Where is Joe?

In Westminster Maryland this morning getting ready for The Maryland Wine Festival and realized that our weekly blog had not been done yet!! Well Layton's Chance fans, fear not, you will get your weekly fix no matter where we are!(currently that would be the Days Inn!)This weekend is a busy one! You can find wine everywhere...here at Maryland Wine Festival, at the winery, and at the Summer Send Off celebration in Cambridge. Make sure you stop by to see Pam and Ashley, they will be set up in front of A Few Of My Favorite Things!
For all of you Bird Dog fans, the concert that was postponed due to pesky 'ol Irene is back on! October 23rd at 2pm we will be partying Bird Dog style! We have a lot of great things in the works for October! It's shaping up to be a great month for events at the winery so keep an eye on the schedule. Guys, there is even a special day devoted to cigars and wine!
Oh, by the way, check out our Facebook later this weekend for a new segment...where's Joe! Can't wait for everyone's feedback! Well the pesky alarm is signaling the start of a great day to introduce new people to Layton's Chance wine. Wish us luck ...and as always, "have a Joe's Cool kind of day".

Getting Tanked at Layton's Chance!

Rain, rain, go......I mean YAY rain!! It's been the silliest summer....earthquakes, hurricanes, and floods! The fields can use the rain, so as much as I hate muddy shoes, bring it on! We have been out picking grapes again this morning so they won't sit in the moisture and get rotten.   I love to see those beautiful grapes come off the vine....that just means more wine is coming up!!
We want to thank everyone who came out to help bottle our latest batch of Joe's Cool Red on Monday and Tuesday. We completed over 20,000 bottles of Joe's Cool Red in two days! We couldn't have done it without the help of some great friends who came out on those days! Can you believe it? 20,000 more bottles of Joe's Cool Red, and guess what?!?! Screw caps! No more sore arms getting into that sweet red wine! We even had some four legged visitors for bottling. A litter of kittens got into the winery as we were finishing up.  You haven't lived until you've seen Garland on his stomach hollering here kitty, kitty, kitty!
Coming up this weekend we have a Very special night! Saturday night, September 10th, we are having a Tank Room Party!  This is the first time we have done a party like this and we are all so excited. Southern Breeze is playing that night and we love them so much we were afraid they would be rained out......so we decided to bring the party inside!  We have cleared the floor in our winery tank room and are ready to dance the night away surrounded by cases of wine and wine tanks! It's going to be a blast!! Come get tanked with us!
Maryland Wine Festival is coming up next weekend on the 17th and 18th in Westminster, Maryland. If you love Maryland wine, this is the place to be. Visit www.marylandwinefestival.org for all of the information. Taste wine from all over. We could still use some help pouring our wines those days, so if you are interested in helping out for a few hours send us an email at info@laytonschance.com. You get free admission to the festival(free tasting all day from ALL wineries!) a glass of Layton's Chance wine after your shift, and 20% all Layton's Chance wine purchased that day!
Time to get back to vineyards and bring in those grapes. Have fun, stay dry, and as always....Have a "Joe's Cool" kind of day!

Making Headlines

We are making headlines here at Layton's Chance! If you haven't seen it yet, check out today's Daily Banner. There is a great article from Comptroller Franchot's visit. What an honor to have Governor O'Malley and Comptroller Franchot visit the winery in the same week.

Summer is coming to a close.....but that means that the real work begins at the winery! Bottling, festivals, harvest, grape picking, crushing.....get the idea! It's not only a beautiful time of year but busy, busy, busy! So, if you have ever wanted to work for a winery, here's your chance!

We are looking for volunteers for a lot of events coming up at the winery and around town. Email us at info@laytonschance.com if you are interested.

Now it's not all work here at the winery...we get in plenty of play time too! We are having Happy Hour every Friday night in September! Tonight, September 2nd, Justin Ryan will be playing. If you haven't heard him before you need to make tonight the night. He is great! We also have Game Night every Thursday and are knee deep in preparation for our 2nd Annual Harvest Festival and Grape Stomp on September 24th!

Claudia is excited today. She had lost a copy of her favorite soup cookbook and we tracked down the author, who made a personal trip to the winery yesterday to bring her a new copy! What a great guy! (He also brought in more copies of the Eastern Shore Cookbook for the tasting room)I'm looking forward to lots of soup from Claudia this year! So, next time that you come in, make sure to ask her for your bowl!

Well, we need to go get set up for Happy Hour tonight. Hope to see you all there, and as always....Have a "Joe's Cool" kind of day!

Gettin ready...



Picking grapes and taking names!

Just stopping to get a quick note out to all of our blog fans....and we love you all! We are busy at the winery getting ready for Hurricane Irene. Keep your prayers pointed to our vineyard! The guys are busy hauling in furniture and equipment at the winery, while Joe, William, and Chuck are busy getting grain in from the fields! Everyone is pitching in to get us ready for the storm.

On Thursday we had everyone out in the vineyard picking any grapes that were ready. Good news for me...they were the Vidal Blanc grapes(my personal favorite!). I got to taste the freshly pressed juice for the first time as well. It was great.....but I'll take the wine anyday!

