10/14/2026
W**e Traveling Through the Maryland W**e Country the Iconic Robert Parker Called Home:
A visit to Monkton, My Lady’s Manor, and Basignani W**ery
(Full article on Substack. Link in bio! 🍷)
📜 We’ve written about and visited the homes and historic sites associated with some of Maryland’s most historic w**e icons: From John Adlum in Havre de Grace and Benjamin Tasker in Bowie, to Founding Father Charles Carroll in Ellicott City, Philip Wagner in Baltimore County, and the Allen family in Frederick.
🚌 This past week we w**e traveled through Maryland’s Piedmont W**e Region to the village of Monkton, home to Robert Parker, the famous w**e critic who revolutionized modern w**e criticism, popularized the 100-point scoring system, founded The W**e Advocate, and became one of the most influential voices in the international w**e industry has ever known.
📝 Now retired, Parker isn’t only remembered as an influential w**e critic; he actually helped change how w**e was evaluated, discussed, marketed, bought and sold. He still lives here today, where he continues to enjoy good w**e.
🏘️ About 25 miles north of Baltimore, Monkton sits within My Lady’s Manor, a remarkably preserved 10,000-acre historic district established in 1713.
Our visit included three of its historic landmarks: the 1742 Monkton Mill, 1898 Monkton Station, and 1858 Monkton Hotel. This centuries-old rural landscape also surrounded legendary w**e critic Robert Parker as he wrote his influential w**e reviews from his nearby home.
🍲 We enjoyed lunch at The Manor Tavern, whose history dates to the 1750s and where, according to local tradition, George Washington’s horse was once stabled. A wonderful glimpse into the history and character of Maryland’s w**e country.
🍷 Now for the w**e. Only a 16-minute drive away, we arrived at one of Maryland’s most historic w**eries: Basignani W**ery, a cozy w**ery whose owner and founder, Bert Basignani, was considered a “dear friend” by Parker. Parker actually reviewed Basignani’s w**es, awarded its 1997 Lorenzino Reserve 90 points, called Basignani Maryland’s finest w**ery, and described Bert as the East Coast’s finest w**emaker.
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