In their family-run wine business, everyone has a job, even their 150-pound Boerboel (a type of mastiff), although her occupation appears to be lounging among the rows of grapes.
Four years ago, the five-member Ianniello family planted 3,000 vines of the hearty French-American hybrid Chambourcin, and the Mount Felix Estate Vineyard and Winery was born.
Thanks to equal passions for viticulture, American history, and their local community, the Ianniellos named the winery and every bottle produced there after historical Havre de Grace figures.
Smiling, Mary says they offer “a taste of history in every bottle.”
Originally from Upstate New York, the Ianniellos married and moved to Harford County in 1990 and bought the historical property in 2004. Now their home, Mount Felix (Latin for “Mount Happiness”) is also run as a winery and guesthouse.
The Georgian-style mansion (circa 1830) with its roof-top terrace and backyard wine-tasting patio, comprises a 9,000-square-foot manor and two villas—private 1,000-square-foot and 2,000-square-foot wings of the mansion known as “the Tuscany” and “the Villa,” respectively—which are rented as guesthouses and for events.
With its beautiful stone pathway leading up to the white-columned main entrance, the stunning brick manor is as welcoming as it is impressive.
Mature trees dot the front of the property, testifying to the fact that the place has indeed been around for a long time.
Inside, a grand staircase beckons visitors upward to the guestrooms, where more luxury awaits. Large windows in each guestroom offer sweeping views of the lush, expansive pastures beyond, while the manor’s 11 fireplaces promise cozy warmth when those views turn frosty and bare.
In a hallway on the main level, an old sewing machine and record player, both of which belonged to Peter’s grandmother, stand in charming contrast to the new grand piano—a present for Mary’s 40th birthday—in the adjacent living room.
It’s the tasting room and rustic, white-clapboard meat-cellar-turned-wine-barn adjacent to the manor itself, though, that embody the true heart and soul of Mount Felix.
“It has been among the fabric of my life,” says Peter of his desire to establish a winery. In fact, his love of wine is in his blood—literally. His Italian-born grandparents made their own vintages from both grapes and dandelions.
Clearly, then, it was fate that brought Peter and Mary to this idyllic four-acre setting at the confluence of the Susquehanna River and the Chesapeake Bay. The fertile soil of the southeasterly oriented slopes at Mount Felix drains perfectly, and the constant breezes from the bay rapidly whisk morning dew from the fruit.
After years of experience, the Ianniellos have learned that, for winemakers, summer is the busiest season. The family, sometimes with the help of young neighbors, hand-prunes and individually harvests all of the high-density-planted vines—often before and after swim-team practice.
“On a hot summer night, the vines can grow 12 inches overnight,” says Mary.
By the time the grapes are quarter-sized, explains daughter Martine, the sugar content is tested with a refractometer.
“If it’s not 21 to 22, which is just right for Chambourcin, we leave the grapes on the vine to grow sweeter,” she adds.
Measuring begins in mid summer, and the grapes are usually ready to be harvested by the end of September.
Once harvested, the grapes are crushed and the juice extracted. Although Peter, A.J., and two neighborhood boys did use the feet-stomping method the first year, the family now uses an efficient crushing machine to mash the thousands of pounds of grapes.
Separated from the skins, seeds, and pulp, the deeply colored purple juice falls into a pan.
The skins and pulp are re-added to the juice, and the mixture ferments in holding vessels. Mary and Peter test the wine for acid and sugar many times a day, adding ingredients as needed until it is ready to be bottled. The types of wine created are determined, in part, by how long the juice stays in the containers.
Come fall, the vines lose their leaves like trees, explains Mary. But that doesn’t mean autumn at Mount Felix is anything other than spectacular.
With the distant sound of trains audible from the tasting room, and the sight of Canada geese flying overhead, fall brings a special loveliness to the northern Maryland estate.
“It’s just so pretty in the morning,” says Mary.
The Mount Felix Estate Vineyard and Winery is open Wednesday-Saturday from 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Sunday noon-5 p.m., and by appointment. For more information on visiting the winery or staying at the manor, call 410-939-0913 or visit http://web.me.com/mtfelix.
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