Direct Shipping hearing set for March 4

The big news this week is that the Maryland General Assembly is closer than ever to passing a Direct Shipping bill, which would allow Maryland citizens to receive wine by mail from wineries and wine-of-the-month clubs. We're asking friends and fellow wine lovers to contact your legislator before Friday to show your support for direct-to-consumer shipment of wine. March 4th is the day both bills will be heard by the respective legislative committees in Annapolis. According to the Maryland Wineries Association, "Even with the overwhelming support—a majority of the legislature—there are interest groups hard at work to cripple the bills, trying to limit WHICH wines can be shipped, and from WHICH sources (wineries OR retailers/wine-of-the-month clubs, etc.)."

Please let your legislators know that you want:
     - a law based on national standards and the Comptroller's Study on Direct Shipping;
     - a law that allows you to receive wine from wineries and retailers;
     - a law that lets Maryland wineries ship to other states (like NY, which will only let MD wineries ship in if MD's law is based on national standards).

This bill would allow us to ship wine directly to consumers around the state and even to other states- saving you the trouble of trying to bring wine home or the risk of packing it for your flight. Maryland is currently 1 of only 13 states which does not allow direct shipping, despite age identification precautions in place by national shipping companies like UPS and FedEx. 


For much more information about the history of the legislation, please visit the Maryland Wineries Association website.

Blending 2010 wines

Barbara & William tasting our 2010 wines

February- short and sweet. Despite the cold weather we've had a lot going on out here this month. William, Barbara and Chloe spent an afternoon tasting the 2011 wines and deciding how and what to blend. We'll bottle 6 or 7 wines in April and I'm excited about all of them! This year we have a dry Traminette, which is the grape varietal that makes our Lazy Day White and has a wonderful aroma. We also have a Chambourcin that is totally different from our 2009 vintage- a little heavier and more full-bodied. It will offer a nice contrast to our 2009 vintage. We've also got some Chambourcin on oak which has a nice chocolately flavor.

Artists mingle and discuss the various pieces

We've had several successful events this month. The UMES art exhibit was well attended, and everyone enjoyed the beautiful artwork. Brad Hudson, artist of several of our other labels, brought prints of the watermelon wine to sell and the winery purchased some lovely photography to display in the tasting room. 

Brad Hudson (second from left), professor of art at UMES and his students

Lovely decorations for the Sweetheart's Dinner!

Valentine's Day was celebrated at our Sweetheart's Dinner on February 12th, with a fabulous meal catered by Jimmie & Sook's of Cambridge. Filet mignon, chocolate pate, and Joe's Cool Red- what more can you ask for? 

Mark your calendars for happy hour in March- 1st & 3rd Fridays. William will offer a pruning session on March 5th for those of you interested in learning how to take care of backyard grapevines, or for anyone curious about what Janet and Nellie are doing all winter! $10 for the lesson and a glass of wine, please register in advance! 

We're also looking forward to the WineFest at St. Michaels- coming up in April. We might need volunteers so make sure you're on our volunteer list if you're interested in helping out!

Farm Family of the Year!

Congratulations to the Layton family on their induction into Maryland's Agriculture Hall of Fame this month! Governor O'Malley and other agricultural and legislative leaders joined to induct the Kohl Family of Kent County and Joseph Layton, Jr of Dorchester County into the Governor’s Agriculture Hall of Fame. These families became the 40th and 41st recipients of the prestigious recognition during the annual “Taste of Maryland” agriculture event at Michael’s Eighth Avenue in Glen Burnie on February 3, 2011. More coverage of the event can be read by clicking here.


Sudeep Mathew, University of Maryland Extension agent of Dorchester County sums it up well: "The Laytons have all the ingredients for a successful agriculture operation. They are knowledgeable, methodical, goal-oriented and adaptive to change. When his son decided to return to the farm, Joe and his family diversified their grain operation into growing grapes and opening a winery. The family members are active leaders in their community and have consistently implemented good conservation practices on their farm.”



Joe, William and the whole family have worked hard for many years to keep farming as the family business. The newest addition- Layton's Chance!- is just the latest of many adaptations necessary to keep Lazy Day Farms viable. The Laytons have put unmeasurable time, energy and love into making agriculture work in modern times and it's wonderful that the state has recognized them for this. 


As an employee of the Laytons for the past year and a half, I want to say that I'm extremely proud to be working for this family and I wish them continued success! 

Click here to view a beautiful video with footage of the farm and vineyard, as Joe explains his history of farming. 

Happy Hour & UMES Exhibit

This Friday, February 4th, we're excited to collaborate with University of Maryland Eastern Shore's Department of Fine Arts to host an art exhibition during our normal Happy Hour. Students and faculty will bring pieces for display and sale, some vineyard themed, all unique! It's a great chance to support local art students and enjoy a casual evening at the winery. Live Latin Jazz by Brian Perez and co. will be from 5-8.

