Gorgeous new artwork for our divine new ciders. Linda Harrison-Parsons hits another couple out of the park. We hope you'll love the new ciders as much as we do.

​Roxbury Russet is believed to be the first apple cultivated by American settlers. Roxbury is joined by its cousin Golden Russet to create this etherial varietal cider. Smooth, silky, crisp and balanced. 7-9% abv

​“The appearance of something remarkable or unexpected”, a fermentation apparition from our Asian pears. A unique bearing on a traditional perry.
7-9% abv

We're going to finally blow winter outta here with music by Patty & Brent on April 14, 3-5pm. Come help us celebrate spring and our return to regular hours.

​Open every Saturday and Sundays 11am-5pm. Tastings, flights, glasses and bottles of cider available for purchase. Bring a picnic, check out our farmstand, peruse the gallery of local art. Settle in with your friends and snag a board game off the shelf.

Looking forward to tucking in to winter. As the road conditions can be so unpredictable out our gravel road we will be open by appointment and for special events after January 7. On January 7 from 2-5pm you can come out and help us celebrate a great first year in the tasting room. Patty & Brent will be here to croon the cold away. www.pattyandbrent.com

http://video.mpt.tv/show/maryland-farm-harvest/
Willow Oaks is featured on Maryland Public Television's program "Maryland Farm & Harvest. They cover our work to restore the Antietam Piper Orchard using historic apple varieties that would have been grown at that time. And our sweet pup Aggie gets her close-up.

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The 29th Annual Governor’s Cup Competition was held on August 13 at The Center Club in Baltimore. Entries must be MD-appellation wines, meaning they’re made from Maryland-grown grapes and other fruit.

We are thrilled to report that Willow Oaks won best in class for "Gloaming", our apple/black currant cider. Gloaming also earned a gold medal.

"Vocare", our aged cider, won silver.

 We were pleased to be able to tour the cider apple research facility at Washington State University in Mount Vernon, Washington. The pictures above are of some French cider apple varieties growing in their test orchard. Willow Oaks has 4 French apple varieties in the ground. Now we just wait for the fruit!                       http://cider.wsu.edu 

Eric and Lori are on a bit of a busman's holiday, visiting with wine and cider makers in British Columbia and Washington State. The photo above is from our visit to Sea Cider in Saanichton, BC. They maintain a certified organic orchard with sweeping views of Haro Straight. We also visited Silverside and Cherry Point on the east coast of Vancouver Island where they make delicious port-style fruit wines. Today we'll head out to Alpenfire, another organic orchard and cidery. 

We have had dogs and cats over the years. Losing them is always devastating to our little farm household. Their spirits are so woven into the rhythm of our days. Our Emma Rose was  entwined into every inch of this place and every person who set foot here. 

From the time Emma came home with us 10 years ago she had a keen sense of place. She found her spot, she recognized she was home. And she recognized that from the looks of us we sure needed her help. Emma went everywhere with us no matter the weather. She surveyed her land, supervised the work and tried to keep track of everyone. She took her responsibility to heart.

She greeted everyone with her big goofy smile which she employed so vigorously that the curl of her lip made her whiskers tickle her nose....and then the sneezing began. Smiling, sneezing, wagging and whimpering with excitement is how our extended farm family was welcomed. Once you were hers you were hers and she remembered you and she loved you and she looked after you. She took you to heart.

Our hearts are sorely broken as we lost our dear Emma this week. She had such spunk we were certain she would be with us longer. She developed an autoimmune anemia and passed in our arms on the day we were to begin treatment for her. A very short, sudden illness, she did not seem to be in pain. Eric and I both held her in her spot at the top of the stairs.