Penn Oaks Winery

Penn Oaks Winery is located in Cooksville, Maryland and owned by Jan Luigard and his family. Jan became interested in making wine while living in Germany due to his work back in the late 80's and early 90's. He returned to the United States, started working on a winery and got his licensing back in 1997. He named the winery after his home state, Pennsylvania, and the nearby town, Oakland, Maryland. Wine was originally made in the second location in Silver Spring but then they got the property where they are currently located in 2002 so they would have enough space to grow their own grapes. They take a holistic, sustainable approach to winemaking and they don't use oak barrels. They don't filter a lot of the wines, as well. As a nod to Jan's time in Germany and that inspiration in his wine journey, you will often find them making wines like riesling, gewurtztraminer and Liebfraumilch. We did the bottle review podcast on their montepulciano so check that out! They are the only winery we are aware of in Maryland that is currently making one. This was an unoaked, unfiltered version with some great red fruit on it like cherry and plum, plus licorice and white pepper. They frequently have Yoga with Coffey at the vineyard for a relaxing yoga and wine event. There is a big room on the property that is pretty great as a space for this. Pay this winery a visit when you get a chance.