I typically only review wineries…but I’ll make an exception here, because this is very much a stop for Virginia wine lovers.
First of all, Curio is operated by Rogers Ford Farm Winery, which was actually my very first wine club and still a favorite to visit. Not coincidentally, Rogers Ford was also the first winery to introduce me to one of my all-time favorite grapes, petit verdot.
Second, you can find a lot of Virginia wine here, and not just from Rogers Ford. Of course they sell Rogers Ford here, but when I visited they had Old House on tap, and owner Johnny Puckett is interested in adding more.
Curio is located in downtown Fredericksburg. I’ve often visited this town to tour the local history sites, but this was the first time I’ve visited the town for wine (although I may have to visit for mead as well, since I noticed Haley’s Honey Meadery is up the street).
Johnny recently retired from his full-time job as an IT guy, although the words ‘retirement’ and ‘winery owner’ rarely go together. So it wasn’t a coincidence that Curio opened only a few weeks later.
Curio is a wine bar, but it’s also something of a satellite tasting room for Rogers Ford wine. Club members can find all their wines here (and still receive their club discounts). But it’s not *just* Rogers Ford; you will find a wide assortment of wines from across the world.
One thing that makes this place different from a traditional ‘wine bar’ is they use WineStations to pour your wine. The way the system operates is you buy a debit card that you charge up, then insert the card in the machine. You then select the size of your pour (1 ounce, 3 ounces, 6 ounces) from the wine you want. The machine debits your card the appropriate amount, and automatically pours your wine.
If I had one complaint…is this system makes it almost *too* easy to sample a lot. You’d think 1 ounce isn’t a lot. But when are curious and have a dozen samples to choose from, it goes fast!
I visited the second weekend after their grand opening and Johnny was there serving flatbreads and chatting up new visitors. He explained that ‘Curio’ was selected because he wanted guests to be curious about both wine and people. You can sample a wide assortment of wines, but he was also intent that you chat-up your neighbors.
I charged my card with $30, and between a guests and I we sampled a wide assortment of wine. Being a fan of Rogers Ford I started with his orange wine, but as soon as that was gone I moved to his petit verdot then a few other international wines.
For this visit I went through samples of Johnny’s orange wine, PV, and cab franc, plus several other wines. Make sure to visit the patio outside.
Apologies if the photos have bad lighting; I was more worried about eating the flatbreads than photography.
Any visitor to 12 Ridges Vineyard is guaranteed to be blown away by the mountain views and wine that demonstrate a ‘sense of place’. Located on an old Christmas tree farm, it has the vibe of a get-away retreat.
The tasting room adroitly maximizes their huge deck so guests can take in their surroundings. You can even hang out on the swing set at the top of the hill, overlooking the vineyard and Blue Ridge Mountains.
I’ll get to the wine in a moment, but before talking about that it’s important to explain *why* wine grown here is so special.
In telling the story of ‘how I started my winery’, owner Craig Colberg said when he bought the property in 2010, he didn’t have a specific long-term plan. Fortunately, Craig’s friends gave him the idea of planting a vineyard precisely to take advantage of its unique potential.
That’s because this place is all about location location location. Vineyard consultant Jake Busching planted the vineyard in 2018 fully knowing its terroir had the potential to make fantastic white wines, especially suitable to make sparkling.
12 Ridges opened in 2019, initially selling wine from other high-mountain sites while their vines matured. Their 20 acres are roughly equally divided between chardonnay, pinot gris, pinot noir, and riesling, with the first vintage coming out in 2022.
What You Need To Know About High Elevation Wine
Situated off northern end of the Blue Ridge Parkway, at 3,300 feet it’s the highest elevation vineyard in Virginia (and 2nd highest in all the east coast). It also has rocky, well drained soils, important for producing high-quality grapes.
But 12 Ridge’s greatest advantage comes down to one word: acidity. Grapes grown at cooler sites retain higher levels of acid, making them crisp, food friendly and ageable. Acid is also one of the key components for sparkling wine. Not coincidentally, they planted slightly heavier on the chardonnay and pinot noir, as these are Champagne’s most famous grapes.
Higher elevation sites are by default cooler, an important advantage as global warming takes hold. That said, sites with high relative elevation (higher than the surrounding area) have a special additional advantage, referred to as a ‘thermal belt’.
Cold air is heavy and drops to lower elevations. As the cold comes in, it displaces lighter warm air which create a zone of warmer temperature above it.
It’s not uncommon for mornings at 12 Ridges to be a full 10 degrees warmer than the valley below, helping guard the vines from morning frost. Craig explained the diurnal temperature shift could take them from the upper 50s in the morning to highs in the 70s in the daytime.
High elevation sites have other advantages. Grapes grown in such locations are subjected to stronger UV rays, resulting in thicker skins that provide more intense color and bolder tannins. Stronger winds also reduce disease pressure, as good airflow removes moisture from the vines.
But as with nearly everything, there’s a tradeoff.
