As far as a grapey Super Bowl between the 49ers and the Ravens, you’d think San Francisco would have it in the bag. They’re super close to Napa and Sonoma, and California makes almost 90% of wines consumed in the the US. So maybe you’d be right about them winning. But don’t totally dismiss Baltimore, since Maryland actually does make wine. Check out these stats:

• There are 61 wineries in Maryland producing over 420 different wines.
• Boordy Vineyards is the oldest winery (established in 1945) and Crow Vineyards is the newest (opened in 2012).
• Maryland wineries sold about 1,744,275 bottles of wine in 2011 – 11.6% more than the year before – with sales of  about $24.4 million.

Not too shabby! So for all the Ravens fans out there, don’t be shamed into serving a California wine at your party. You can go for one from Maryland, or even one of these:

Ravenswood Winery: they’re known for their great Zinfandels and make a lot of other varietals too. But it’s in Sonoma so if you wanna go non-Cali then see below.

Raven’s Glenn Winery: this one’s in Ohio. Their Petite Sirah has won a few awards and they make lots of other kinds too – fruit wines, ice wine, sangria, port. Kind of random, but we’re in this for the theme, grapefriends…

Raven’s Run Red, this one’s from Paso Robles, California, but it’s bottled especially for the Maryland market. They’re big Ravens fans too obviously…

Good luck, players. And to all of you venturing to Super Bowl parties, even better luck that there will be good wine for you to drink!