Red Heifer

Red Heifer Vineyard and Winery: Our First Visit

About an hour's drive from the Baltimore Metro area.. you cross the paths of several Wine Trail regions in Maryland. This time we plotted a course to visit three vineyards in the vehicle nav.. the first was the Red Heifer Vineyard on the outskirts of Smithsburg and about a mile away from the Appalachian Trail. Just my opinion here.. take an SUV.. the road up to the vineyard turns into an unpaved path up a fairly steep trail with a few bumps to test your shocks. The vineyard is new with only a few wines in production but they were all of good quality. They are starting out with 20 acres.. of which it appears that 3 or 4 acres are in production. The prices ranged from $14 to $22 a bottle. I loved the Red Heifer Red.. it was easy drinking, surprisingly low in tannin, and well balanced. The taste reminded me of a red wine called "Joy" from Crosskeys Vineyard in Virginia. It is a very approachable dry red for those who shy away from the big bold reds. My wife really enjoyed the Vidal Blanc (as did I) so we couldn't leave without a bottle. Please support this new vineyard by visiting and tasting their wines. Although there are only a few different wines, there is something for everyone ranging from a nice dry red / semi-sweet whites to the very sweet. They are also on facebook so you can check out their events and photos.. (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Red-Heifer-Winery/136170063118383).

The tasting lineup when we visited: Red Heifer Red, Vidal Blanc, Red Heifer White, Blueberry Wine, Catawba, and the "Sweet Heifer"

The drive was scenic, and the view from the Winery patio was beautiful. This is one of those wineries that could be a great stop to picnic and enjoy a bottle of wine with your food while looking out at the vineyard and the hills. From the Red Heifer, we left the Antietam Wine trail and ventured out to the Thurmont area to swing by another vineyard, the Catoctin Breeze Vineyard and Winery.. which will bring me to my next post!

A tri-vineyard quick trip along the Antietam Highlands, Frederick and Caroll Maryland Wine Trails