by Jennifer O'Keefe

On October 4-5, 2008, the Riverside Winefest will be hosted at the Historic Sotterley Plantation, co-sponsored by the Maryland Wineries Association.
The Riverside Winefest is a quite different from all other Maryland wine festivals as it is set on the hillside of a 300-year-old national historic landmark.

“People do not just gather here for the wine but for the ambiance we have to offer here at Sotterley Plantation,” Nancy Easterling of Sotterley said. The Sotterley mansion overlooks the Patuxent River as the festival takes place below on the gorgeous preservation.

Thirteen wineries from all across the state will be joining in the festivities, bringing the most exquisite tastes of Maryland wine, including Southern Maryland's premier wineries: Cove Point Winery, Solomons Island Winery and Fridays Creek Winery. The wineries will be offering tastings all afternoon as well as serving wine the glass and bottle all day.

Members of the Southern Maryland Winegrowers Cooperative will be hosting wine demonstrations throughout the festival. For all those interested, the Co-op will be crushing grapes and demonstrating how to make great Maryland juice and wine. Wine will be fermenting on site to really show the process of how to make wine.

“This year Sotterley will be hosting more demonstrations than ever before to really celebrate the agriculture and the best of Maryland” Easterling said.

The demonstrations extend beyond wine making as cooking and flower demonstrations will be done throughout the two day event. Restaurants that specialize in using local produce will be coming in to do food demonstrations that will go hand in hand with all the wine tasting.

The day will be topped off by great food, vendors and live music to accompany the wine festivities. “This year we have many more food vendors, of course bringing the Maryland staples of fried oysters and crab cakes but also delicious, traditional, home cooked food as well,” Easterling said.

The Historic Sotterley Plantation has not only brought more wine, food and activities for adults but children as well. “The children will be learning about history while they are having fun playing colonial games,” Easterling said. Some of the fun will include an obstacle course and professional face painting. The craft and activities will take place between 1 and 4pm.

The private nonprofit foundation will be giving tours of the Colonial Revival Gardens and beautiful mansion throughout the weekend. “Trained interpreters will be here to guide and give a great deal of history rather than just facts about the plantation,” Easterling said.

The revival gardens are formal, old fashion gardens which specialize in herbal, aromatic plants, fresh fruits and vegetables as they would appear in colonial times. Unlike the gardens, the tour of the mansion comes at a small fee but it will be worth it to see the original two rooms of the old home that date back to 1703.

“The Riverside Winefest allows us to keep our doors open and educate people about the history of the land,” Easterling said. The Historic Sotterley Plantation is dedicated to preserving Southern Maryland and looks forward to hosting the winefest this coming weekend.

Ticket prices will be sold at the door; $20 for the general public, discounted tickets available to Sotterley members and children under six are free. For more information, please visit www.Sotterley.org or www.Marylandwine.com.