February 28, 2020 / News
Hello all,
As the sign says, March is Maryland Wine Month! In March, the weather will be warming, the sun will be shining (on at least some days!), and it will be a perfect time to visit some Maryland wineries. There are lots to choose from, as you can see by looking here. March is also a great time to ask for Maryland wines at your favorite restaurants.
At Links Bridge Vineyards, March is also the time for our Dog Days of March Wine and Dog-Cookie Tasting. Bring your discriminating dog friend when you visit our tasting room. While you enjoy a seven-wine tasting at your table, your dog can assess the aroma, taste, and finish of seven different dog-cookies. And the two of you can top this experience off with a stroll on our path along the Monocacy River.
Wine and dog-cookie tastings will be offered all afternoon each weekend during March.
Bring a leash!
Best wishes,
Joan & Bob
Continued …
February 9, 2020 / News
False Spring?
Hello all,
The beginning of February has come and gone, and we are back on our regular schedule: Saturdays and Sundays, 11am-6pm, and other days and times by appointment.
You can see from this picture that spring is beginning, in the words of Oscar Hammerstein, to “bust out all over.” Our mid-Atlantic weather has been pretty warm over the past few weeks. Many of our deciduous trees are starting to bud out. Even our grapevines are beginning to look like they are ready to start pushing new shoots, a scary prospect for growers who are well aware that a false spring isn’t likely to extend itself into the real thing. There’s sure to be some freezing weather ahead.
All we can say is, get out of the house and enjoy the spring–true or false–while it’s here!
And while you’re out and about, stop by Links Bridge Vineyards on St. Valentine’s Day weekend (February 15-16) for a wine tasting or glass of wine accompanied by our Valentine’s Day Chocolate Sampler!
We look forward to seeing you!
Joan & Bob
Continued …
December 12, 2019 / News
Winter Tasting Room Schedule
Hello All,
Just wanted to let you know about our winter tasting room schedule. Here it is:
Now – December 15, 2019
Our normal hours, Saturdays and Sundays 11am-6pm and by appointment on other days.
December 16, 2019 – January 31, 2020
By appointment–give us a call! (301-466-2413)
February 1, 2020 onward
Back to normal, Saturdays and Sundays 11am-6pm and by appointment on other days
We wish each and every one of you a wonderful holiday!
Bob & Joan
Continued …
November 6, 2019 / News
Announcing the Inauguration of the Links
Bridge Wine Club
Since we opened our tasting room about a year and a half ago, our guests have often asked whether we have a wine club. Until now, our answer has always been “no, not yet—we’re still trying to figure out how a Links Bridge Wine Club will work.”
Now that we have the Fall 2019 harvest behind us, with winemaking well underway for whites we will bottle in 2020 and reds for 2021, we think we have enough wine in process to support a club. We’re ready to give it a try, and we hope you will be too!
This post is a bit long, but please read on to the end. It includes a summary of how the club will work, a description of our first club selection, instructions on how to join, and an invitation to our first club pickup day event.
Best wishes!
Robert & Joan
Here’s how it will work:
- 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.
- At least a month in advance of the pickup date for a given selection, we will send you an email that describes the makeup of the selection and also contains an invitation to a pickup day event.
- The price of each selection will be our normal retail price for the wine less a 15% discount. (And we will extend this discount to any additional wines you order along with the announced selection).
- If you wish to substitute a different wine for one or more of the selected wines, you can let us know by an announced deadline date that will be about one week before the pickup 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 retail price of your selection less the 15% club discount.
- 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 on the pickup date for each selection, as we enjoy your company and will always 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 on the pickup date, 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.
- Finally, with each selection, we will also include certificates for two of our normal sit-down wine tastings that you can use yourself or transfer to a friend.
First Wine Club Selection
Our first club selection will include three wines you may have tried before and one that is brand new:
- 2016 Vichard ($20) is an off-dry 50:50 blend of Vidal Blanc and Chardonnay that was a runaway favorite during our first year. (We set aside the last four cases in anticipation of an eventual wine club.)
- 2017 Vidal Blanc ($20), a dry vidal with lots of fruit, was a Gold Medal winner at the 2017 Maryland Governors Cup competition.
- 2015 Cabernet Franc ($28), another early favorite, is a light-bodied red wine that is delicious both as a wine and as a star ingredient in Joan’s Holiday Plum Soup. (More about this below.)
- 2017 Monacacy ($28), a new release, is a Bordeaux-style blend of Merlot (81%) and Cabernet Franc (19%). As we are located on the right bank of the Monocacy, you could think of this as our “right bank blend.” (This yet-to-be-released wine should not be confused with our 2016 Monocacy Blend, with which most club members will already be familiar.)
After the Links Bridge Wine Club 15% discount, the price of this selection for club members is $81.60.
For this selection, the pickup date will be Saturday, December 7, 2019, and the deadline date for sending your enrollment email and requesting substitutions will be Sunday, November 24.
How to Join the Links Bridge Wine Club
and Purchase our First Selection
We invite you to join the wine club simply by purchasing our first selection.
To get this started, send us an email before the deadline date (Sunday, November 24) 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. (For information about our other wines, look at the “Our Wines” page in our website—just click here.)
- Whether you will be able to attend our pickup day event (see below).
On the day following the deadline date, we will send an invoice to your email address that bills you for the first club 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 our first club 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!)
Invitation to our Pickup Date Event
As a member of our wine club, we hope you’ll come by Links Bridge Vineyards on our pickup date (Saturday, December 7, 2019) to receive your first club selection. We have a bit of a program planned for this (1:00-2:30 pm) that will include an update on our 2019 harvest and our plans for the immediate future, barrel tastings of a couple of interesting 2019 wines in process, and a tasting of the wines in the current selection paired with some delicious foods, including a bowl of Joan’s Holiday Plum Soup.
We hope you’ll be able to join us for this celebratory event. We have enjoyed meeting our many customers over the last year and a half, and have appreciated all the interest you’ve shown and the encouragement you’ve given us. So we look forward to getting together with you!
Please let us know if you plan to attend. But if you can’t be here, remember that we will hold your club selection until you are able to come by and pick it up.
Continued …
October 5, 2019 / News
Brookfield Pumpkins
Two great things happen at this time of year: we start turning our grapes into wine, and our neighbors, Sam and Mary Jane Roop, open Brookfield Farm 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 up the road and enjoy a special family adventure that has become a tradition in our area.
You’ll find Brookfield Farm at 8302 Ramsburg Rd, Thurmont, MD 21788. The Pumpkin Patch is open Sept 28 through Oct 31. Mon-Thurs 3pm-6pm. Fri-Sun 10am-6pm. Visit www.BrookfieldPumpkins.com for more information.
Best wishes for a great October!
Bob & Joan
Continued …
August 30, 2019 / News
Three New Wines
We’ve added three new wines to our tasting menu: 2017 Pileated, a dry red blend, 2018 Barbera, a dry red, and 2018 Rosé of Barbera, an off-dry rosé. Hope you’ll come by and give them a try!
Continued …