From hurricane preparedness to earthquakes....now we are justing waiting on the plague of locusts and, well, you know how that ends! We all have great stories to tell from the day we felt the quake of 2011. Well, except Laura, who was driving and didn't feel a thing!

Check back next week to see how we fared from the storm. In the mean time, be safe! Don't take any unnecessary chances....we need to see you all back at the winery soon! Oh, and just a reminder, our concert for Saturday night with Bird Dog and the Road Kings has been postponed. We will let you know when the rescheduled date is as soon as we have it. The winery will also be closed on Sunday, August 28th because of the weather. 

I wonder if we offered Irene some Joe's Cool Red, she would just leave us alone? Stay safe, be happy, and as always, Have a Joe's Cool kind of day!

Back to School....already?



Governor O'Malley with the Layton Family

This has been quite the week at Layton's Chance. Governor O'Malley came by on Tuesday to make a major cover crop announcement. He had beautiful Lazy Day Farms as his backdrop and made a great announcement for Maryland agriculture.  Thank you to all of the Maryland farmers making great strides towards the future! And today, as we speak, Comptroller Peter Franchot is touring the winery operation!

Don't worry, just because school is starting, the events are not stopping at Layton's Chance. Tonight is our Back to School Bash! Happy Hour with Sam Shelly! Come Karaoke the night away with the Layton girls! And don't forget Sundaes at Sunset on Saturday the 20th. Sit on the porch with an ice cream sundae topped with Joe's Cool Red! Starting in September, we will be open most Thursday and Friday evenings until 9pm for Game Nights and Happy Hour!

Harvest is fast approaching. The grapes in the vineyard are getting sweeter.  The Chambourcin grapes are the prettiest, deep purple color and the Vidal Blanc are so tasty straight from the vine! To celebrate harvest, mark your calenders for September 24th- our 2nd Annual Harvest Festival and Grape Stomp. Music, food, pony rides, moon bounce, grape stomping---all kinds of fun for the entire family.

Don't forget that we do tours of the vineyard and winery every day at 1:00pm and 3:00pm at no charge! Hope to see you out to the winery soon. And as always, Have a "Joe's Cool" kind of day!

Hot Summer Nights

This is a bittersweet week at Layton's Chance. Today is the last day for Chloe Wieland, who has been intstrumental in the success of the winery. I quote the entire Layton family by saying "we couldn't have opened without her". Best of luck in grad school, Chloe! You will be missed!

We have also had some new faces in the vineyard this week. Fall harvest is fast approaching and the vines need a lot of work, so w've had a few new guys around helping us get the vineyard in tip top shape!


You all saw picutres from our watermelon scoop last week. Well, the watermelon is done fermentation and wine is in the tank!! We go to "test" it (the best part of our jobs by far!) and it is going to be a great batch of Alison's Wonderfu Watermelon Wine!
Time ot start thinking of back to school...but at Layton's Chance there is plenty of summer fun left! Make plans to come out to the winery on the 13th. Randy Lee Ashcraft and the Saltwater
Cowboys are playing as part of our Summer Concert Series! We can't wait...it is going to be an amazing night! Lots of Joe's Cool on ice and Frappe Vinos in the machine! Bring your lawn chairs and picnic to enjoy a beautiful evening.
Are you ready for more Joe's Cool Red? So are we!!! Come out to the winery on September 5th and 6th to help with the next bottling. See what it takes to get everyone's favorite tractor wine from the tank to the table.
We are also planning our 2nd Annual Harvest Festival and Grape Stomp for September 24th so mark your calenders for an all day family event.

There is always something going on at Layton's Chance. Can't wait to see you here....and until then, Have a Joe's Cool kind of day!

Watermelon Scoop II

A great crowd came out to help make watermelon wine!

Awesome volunteers!

This has been a week of a lot of hard work with a good dose of fun mixed in at the winery! The bottles are arriving as we speak for the next bottling of Joe's Cool Red! September 5th and 6th we would love to see volunteers to help with the process!! Speaking of our wonderful volunteers.....this week we had a great(and by great, I mean dirty clothes, sore hands, watermelon in our hair...you know, great!) time scooping watermelons for the next batch of Alison's Wonderful Watermelon Wine. We had some great help that day and the watermelon is now fermenting in the winery......

Richard & Chloe at station 2

Make plans to spend your weekend at Layton's Chance! We have Southern Breeze playing Saturday night from 6-9pm. It's going to be a hot one, but don't worry Cool Joe is going to be here and we are going to have a tent set up for you to be able to watch the show in the shade! Please don't forget about our End of Auction party on Sunday! This is a great way to support a great cause....tickets are $15 and include great food and fun! There are still a few days left to bid on once in a lifetime experiences at the winery. Just go to Ebay and search Layton's Chance. Computers will be on hand Sunday to get last minute bids. If you haven't logged on to the auction, you can still come to the party. All profit from ticket sales and auction proceeds will be going to a wounded veteran organization!

And don't forget we have tours daily at 1pm and 3pm and you can do a full tasting of our wine at anytime! Hope to see you soon!