March 14, 2023 / News
2023 Events Preview
Hello all,
We’re happy to be open again for 2023, and we hope to see you here sometime soon! We have quite a few things planned for the coming months and we’re sending this email to tell you a bit about them. A couple of events have dates still to be determined, and we may add additional events as the year progresses. But this will give you an idea of what we’ll be doing, and when. We’ll provide further detail as each event approaches.
Cheers!
Bob & Joan
Wine Club pickup weekends
-Friday-Sunday, May 5, 6, and 7
-Saturday-Sunday, August 19 and 20
-Friday-Sunday, November 17, 18, and 19
Holidays
We are normally open from 11am-6pm on Saturdays and Sundays, including Mothers’ Day, Fathers’ Day, and Veterans’ Day. However, we won’t be open on Easter Sunday (April 9). During the coming year we’ll also be open on two non-weekend holidays:
-Memorial Day May 29, Noon-6pm
-Labor Day, September 4, Noon-6pm
Entertainment
May 12—Off Center Events Murder Mystery. A murder will take place in the Links Bridge Tasting Room on Friday evening, May 12th! Attendees at this event will be given roles and participate in the unravelling of the mystery. (No lines to learn or special skills required.) From 6:00-8:30 pm. Ticket price includes your first glass of wine, a personal charcuterie board, and dessert. Meet some interesting people, including a murderer! Space is limited. Sign up at: https://www.eventbrite.com/o/off-center-events-56255429653
Yoga. Several times each summer Links Bridge is the venue for Goat Yoga classes provided by Goat for the Soul. They never fail to please! Ticket price includes a complimentary glass of wine up at the tasting room when the class is over, and we invite you to bring a picnic lunch to enjoy on the terrace or down by the river. To sign up, go to the Goat for the Soul website.
-Sunday, June 4, 10:00am-Noon
-Sunday, July 16, 10:00am-Noon
-Saturday, Sept 1, 10:00am-Noon
Exhibits by Local and Regional Artists. As in past years we will be featuring work by local and regional artists on the walls of our tasting room. We have an especially interesting lineup for 2023:
March 25-April 9—Rosemary Gallick. Professor of Art and Art History at Northern Virginia Community College, will present iconic portraits rendered in a pop art style. If you’d like to meet her, Ms. Gallick will be at our tasting room on March 25, 12:30-3pm.
Aril 15-23—Betsy Schoonover. Local photographer who has captured some landmark scenes in Frederick County, including our own Links Bridge.
May 13-22—Pauline Rakis. An inspiring personal story for Mothers’ Day. Rakis retired from the world of commerce and banking at age 54 to immerse herself full-time in art that ranges from abstract to representational. As in some of the best wines, she creates fine and unique blends of these varietals.
© Kimberly Keller
June 3-19—Kimberly Keller: Parade Project. In a series of stupendous images that she calls “Parade Project,” photographer Kim Keller explores the ways that parades and public holiday celebrations continued to attract performers and audiences throughout the pandemic.
August 19-20—Roger Crist. During our August wine club pickup weekend, master woodworker Roger will be at Links Bridge with a display of furniture and accessories made from wine barrels.
© Amy Browning-Dill
August (Dates TBD)—Amy Browning-Dill.
Water colorist who has won a number of plein air competitions, including the Frederick County Barn Stormers event in 2021 and 2017! She will be exhibiting both watercolor and acrylic original landscapes.
Sep 2-10—Pauline Rakis. Rakis returns (see May 13-22) with a second selection of paintings that demonstrate her immense range of interests.
Sep 16-Oct 1—Robin Seidel, Pamela Herrick, and Stephanie Torres. A collective exhibit from a diverse set of local artists united in a passion for painting.
© Helene Ruiz
Oct 28-Nov 12—Helene Ruiz. Professional artist from New York who has been painting and drawing since early childhood. Her individual style ranges from surreal to fanciful representations of urban life and culture. Imaginary and dreamlike world expressing her feeling about today’s society.
Continued …
November 22, 2022 / News
All,
This is just a short note to let you know that we will be open Thanksgiving weekend (Nov 26-27) and the first weekend in December (Dec 3-4). After that we will be closed except by appointment during the remainder of December and all of January, opening again the first weekend in February (Feb 4-5).
We would love to see you here over the next two weekends, but if that doesn’t fit your schedule we’d like to take this opportunity to wish you the happiest of holidays!
Stay warm!
Joan & Bob
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November 22, 2022 / News
Drawings and Paintings by Brittany Wright
Hi all,
This year Link Bridge Vineyards has shown works by six different artists or groups of artists. To close the year, we’re very pleased to announce one last (but not least) exhibit. From November 26 through December 4 we’ll be displaying drawings and painting by Brittany Wright.
