Black Ankle Vineyards

Guest blog post for Maryland Life Magazine

Sarah O’Herron and Ed Boyce grew Black Ankle Vineyards “out of their love and curiosity of wine.” In 2001 the couple purchased the vineyard property, located on Black Ankle Road, in Mount Airy, and used its location to fuel the passion they would soon devote to conducting their new business in a traditional way.

 From neighbors and historians, the pair discovered Black Ankle Road to be the last of its surrounding roads to be left unpaved, an old dirt road – leaving the feet of its passerby’s marked and muddied. It is also rumored to have been the old Native American “Black Ankle Trail.”

Winemaker Sarah O’Herron’s success is attributed to her appreciation for the tradition and the learnt, rich history of winemaking that she acquired by studying winemaking across the country and around the world.

Winding down Black Ankle Road is an unmatched experience. Between over 42,00 hand-tended vines awaits Black Ankle Vineyards’ elegant yet eco-friendly tasting room – completed in 2007. The tasting room – built to reflect the owner’s belief in sustainability – was constructed from the farm’s wood, straw, soil, rain and sunshine as well as from as many locally green materials as possible.

The atmosphere of this desitnation radiates a personal dedication to “making wines of place – wines that express the unique flavors and atmosphere of the land on which they are grown.”

Black Ankle Vineyards, like it’s tasting room and wine varietals, reaps its land’s purity and tradition as well as the positive atmosphere in which it was established.

History of Maryland Wine

To be published in The Maryland Wine Press - Spring/Summer 2012

The earliest record of winemaking in Maryland dates back to1648. During the decades that followed Governor Charles Calvert attempted to plant 200 acres of European grapes on Maryland soil, but the vineyard attempt failed. Havre de Grace native, John Adlum, published America’s first narrative on viticulture and winemaking in 1823. In response to the nation’s mounting interest in the industry, Maryland established its Society for Promoting the Culture of the Vine in 1829.

Baltimore Sun columnist, PhillipWagner, published American Wines and How to Make Them in 1933. The text, later revised as Grapes into Wine, is referenced as the most definitive book on winemaking in America. The state’s first bonded winery, Boordy Vineyards, opened in Riderwood in 1945. During the latter half of the mid 1900’s many wineries opened and a few closed. It was not until the emergence of Maryland’s Grape Growers Association, in 1981, that the commercial grape growers in the state created a collaborative effort to improve the standards of grape growing in the state. Between 1983 and the turn of the century there was an influx of emerging wineries and the formation of American Viticulture Areas (AVA’s) throughout the state. In 1983 alone, three vineyards opened as well as Maryland’s first AVA in 1984. The Maryland Wineries Association was founded, birthing Maryland’s first Wine festival in 1984. Between 1986 and the year 2000 an additional four wineries opened, the Catoctin AVA formed and the state’s first Wine in the Woods festival was held.

Since the year 2000, over 30 wineries have begun production and opened to the public in Maryland. There are now 54 wineries that make up the Maryland Wineries Association. Local and legislative support have undoubtedly united winemaking as an industry, which has made the emergence of so many new businesses possible and endurance of already established commerce attainable.

Bolder than Boone: A Feature Story

To be published in The Forum - Loyoa's student-run annual non-fiction and art review


“To be content is to stop wanting, desiring and dreaming. When I become content with myself or any place that I’ve called home, I know it’s time to go; time for my next adventure, in a new phase, where I will no longer be comfortable with my surroundings. Being comfortable gets you nowhere besides exactly where you already are.”

By plane, train and her Honda Civic, Chelsea Krier, age 23, has breezed by more state and sea borders than Daniel Boone in the 1700’s; he made it only to Kentucky. When her initial plan – to flee industrial America for a more favorable, third world African village – failed following her high school graduation in 2006, Chelsea stumbled onto the more traditional track of exploration and independence. Chelsea’s dreams of the Peace Corps and tribal living both required a college degree so that is exactly what she sought: hello, University of Colorado-Boulder.     

