Vineyards

Surrounded by lush green vines laden with clusters of grapes ripening in a Harford County vineyard, officials and vintners announced the creation of the Piedmont Wine Trail as Maryland's fourth pathway to fine wines. The trail meanders through scenic areas of northern Baltimore and Harford counties and, if experience from the popularity of other trail ventures proves true, could bring thousands of visitors annually to the eight sites, officials said. The trail will allow vintners to show off their vineyards, offer tastes and give guests insight into the intricacies of winemaking.

Jeffrey Lewis Foreman, former owner of an Internet provider and computer consulting business who enjoyed collecting and sharing wines that he had gathered from the world's vineyards, died Aug. 21 of a brain tumor at Gilchrist Hospice Care. The longtime Hunt Valley resident was 61. Born in Baltimore, the son of a barber and a Social Security Administration analyst, Mr. Foreman was raised on Chippewa Drive in Pikesville. He was 16 when he graduated from Polytechnic Institute. He earned his bachelor's degree in accounting in 1970 from the University of Maryland, College Park.

Barack Obama has been in office seven months, and he's off to Martha's Vineyard? Some 70 millions Americans voted for President Obama, and I bet 60 million of them condemned his predecessor for taking too much down time at his ranch in Texas. George W. Bush set a record for presidential vacationing; he was the laziest commander-in-chief ever. But here's the new man, supposedly with a wholly different work ethic and intellectual rigor, off to a similar start - and in the midst of a recession, with millions of Americans out of work and many millions more so stressed about money, they decided to either stay home or pass vacation up altogether.

When President Barack Obama and his family arrive this week in Martha's Vineyard for vacation, Carrie Camillo Tankard and Elaine Cawley Weintraub would like nothing more than to show them a little piece of Martha's Vineyard that has nothing to do with T-shirts or ice cream stands, stunning oceanside cliffs or gently sloping sandy beaches. They envision telling Michelle Obama about Nancy Michael, a slave whose blessings mariners believed could keep them safe on long voyages; having the first lady stand at the grave of Capt.

From: Russian River Valley, Calif. Price: $40 Serve with: Roast poultry, tuna steakIt is not lightly that one recommends a $40 California pinot noir, but this Burgundylike beauty from Robert Stemmler is, if anything, underpriced for its exceptional quality. It offers bright black-cherry fruit - seasoned with subtle earthy notes - that just won't let go. Its full body is buffered by a silky texture that glides across the palate, and it exhibits flavors and aromas of wild berries and cranberry.

Nature teaches us many lessons, and the Frederick Wine Trail has taught friends Hilary Saunders and Augusta Inniss one lesson: When touring the six Frederick County vineyards that make up the trail, it's wise to pace oneself. Many of the shot-glassed tastings, after all, are complimentary. "We used to try four wineries in a day. We learned very quickly not to try too many," says Saunders of Columbia. "It's like Vegas. We set a limit." A roster of dry and semi-sweet wines before them, Saunders and Inniss stood at the tasting bar at Linganore Winecellars in Mount Airy - just one stop along the "trail," which is more of a geographic cluster than actual trail.

When Patrick Barberry left his family's Churchville farm to study business at college, he fully intended to bring home ideas to make the operation more profitable. A year after graduating from Salisbury University, the 23-year-old farmer took a look at Aldino Farms' 800-acre sod operation and saw potential. He replaced a small portion of the grassy fields with an entertainment attraction built around a seasonal theme. He carved out a 6-acre corn maze, cultivated a thriving pumpkin patch and filled a haunted hayride with live action.

The beauty of Mount Felix Manor in Havre de Grace lies in the land and in its history. The Georgian-style mansion, built around 1850, lies high atop a hill with a sprawling view of the Chesapeake Bay from the widow's walk. Below on the first floor, a breezy summer kitchen offers views of a ripening field of Chambourcin grapes. A swing hung from a huge tree raises the question: Which came first, the tree or the house? Owners Peter and Mary Ianniello don't know the answer, but they do know this: The love they have for the property is nearly as strong as the tree's roots.

Barry Shames isn't a vintner, but he is the proud owner of a vineyard, an 18-acre plot of merlot vines in Northern California. And if he ever feels like dropping by for a tour, he doesn't need to travel far: His vineyard is 100 feet from his back door, just across a tangle of cabernet sauvignon vines in his backyard. Shames, 55, is a commercial builder who loves living around grapevines. "They're lush and green in the summertime, a bunch of twigs in the winter," and in late September, he said, the grapes become an intense, dark purple, "full and delicious looking."

Wearing gardening gloves and wielding clippers, Carol and Paul Vigna make their way along rolling rows of trellised grapevines. It is harvest time at Basignani Winery in Sparks and the York, Pa., couple have come, as they have for four years, to help. "I'll never have my own winery. This is as close as I'm going to get," says Vigna, a sports editor with the Philadelphia Daily News, as he clips densely clustered, lustrous Seyval grapes and places them in a yellow lug, a nesting container designed for harvesting grapes.