Charis Winery & Distillery

Charis Winery & Distillery is located in downtown Cumberland, Maryland and is Alleghany County's first winery. Charles Park and his wife Robin founded Charis in 2012. they received their license to distill right after the COVID-19 pandemic started so it was a bit of a slow start. We had the pleasure of meeting Robin, a former  secretary in the school system, and chatted a bit about the area and its easy access to Rocky Gap for hiking and outdoor fun. We camped there a few years ago and are very familiar with how great an amenity that is. The winery is making wines currently from grapes like catawba, vidal blanc and cabernet franc. Grapes are sourced locally and the name Charis is Greek for grace, hope and joy. The tasting room is small but nicely decorated. There are a few tables inside to sit and enjoy your wines or liquors. Flights are offered for each and the distillery is making liquors like rum, gin and bourbon. But back to the wine, it's all made on site and small batch. We split a flight after tasting a few liquors. The favorite liquor was the bourbon. It was approachable, smooth, oaky and smoky. Our favorite wines were the Mischievous Winds and the catawba roses. Robin informed us the catawba rose was just a spiced version of Mischievous Winds. They both had notes of strawberry, cinnamon, lime and melon with medium plus acid. The catawba had additional notes of clove and anise. We visited this winery on a mission to finish what we are now calling "Phase 1" of Maryland Wine Compass. We have visited almost every winery in Maryland and even a handful of the cideries and meaderies that are part of the Maryland Wine Association. Charis was number 64 in this journey and by the end of this particular weekend where we drove out to Deep Creek, Maryland and back, we increased that number to 70. Stay tuned over the next month or so as we wrap up!