Sip & Shuck 2026: Maryland Wine, Oysters & Local Flavor

This episode of The Sipping Point dives into one of Maryland’s most iconic pairings—wine and oysters—through the lens of the new Sip & Shuck promotion launching February 1st. Joined by Matthew Scales of the Maryland Department of Agriculture and Regina McCarthy, General Manager of The Vineyards at Dodon, we explore how Maryland wine, beer, and spirits come together with local oysters to celebrate the state’s rich food and beverage culture. From why oysters and wine work so well together to how consumers can sip, shuck, and win prizes along the way, this conversation is a delicious look at eating and drinking local—Maryland style. 

Check out all the details on Maryland Sip& Shuck and download to app so you can start sipping and winning prizes: https://marylandsbest.maryland.gov/sipandshuck/

Wines Tasted

Dodon Sauvignon Blanc 2023 $36

Dodon Chardonnay 2022 $34

Use code OYSTER for discounted shipping rates when you purchase wine at https://www.dodonvineyards.com/

Transcript

Laurie Forster (00:27)
This week on The Sipping Point, we're talking about two of my favorite things, wine and oysters. I'm excited to bring in the team of Matthew Scales from the Maryland Seafood Marketing Department and also Regina McCarthy from Dodin Vineyards in Anne Arundel County. And we're going to talk about a very special promotion that's going on starting February 1st called Sip and Shuck.

But in the meantime, before I introduce them, I wanted to remind you about all the great events I have coming up in February and beyond. You can go to thewinecoach.com slash events. All the events I'm involved with are there, notable ones that are coming up quite quickly. February 12th, I have an event called Art Uncorked. It's an unforgettable five-course wine dinner with Italian food, wine, and we're pairing all that with great local artists in Ocean City, Maryland.

If you're looking for an evening to celebrate Valentines or maybe even Galentines, that might be it. And speaking of your girlfriends, on February 26 in Oxford, Maryland, I'm doing an event called Sip in Style. And it's where we're pairing great fashions for spring with the wines I think you should be sipping for spring and coming together for a fabulous night of food, wine, fashion, and fun. You can get all the information on my website. Get your tickets.

And don't miss out, there are a lot of other great events out there. So check them out, because I'd love to see you. All right, I wanted to go ahead and introduce our guests. And if you like your local wine and your oysters briny, this is the episode for you. I'm inviting in Matthew Scales, Seafood Marketing Director of the Maryland Department of Agriculture, and Regina McCarthy, General Manager of Dodin Vineyards, one of the leading voices in Maryland wine.

Matthew brings more than a decade of experience telling the story of Maryland seafood while Regina's career spans the Maryland Wineries Association, farm to table food and luxury wine and spirit sales. She's been a part of Dodin Vineyards since 2016 and she is a WSCT Level 3 certified wine expert and also the author of Maryland Wine, A Full-Bodied History. Together we're going to talk about sip and choc.

a promotion that brings together Maryland wine, beer and spirits together with our most iconic pairing partner of all, Maryland oysters. So let's go ahead and bring them into the show.

Laurie Forster (02:54)
Matthew, welcome back to The Sipping Point. Of course, of course, it was so great last February, we got together to talk about Shuck and Stout, which was a promotion around Maryland oysters and our great Maryland beers. But this year you've cooked up something new for February. So I want to have you back on.

Matthew Scales (02:57)
Thank you so much, Laurie, for having me back.

Yes.

Laurie Forster (03:15)
What do you guys have in store for us this year?