Brittany is a full-time engineer, a mom, and as if that wasn’t enough, she is also a person who enjoys painting and drawing. Creativity is an important asset in engineering and mothering, but Brittany has an excess of this quality which she channels into her art. This is Brittany’s first show since high school, but hopefully we’ll see much more of her work in the future. Her drawings and paintings are original, lovely, and exquisitely executed.
(They’re also affordable if you happen to be thinking about holiday gifts!)
Come on by and take a look!
Cheers,
Bob & Joan
Dates and Times
Saturday and Sunday Nov 26 -27, 11 am to 6 pm
Saturday and Sunday Dec 3-4, 11 am to 6 pm
Weekdays by appointmen
P.S. You can see more of Brittany’s work at her Etsy shop, “A Tale of Two Brits,”which she shares with her similarly creative husband.
Continued …
November 2, 2022 / News
Links Bridge Wine Club November 2022 Selection
We have just announced the November 2022 Links Bridge Wine Club selection to club members (more details below), and we’re sending this message to our general mailing list just in case some of you might want to join the club.
If you’re already a club member, or if you’re familiar with the club but have no interest in joining, stop here! Otherwise, read on…
This post includes (1) a summary of how the club works, (2) a description of the November selection, and (3) instructions on how to join the club.
We hope to see you soon at Links Bridge Vineyards!
Best autumn wishes,
Bob & Joan
1. Here’s how the club generally works:
- If you join the Links Bridge Wine Club, we will provide you with four selected bottles of wine three times each year. These selections may include current wines that we think are especially good, wines reserved for club members, and/or new wines that have not yet been released.
- Two to three weeks in advance of the pickup period for a given selection, we will send you an email that describes the selection, the pickup date or period, and a deadline date for making adjustments to the selection.
- The price of each selection will be our normal retail price for the wine less a 15% wine club discount, plus Maryland alcohol tax. For club members we will extend this discount to any additional wines you order along with the announced selection (and to wines you purchase at other times of the year).
- If you wish to substitute a different wine for one or more of the selected wines, you can let us know by the deadline date. We will make those adjustments, and then on the day after the deadline date we will charge your credit or debit card for the adjusted amount due.
- If you wish to opt out of a selection entirely, no problem—just let us know by the deadline date and we will not charge you for that selection.
- If you have not requested substitutions and have not indicated that you wish to opt out, we will charge your credit or debit card for the current selection on the day after the deadline date.
- We hope you will come by Links Bridge during the pickup period for each selection, as we enjoy your company and will often have members-only events on these dates that feature the selected wines, wines still to come, or both, and keep you informed about what’s going on at Links Bridge Vineyards.
- If you’re unable to be here during the pickup period, we’ll hold the wine for you until you can come by. Or, should you instruct us to do so, we will ship the selection to you at your expense.
2. The November 2022 Selection
We hope you’ll be pleased with the November club selection, which includes four wines from our 2020 and 2021 harvests. We chose these particular wines because all did well at the recent 2022 Maryland Governor’s Cup competition. They earned one double gold, one gold, and two silver medals, plus two Best in Class designations—one for red wines and one for off-dry wines. Needless to say (but we’ll say it anyway), we were delighted with these results!
November 2022 Club Selection Details
The pickup weekend for this selection is:
- Friday November 18 (2-7pm)
- Saturday-Sunday November 19-20 (11am-6pm)
We’ve added Friday afternoon to the pickup weekend because things got a bit crowded last time around. (The weather may be cold by then, so if you’d like to be sure of indoor seating, it would be a good idea to make a reservation! And if you are unable to come during the pickup weekend, we will of course hold your wine selection until you are able to be here.)
The deadline date for requesting substitutions, etc. is Friday, November 11.
The selection includes:
2020 Vidal Blanc Reserve. This dry white was made at Links Bridge from grapes grown at Golden Run Vineyard in eastern Maryland. Harvested September 2020. Fermented and aged in stainless steel for 6 months, then in French oak for an additional year. Bottled March 2022. ABV 13.3%. Silver medal, 2022 Maryland Governor’s Cup competition.
2021 Vichard. This off-dry white wine is a blend of 50% Vidal Blanc grown at Golden Run Vineyard and 50% Chardonnay grown at Links Bridge Vineyards. Bottled March 2022. ABV 13.4%. Gold medal and Best in Class: Off-Dry Wines, 2022 Maryland Governor’s Cup competition.
