On a clear Maryland afternoon in early autumn, surrounded by farms growing sun-sweetened produce, a harvester reaps a drying corn field. Traffic on the nearby roads is light. But occasionally, cars winding through Montgomery County’s Agricultural Reserve turn onto a driveway next to that field. They pass by rows of fruiting chardonnay grapevines, driving until they reach a black-and-white farmhouse complete with red brick chimneys and a metal silo.

This is the Crossvines, a restaurant, winery, vineyard, golf course, and events venue that span about 380 acres roughly 30 miles north of D.C. But it’s not just a sunny getaway. The newly opened destination is also a $19 million investment that aims to boost agricultural tourism, bolster the local economy, and kick-start small wineries by offering wine-making equipment that vineyards can use on a contract basis. The facility as a whole is already drawing D.C. and suburban residents out to the small town of Poolesville.

“Crossvines is the rising tide that’s lifted all the boats,” says Jim Brown, the Poolesville Town Commissioners president.

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More than a decade ago, Keith Miller, CEO of the Montgomery County Revenue Authority, met with now-county executive Marc Elrich to discuss ways to grow the county economy. Elrich suggested supporting local wine and agriculture. Miller then spent over 10 years researching, raising county and state funds and overseeing the build-out of the Crossvines.

His ultimate goal? “We’d love to see ag tourism grow in the area,” Miller says, referring to activities and venues that bring visitors to farms rather than urban attractions. “I think we’ve become the anchor for that.”

The Agricultural Reserve occupies 93,000 acres in Montgomery County, and it’s dotted with farms, breweries, and trails. The Crossvines has the potential to become a gateway, according to Visit Montgomery president and CEO Kelly Groff: “a starting point [to] all the other sites in the Ag Reserve.”

The facility has only been open since July 8, so Montgomery County Office of Agriculture director Mike Scheffel says it’s too early to assess how the Crossvines will affect the Reserve long-term. But the destination has already started supporting farms through its in-house restaurant, the Farmhouse Bistro.

“It’s almost been overused as a saying—you know, ‘they’re farm to table’—but I literally want to be like, go to the farm, have the farmers come out and talk to me,” executive chef Luis Montesinos says.

During the summer, Montesinos would often drive 10 minutes to Lewis Orchards, where he’d comb through fresh fruits and vegetables in search of that week’s bounty. During the winter, he says he sources items from hydroponic and year-round farms. Back in the kitchen, he transforms the food he buys into a seasonal menu with flair and the experience he gained working at restaurants like José Andrés’ Jaleo.

Among Montesinos’ creations: a crab cake sandwiched in a toasted bun with gently pickled corn relish, a butternut squash salad that combines local honey, ginger, squash, and sage, and a crisp, lightly seasoned beet salad made with produce grown a few miles away from the Crossvines.

Montesinos is working to bring a specific vision to life: “When you’re in Napa and you’re on the West Coast, and you’re having these amazing wines, and then all of a sudden you just get the amazing food,” he says, “that’s exactly what I want it to be.”

Maryland isn’t traditionally known for its wine. A 2022 study commissioned by WineAmerica found that the economic output of Maryland’s wine industry is about half that of Virginia’s and less than half of Pennsylvania’s. Miller and Brown are looking to change that.

“We’re never going to catch up to Virginia or Pennsylvania most likely,” Brown acknowledges. “But are we going to be in the game? We have to be in the game. And we need places like The Crossvines.”

To establish a business in the Agricultural Reserve, people must send proposals to the Montgomery County Office of Agriculture, which works with other county and state agencies to ensure regulatory compliance. Multiple wineries, including Rocklands Farm Winery and Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard, have already gotten started there. But for the area to become a wine destination, Maryland Secretary of Agriculture Kevin Atticks says a concentration of producers needs to develop in the Reserve. 

That’s where the Crossvines comes in, as both a research facility and business incubator.

The Montgomery County Revenue Authority worked with researchers from the University of Maryland to grow experimental grapevines, testing how the plants handle different types of soil. Students will use the Crossvines’ resources to learn about winemaking, Miller says.

The Crossvines’ wine production facility is also helping new wineries get started now. Building up a new winery is expensive—it can “easily get to a half a million bucks,” says assistant winemaker Tyler Henley. Instead, clients began contracting with Henley’s team this fall to use the Crossvines’ 35 brand-new stainless steel tanks. They supply the grapes, and Henley and his team guide them through the process of turning fruit to wine.

Henley’s goal is to gradually coach his clients to become independent through an “alternating proprietorship” business model.

“They’ve established their own winery, their own federal license. They own the grapes,” Henley says. “That helps our clients become successful, because we’re forcing them to kind of take the reins.”

Beyond supporting outside wineries, Henley produces four house wines. The red, white, still rosé, and sparkling rosé are designed to show other vineyards that making small-batch wines is feasible. The bistro sells them along with ones produced by Boyd Cru Wines, a client of the production facility.

Visitors now sample those vintages on a daily basis, sipping them at the black-and-white bar, in the modern restaurant, or on the patio. On a few weekday afternoons in the fall, friend groups and older couples filled up seats in the Farmhouse Bistro. One woman told her waiter she had the day off and just had to swing by.

That image of the bistro—with tables full of local wines and produce—represents the Crossvines’ appeal to local officials like Atticks.

“You can try Crossvines’ wine in the beautiful setting with the beautiful food. But while you’re there, you can also try other wines from the region,” he says. “That’s pretty visionary.”