Winemaking assumes festive air in region

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It's a sultry summer afternoon in Mount Airy, Md., and as the scents of fresh-cut grass, roasted almonds and the tang of wine hang in the humidity, Linganore Winecellars' annual Bayou Fest is raging.

Beneath a large white tent, volunteers pour wine from colorful bottles sparkling in bowls of ice. People pleasantly jostle for their tastes, like children in front of a toy store window. But the volunteers won't run out: Linganore, with the largest grape planting of any winery in Maryland, produces between 60,000 and 70,000 gallons of wine per year.

How far the wineries of Maryland and Virginia have come: Maryland, whose first bonded winery, Boordy Vineyards, opened in 1945, boasts 12 wineries offering 140 varieties of wine. In 1979, Virginia had only six wineries; today it has 81.

And how proud they are of the achievement. Virginia will celebrate October as wine month. This weekend one need only stop by the Carroll County Farm Museum in Westminster, Md., to take in the Maryland Wine Festival.

Almost any weekend, for that matter, is good for a trip to a winery. Bump along the back roads past the antique shops, the Civil War markers and the roadside fruit stands, and you're bound to see the familiar white sign with the bunch of grapes and an arrow that directs you to one of the region's plentiful wineries.

Much more than grapes and group tours, wineries and their vineyards offer a unique look into this region's heritage, geography and commerce -- not to mention lots of fun. Many inexpensive, even free, viticultural voyages await a visitor in less than an hour's drive from Washington. Festivals such as Linganore's Bayou Fest are many.

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Here in Mount Airy, at the foot of the hill, on a stage next to the pony rides and a moon bounce, Leroy Thomas and the Zydeco Roadrunners are playing, complete with a washboard and an accordion painted like the American flag. Oblivious to the heat, couples in flip-flops and tanktops dance in Cajun style, which, like its culture, is a flavorful mix of influences -- a teaspoon of jig, a pinch of waltz and a dash of two-step thrown in for good measure.

Linganore's winemaker Anthony Aellen, 44, hustles together 30 or so people for a tour of the winery, housed in a century-old barn.