses which would be amazing. The wines we tasted were truly fantastic and Joan things their vidal blanc currently is the best one they have ever made. It was one of our favorities in the flights boasting notes of banana, pear, pineapple and yellow apple with a creamy low-acid mouthfeel. The chardonel was pretty complex with floral, banana, peach, pear and medium plus acidity. The merlot was probably the favorite red with great earthy, leather, cherry with strong tannins and a lingering finish. We thoroughly enjoyed this visit. Check this winery out when you can!