Matthew Scales (03:18)
Well, first of all, thank you, Laurie, for having me back. Yeah, it was great to talk to you last year about Shuck and Stout. That was a two-year campaign, and it was really successful. But one thing that we heard back, that we heard back from the industry was mainly from the wineries and distilleries, hey, we want to be part of this too. You know, they saw the success of it. And so, and here, my colleague, Kristen Hanna and I said, hey, yeah, let's create a campaign that highlights

Maryland beer, Maryland wine, and Maryland spirits paired with Maryland harvested oysters. And so, you know, we thought about it and we also got a grant from the National Park Service, Chesapeake Gateways, in partnership with Department of Natural Resources. And that was the birth of our AGRA trails. So AGRA trails is the overarching, you know, trail system, agritourism. And then underneath that are three different passes in the very first pass.

is Sip and Shuck. And so Sip and Shuck is accomplishing Maryland Harvested Oysters along with Maryland Beer, Wine, and Spirits. So I got my Maryland Wine, my Maryland Spirit right here with me, amongst other great beer, wine, and spirits. But it'll be a way where there's a digital platform and people can go about throughout Maryland. They can check in.

Laurie Forster (04:23)
Nice.

Matthew Scales (04:32)
with their phone. So this is an app. It's a web based platform. And then they build up points to win prizes from us. And then the more prizes you win, you're going to get a cool sticker. And then the grand sweepstakes is a four to a boat tour, dinner, and a hotel stay. ⁓ And so and that'll be a great time between the boat tour folks and the party who wins, but that'll be the grand prize sweepstakes. So make sure you get out there and you get hit as much

Laurie Forster (04:49)
Ooh.

Matthew Scales (05:00)
wineries, breweries, cellaries that are part of this trail.

Laurie Forster (05:03)
Great, and where do people go so they can find out about the app and learn how to check in and all of that? What would be the best place for them to go?

Matthew Scales (05:11)
Yeah, so if you go to Maryland's best dot net, that'll be the best place to go. And that and it's kicking off February 1st as part of FeBrewary and it'll run all the way through March, March 31st because March is Maryland Wine Month. So you have two months to get out there and explore and drink as much great Maryland product and slurp as much Maryland oysters as you can.

Laurie Forster (05:27)
Ooh.

Well, that's awesome. folks maybe are listening in. They don't know a lot about our oyster farmers But the whole oyster base that we have here in Maryland, tell me a little bit more about where in Maryland are the best places that we're getting oysters from? Is it all parts of the state? You know, of course it's coastal, but where are these oysters coming from?

Matthew Scales (05:57)
Yeah, like you said, they're really coming from all over the state where there's water. So think about the Chesapeake Bay in central Maryland and southern Maryland, and then also the coastal bays off on the eastern shore. We get some really great oysters, a lot of different tastes as well with the oysters. So I just, we just actually worked on an oyster map, which talks about the different oyster regions in Maryland.

and what the taste is of each oyster. So the oyster in Southern Maryland may be a different taste than an oyster off, you know, in the coastal base. And that is really pertinent with people's palates along with chefs and what they're looking for. If they're looking for oysters to create some type of oyster stew or oyster stuffing, it, you what is the salinity of these oysters? Also, like, you know, when you're pairing wine or anything else, like what pairs well, what different type of oyster pairs well. So.

⁓ There's all types of oysters. And also I like to debunk a myth where you can only have oysters in the R month, right? The R months are for wild caught oysters, which we love our wild caught oysters in Maryland. And we love our commercial water, but we're catching our wild caught oysters. But we also have great oysters year round and that's thanks to the, you know, the oyster farmers all throughout the state. So again, there's, there's no dull time to get Maryland oysters. It's Maryland oysters year round.

Laurie Forster (06:50)
Yes.

And there's so many different ways to prepare, which does give us a lot of options for the drink pairings, beer, wine, and spirits, because fried, you could have them raw. There's many different preparations. So it's going to be exciting to see what everyone's offering for Sip and Shuck to go with their, you know, their paired drinks, if you will. But I know there's a great event that I'm going to join you at on February 10th to just kind of kick off this whole

campaign. So tell me a little bit more about what's going to happen that day.