After one semester at CU, Chelsea bid Colorado, its ski slopes and sexy snowboarders farewell, following the awful news that wrenched her heart more painfully than her professional plans: her father had been diagnosed with cancer.

“I knew from that moment, my life was no longer normal. Everything I had been planning to do with my life was no longer going to happen,” she explained. “Because my dad begged me to finish school so that I could make lots of money, for myself and for my mother, I tried. Three times I tried to re-enroll in school. After the fourth time, I said enough. It’s time to start doing what I want with my time and with my life. I haven’t looked back since.”

Chelsea’s favorite family memories include her mother’s jam-packed minivan, mediocre diners and traveling, anywhere that she and her family had not photographed, dined or danced in. She attributes her current nomadic existence to fond memories of family vacations and to her mother, whom Chelsea describes as her strongest advocate and the woman she most admires. “She is the bravest person I have ever known. I literally owe her my life (plus a lot of money) and I am endlessly grateful for her support that has no doubt sculpted who I am today, whoever that may be.”

Who is Chelsea Krier – an independent and optimistic woman. She is inspired by people who are unafraid of spontaneity, failure, and foreign culture. “Beginning to understand myself is the most gratifying feat I have accomplished so far.” Yet, constantly changing her address is far more difficult than simply learning new dialects and an occasional lack of gas money. She explains, “I either have a ton of money or I am dead ass broke. Relationships are challenging because I will never be able to please everyone and there has yet to be a moment when I haven’t missed my mother’s hugs, my brother’s sarcasm and WAWA ciabatta melts.

Three cross-country road trips, five state licenses (NJ, CA, WA, CO, WY) and one Visa (St Thomas, Virgin Islands) later, Chelsea has seen California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Utah, Montana, Wyoming, Arizona, New Mexico, Tennessee, Florida, South Carolina, Virginia, Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota, Ohio, Vermont, New York, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maryland, Delaware and Pennsylvania. She has also sought international adventure in Mexico, the Bahamas, Aruba, Ecuador and St. John.

Chelsea possesses curiosity and open-mindedness that is, unarguably, distinctive to her. Every custom learned, co-worker befriended, and mountain climbed has affected her in a special and equally significant way. During February 2011 Chelsea visited her friend Julian’s home (whom she met tending bar in Yellow Stone National Park) in Ecuador. There, Chelsea immersed herself entirely into the lives of her host family and the traditions of their country. “I learned dance moves from his aunts, played piano beside his grandmother and practiced English with his grandfather.” Passionately, Chelsea described the Portilla family as the most genuinely accepting and beautiful people she has been blessed to meet in her lifetime.

Chelsea is aggravated by people who praise her lifestyle but neglect opportunities for themselves. “Sure, I don’t have a college degree, I have slept in an ungodly amount of sleeping bags and I have never worked at one job for more than a year, but I wouldn’t change a thing. I do what I want and I love what I do. It is satisfying to both say and believe that.”

From white water rafting in the Amazon to snoozing beside an active geyser and falling in love with an Australian in Mexico, Chelsea has both good and bad memories attached to every venue she’s visited. She enjoys traveling alone because it forces her into conversations with strangers, which from her experience, are undoubtedly the stepping stones that have built most of her lifelong friendships. Chelsea has no definite plans to end her physical exploration or emotional voyage. “I have yet to find one place on this planet that has stopped me dead in my tracks, making me think, this is where I need to be,” she explains.

Like December wind that flushes your cheeks and warms your core, my best friend and the woman I most admire, Chelsea Krier, will continue to blow by state and sea borders illuminating everything and everyone she meets. “There is so much of this world that I have not seen. In this moment, I want to keep moving until the day I die.” Her advice: “Life comes at you fast. Always bring a towel, never say I love you and at the end of the night... don’t forget to close your tab.”