Farmers’ market shoppers throughout Maryland will soon be able to purchase wine along with their locally grown fruits and vegetables thanks to a new bill recently signed into law by Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley. Effective June 1, the law allows Maryland Class 4 wineries to sell at farmers’ markets without the previous county-by-county restrictions and limits.
House Bill 978, the statewide bill introduced by Maryland Delegate Charles E. Barkley, was processed through the Maryland legislature along with a couple similar county-specific bills like House Bill 1197 (HB 1197) for Queen Anne’s County introduced by Delegates Stephen S. Hershey, Jr., Jay A. Jacobs, and Michael D. Smigiel. HB 1197 was initiated by the Centreville Main Street Program in coordination with the Maryland Wineries Association with the hopes that one of their bills would pass.
“The law includes farmers’ markets as well as other off-site events like wine festivals and makes it easier for wineries to participate at off-site events without barriers based on jurisdictions and numbers of days,” says Kevin Atticks, executive director, Maryland Wineries Association. “Working with Centreville Main Street and other jurisdictions increased our chances of success. It’s a win-win for the wineries as well as the consumers,” he adds.
For Centreville Main Street, the coordinated effort represents the first major success for the emerging program that just celebrated its first anniversary earlier this year. “When our new Main Street manager came to us to request our support we whole-heartedly gave it our backing,” says George (Smokey) Sigler, president of the Centreville Town Council. “Adding new vendors and differentiating our market from others have been goals of ours, so the wine legislation just made sense,” he adds.
The first winery to join the market will be Tilmon’s Island Winery, Sudlersville, who will use their old special events permits to begin selling at the market on Saturday, May 18. The winery will sell Bohemia River Reserve – a dry white, Nectar de Harbor Court – a semi-sweet blush, Bay Country Chambourcin – a dry red, and
Dame Judith’s Red Hat Red – a sweet red.
Centreville Farmers’ Market is currently recruiting additional wineries. For more information, contact Carol D’Agostino, Main Street manager, at (410) 758-1180, ext. 13, [email protected].
Under the new permit, Class 4 wineries may attend any farmers’ market in Maryland to which they are invited, provided the market is listed in the Maryland Department of Agriculture’s Farmers’ Market Directory. In addition, there are no limits to the number of markets (or market days) a winery may attend. The new law removes the county-by-county restrictions and limits.
All wineries are being encouraged to apply for the off-site event permit prior to June 1 so it may be effective when the law goes into effect.
For more information on the farmers’ market, contact Arlene Warner at (410) 841-9269, David King at (443) 262-6420 or [email protected] or Carol D’Agostino, Main Street manager at (410) 758-1180, ext. 13, [email protected]. To stay connected throughout the market season, visit facebook.com/centrevillemarket.
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