Matthew Scales (07:47)
Yeah, so Tuesday, February 10th, if you go on our Facebook page, Maryland's Best, we're co-collaborating with Fort Worth Brewery and the Annapolis Maritime Museum. It's an event to really kick off Sip and Shuck even though it starts on February 1st, but the real kickoff event will be February 10th. And we're going to start at 3.30 at the Annapolis Maritime Museum. Again, I encourage everyone who wants to attend to come out, RSVP to the...

the Facebook link, and then you're going to learn about oysters at the Annapolis Maritime Museum. We're going to have some great educational hands-on activities for people to try just to get a better sense of, you know, the history of oysters, how they play into our environment with the Chesapeake Bay, you know, the different tastes of oysters, really just get people more acquainted with the oysters in Maryland. And then that event is 3.30 to 4.30. And then after that, we're going to walk down to Forward Brewery.

From 5pm to 7pm, they're going to have oyster specials. They're going have an oyster shucker there with Double T Oyster Company, who's from Southern Maryland, Spike Meat Yard, who's a great friend of ours. And then also going to have other different types of beer that is going to pair really well with the oysters. So really want to invite everyone out. Laurie, hopefully you can be out. You you mentioned the different types of oysters. My favorite is grilled oysters with a lemon butter.

Laurie Forster (08:58)
Yes.

Matthew Scales (09:04)
and really pairs well with the great white wine. So, you know, you'll see me there at that event, probably with one of those types of oysters with a great glass of wine.

Laurie Forster (09:04)
Mmm.

Nice.

Okay, yeah, well then that sounds right up my alley. All right, Matt, I'm gonna ask you to take a little break and I'm gonna bring in Regina from Dodon Vineyards

Laurie Forster (09:22)
Regina, welcome to The Sipping Point.

Regina Mc Carthy (09:24)
Hi Laurie thanks for having me.

Laurie Forster (09:26)
Now you're on location, I believe, at the vineyards at Dodon there in Anne Arundel County. We've no.

Regina Mc Carthy (09:32)
we're here

in Davidsonville. Beautiful farm. I wish everybody was here with me now. It's a great place to get together. Yeah, we're located here in Davidsonville on a big farm, 555 acre farm with a 17 acre vineyard. And just really focused on farming and in service of the ecosystem and making the very best wine that we can.

Laurie Forster (09:53)
That's awesome. And what was the year the year you started?

Regina Mc Carthy (09:56)
Yeah, so the first vines were put in the ground here at Dodon in 2010, and the winery was built in 2013. So since 2010, we've planted 17 acres of grapes. We grow Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Petite Verdot.

And everything that we make here is grown right on site. And we're doing a lot of work to hopefully help the Bay, help our local ecosystem, and create a really clean environment for our community as well. And fortunately, all of those things make better wine at the end of the day.

Laurie Forster (10:27)
That is great. I love that. Okay. So we're talking about Sip and Shuck, which starts February 1st, all about pairing Maryland beverages, which includes Maryland wine, with our amazing oysters that come from Maryland. And so tell me a little bit about how you see those two going together. And then we're going to taste some of your wines.

Regina Mc Carthy (10:47)
Sounds good. I was so excited when I saw that this promotion was happening because I have this mission to make Maryland wine and Maryland oysters a thing. One of the really cool stories about Dodon in particular is that when we were first planning the vineyard and we did lots of soil testing and electromagnetic mapping and really just trying to understand what the terroir was here and what we were working with, we...

We're digging a drill, or sorry, we were digging a well with a drill and every time they would get down about 20 feet, they would start breaking drill bits. And the team got curious, the owners got curious and they said, what is down there? What is causing this to happen? And they spoke with a local archeologist who told them there is a two foot layer of 12 million year old oyster shell under us.

As you may know, all east of 95 was underwater 12 million years ago. So for us vineyard nerds, that's really exciting. ⁓ Oyster shell is made of calcium carbonate. So the same stuff we see in limestone. And it can contribute lots of beautiful minerality and salinity in a wine. And you might be thinking salt and wine, I mean, Laura, you know better than anyone, that's something that we love in white wine. Now the oyster shells, that old 12 million year old shelf of oyster shell,

Laurie Forster (11:40)
Mm-hmm.

