91影视破解版

Drew Baker was still finishing up his degree at 91影视破解版 when his family first got the idea to transform the rolling hills surrounding its rural Westminster home into a vineyard.

鈥淚t started off as this crazy pipe dream that we were going to bring wine country to Maryland,鈥� he says. 鈥淥f course we鈥檙e not the first [winery] in the state, but historically it doesn鈥檛 have the best reputation for wine. We decided we were going to change that.鈥�

With this goal in mind, the Bakers did their homework, hired a consultant to assess their soil, and traveled around the globe to learn the art of winemaking before establishing Old Westminster Winery.

The winery released its first vintage in 2013 to rave reviews and has been raising the bar for local wine in the state ever since. In 2016, the winery was named one of the top 101 in the country by The Daily Meal and won 鈥淏est in Show鈥� for its 2014 Malbec at the Comptroller鈥檚 Cup, one of the state鈥檚 most prestigious wine competitions.

鈥� Of course we鈥檙e not the first [winery] in the state, but historically it doesn鈥檛 have the best reputation for wine. We decided we were going to change that. 鈥�

鈥淪tylistically, everything we produce could be described as dry, European-inspired wine,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hese are the wines [our family] grew to love and appreciate. We decided from the beginning we were going to make wine we like to drink.鈥�

The business is a true family affair. Baker鈥檚 sister Lisa Hinton, whose bachelor鈥檚 degree is in chemistry, transforms their grapes into award-winning vintages as winemaker. As estate director, their sister Ashli Johnson runs the winery鈥檚 tasting room. And in addition to managing the winery鈥檚 restaurant and business accounts, Baker oversees the crop cultivation and harvest.

Baker says what his family is doing鈥攙alue-added farming鈥攊s the key to getting entrepreneurial young people into the craft, he says.

鈥淚f we step back, our goal is to prove a model, and that model is small businesses of creative people farming and preserving land and at the same time creating a product鈥攚hether it鈥檚 wine, beer, cheese, yogurt, or clothing鈥攖hat people want,鈥� he says. 鈥淥ne of those things in and of itself is a good thing, but when you put them all together, you can capture the whole value chain.鈥�

So far Baker and his family are proving that model is both sound and lucrative as the business continues to grow. The winery hopes to double the number of cases it produces in the coming years with the acquisition of new farmland northwest of Washington, D.C. last year. Baker also introduced a side business to help small and novice vintners produce wine using Old Westminster Winery鈥檚 equipment.

鈥淚鈥檓 very optimistic about the direction we鈥檙e going,鈥� Baker says. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 important to put Maryland wine on the map, preserving more land, producing great products consumers want and creating more jobs. That鈥檚 what small farming is in need of right now.鈥