At this time of the year, many people — fed up with shopping for gifts they cannot afford, attending parties they wish they hadn’t and making promises they’ll never keep — get a vague, yet gnawing feeling of missing out on true holiday spirit.
Somewhere out there is a place, warm and rustic, where a festive gathering toasts tradition while enjoying lively music and great seasonal refreshment.
This place is not in a dream, nor is it a faux re-creation of movie scenes from “White Christmas” or “Holiday Inn.”
Celtic Christmas Weekends — even the name harkens to another time — are a series of December weekends held at Boordy Vineyards in the Long Green Valley of northeastern Baltimore County. There, among the rolling hills and evergreen sits a winery housed in a 19th-century stone barn, whose massive walls provide an ideal environment for the production and aging of wine.
The Deford family, owners of the 230-acre farm, extend an invitation to all seekers of warm and rustic celebrations. The offer is a simple one: Come get cozy in our barn or in the wine cellar, sip wassail, enjoy sweet treats, and sing to the music.
While at it, the offer extends to a guided tour of the winery, wine tastings, a visit to the wine shop and the roasting of marshmallows over an open outdoor pit.
“There’s so much holiday spirit here,” said Dottie Bistransin, Boordy’s events director. “I do my own tweaking every year to keep the [festivities] fresh and relevant.”
That tweaking includes six different kinds of entertainment, from popular music to folk music.
“We have a group called Gilmore’s Light Ensemble, which is here on our first weekend,” she said. “They do Civil War history music, the songs the pioneers would have been singing in the 1860s and 1870s.”
There is a $5 admission, but guests receive $5 in “Boordy Bucks” good toward the purchase of items in the wine and gift shop.
“Our French table cloths and Beaumont pottery will let you create a ‘Boordy look’ in your own house,” said vineyard co-owner Julie Deford. “And our gift baskets include wine and tickets to Boordy events.”
Deford jokingly calls herself the “wife around here.” Little wonder then that her hand is in all of the events as well, making visitors welcome while answering their questions about the vineyard and wine-making process.
“People enjoy it here so much; they relax,” Bistransin said. “ [And] we’re so close to home.”
IF YOU GO
• What: Celtic Christmas Weekends at Boordy Vineyards
• Where: 12820 Long Green Pike in Hydes
• Distance: 34 miles from Baltimore, 66 miles from D.C.
• Dates: Weekends, Dec. 6-21
• Hours: 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
• Cost: $5
• Info: 410-592-5015; www.boordy.com