Yes.

Regina Mc Carthy (12:01)
It's really deep, above it, we find all this loose shell fossil. So that is just like this little tidbit that I'm obsessed with. Our Sauvignon Blanc is planted on top of that marine sediment. And I really think it's what makes our Sauvignon Blanc such a good pairing with oysters. And then beyond that, what we're starting with on the ground level, there's also this really cool tie together with how we farm ⁓ in a regenerative way and restoring the ecosystem.

reminds me so much of what the aquaculture in Maryland is doing and what oysters do for the bay. So it's appearing on so many levels. It's culinary, it's geological, and it's philosophical all at the same time.

Laurie Forster (12:40)
Right.

That's so amazing. Well, you invoked the name of your Sauvignon Blanc. So you did send me two whites that you are going to pair with different preparations of oysters or different oysters. You'll let me know. But the first one is your Sauvignon Blanc, which you already mentioned. But tell me a little bit more about this, because there probably there aren't a lot of wineries. There are wineries making Sauvignon Blanc, but I wouldn't say it's a grape that's widespread.

in Maryland necessarily. So tell me a little bit about why you guys are so well suited and what I should expect in this glass

Regina Mc Carthy (13:16)
Yeah, absolutely. So Sauvignon Blanc has always been a real work for us here at Dodon. We have, I mentioned two white varieties, Chardonnay and Sauvignon. Sauvignon Blanc, think a lot of it has to do with that marine sediment that we see in the soil, but it just really likes it here. We grow five different clones. So clones are coming from different parts of the world and their origin, and they each have different characteristics. And we play around with blending these clones together.

We don't want a unidimensional line. We want a wine with a lot of layers and flavors. And so we do some blending with those different clones. The way we make this, it's always the first grape we pick. So it's an exciting moment because it's the kickoff to harvest. And typically for us, late August, we are often picking a little earlier than other parts of the state with that Sauvignon. We're picking the clusters off the vines, bringing them over to the winery, and we're pressing them as whole clusters. We put the clusters in the press.

gently squeeze out that juice, and then the bulk of our Sauvignon Blanc will go into stainless steel. That way we can capture all of the beautiful aromas that are just naturally occurring in this grape. It's a really interesting picking process. The aromatics of Sauvignon Blanc kind of hit a peak, and then will start to descend, and we want to capture that perfect moment before we get to peak aroma. That way, when they do start to release in the tank, we can capture them.

Laurie Forster (14:13)
Mm-hmm.

Regina Mc Carthy (14:34)
We do that through, again, that's to be in your nerds, we do that through a process called stabulation where we chill down the grape juice and it really protects all those aromas.

Regina Mc Carthy (14:43)
So one important part of our Sauvignon process is to protect all those beautiful aromatics that were developed in the vineyard. But another is on the winemaking side, as the yeast cells eat the sugar in the grape juice and turn it to alcohol, doing their good work, after all the sugar has been converted to alcohol, they have no food left, so they die and they sink to the bottom of the tank. And what we'll do is actually stir that into the wine. It's a process called stirring the lees, and it builds a nice weight and mouth feel in the wine.

so that it has a really nice presence on your palate. So with this wine, I get a really nice blend of tropical and citrus fruit, a really nice salinity, a saltiness that makes you wanna take another sip and is what makes it so good with oysters. And just like really nice one.

Laurie Forster (15:12)
Mm-hmm.

Yes.

Yeah, and that acidity

just right away your mouth is watering from that crisp acidity. And so this would be the perfect time to pop an oyster in our mouth. And I agree with you on the tropical and citrus fruit. It's really a nice sort of in-between style, I want to say. Some French Sauvignon can be very, very lean, almost.

not really fruity at all. And then New Zealand, some of them can be like over the top fruity and just like too much or extra, if you will. And so I really love this style. What are you gonna pair this with and how can people experience your wine with oysters as part of sip and shuck? What's in store?

