Monsters in the Vines

Look what we found in the vineyard!

Ghosts, goblins, and pretty princesses?!?! Saturday's Halloween party at the winery had a little bit of everything! We had so much fun filling all of the community's children with candy....and then sending them home with their parents! Thank you to everyone who came out for the fun. From jack-o-lanterns in the vineyard to ring around the gourds, all of the kids seemed to have a good time.
This past weekend was full of entertainment...Chris English on Friday, Halloween party on Saturday, and Bird Dog on Sundays. Layton's Chance surely isn't just for wine! Make sure you check our website often for all of the events we have scheduled! 

Next Karaoke night is
November 4th!

We are finally getting "back to normal" (whatever that is!) at the winery. The official wine festival season ended last week in Salisbury(great to see you all there!)  so we are catching up on all of the pesky paperwork that needs to be done. We are also trying to get ready for Christmas....can you believe it! New merchandise is coming in pretty regularly now. We pulled through all of our decorations today(wow we have a lot of bows!) and are getting our game plan down for making the winery sparkle.
Garland and Richard are busy getting the soybeans in from the fields so make sure you wave to the tractors as you go by on the way to the winery! Hope to see you soon, and as always - Have a "Joe's Cool" kind of day!

New Wine Alert!

Well, last week was all about "firsts", this week is all about NEW! We have a lot of people that have been anxiously awaiting the release of our Oaked Chambourcin. Well, wait no more....it is on the shelf! If you have not had a chance to try it, I have got to tell you, that William has outdone himself with this wine! Our 2010 Chambourcin aged in french oak chips. If you like a full bodied red wine, Oaked Chambourcin is what you are looking for! We are also starting to look towards the Christmas holiday season(I know, it's not even ! Halloween yet!) but that just means that we are already seeing some new merchandise in our tasting room. Check out the great etched crab glass in the picture with our beautiful Oaked Chambourcin. They are huge glasses and only $12! We just brought those in this week from a great group of gals that we have met at some of the local wine festivals, the Shore Sisters. They have more great merchandise as well, so let us know how you like the glasses and we will bring in some more of their great gifts!     

Thank you to everyone who came by the Autumn Wine Festival in Salisbury this past weekend. We had a great time with the local crowd who already know, and love, our wines. There were some at the festival who had more fun than others(see picture!). It was a great weekend for Maryland wine! Wine festival season is coming to a close so look for some more great events at the winery. IThis weekend is a great example of how much we have planned! Friday night is Happy Hour with Chris English - Saturday(October 22nd) is our Halloween Party and we are so excited that Mindie Burgoyne will be joining us for a book signing and to tell some spooky stories! Make sure to wear your costumes - there are contests for both young and old, or old-ER I should say! And for those of you who are still fussing with Irene for cancelling Bird Dog and the Road Kings....get your dancing shoes on because they are at the winery this Sunday, October 23rd from 2-5pm! Bring all of your friends out for this local favorite! We hope to see you all soon at the winery. And as always, Have a "Joe's Cool" kind of day!

First Video Blog

Click on the following link to check out our first Video Blog. Check back weekly for the updates and videos of all of our staff!  See you soon at the winery, and as always "Have a Joe's Cool" kind of day!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTdi8sOjmw4

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!