Don Segal's vineyard, with its rows of bare midwinter vines and wood and wire trellises, sits on Annapolis' Harness Creek, a quiet nook where kayaks skim over glassy water. It bears the name of Segal's yet-to-be-unveiled boutique wine.
Segal's Anne Arundel County vineyard, which he hopes will be Maryland's 13th winery, is representative of the state's burgeoning grape-growing and wine-making industry, as well as a concerted effort by state officials to establish a cluster of wineries in southern counties such as Anne Arundel, Prince George's and Calvert - where tobacco was once king.
While many former tobacco farms have made the transition to crops such as Christmas trees and salsa tomatoes in recent years, winery owners and wine enthusiasts are trying to interest more landowners in grapes. The romance of such a venture - including visions of the wine chateaux of the Loire Valley in France and the golden hills of California's Napa Valley - makes for a soft pitch if not an easy sale.
"There is a big interest in growing grapes right now," said Joe Fiola, a viticulture specialist who was hired by the University of Maryland in 2001 to expand the local wine industry, which lags behind those in Pennsylvania and Virginia despite a $50,000 promotional campaign.
Still, there is proof of Maryland's wine-making potential. Last fiscal year, state wineries produced about 100,000 gallons of wine, up from 87,000 gallons the year before. Production has grown nearly 80 percent since 1996, according to the state comptroller's office.
Many of Maryland's newest grape growers - the number rose from 130 in 2000 to more than 200 in 2002 - are working professionals who have bought old tobacco farms.
"These people are a bit upscale," Fiola said. "They go to California or France or Italy and they see a vineyard and they say, 'Oh, boy!'
"I get a lot of those calls," he said, referring to naive connoisseurs who have a vague idea of what it takes to make a good wine.
But Segal, a medical software entrepreneur who lives near Annapolis, is not a businessman looking for a hobby. He has committed 14 acres of prime real estate to chardonnay and merlot and hired a full-time manager. Only about 35 growers statewide, including Segal, produce grapes good enough to support Maryland's wine industry.
"We would jump on any source of superior grapes from Maryland," said Rob DeFord, president of Boordy Vineyards in Baltimore County, which has been in operation since 1945. Since then, he said, the winery has never had a failed crop - proof of what can be accomplished despite the state's humidity and warm nighttime temperatures. Many grapes need dry weather and cool nights to flourish.
"We are ready to embrace any new high-quality grower or winery," said DeFord, president of the Association of Maryland Wineries. Its members produced 500,000 bottles of wine in 2001. "More wineries are needed to build our industry as something that is recognized as a leader by wine drinkers."
Wines produced by local establishments such as Elk Run, Berrywine, Fiore and Woodhall must include 75 percent local grapes to qualify as Maryland wines. Although many wineries produce wines without the mark of Maryland appellation, Fiola said the industry needs more local grapes.
"Wineries have to go out of state to meet production," he said. "If we get a few more vineyards to help the existing wineries, it will be a self-perpetuating monster that will grow and grow."
Fiola spends his days helping people such as Segal, and his vineyard manager Ron Wates, a former landscaper, cultivate high-quality grapes. Wates is also a member of the Southern Maryland Vineyard Team, which is working with state officials to create a Napa-esque wine region south of Baltimore.
"There is a romance to that type of atmosphere where you have a lot of small or moderately sized wineries," said R. David Myers, an extension educator with the University of Maryland. Myers said that even a handful of farms could produce, within four years of start-up, enough wine to bring in $5.5 million in revenue to the state a year.
At Harness Creek, a working tobacco farm until Segal purchased the land seven years ago, Wates has spent three years experimenting with cabernet sauvignon and chardonnay grapes. His office, along with the winery's production and makeshift tasting room, is in a 70-year-old tobacco barn.
"This is headquarters," said Wates, a wine-making enthusiast who, despite his relative inexperience, has earned a reputation as one of the most determined and hard-working vintners in the state.
"The old saying is that wines are made in the vineyard," said DeFord. "But that is lost on people who think that all they have to do to produce a good wine is buy a lot of equipment or an expensive chateau."
Still, getting into the wine business can be expensive. Segal, who said he bought his winery land for $500,000 and has invested about $150,000 in the past three years, has yet to close out a year in the black. He has tried to cut costs by buying used oak barrels from wineries in California, but still worries at times about his investment.
"There were days when I couldn't believe I was going to do this," said Segal, who had to treat the soil on his property with rapeseed, which kills microscopic worms that feed on tobacco roots, before he planted his cherished vines. Most former tobacco farms have the worms, which can destroy a young vineyard if left unchecked.
"Typically, anytime a new vineyard is put in, we do tests," said Myers, who is studying 27 varieties of grapes at a research vineyard in Upper Marlboro.
With its Annapolis address and creekside setting, Segal has high hopes that he will be able to open his winery before the end of the year. But before he can hold his first wine tasting, he must make it over a series of bureaucratic hurdles, including obtaining permits from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the state comptroller and local Office of Planning and Zoning.
"I really want to make it happen," Segal said. "We don't want to just sell grapes, we want to break even."
Segal is working with Anne Arundel County to amend the zoning code so he can open his winery, which would include production and tasting rooms. Very few Maryland jurisdictions include wineries in the zoning code, a situation that can cost wine-making trailblazers time and energy.
"This state has the most paperwork-intensive, nonsensical process that I have ever seen in my life," said Warren Rich, who owns the state's 12th winery, Little Ashby, in Easton.
Still, Rich, an Annapolis lawyer who lives on an old estate called Ashby in Easton, loves owning a winery. "My chardonnay is out of this world," he said, adding that he spends about six hours a day in his vineyard.
"I grow pinot noir, too, which is stupid," Rich said, explaining that the grape's tight cluster is prone to rot in humid conditions. "You have to be smart about what you are growing," he said.
To help beginners make the right grape choices - which can be difficult because of Maryland's diverse geography - Fiola and other specialists are testing grape varieties from Italy, Bulgaria, Hungry and Romania at locations around the state. State and local winery officials hope they can grow a grape with a taste and bouquet that will be unique to Maryland.
"There is a huge learning curve," Fiola said, "but people are learning."
Back at Harness Creek, where neighbors sample fresh-picked grapes during the harvest season, Segal and Wates are mapping out a grand future. Next year they will plant more vines in their lot. There are also plans to turn a second tobacco barn into a tasting room with a view of the shoreline.
"If we can make it charming enough," said Segal, "it will be a good place to spend an hour or two."