Start your Saturday adventures early with a Pikesville Wine Crawl. Think there aren't enough local wine tastings to make an evening of it? Check out this list, and think again. Start off Saturday at The Wine Loft, located in the Festival at Woodholme, where Maryland Wines Week continues. The store, next to Trader Joe's, at 1809 Reisterstown Road, prides itself on selling inexpensive, yet quality products made by earth-friendly vintners. From 1-6 p.m. Saturday, The Wine Loft is offering samples of these reds and whites grown locally: Black Ankles' Rolling Hills, a red blend Basignani Marisa, a…

Through June 17 is the time to try wines produced in our own state. The second annual Maryland Wine Week is now upon us, taking place Friday through June 17, which means that stores and restaurants are offering specials on Maryland wines, as well as events. Here are just some of the events scheduled: Pikesville At The Wine Loft at 1809 Reisterstown Road in the Festival at Woodholme shopping center, get 10 percent off of all Maryland wines, beginning Friday through the 17th. Also, The Wine Loft has scheduled three Maryland wines tasting events from 1-6 p.m. on June 9, 14 and 16. Baltimore …

One grape was lost but now is found, while another grows mainly in Spain. There's one that shines with seafood, and another that sparkles red. They're the main attractions in the "four weird wines" of The Wine Loft, and you can get a taste of their unusual natures from 1-6 p.m. Saturday during the shop's weekly wine tasting: The lost grape—Vistamar Carmenere. Once thought to be extinct after being grown in the Bordeaux region of France, this Carmenere grape was unexpectedly found again being grown in Chile, said Manager Carrie Blank, wine specialist. Interestingly, though, Chileans mistakenly…

Wine lover and wine shop owner Michael Fishman now adds wine founder to his list of accomplishments. The wine manager of Quarry Wine & Spirits in Pikesville has created a new, box wine: Open Door Cellars. His shop and others throughout Maryland already carry the new line of wines that come in a bright, blue box with an art deco-style, Baccanalian woman toasting with a huge glass of red. During my recent visit to Fishman's shop, he said he couldn't discuss the wines themselves just yet, but explained that wine in a box has more consistent quality and lasts longer than screw-cap wines. It's …

  If you love a wine—anything from the driest red to the sweetest white—you've got something in common with Mike Fishman. Fishman is the wine manager at Quarry Wine & Spirits. It takes only a few seconds of conversation to realize he has a passion for the fermented grape and serious knowledge of the subject to go with it. I stopped by the store Thursday to find a dry Reisling. And almost immediately, Fishman pointed out what he says is his driest—Kungfu Girl from Washington State. At about $15 including tax, I thought it'd be worth a try. Fishman's always ready to help you find the perfect …