Catoctin Vineyards has been sold to Frederick Cellars, a new winery in downtown Frederick. Catoctin winemaker Bob Lyon will remain as winemaker for the operation.

Catoctin Vineyards has won the Maryland Governor’s Cup three times since 1991, all for Lyon’s Cabernet Sauvignon. The most recent wine to win was the 1999 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, winning the award in 2004. As winemaker, Bob also won in 2006 for his 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon, labeled as Frederick Cellars.

Frederick Cellars is located at 221 North East Street in Frederick. Owners Charles Daneri, Emily Williams and Don Segal renovated the old ‘Crystal Ice House’ turning it into the new Frederick Cellars.

Daneri is particularly pleased that Bob Lyon will continue as winemaster of Frederick Cellars. “With Bob’s training at UC Davis and his years of experience here in Maryland, we have no doubt we’ll be able to live up to Catoctin’s reputation in terms of wine quality,” Daneri said.

For his part, Lyon said he’s just looking forward to having weekends off. As ‘winemaster,’ he’ll play a strategic role in wine making decisions such as when to harvest and release as well as winemaking techniques. However, he’s happy to leave the day-to-day chores of bottling and cleaning out tanks to the newcomers.

Catoctin’s wine (both bottled and unbottled), tanks, barrels, bottling line and other equipment were moved to Frederick Cellars from the Brookeville location on Greenbridge Road in Montgomery County. Catoctin Vineyard is no longer open to the public.

Frederick Cellars leases two vineyards: Mountain Creek Vineyards owned by Charlie and Emily in Frederick County, and Harness Creek Vineyards owned by Don in Annapolis.

Frederick Cellars will incorporate most of Catoctin’s current wine offerings into its ‘Catoctin’ series of wines under the Frederick Cellars label. This includes Catoctin’s well-known blush called ‘Eye of the Oriole,’ its off-dry to sweet wines named ‘Eye of the Beholder’ and ‘Mariage,’ and its dessert wine, ‘Mer De Glace.’ Catoctin’s Johannesburg Riesling will move to Frederick Cellars ‘Classic’ series, along with other single-varietals such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay.