
"Sometimes we feel like cowboy pioneers out here!" exclaimed Judy Crow, who co-owns Crow Vineyard and Winery with her husband, Roy. Located in Kennedyville, Md., just west of Middletown, the property has been a family-owned farm for three generations and began growing grapes and bottling New World-style wines about six years ago.
"It actually started eight years ago when Roy and I got married," she recalled, during a recent interview with the Beverage Journal. "We were looking for a way to reinvent this 365-acre farm. Phase one was to renovate the main 1847 farmhouse into a farm-stay bed and breakfast. We did that. And then we planted grapes. We have five sons between us. One son, Brandon, came back and became the vineyard manager. Then, we went to a winemaking seminar with John Levenverge, and we eventually hired him to be our winemaker consultant. Soon after, we took an equipment shed and made that into our 5,000-case production winery."
Levenverge helped the Crows understand the winemaking process. Eventually, though, Judy and Roy felt like they needed a full-time winemaker. So, they hired Catrina North. "She's been our full-time winemaker for the past two years," said Crow. "Hiring the best people are big investments for any business, but we really feel that the commitment to growing quality grapes -- not only here on our farm, but we have a few other local growers who work in tandem with us -- has helped us put our wines on the map."