Mamma Mia! Movie Night at Basignani Winery

This week we leave the sport of cricket behind for the sound of crickets. And the songs of ABBA. Because it's TGIF Movie Night at the Basignani Winery in Sparks, Maryland, and tonight they are showing the musical Mamma Mia starring Meryl Streep and Amanda Seyfried.

Sorry, if you are reading this now you've already missed Mamma Mia, but you can still see the movie scheduled for SEPTEMBER 4TH, Come September starring Rock Hudson and Gina Lollobrigida. The film will be different but everything else will be the same, the delicious prize-winning wines created by Bert Basignani from vinefera grapes grown right here in his "backyard," the relaxed atmosphere of the bucolic winery, the outdoor blow-up movie screen of unexpectedly vast proportions, the free popcorn, and the savory pizzas personally prepared for you by Lynne Basignani and baked by Bert in their outdoor brick oven.

You can just drive up and park in the field next to the house. Buy an $8 ticket that includes the movie, popcorn and wine tasting, then claim a spot on the gently sloping lawn with your blanket or folding chair. Officially the event starts at 8pm but people start arriving with their friends, families and picnic baskets around 6:45. That way they have plenty of time to sample the wines and order a pizza, and hang out chatting, eating, and drinking until the sun sets.

As dusk settles over the vines and trees of rural Baltimore County, the stars come out. Tonight they are Streep, Seyfried, Pierce Brosnan, and Colin Firth. Next time they will be Rock Hudson, Gina Lollobrigida, Sandra Dee, and Bobby Darin. The audience laughs, cheers, applauds, and uncorks as the movie plays on. Bert and Lynne finally have time to make a pizza for themselves and they sit down with their grandkids to enjoy the evening with what seemed to me like a couple of hundred of their best friends.

TGIF Movie Night at Basignani Winery:
8-11pm... The next movie is Come September on SEPTEMBER 4th.

Basignani Winery
15722 Falls Rd
Sparks Glencoe, MD 21152-9582
(410) 472-0703 (directions)

To learn more about the Winery, take a look at this Washington Post story from 2006.

Other upcoming wine events and festivals from the Maryland Wineries Association.

Visitors, please leave comments by clicking on the word "COMMENTS" below, and if you know about any other great wine events coming up in Maryland, let us know and leave a link if you can. Thanks!