Regina Mc Carthy (16:07)
Yeah, so in terms of pairings, I like to go one of two directions. I either like to match the pairing or go away from the style. So in terms of matching, I love this with a raw oyster. So a great mignonette, some nice shallots, a good vinegar-based mignonette, just raw. I like to play around with the saltier oysters and the sweeter oysters. And it's a really great way to kind of pair that

terroir and marroir, if you will, and just play around and experiment. But then in terms of contrasting pairings, I love this with a fried oyster as well. So with a fried oyster, you get fat and richness and that nice crunch. And the Sauvignon Blanc, with it being a very high acid wine, will just cleanse your palate. And it's almost like my favorite pairing in the world is fried chicken and champagne. Fried oysters and Sauvignon Blanc is really close by.

Laurie Forster (16:41)
Mmm.

Okay,

I love that idea. Perfect.

Regina Mc Carthy (17:01)
⁓ With this wine

in particular in March, we're going to be doing a fun partnership with True Chesapeake Oyster Company up in Baltimore. Chef Zach and I and a couple others are going to be on a panel discussion about exactly this topic about how these wines pair together in a culinary sense, but also how growing wines and raising oysters and the ways that we do help to clean up the bay. So that's going to be March 5th. Those can keep an eye out on our social media for that announcement.

and that'll be up in Baltimore. Great way to taste this wine live in action with some really great Maryland grown oysters.

Laurie Forster (17:33)
Okay, I'm going to mark the calendar for that one for sure. You mentioned regenerative farming, I'm not sure, you everybody's kind of heard the organic thing and the sustainability and all of that, but regenerative farming is a newer focus that a lot of, you know, farmers, vineyards like yourself are looking at. And rather than not putting bad stuff in the soil, you're actually trying to bring the soil

back and make it even better than you began. Tell us about it, what you guys do at the vineyards to employ that and make your soils as healthy as possible.

Regina Mc Carthy (18:00)
Yes.

Yeah, and regenerative is a tricky word for many reasons. It's kind of going through its own certification. There's all sorts of different farming certifications and they're different needs based on different regions. And so the word we use internally a lot is agroecology. And really what it all comes down to is creating an environment in which these grapevines can be as healthy and resilient as they

possibly can be to combat the pressures that we're seeing from climate change. But it goes beyond grapevines. We're looking at the ecosystem as a whole. And so for us, it's about healthy soil and biodiversity. And then there's a really important part, which is the human wellness aspect of it. So making sure that our team is safe out in the vineyard as well. So some of the fun projects that I'll tell you about on the regenerative or agroecological side for us,

We have our sheep in the vineyard. since about 2018, we've had a group of about 25 to 30 Katadans. Katadans are a really hardy breed of sheep. They're actually a meat breed. And they don't grow wool, they grow hair. So they almost, they get taken for goats quite a lot. But the sheep are really part of our farming team. So this time of year in the winter when the vines are not.

Laurie Forster (19:10)
Interesting. ⁓

Regina Mc Carthy (19:18)
growing, we graze them through the vineyard through a process called rotational mop grazing. They go in and they eat down all the cover crops and grasses and hay left over from last year. We don't mow in the vineyard. We've stopped mowing for several years, so there's a lot of organic matter for them to eat out there. And while they're eating, they're also fertilizing.

and we move them in concentrated pastures. It mimics migratory buffalo grazing, if you will, where the animals are really concentrated. They're kind of forced to eat all of the cover crops and use the bathroom in concentrated areas, which really fortifies the soil and really helps with soil health. Kind of an interesting thing we're doing as well with the sheep is we feed them crab meal, ground up crab shells. So good old Maryland girls.

Laurie Forster (19:50)
Ha ha ha!

