In order to shed light on the contribution that area farmers make, the Southern Maryland Agricultural Commission launched the “Buy Local Challenge” in 2007. People who take the challenge buy at least one item from a local farm each day during the challenge week in July. In 2008 the challenge was extended across Maryland. This year proponents of the challenge hope people from other states will take the challenge to buy from local farms. The challenge is scheduled from July 18 – July 26. One of the suggested activities offered by the Buy Local Challenge website is to hold a wine tasting with several wines from local wineries. This in itself presents consumers with a challenge.
The word “local” means different things to different people. A waitress at a Salisbury, Maryland restaurant was asked if the restaurant had wine from local wineries. She returned with a list of wine from California wineries. Most people would not consider 3,000 miles away to be local. Fortunately most Marylanders have wineries within an hour’s drive of their homes. However just because there may be a local winery, doesn’t indicate that they make wine from grapes from local vineyards. This presents another challenge for consumers who would like to participate in the 2009 Buy Local Challenge campaign.
One of the ideas behind buying local is to taste the place. Wine made from grapes grown in Maryland should offer a different experience than wines from California. However it is a common practice for some wineries throughout the country to purchase grapes from California, Oregon, Washington and New York. This presents consumers with another challenge. The winery may be local but the wine may not. When visiting a winery tasting room, simply ask where the grapes used to make the wine were sourced. Most Maryland wineries make some wines with grapes from local vineyards. Another option is to read the wine label. If the word Maryland is on the label (not including the address) the wine was made mostly if not all from fruit harvested in Maryland. If the word America is on the label, the fruit was sourced from another region.
You can sign up to take the challenge to buy from local farms on the Buy Local Challenge website. Those who sign up for the challenge receive an online certificate. When purchasing local wines, ask questions and observe the wine bottle label to see if the wine were made from local grapes.
If you are interested in reading reviews about some of Maryland’s wineries, check out the Wine Trail Traveler site.
Comments