ANNAPOLIS, MD (MAY 25, 2011) \u2013Maryland has experienced a 200 percent increase in the number of acres dedicated to planting grapes since 2001, bringing the state\u2019s grape growing industry closer to meeting the demand for locally grown grapes by Maryland wineries, according to the 2010 Maryland Vineyard Survey, recently released by the Maryland Grape Growers Association (MGGA).<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the diversity of climate, topography and land in Maryland, we have the potential to be a national leader in premium wine production,\u201d said Agriculture Secretary Buddy Hance. \u201cWine grapes are an ideal crop for farms looking to diversify their operation. Wine grapes have a higher earning potential per acre than many other kinds of crops in Maryland.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 2008, Maryland wineries purchased 1.25 tons of grapes from out-of-state growers for every ton that was produced in-state. Last year, the figure was .89 tons purchased for each ton grown, which met more than half of the state\u2019s wineries production needs.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe 2010 Maryland Vineyard Survey reflects the growth that the industry has undergone in the last 10 years in both acreage and production of fruit,\u201d said Jennie Schmidt, president of the MGGA. \u201cDespite a 200 percent increase in grape acres since 2001, there is still a large deficit of Maryland fruit. As the number of Maryland wineries continues to increase, this fruit deficit is likely to continue unless we increase our grape production.\u201d<\/p>\n
The MGGA has conducted the survey four times in the last ten years. The 2010 survey shows that there are now 150 vineyards and 46 wineries on 601 acres in Maryland \u2013 that represents a 19 percent increase in vines and a 12 percent increase in acres since the survey was last conducted in 2008.<\/p>\n
Although there is at least one vineyard in every Maryland county, the majority of grape vines are grown in Frederick County (24 percent), followed by Carroll (12 percent), Baltimore (11 percent) and Queen Anne\u2019s Counties (10 percent).\u00a0 Red Vinifera grapes make up nearly half of all the planted acres. The top six varieties remain unchanged since 2006: Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Chambourcin, and Vidal Blanc. The 2011 plantings will be 87 percent Vinifera and 66 percent red varietals. Cabernet Franc, Chardonnay, Albarino, Syrah, Merlot and Petit Verdot will make up the majority of the new vines going in the ground this year.<\/p>\n
Based on the survey responses, the MGGA forecasts that by the end of 2015, there will be 26 new wineries in Maryland \u2013 six of which will be started by existing commercial growers; and a 14 percent increase in vineyard acreage in 2011 over 2010. The survey attributes the increase in acreage to new wineries, commercial growers that became wineries, and larger plantings at existing wineries.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis shows the unequivocal need for more vineyards in Maryland,\u201d said Kevin Atticks, executive director of the Maryland Wineries Association. \u201cThe data also show that Maryland wineries grow 60 percent of the grapes harvested in Maryland,\u201d said Atticks, noting that in benchmark states like Virginia, there are many more large-scale commercial vineyards. \u201cWe need to grow our commercial vineyard industry over the next decade.\u201d<\/p>\n
The MGGA is a non-profit organization of grape growers and winemakers that promote Maryland’s winegrowing industry. Its main objective is to provide its members with the information necessary to grow premium wines.\u00a0 Read the complete survey at:www.marylandgrapes.org\/vineyards\/2010VineyardSurvey.pdf<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" ANNAPOLIS, MD (MAY 25, 2011) \u2013Maryland has experienced a 200 percent increase in the number of acres dedicated to planting grapes since 2001, bringing the state\u2019s grape growing industry closer to meeting the demand for locally grown grapes by Maryland wineries, according to the 2010 Maryland Vineyard Survey, recently released by the Maryland Grape Growers Read the Rest…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[184],"class_list":["post-792","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-release","tag-vineyard"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/792","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=792"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/792\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":793,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/792\/revisions\/793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}