Moms and wine sparkle at Mother’s Day vineyard brunch

Tyler Velasquez placed a vase of flowers in front of his girlfriend, Alycia Chapman at Loew Vineyards near Unionville Sunday morning.

“Happy Mother’s Day,” he said, taking a seat at a table.

The vineyard hosted a Mother’s Day brunch Sunday that doubled as its official release for its three new sparkling wines. Sunday was the only opportunity for samples, Rachel Loew Lipman, the winemaker and director of operations at the winery, said.

After Sunday, they will only be available for purchase by the bottle, she said.

The vineyard has hosted Mother’s Day events in the past, she said, but this year’s dates and the weather lined up perfectly.

“I thought it would be really nice to have an event in the spring that had a celebration and ... really just give people a way of gathering with their own family and friends and have fun,” she said.

Loew Lipman said it was especially important considering the vineyard itself has a strong female presence. Her grandmother owns the vineyard with her grandfather, and Loew Lipman, her sister and other women work in the winery.

Chapman and Velasquez were joined by Chapman’s daughters, Makayla, 11, and Madison, 8. Chapman said she’s driven by the vineyard and always wanted to try it, so they went Sunday for a small celebration.

Chapman said Mother’s Day has become more important as she’s gotten older and had her own two children.

“I do so much for them and you don’t realize how much your mom and dad did when you were a kid,” she said.

Velasquez agreed, saying that mothers have an important role in their children’s lives.

“Mothers do so so much, so it’s important to celebrate everything they do,” he said.

Madison piped up, saying she loved her mom because her mom took care of her.

Kimberly Johnson, the president of the Maryland Wineries Association was also at the winery on Sunday. She was planning to visit various wineries in the area, and got to bring her mom, Karen Waters, with her.

Mothers do most of their work behind the scenes, Johnson said, and support their children during the hard times.

Her own mother was there last year when deer ate all of her Chardonnay grapes, she said. She fell on the floor in the vineyard crying, she said, but her mom came over and told her they would grow Chardonnay grapes this year. Waters is the one who picked her back up, she said.

“This year, I don’t have Chardonnay, but, I have my mom and that was a moment that I shared with her as well,” she said, tearing up.

Kyle and Rachel Mansour were celebrating their first Mother’s Day as new parents with their son, 7-and-a-half-month-old Grant.

Kyle Mansour said it was nice to come out and sit in the grass with his family and appreciate them after all the sleepless nights.

“It’s full time job times two be being a mom,” he said. “Just a ton of work and a lot of painful hours, a lot of awesome hours.”

Lisa Compton’s three children and husband took her out to the vineyard Sunday for more special Mother’s Day that usual. Typically, they go out to eat and Brian Compton will cook breakfast, the family said.

Stephanie Fuster, Noah Compton’s girlfriend, also joined the family since her mother is out of state, she said.

“I appreciate her just because I mean, she pretty much built me to be the person I am today,” she said.