Cygnus Wine Cellars

Don’t let the exterior deter you. Wine was excellent. Owner was very knowledgable. If you’re looking for a fancy tasting room, don’t bother. If you’re looking to go home with some great wine, stop here.

We stopped in to take advantage of a Groupon we got. The location is in a downtown-​type setting in an old slaughterhouse. The day we went it was very cold out and as a result, it was Very Cold in this tasting room too.
The place was dead, no one in there the entire time we were there. So, we were a little put of when the owner advised that we were supposed to make a reservation to use the Groupon we had. Maybe it was his dry sense of humor? He seemed friendly enough as we chatted more throughout our stay.
We really did appreciate his knowledge of the area, the MD wine and farming industry and his efforts to propagate these industries.
Sorry to say that the wines tasted not to the level we prefer.

My wife and I enjoy visiting Maryland winerys’ tasting rooms, decided to give Cygnus a try on a cold January Saturday and were happy we did. The winery and tasting room is located in a building just a block off MD Route 30 (Hanover Pike), easy to get to and lots of parking.
We walked into the cozy tasting room, heated by a pellet stove, and were greeted by the Owner who offered us a tasting. We found Ray polite, knowledgable and interesting to talk to. We’ll be stopping by again.

I encountered this winemaker’s table and wine offerings at the recent Decanter event held at Baltimore’s Pimlico Racetrack on April 13, 2014. Having noticed he was the only person giving samples of wine t his table which was crowded the first time I walked by, I decided to save that for my last sampling table. When I encountered the white haired bearded gentleman’s table, he did not acknowledge my presence. I happened to be the only African-​American at the time and there was a group of three college aged kids and a young Caucasian couple. Needless to say he acted as if I was invisible. I asked him for a sample of dry wine and was given one. Then he proceeded to continue giving samples of additional wines to the others all the while explaining what he was providing. Again, I asked for a sample of another type and he did so while again pouring for the others, explaining the type of wines he poured. He never uttered a word to me. I happen to be in the business of promoting Maryland brands and businesses and would never endorse nor patron this winery in life. I left disgusted and completely horrified that this person would behave in such a blatantly disrespectful and racially biased manner. To whomever you were white-​haired man of Cygnus (likely owner Ray Brasfield)-money is green and you will miss out on quite a bit of it with your seemingly biased ways. Buying power comes in all colors and your behavior was horrendous. Up until that point my experience at Decanter was wonderful. Every other vendor for the most part was very personable, customer-​oriented and friendly.