It seems like folks have gotten the message about Alison's Wonderful Watermelon Wine! Last weekend we had quite a number of visitors who came in to pick up a bottle (or a case!). It's might not be what you expect, but for anyone who appreciates a sweet fruit wine I highly recommend it. Plus, it's 100% watermelon wine (no grape juice added), made from melons grown just down the road, scooped by volunteers at the Great Watermelon Scoop, and produced here in our Vienna winery- a true local! See pictures of the whole process here!

We've still got spaces available for our Sweetheart's Dinner on February 12th. Amanda Bramble of Jimmie & Sook's has put together a fantastic menu (full menu can been seen here) to accompany your favorite Layton's Chance wines. Tickets are $100 per couple, and we are taking reservations for 2, or for groups up to 6. Please call (410)-228-1205 or email info@laytonschance.com by February 10th to reserve your place.

Watermelon Wine on Shelf!

It's been a busy week both inside and out of the winery. The week started out busy with 2000 gallons of concord fermenting for our next and largest batch yet of Joe's Cool Red due out in May of 2011. Richard racked the Niagara that finished fermentation which we will use in blending this spring.

The vineyard saw lots of pruning this week thanks to Nellie, Janet, Chuck and Garland. Were still not even halfway done with pruning for the spring but we are making good progress. We are a lot farther ahead this year then in years past. We also got a new vineyard shed which will make Joe happy because he now gets his farm building back free of all the vineyard supplies.

Now for the important update most have been waiting for "Alison's Wonderful Watermelon Wine" is now bottled and on our shelves for sale to our customers. Our bottler arrived bright and early and after some minor repairs and some ingenuity we were ready to begin bottling. It took a little over three hours to bottle 2342 bottles. The watermelon wine will only be available for sale through our tasting room due to limited supplies.

2011 Events

Ok, we're getting closer to having Alison's Wonderful Watermelon Wine on the shelf! It's been a lot of fun- picking out the bottle and capsules (Pink!), designing the label, making and tasting the wine! At the end of this month we'll be able to put it all together.

We're starting to book up our event room for the year. This past weekend we saw plenty of familiar faces here for a baby shower, and on Monday we hosted an all day business retreat for a local insurance group. From high school reunions and birthday parties to bridal showers and wedding receptions, the winery is an excellent place to celebrate an intimate occasion. As the host of the baby shower said at the end of the party "I love having events here- it's beautiful, everyone has fun, and now I can go home!"

As far as public events, we'll continue to have happy hour every 1st & 3rd Friday through May, and starting with the anniversary of our grand opening there will be live music outside every other Saturday night. Jen confirmed yesterday that Randy Lee Ashcraft will play to celebrate our One Year Anniversary on May 28th! Sundaes at Sunset will continue as well, and we'll have lots to look forward to in the fall, starting with the Harvest Festival on Sept. 24! You can see the calendar on our website, or sign up for our newsletter to get an update about upcoming events.

Don't forget- happy hour this Friday with blues guitarist Chris English! And so you don't have to rush off to dinner we'll have a small happy hour menu available with chili, veggies, hot wings and our usual cheese plates. Have a bottle and a bite and relax into the weekend!

WW Label, Happy Hour & Sweetheart's Dinner

We're off to a good start for the new year, with our Watermelon Wine labels finally receiving approval from the TTB yesterday. It's not too complicated to submit the application and make corrections, but sometimes the process gets drawn out (especially over the Christmas holiday season!) Regardless, it's been approved, and we have beautiful artwork created by Brad Hudson to grace the front of Alison's Wonderful Watermelon Wine. Everyone at the winery is excited (Richard says it's his favorite wine) and I know the Layton's Chance community has been patiently anticipating it's release. Just a few more weeks to get the labels printed and to bottle everything and we'll be ready to go!

Happy hour is back after a December hiatus! Last Friday JohnE Wa2C drew a fun crowd, including a special visit from a former tasting room employee Alison Moore. You might have met her at our grand opening or over the summer, and since September she's been in Niagara Falls (Canada) studying wine-making.

Chris English of Cambridge played
blues guitar at a November happy hour

On January 21st we'll have Chris English at the winery playing blues guitar. We'll offer a special happy hour menu (all food under $10) for the evening- Chili, Hot wings, Veggies & Dip, and Cheese Plates of course!

Also coming up (and it's never too early to plan for this!) is Valentine's Day! We're hosting a Sweetheart's Dinner at the winery in the event room, catered by Amanda Bramble of Jimmie & Sook's. Come with just your sweetheart or bring another couple to share the special evening. Reservations must be made by Feb. 7th, for 2, 4 or 6 people.