Regina Mc Carthy (20:03)
We used to spread it in the vineyard. It's a common agricultural amendment, but you kind of need a lot of it. When you feed it to sheep, their little guts are like microbiome factories and they're great at distributing it through their manure. The crab meal allows the soil to release disease-suppressive enzymes, all the science jargon to tell you that at the end of the day, our mold and mildew pressure, our fungal pressure is reduced because our sheep are out in the vineyard. So that's an example of the kind of thing we're doing.

Laurie Forster (20:28)
Wow.

Regina Mc Carthy (20:31)
We also have a three acre pollinator meadow that is just a beautiful space for beneficial insects. Not to mention there's lots of snakes and other mammals down there, but the beneficial insects will keep some of our pest populations at bay so that we can rely less on chemical pesticides. We've got a big compost program. We planted about 1600 trees last year.

with Department of Natural Resources. We're just really trying to restore this place and create an environment that we would see in nature without our own intervention.

Laurie Forster (21:01)
That's amazing. can people check out the sheep when they come visit?

Regina Mc Carthy (21:06)
Yes, we offer tours every weekend. There is a big old great Pyrenees who lives with them who doesn't love visitors, but we will always go and see them and keep a safe distance and get to see the good work that they're doing. And then there's also a couple of cute little pigs that live with them who are also fun to visit.

Laurie Forster (21:16)
Okay.

that is cute. Awesome.

Well, that is a great segue, I feel like, into our next wine, which is part of all of this growing focus that you have, which is your other way for the oysters, the Chardonnay. So sometimes people have a preconceived notion what Chardonnay is going to be all about. And I know that's really evolving now. You know, the oak bombs of yesterday are not what people

are producing typically. So tell me a little bit about your Chardonnay and the style that you guys put out.

Regina Mc Carthy (21:57)
Sure, yeah, Chardonnay is a really polarizing grape variety, but we're seeing folks kind of coming back around and willing to try it. So I think Chardonnay is such a calling card for a winemaker. You can really learn about a winemaker's style based on their Chardonnay because there's so many extremes you can go. But for us, what we're really trying to do is capture balance and harmony.

So our Chardonnay is picked and pressed and then fermented in French oak barrels. Some of them are small, but mostly we're using big punch-ons rather, so twice the size of a normal barrel. And that winemaking tool allows us to kind of reduce the oak influence. But of course, we're looking in this wine at oak, acid, alcohol, fruit.

And we just want all of those components to be balanced without one of them sticking out more than the other. At the end of the day, Dough and wines are meant to be enjoyed at the table with food, with oysters. And so we want the wine to be like a beautiful background music as opposed to the star of the show. And that's the goal with the Chardonnay. It's just really food friendly, fresh acidity, but enough weight on the palate that it can stand up to a crab cake, a roasted oyster, a roasted chicken, something like that.

Laurie Forster (22:55)
Mmm.

It really is delicious. I love that that acidity comes right through and you have a little hint of that warmth from the oak, but it's all in balance with all the other components of the wine. so I see this, well, you can tell me what you see, but Matt mentioned a roasted oyster with butter and some other elements. This is kind of where I'm thinking for the Chardonnay.

Regina Mc Carthy (23:25)
Totally, yeah, you read my mind. Grilled oysters, roasted oysters. I always love a little bit of fat and a little bit of acid with this wine. So some nice butter, maybe some buttery, garlicky breadcrumbs, and then a good bit of lemon juice just to balance that acid out. It's a gorgeous bite.

Laurie Forster (23:42)
that. What and you you wanted to talk a minute I know when we were prepping a little bit about how you know people coming out and experiencing the Maryland wine and the Maryland oysters is so great for the state for you know our whole ecosystem if you will. So tell me a little bit about that so people can kind of have a second reason other than the deliciousness of this to to want to get out there for sip and chug.

Regina Mc Carthy (24:06)
Yeah, absolutely. think it's kind of, it goes back to that philosophical pairing part of what we were talking about where when you look at the way that oysters just in their sheer existence are cleaning the bay and healing the bay, and then you think about the compounded effect of that when we're farming oysters or when we have a really robust oyster farming situation, you know, for the oyster watermen who are out there gathering oysters.

