Country Pleasures Farm: an orchard blossoms
In the beginning
… there was a large, old, stone house, weeds, and grass.
Willow Oaks craft cider and Wine
– small batch, barrel fermented
Our Story Continues …
Eric Rice planted
… the first apples on the slopes of the cornfields at Country Pleasures Farm 30 years ago. Blueberries, black currants, tart cherries, pears followed.
When Eric first inquired about making hard cider on the farm there was no infrastructure to support it. Cider was not wine or beer, there was no way to license us.
Thanks to the hard work of the Maryland Wineries Association, there is now a vibrant and growing community for us!
photos of our craft
Eric and Lori check on the bees who pollinate the orchards 
Ginny inspects the berries 
Working in the barrel room 
Lori bottles beverages
In the News
– selected press clippings
During the bloody Battle of Antietam in 1862, some of the heaviest fighting between the Union and Confederate soldiers took place in an apple orchard. More than 150 years later, farmer Eric Rice of Willow Oak Craft Cider is working to restore the Washington County orchard using historic apple varieties that would have been grown at that time.
Maryland Farm and Harvest
Image from “Historic Cider” video
