Vine Rewind Festival

Hello and Happy June to everyone!

Thank you to everyone who enjoyed the Caribbean festival!    Now we are gearing up for our Vine Rewind Festival – with music from the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s – we hope you can make it!  Our festival lands on Father’s Day this year, and we are offering half price admission to all fathers on Sunday.

New to the festival this year is our Red Shedman brewery – it will also be open for tours and tastings.   Your dad may enjoy our many new brew releases – Summer Belgian, a light summer ale, and Suicide Blonde an IPA combining Belgian Wit and part dry hopped IPA  (hopefully you beer people will get that…I just know they taste good!)  Our brewmaster, Vic, my brother, will also have a Coconut Porter available, but there is not much of it (and it’s really awesome)!  A total of 11 beers will be on tap and one hard cider, in addition to the 19 yummy Linganore wines that are available for sampling.

In honor of Father’s Day, we honor our own Father – Jack Aellen.   The picture below is from 1977.  Dad was very fond of wearing a beret, and had several of them.   Ahh – the endearing qualities of a dad!  Looking through our archives, we’ve found an article from 1978, maybe from the Frederick News Post, by Nick Wood.  Below is a condensed version of the article:

Those who are happiest, John Aellen told the Frederick Kiwanis Club…are those who “feel as though they are at peace with themselves and with the world”.  Achieving that peace, he said, comes from doing what is pleasurable, doing things that give personal satisfaction…He suggested that the Kiwanians…look within themselves and determine satisfying life modes and goals….He suggested that the charting of a persons’ accomplishments in life is usually an indication of how helpful his friends have been.  Following an industrial accident which cost him his sight, Aellen described acts of helpfulness [of others] while he was going to college to learn management techniques, and of a helpful friend who hired him to an executive post on graduation.  Without this aid, “I don’t know where I would have had employment”. “There’s a way you can manage every situation”, he stated…speaking of his handicap. Coping with life on a farm, with a handicap, John Aellen argued, is not the key to happiness.  “The making of wine is not what is fulfilling my life…it is the outward sign of what’s happening inside”, he said.

Well, there is some wisdom from our dad!  I hope you all get a chance to honor your dad too on Father’s Day!  Thank you for reading about ours!

Our dad loved food – especially my mom’s cooking, which, of course, was (and still is) excellent.

Below is a Peach Pie recipe – one of my dad’s favorite and a bit of a twist on my mom’s original.

Peach Torte con Vino

First, marinate peaches in wine (it’s best to fully submerse them) for two to three (or more) hours

1 quart peaches, thickly sliced, peel and pit removed

1 bottle Linganore Peach Wine

Crust:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

1 1/4 cup flour

1/4 tsp. salt

1 stick of butter (4 oz)

2 Tbsp Sour Cream

Filling:

1/2 cup Sour Cream

3 Egg Yolks, beaten

1 cup Sugar

1/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp. Salt

Peaches from above, drained

For the crust, cut butter into flour, salt and sour cream mixture until the mixture forms pea-ish size balls.  Press into pie plate bottom and sides (making the crust).  Bake at 375 degrees until golden brown, about 15 minutes.  Remove from oven.  Add Filling mixture and bake 40 minutes, or until filling is set.  Remove from oven and chill.  Serve chilled or warmed, with vanilla ice cream and whipping crème if desired.  Enjoy!