Hot News

10.24.2006

BY CARYL VELISEK
AFP Correspondent

MT. AIRY, Md. — “We’re excited,” was Ed Boyce’s comment when asked about the $199,553 grant he and Sarah O’Herron and their Black Ankle Vineyards have received from USDA.
With the help of the USDA Rural Development grant, Boyce and O’Herron plan to advance to the next level from growing grapes to making and selling top quality wine.
The grant will help pay for working capital expenses that include barrels and bottles, and wine-making supplies and support to launch their marketing campaign planned for 2007.
“USDA is very explicit about what the grant money can be used for and we have to keep detailed accounts and they will be audited,” Boyce said. “No buildings or machinery are included.”
The grant money must be used in the next 14 months, by December of 2007, he added.
The grant awarded to Black Ankle was one of 185 grants awarded in national competition in the USDA Value Added Producer Grant Program. Altogether USDA Rural Development provided $21.2 million in grant funds to support farming ventures that will add value to their commodity.
Value-added products are created when a producer takes an agricultural commodity like grapes and processes or prepares it in a way that increases value to consumers, as in wine making.
The vineyard and winery business are a longtime dream of Boyce and O’Herron, former management consultants, who live in Silver Spring with their four children, and commute to the Mt. Airy farm every day.
The farm consists of 146 acres and has an elevation of 650 feet on the west side of a ridge with a small valley. The soil is well drained and not particularly fertile without the addition of amendments, which are not necessary when growing wine grapes. Those amendments that are added are in the form of compost to keep the product as natural as possible.
After years of research, travel and talking with vintners around the world, Boyce and O’Herron planted their first grapes in 2002.
There are 22 acres planted with 42,000 vines at a rate of 2,000 per acre instead of the usual 600 per acre in hopes of keeping the vines small and producing more grapes per vine. The vines were also planted three feet apart instead of the traditional six to eight feet.
“This was part of a new wine-making strategy and we did have more wine this year,” Boyce said. “From the planting of grapes to the finished product is a long process and we are hoping we will have wine to sell in 2007.”
“We truly believe,” Sarah O’Herron said, “that the geology, soils and climate of the Maryland Piedmont are capable of producing world class wines, and Black Ankle Vineyards is committed to turning that belief into reality. We are delighted and honored that the USDA has put its faith in our dream and given us the resources we need to make our venture a success.”