Invitation welcomes folks to old trail

I was surprised to see this note in the latest Woodhall Wine Cellars e-letter about the Mason-Dixon Wine Trail. A trail that includes four wineries in Pennsylvania and four in Maryland, the activities sort of died on the vine the past couple of years. And it didn't seem there would be much chance of reviving it. Now comes this invitiation to pay $1 for a passport and visit each of the wineries. Carl Helrich, of Allegro Vineyards in southcentral Pennsylvania, wrote me this morning saying that the wineries are trying to revive the trail. "We had a meeting a couple weeks ago in which everyone attended and we talked about events," he wrote in an e-mail. "The website will probably show updates soon, I would think."

Helrich said that Rose Fiore of Fiore Winery in Pylesville, Md., and and Lynne Basignani of Basignani Winery in Sparks, Md., are in charge of the effort.

Anyway, from Deb Morris at Woodhall:

"One of the great joys of wine is the number of different flavors and styles that one can experience at a winetasting. Multiply that by eight and you now understand why exploring the Mason-Dixon Wine Trail is so much fun. Four Maryland wineries (Woodhall Wine Cellars, Basignani Winery, Boordy Vineyards and Fiore Winery) and four Pennsylvania wineries (Adams County Winery, Allegro Vineyards, Naylor Wine Cellars and Seven Valleys Vineyard and Winery) comprise the Trail. Start at any one of the wineries by buying a Passport for $1, and when you have visited all eight you will receive a wine trail gift and a membership card which entitles you to a ten percent discount from the wineries of the Trail for a two year period. Along the way, buy four bottles of wine at any member winery and receive a winery tasting glass free.

"The Wine Trail sponsors special weekends throughout the year for passport holders and members. During the last weekend in April and the first weekend in May, all member wineries will be serving a food featuring a different herb and passport holders and members of the Trail will receive a plant of the same herb.

"Why not start your Trail exploration this weekend at Woodhall."