Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/210765
Winemaking Deford Jr., a personal friend of Wagner, agreed to be one of those cooperators, planted a vineyard on his family's Long Green Farm in 1965 and sold the grapes to the Wagners. At the recommendation of Wagner, the Deford family put in approximately 30 different varieties of grapes, primarily because at the time no one had a clear idea of what would be the best cultivars to plant. By the late 1970s, Boordy Vineyards was one of only three farm-based businesses inside the Baltimore beltway. The Wagners were ready to retire, and the Defords' farm in the Long Green Valley north of Baltimore was located in a more suitable area. In the meantime, Rob Deford had become interested in wine and returned to the family farm in 1978 to help determine its future. That winter Deford approached Wagner about the possibility of transferring Boordy to the Defords. He also decided to study enology at the University of California, Davis, in fall 1979. Deford went to Davis as planned, and as he was finishing the winter semester he got a call from Wagner, who said, "You've had enough biochemistry. It's time to come home and build the winery, or I'll sell it to someone else." Deford left Davis and returned to Maryland to build a winery. not at all ready for harvest. The insides of the barn had been gutted so that only the exterior shell remained. Grapes started to arrive by mid-August from the Defords' vineyard, the Wagners' vineyard and the Wagners' growers in the Maryland area—so winemaking and construction had to occur simultaneously. That harvest Boordy Vineyards produced five wines (a total of 14,000 gallons), all OH dry wine blends. Maryland Red was made as a nouveau, and Cedar Point Red was a blend of Chancellor, Chelois and Foch. In addition, there was Maryland White table wine, Maryland Rosé and Maryland Vin Gris. Deford recalls that the relocation of Boordy from Riderwood to Hydes was a difficult time. During the years they owned Boordy, the Wagners had made friends with many people across the country, including distributors in Boston, New York City, Washington, D.C., and Baltimore. When three of those distributors learned that Wagner was no longer involved with Boordy, they returned the wine they had in stock and canceled the Boordy account. Additionally, Boordy wines were out of step with the times. Deford realized that red, white and pink wines selling for $2 per bottle were not the wines of the future. Instead, he was inspired by California's NY E AST NJ PA Philadelphia Boordy Vineyards WV Baltimore Washington DC DE MD VA "boutique wines," which were made from specific varietals and vintage dated. Boordy Vineyards began to move into a new era. "Our first goal," Deford noted, "was to get the winery equipped. I wanted to get temperature control for the wines and stain- The Deford family takes over The Defords' beef barn was the designated winery building; the first task was to remove the 100 head of cattle from the barn, install a new floor and rebuild the interior. The Defords received their license at the beginning of August, but the building was Wine East HIGHLIGHTS • fter Boordy Vineyards' 55th anniversaA ry in 2000, owners Rob and Julie Deford led the management team in launching a "Landmark Project" to move the winery to a higher level of quality. • he Landmark Project had three phases: T redesigning the marketing program, replanting the vineyards and adding a new wine production facility with new winery equipment. • Boordy is the second largest wine producer in Maryland, according to Wines & Vines' Online Marketing System. Win es & Vin es D EC EM b er 20 13 73