There is this compounded effect where we are actively increasing the rate at which the Bay is being cleaned up. know, oysters are those little filters. They're cleaning up all that sediment. They're helping with nutrient runoff and all of those things. And so the more Maryland oysters that we eat, the more those Maryland oyster farmers and watermen are investing in their industries and putting that oysters back in the Bay and raising more. And so

It's just this beautiful system where there's a restoration happening as opposed to other types of farming that can sometimes deplete the environment. This is actually contributing to a healthier situation. And so I think about it too with our farming. We know that woody perennials, things like trees or in our case, grapevines,

when planted densely can slow down nutrient runoff into the bay. And in the same way that we have our wildflower meadows that are adding biodiversity and our tree planting, when we are farming this way, the same way that when oyster farmers are farming the way that they do, we're giving back, we're adding to instead of taking away. ⁓ Agriculture, of course, there's a lot of conversation about the impact on the environment and the impact on climate change.

Laurie Forster (25:36)
Mmm.

Regina Mc Carthy (25:44)
I just think that there's such a beautiful message here that when done correctly, agriculture can be a part of the solution instead of a part of the problem. And the biggest impact that folks can make is by supporting those local oyster farmers, local wine growers who are doing things the right way, local brewers who are growing these beautiful grains and hops and just really tending to and taking care of the land.

that impact is immeasurable. So it's just, is such a great reason for folks to get out, try something new, seek out some of those great pairings and they're delicious. So why not?

Laurie Forster (26:17)
I was going to ask you if you could give out your web address if folks, even if they are not in the Maryland area, I know they can go to the Dodon website and have the wine shipped to them if their interest is peaked on our Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay. Where should people go?

Regina Mc Carthy (26:31)
Yeah, so folks can find us on social media, just at Dodon Vineyards and online at dodinvineyards.com. We can ship to most states. And I'll give you a little giveaway. If anybody wants to enjoy some good shipping set pricing, just use the code OYSTER and we'll do some flat rate shipping for you. That'll go through the end of March.

Laurie Forster (26:53)
That's awesome. Well, thank you so much, Regina.

Laurie Forster (26:56)
Matt, welcome back. We had a little fun with wine while you were gone, but we're glad to have you back. And before we go, I wanted you just remind people when Sip and Shuck starts, when it stops and where they can go to get all the information so they can see what the participating locations are in addition to Dodon how they can experience where should people go.

Matthew Scales (27:18)
Yeah, so Maryland's best.net and that is where you can go ⁓ download the web based platform. So you can go to vineyards like Dodon and other restaurants and wineries, breweries, distilleries. And that it kicks off February 1st and goes through March 31st. And then there's like kickoff event February 10th.

Laurie Forster (27:35)
This is the perfect thing to get us through the winter because I am counting the days till spring. So I think if we can just have a lot of oysters with Maryland made wine, beer and spirits, we can make it through. can make it through. All right, guys. want to Matt, thank you so much, Regina. Thank you so much for coming to talk all about sip and Shuck. I can't wait for February 1st now. And let's just have a toast to Maryland wine and Maryland oysters.

Matthew Scales (27:49)
We can, yes.

Laurie Forster (28:03)
Well, Sip and Chuck is definitely something that makes me look forward to February or February as Matthew calls it. And so go to Maryland'sbest.net, click on Sip and Chuck and you'll get all the information on how to download the app to can check in at all the participating places that are offering Maryland wine, beer and spirits.

paired with oysters, it's gonna make February so much more fun. And you can get information about the kickoff event on February 10th in Annapolis, Maryland. Any of the events I mentioned that I am hosting in February, you can go to thewinecoach.com slash events, get all that information. And don't forget, if you go to the Dodon Vineyards website, use code oyster for some really great shipping rates so you can stock up.

on their fabulous Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay. always, I'm so thankful for you tuning in. If you love this show, please share it with another wine lover that you know. And until next week, cheers.