Simple Theory Wine Co.
Simple Theory Wine Company is located in downtown Frederick and is their first wine tasting lounge. Melissa Aellan is their wine director and third generation grower in the Aellen family, who has been making wine for decades, and owns Linganore Winecellars in Mt. Airy. Melissa and her cousin, Parker, run this lounge which has a focus on vinifera grapes like albarino, barbera, cabernet franc and petit verdot due to the effects of climate change on Maryland. You can grow grapes now that you couldn't grow 30 years ago. The quality is so good now that this needed its own project. Simple Theory is Melissa and Parker's contribution to the Aellan family legacy with the general mission of "wine is simple in theory." They are trying to make it as accessible as possible. Melissa has been working at Linganore Winecellars since she was 7, has a degree in winemaking and viticulture from Cornell University, an MBA and has worked at a handful of wineries in states all over the country, plus in Marlboro, New Zealand. Of the 80+ acres of vines that are planted at Linganore, 25 are designated for Simple Theory and are in the highest, best situated areas. Only the best grapes from the best years will be used for the lounge. They offer charceuterie style food where you can build your own board with an emphasis on local - salami from Vermont, nuts from New York and cheese from Maryland. We had the pleasure of tasting through 3 wines during our podcast we did on site with Melissa, their blanc de blanc, albarino and barbera. The blanc de blanc is 100% chardonnay from grapes picked early and made in the traditional method. We got notes of almond, lemon and melon. The albarino has been growing since 2015 and are very vigorous vines for the state. It was very ripe with aromas of white flowers and grapefruit and lemon and peach on the palate. The barbera has been planted since 2016 and hadn't done well until this vintage. They were about to rip it out and we are glad they didn't. It had great fruit, cassis, licorice and vanilla notes. March is going to be packed with events at the lounge. Every Monday, they are doing a Wine 101 series on everything from sensory basics, to wine making to food and wine pairing education. They will be doing a bubbly brunch for the Maryland Wine Experience and a Barrels of Barbera tasting and blending event. Check them out and get in on all of the excitement!
