Port of LEonardtown

Port of Leonardtown winery, like a handful of our other favorite wineries in Maryland, is a winery we wish wasn't so far away from us. They are about a two hour drive from us so we don't get there anywhere near as often as we would like to. We were lucky enough to get there on April 6th, 2024 and started our visit with a tasting. As usual, this was done in their tank room, surrounded by tanks, boxes and barrels of the current inventory. What makes Port Leonardtown unique in Maryland is that they aren't a vineyard. They are a cooperative and what is considered a true agricultural winery. Partnering with 12 member vineyards locally, they are still making their own wine and they are making wine from only Maryland grapes. St. Mary's County's first commercial winery, with winemaker Lauren Zimmerman, couldn't be winning more awards for their wines. At the Maryland Governor's Cup alone in recent years, you'll see one winery's name more than all the others. 2022's competition awarded best in class red blend to Port of Leonardtown's Old Line Red and double gold to their cabernet franc. Continuing on, you'll note 5 more golds, 5 silvers and one bronze. 2021's competition was more of the same with best in show, best in class red and double gold for their chambourcin reserve 2019, 5 golds and 2 silver medals. But when your winemaker has over 20 years experience and degrees in both enology and viticulture, you are a little less surprised by all of the accomplishments of this 2023 community choice winner of best winery in southern Maryland. Our favorites from the tasting this year were the vidal blanc, Old Line Red and sparkling apple cider. The vidal blanc had just a hint of sweetness, floral aromas and bright peach flavors. The Old Line Red had great smoky tobacco notes, with tart cherry fruit and pepper on the finish. The sparkling apple cider was poured from one of their cans and had nice crisp, sweet, red apple flavor. After the tasting, we noticed they had a new sparkling wine made from the cayuga grape. We had to try it and I think that was probably the favorite from the day. It was dry, floral and had great peach, apple and lime on the palate. We spent some time on the patio listening to some great music while enjoying our glasses and deciding which bottles to purchase. As always this winery made the long drive worth it and we were happy to have made the trip.