Our Story Told

Burnt Hill Reflections

Reading the recent Baltimore Magazine feature on Burnt Hill Farm felt deeply meaningful for our family. It’s one thing to live a story day by day through the work, the risk, the setbacks, and the quiet progress. It’s another to see it reflected back with such care. The piece captures something that matters deeply to us: Burnt Hill was never meant to be simply a winery or a destination. It has always been an attempt to build a place of beauty, integrity, and meaning from the ground up, rooted in the belief that this land, and this region, are capable of far more than most people imagine.

What moved me most is that the story understands Burnt Hill as a living expression of our family’s values. It sees the long arc from Old Westminster to this hilltop, the children growing up alongside the vines, the years of searching for the right land, the patience required to farm thoughtfully, and the conviction that healthier soils, deeper roots, and regenerative practices can produce wines with greater life and clarity. It also holds the more personal parts of the journey with grace. There have been seasons of real uncertainty for our family, and this farm has become intertwined with our deepest hopes around healing, resilience, and what it means to keep building a life you believe in.

So much of what we do here unfolds quietly. The days are filled with farming, pruning, planting, cleaning, repairing, hosting, and beginning again. Most of the work goes unseen. That’s the nature of agriculture, hospitality, and family enterprise. You give yourself to the process long before the results are visible. This feature reminded me that Burnt Hill is the product of many years of faith, effort, and shared sacrifice, shaped slowly, season by season, by our family, our team, and a larger community that has chosen to believe in what we’re building.

I’m deeply grateful to Baltimore Magazine for telling this story with such heart, to Lydia Woolever for writing it with such care, talent, and thoughtfulness, to Justin Tsucalas for the beautiful photography, and to Kelsey Burrow for making the entire process feel seamless. I’m equally grateful to everyone who’s visited the farm, shared a bottle, followed along, or encouraged us from afar. Burnt Hill is still becoming, and in many ways, we’re only at the beginning. That’s what makes this moment feel so meaningful. Thank you for being part of it.

-Drew Baker

Burnt Hill Farm founders Drew Baker, Lisa Hinton, and Ashli Johnson.