"In Tom Burns, Boordy has a winemaker who can really deliver the goods," says Al Spoler, host of WYPR’s Cellar Notes. "He is remarkably consistent from vintage to vintage," Spoler says.

Tom Burns entered into the wine industry in 1983 after graduating from Penn State University with a degree in agriculture business management. He started out in 1983 as a winemaker’s assistant and vineyardist at a small winery in Pennsylvania and began working for Boordy in May of 1986.

It’s difficult for Burns to choose a favorite wine to make and insists that a winemaker must be excited about all of it.

"Whatever I’m working on is my favorite," he says. Although, he does acknowledge that Chardonnay has been kind to Maryland. "You must have the same amount of passion for whatever it is, regardless of variety and style," says Burns.

"From receiving the fruit to putting it into the bottle, a winemaker should turn (his) vision into what the wine should smell and taste like," says Burns. He believes that winemakers should preserve what nature has given to them, working with and not against the subtleties and nuances of different grape varieties."

His hallmarks are to produce very clean, pure flavors; wines with good balance," says Spoler.