• Old Westminster Winery received a license to operate an outdoor restaurant and opted to pair its wines with pizza.
• The owners source their ingredients from farms located within 100 square miles of their vineyard.

Related: How to incorporate wine into your pizzeria

Beer isn’t the only beverage that pairs deliciously with pizza, and the owners of Old Westminster Winery in Carroll County, Maryland, understand that better than most.

Drew Baker, who co-owns the winery with his sisters, Lisa Hinton and Ashli Johnson, and their parents, Jay and Virginia Baker, recently received a license to run an outdoor restaurant on their farm—and pizza was the family’s go-to menu choice, according to Lancaster Farming.

The family purchased two brick ovens from a Baltimore restaurant that closed down during the pandemic. Then, they hired James Beard Award nominee David Barboza to help them develop their menu.

And, importantly, they decided to source their ingredients—including flour, veggies, cheese, cured meats and more—from local producers within 100 miles.

“When we talk about supporting local farms, it’s not in the token way that so many farm-to-table restaurants do,” Baker told Lancaster Farming. “We put our money where our mouth is.”

Old Westminster Winery buys its flour from Migrash Farm in nearby Randallstown and sources pepperoni and sausage from Meat Crafters in Landover. The cheese comes from Shepherds Manor Creamery, a sheep-milking farm.

Related: How to better market, manage and price your pizza shop’s wine selections

To complement Old Westminster’s extensive wine selection, pizzas on the menu include the Jam Boats (Atwater’s Artisan Jam and creamy sheep’s cheese); the Ramp It Up (ramp puree, pickled ramps, ricotta, pork cheek, lemon and verjus); and the American Pie (tomatoes, mozzarella, Burnt Hill Farm salami and fresh basil).

Baker said his family’s business is helping farmers “by offering a deeper food and wine experience rooted in local agriculture that is totally delicious and approachable.”