Discover Delmarva: Bordeleau Vineyards & Winery
EDEN, Md- Bordeleau Vineyards and Winery, nestled right on the banks of the Wicomico Creek, offers an inviting and quaint setting to enjoy some of the finest wine on the shore. Wine Maker and Owner Tom Shelton welcomed us onto the gorgeous property and took us on a tour behind the scenes of their wine-making process. “We actually make over twenty different wines. We grow twelve varieties of grapes, and then we grow apples, peaches, blackberries, and strawberries. We make fruit wines from those.”
While each fruit presents its own challenge, the wide variety of local produce allows the flavors of the shore to shine through from their sweet fruit wines, to their bold award award-winning reds that have been the winery’s claim to fame. Shelton tells us, “We’re known for our red wines. Even though we make twenty-some different wines. We make seven red wines and we’ve gained a reputation for making really good red wine.”
I think the awards speak for themselves, with some of the bottles being decorated in hardware from head to toe. But what is the recipe for success in making award-winning wine with many more challenges than the wine country in California presents? “We’ve got great soils and the climate is quite suited for grape growing. This year was tough because we didn’t get a lot of rain in July and August.”
The lab is where a ton of the magic happens; it’s also where Tom becomes a Wine Scientist! With notes dating back decades on each vintage, what works and what doesn’t all lead to the final product. We saw wine in barrels dating back to the late 2010s that will just not begin to be bottled and available for the public. So the real question- When can we taste this year’s harvest? Shelton says, “White wines you could be tasting them within a few months. But red wines, we do age our red wines for an extended period of time.”
They’re open Wednesday through Sunday and have a variety of live music schedules throughout the winter. To plan your visit and for their wine catalog, you can check out their website.
