Boordy drinking up Friday to 75-yr. anniversary

Give thanks to the repeal of Prohibition??!!

That’s what president Rob Deford and the rest of the folks at Maryland’s Boordy Vineyards are planning to do this Friday with an event as unique as they get in these parts. Their “75th anniversary of the repeal of the 21st amendment” is scheduled to run from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. and pay tribute to an event that Deford says dawned on them in a most fortuitous fashion.

“It was sort of one of the little brainchildren we had,” he said earlier tonight, taking time out from some bonding time that was wrapping up the first day of what has become an annual gathering of disciples of viticulturist Lucie Morton. That’s a meeting I’ll tackle with more detail tomorrow. But first, here’s more of Deford’s story. “We have a decanter that came out of my parents’ attic that says, ‘Success to Repeal, 1933,’ and we sort of had it sitting around and one day we said, ‘You know, I think there’s an anniversary coming, we need to do something here because we wouldn’t be in business if this hadn’t happened.’ So we decided just for fun put it out there and so far, so good, it looks like we’re going to have a good party.”

The cost is $60 per person and includes music by a vintage band -- as Deford called them – an open wine bar and food. You can find the menu at this link. And they’ve planned a couple of other twists and turns to the evening.

“We’re going to be drinking out of teacups, which is what I understand they did in the speakeasy,” he said, “and there’s actually going to be a raid, and two people are going to be carted off to a bed and breakfast called Slades Inn, where they are going to get a free night. So it’s going to be fun, and it’s something different, too.”

A few spaces remain – “We’re getting close, but we still have room,” Deford said -- so anyone who wants to attend should call the winery ASAP to sign up. If you miss this one, you have a wait for the next one. “We probably won’t do it for another 25 years,” he said, laughing. “I’ll let my son take it over next time it happens.”