2020 Cabernet Franc. Dry red made from grapes grown in the original block of cabernet franc vines that started our Riverside vineyard, 12 years old at the time of the 2020 harvest. Aged for 18 months in new French oak. Bottled March 2022. ABV 13.5%. Double Gold and Best in Class: Red Wines, 2022 Maryland Governor’s Cup competition.
2020 Pileated. A hearty blend of our best red wines, named for the woodpecker who hangs out in our forest and occasionally graces our bird feeder, looking for all the world like something out of Walter Lantz. 32% Petit Verdot, 32% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Syrah, 7% Cabernet Franc, and 6% Barbera. Bottled March 2022. ABV 12.5%. Silver Medal, 2022 Maryland Governor’s Cup competition.
After the Links Bridge Wine Club 15% discount and Maryland’s 9% alcohol tax, the price of this selection for club members is $104.69.
3. How to Join the Links Bridge Wine Club
We invite you to join the wine club simply by purchasing our November selection.
To get this started, send us an email before the deadline date (Friday, November 11) at linksbridgevineyards@gmail.com. Use WINE CLUB as the subject line. Please include in your email:
- Your name, mailing address, email address, and phone number.
- Whether you would like to make any substitutions or additions. (For information about our other wines, look at the “Our Wines” page in our website—just click here.)
On the day following the deadline date, we will send an invoice to your email address that bills you for the August selection, adjusted for any substitutions you requested. This invoice will come to you from Square, the same well-known point-of-sale system that we use for transactions at our tasting room. You will be invited to pay this invoice online with a credit or debit card.
At the same time, Square will also present you with the option to save your card details in order to facilitate subsequent wine club transactions. We will need you to do this in order to make our wine club system work. Please note, however, that your card information will be housed securely with Square rather than at Links Bridge Vineyards.
Once you’ve purchased the August selection and placed your card information on file with Square, you are officially a Links Bridge Wine Club member. (And our communications about subsequent wine club selections will be a lot shorter!)
Cheers!
Bob & Joan
Continued …
October 13, 2022 / News
The Artist’s Hand: Studio Painters of the Mary Pfister Studio
Links Bridge Vineyards is pleased to host a special exhibit of paintings by a group of artists led and inspired by the nationally recognized portrait and still-life artist Mary Pfister.
All rights reserved by Jodi O’Connell
The exhibit runs from Saturday October 15 through Sunday November 13, and can be seen during Links Bridge’s normal weekend hours (Saturday and Sunday, 11am-6pm) or by appointment at other times. The artists will be at the tasting room for a reception on Sunday October 16, 1-3 pm. We hope you’ll come by to chat with them and see their work!s,
Various subsets of the Studio Painters have been meeting for some 30 years, first in downtown Frederick, and more lately at Mary’s resident studio in Walkersville. They get together weekly in groups of seven or eight, working on their own projects, in their own styles, and in their own chosen media. Some members of the studio group are fairly new to painting, but many have been painting, showing, and selling their work for many years. All are talented!
It’s Mutual
Copyright by Emily Sloviko
This exhibit includes paintings by: Sandra Cook, Jill Crone, Betsy Fisher, Saboora Haider, Pam Herrick, Noralie Katsu, Ann Lundahl, Peggy McClelland, Jodi O’Connell, Don Ouellette, Mary Pfister, Robin Seidel, Kristin Simanek, Emily Sloviko, and Stephanie Torres.
(For more information about Mary Pfister Studio, look here.)
We think you will enjoy the paintings, many of which will be available for purchase. The holidays are almost upon us and you may want to brighten a wall of your own home or those of your friends and relatives!
We hope you’ll come by to take a look (and have a glass of wine!).
Cheers!
Joan & Bob
Continued …
September 30, 2022 / News
Visit Brookfield Farms Pumpkin Patch!
One of the great things that happens in our neighborhood at this time of year: Sam and Mary Jane Roop open the Brookfield Farms Pumpkin Patch to the public for a fall celebration.
Brookfield offers hayrides to their 15 acre Pumpkin Patch (where you can pick your own pumpkin), a corn maze, a farm animal petting zoo, and other activities to entertain your children. It’s a great experience and an opportunity to purchase the perfect pumpkin for Halloween!
So on your way to Links Bridge Vineyards, stop at Brookfield and enjoy a special family adventure that has become a tradition in our area.
You’ll find Brookfield Farms at 8302 Ramsburg Rd, Thurmont, MD 21788, just up the road from Links Bridge. The Pumpkin Patch is open through Oct 31. Mon-Thurs 3pm-6pm. Fri-Sat 10am-6pm. Sun Noon-6pm. Visit www.BrookfieldPumpkins.com for more information.
Best wishes for a great October!
Bob & Joan
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