Burnt Hill in the Press: Possibility, Adventure, and Summer Solstice
We are sincerely GRATEFUL to have had a superb write up in the Washington Post last week.
In Can Maryland Produce An Iconic Red Wine? WaPo wine writer Dave McIntyre does an amazing job of capturing the Burnt Hill story and what we see as an emerging frontier in American wine.
We love how the piece highlights our biodynamic farming practices and that we are “determined to make a low-intervention approach work in the challenging Mid-Atlantic climate.” These are exceptionally important issues to us with a lot of challenges but we’re committed to our approach.
The article also reveals some of the farming histories of the Burnt Hill property:
“The vineyard along Burnt Hill Road marks a new phase for a property that has been farmland at least since 1865 when it was owned by Rufus King, said John Liebertz, a Montgomery County Planning Department historian. There are still Kings in the area, Baker said. The land divided through inheritance and marriage and the property was purchased in the early 1950s by Edgar Riedel, who left it to his daughter, Kathleen Riedel Cumberledge. Kathleen’s stepdaughter, Kelly Johnson, sold the 118-acre property to the Bakers just before Christmas 2016. ‘We know tobacco was farmed there once because we found the racks and baskets used in tobacco farming when we went through the barn,’ Johnson told me in a phone interview. ‘My father leased the land to other farmers to bale hay or grow corn.’”
Burnt Hill: Equal Parts, Possibility + Adventure
Us: Let’s produce an iconic American wine.
Also us: Let’s experiment!
So we try uncommon things.
“Along with those rows of Gamay, they have planted some pinot noir, also uncommon in a region dominated by cabernet franc and other Bordeaux varieties. They have devoted a plot to 90 experimental varieties bred by Cliff Ambers, an iconoclastic viticulturist who pollinates native grape vines with pollen from European vinifera varieties” writes McIntyre.
This passion for creativity and experimentation is why we’re hosting Summer Solstice at Burnt Hill Farm this year -- a landmark gathering of the natural wine community in DC/MD/VA, featuring farmers, art, music, provisions, and purveyors.
Join us for adventure at Summer Solstice this year!
We're leveraging ten years of experience at Old Westminster Winery + emulating others who farm biodynamically/sustainably to make wines that inspire us. Our Summer Solstice festival will celebrate fellow innovators who inspire the way that we farm and elevate the beauty of natural wine.
Summer Solstice happens Saturday, June 22nd, 2019 - a celebration of the best low-intervention wine producers under a giant circus tent atop a serene hillside at Burnt Hill in Clarksburg, Maryland.
Patrons will have the opportunity to meet and taste the wines of over 25 of America’s top winemakers.