Linganore is a small growing area on the bench-land Piedmont Plateau, northwest of Baltimore. It became Maryland’s first approved AVA in 1983. The Linganore name is of Indian origin, referring to the area framed by mountains to the west and the coastal plain to the east. The appellation’s microclimate is generally warmer and wetter than surrounding areas, with a longer growing season than Catoctin to the east, but slightly cooler and dryer with a shorter growing season than the coastal plain. Linganore’s soils are characterized by deep, well-drained gravelly loam, with silt and traces of mica, a shale bedrock and a high water table.