Today we’d like to introduce you to Polly Pittman.
Hi Polly, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
After years of working in Public Health, my husband Tom and I both knew we wanted to do some sort of agriculture when we moved back to my family’s farm in Davidsonville, Maryland in 2006.
Our travels to Italy inspired us to look more into winemaking, and we soon realized that the land had great potential to make high-quality, mid-Atlantic wines! We planted the commercial vineyard in 2010, and now, nearly 15 years later, our tasting room has become a gathering place for the community to sip wine, spend time with family and friends, and enjoy the beauty of nature.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Tom and I feel grateful to grow wine in Maryland, particularly on the Western-shore uplands (Anne Arundel County), where Dodon is located. We have beautiful ripening weather in September with long warm days and nice cool evenings. The challenges we see now are the need to adapt to and mitigate the impacts of climate change.
For us, that looks like late spring frosts, which in 2020 reduced our white wine yields by 70%, for example. Some years, we see multiple extreme downpours of two inches or more each year. We have used both agroecological approaches, like cover crops, integrating sheep into the vineyard, and building disease-suppressive soils, as well as technology, like large fans that help to shift cold air from the vines, to mitigate these impacts.
The beautiful, and inspiring result, is that we are regenerating the land, sequestering carbon out of the atmosphere, and seeing that agriculture can be a part of the solution to climate change–rather than part of the problem.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Dodon is known as an “agroecological-focused winery,” that creates time and space for conversation and connection. Because we are only open by appointment, we can organize our schedules to ensure that we can spend time with our guests, sharing our stories and telling them all about the wines we make. Our team members are integral to our tasting sessions, whether they’re pouring the wines or sharing anecdotes from harvest season.
We’re well known in the community for our Wine Club, which offers members the opportunity to attend unique events like wine pairing dinners by award-winning chefs, comparative wine tastings, educational speakers series, hikes, holiday parties, and more.
For the local business community, we are known as a fantastic location for business retreats and board meetings in a space that can seamlessly transition into a wine tasting, wine dinner, or reception for organizations. And, potentially most importantly, because of our farming approach and use of solar energy, Dodon wines are carbon-negative.
What do you think about happiness?
One of the most rewarding parts of our work is bringing people together around the table to share good wine, good food, and important conversation. At Dodon, we truly believe that wine is the product of our relationship with nature, and we love sharing that message with everyone who comes through the vineyard.
Pricing:
- Self-Guided Flight – $30
- Introductory Tour & Tasting – $45
- Collector’s Tour & Tasting – $80
Contact Info:
- Website: www.dodonvineyards.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dodonvineyards/
Image Credits
The Vineyards at Dodon
