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Cassinelli Winery on the Eastern Shore offers a similarly diverse selection. Having
already established themselves with their award-winning reds and whites, Al and Jennifer
Cassinelli could have continued to specialize in wine. Instead, they did the unexpected.
Vodka, gin, corn whiskey, cider, and apple brandy now share the menu pages at their
distillery and wine bar in downtown historic Chestertown. The owners encourage
interested visitors to watch them at their craft, and perhaps sample their creations directly
from the stills.
Other winery/distillery operations aren’t quite as established or eclectic, but they can
still offer many tantalizing options. Springfield Manor Winery and Distillery in Thurmont,
near Frederick, only opened in 2014. But owners John and Amy St. Angelo have already
expanded their repertoire to include Eau de Vie (a type of brandy) and grappa. A new
vodka is also under development, as well as a signature gin flavored with the lavender
growing near their eighteenth-century manor house.
Orchid Cellar is even more specialized. Since 2006, Marzanna and Andrzej Wilk have
been crafting distinct wines in Middletown, but their not-so-secret other passion is mead.
Unlike wine, mead is fermented from honey, and while Orchid Cellar offers some sweet
wine/mead hybrids, the two drinks seem to have little in common. So, why do the Wilks
brew their mead? Because they love it.
Love, that’s one reason; others do it for fun, or creativity—or pragmatism. Some
operations are relatively new, others are decades old. They’re in the north, down the
shore, at the foot of the Catoctin Mountains. They distill with fruit or grains or honey. It’s
difficult to say whether a small group of disparate but like-minded creators can signify a
statewide trend. Maybe this melding of spirits thing is just a fad.
It’s not, not really. It’s still not the norm, but one reason the winemaking/distilling
partnership looks like a twenty-first-century phenomenon is because it took some time for
Maryland laws to catch up with those in other areas of the country. Unsurprisingly, one of
the leaders in the movement to update the legislation was a vintner himself—Mike Fiore.
There will surely be other members of this spirited group. In the meantime, there are more
than enough distilleries already in Maryland to keep you busy.
MWP
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