Winegrower Josh Seaman explained how 12 Ridges doesn’t have bud break until late April. While this puts them past much of the ‘danger zone’ of a spring frost, being 3-4 weeks behind the rest of the state elevates their risk to hurricane season.
Cool weather sites also must juggle the tradeoff between ripeness and acidity. Heat ripens grapes on the vine, but also causes their acidity to drop. The cool weather means 12 Ridge’s fruit struggles to ripen even into September. Windy conditions also make fruit set more difficult.
A Taste of Terroir
As of late 2023, 12 Ridges has only produced two vintages. Fortunately, Craig was very generous and let us try what he had.
While production should ramp up in the future, this is unlikely to ever be a high-producing site. The vineyard typically only produces 1 ton of fruit per acre, which is a lower yield than they’d prefer. Sadly, quantity is often the enemy of quality.
We also talked about their plans for a sparkling program. With acidity like this, the grapes here almost cry out to be made into sparkling wine. Their first release using chardonnay and pinot gris will come out in 2025, so I’ll have to be patient until then.
While the prospect of high-acid whites is enticing, I was just as excited at the prospect of more pinot noir. While there almost 50 acres planted in Virginia, I’d argue less than half of that is planted in cooler sites where it can reach its full potential. This is one of them.
I was also happy to learn their wine is made at newly-formed Common Wealth Crush, with Ben and Tim Jordan as their winemakers. Their low-intervention philosophy is a great fit for 12 Ridges, and Common Wealth Crush (which I visited later that day) has a great setup for both sparkling and still wine.
Over an extended tasting Craig and Josh discussed the lineup, and we found a lot to love. That said, if I *had* to pick a favorite, it would be the chardonnay.
This chardonnay was, not to exaggerate, my favorite Virginia chardonnay of the past year; and I’ve had a LOT of great chardonnay. To say I held back a tear when I learned there was none for purchase would be only a slight exaggeration.
What we tried:
2021 Chardonnay; fresh, high acidity. It also had surprising weight, with light apple notes which reminded me of a golden delicious. More Chablis than Burgundy in style, which in itself is very different from what you find elsewhere in Virginia.
2021 Riesling: Bright, green apple. Mostly dry with a sweet note at the end. Well balanced.
2021 Pinot Gris: Made in an orange wine style, which means they used white wine but didn’t remove the skin during fermentation. Tangy, weighty, and overall really nice and interesting.
2021 Pinot Noir: A bit heavier than a west coast pinot, but that’s not a negative; we all enjoyed it. Made using native yeast and a bit of whole cluster fermentation.
For those who are curious, here is a brief list of Virginia’s high-elevation vineyards.
This list could be even longer if I included vineyards in the Upper Shenandoah Valley / Roanoke / Wytheville areas. I omitted these locations because while they have raw elevation, the lack of ‘relative’ elevation (meaning the vineyards are closer to the valley floor) means those vineyards lack the ‘thermal belt’ and airflow needed to excel in the same way vineyard like 12 Ridges or Ankida can.
It’s tough to find a Virginia wine lover who’s unfamiliar with Ankida Ridge. While Ankida is one of the state’s more remote vineyards, being one of Virginia’s very few pinot noir growers make them one of the more famous.
Ankida is only 75 minutes from downtown Charlottesville, but the last leg of the journey is all uphill. You know things will get interesting when you pass signs that say “end of state maintenance” and your signal gets weak, but at least the views are beautiful.
I’d been trying to meet up with owners Christine and Dennis Vrooman for a long time but always seemed to miss them. But this time I was in luck; Christine was happy to host a small group, and it was easy to find ‘volunteers’ to come with me.
With an elevation that tops out at 1,800 feet, Ankida is one of Virginia’s higher-elevation vineyards. While one wouldn’t blame the Vroomans for choosing the location for the view alone (which is technically true – the land was originally going to be a weekend getaway), its elevation actually serves a more practical purpose.
Standing on the deck of her tasting room overlooking the valley, Christine gestured at the scenery before us. “We have a little valley here and a little valley there, and cold air moves down them to the bottom of the mountain. We’ve never been touched by spring frost, and our disease pressure is low since we never get morning dew. I could have called it Utopia Ridge.”
The phenomenon Christine was referring to is called a ‘thermal belt’, and its why winegrowers prize mountaintop sites. Cold air is dense, and like water flows to the lowest point available. This in turn displaces lighter warm air which rises above it. This results in a narrow zone where the temperature is warmer than what is above and below it.
As Ankida is 1,000 feet higher than the bottom of the valley, the morning cold air passes through the vineyard but like an unwanted guest is shown the way out. This lets the vines stay within a consistent temperature range, one that is conducive for growing grapes. Christine explained their mornings start off warmer than the town below, but in the afternoon, the vineyard is typically 5-15 degrees cooler than the surrounding lower regions. Even in the hot 2023 summer the temperature never hit 90 degrees.
This climate (plus the ancient granite the vines are planted on) makes it a great place for pinot, gamay, and chardonnay; 6 acres in total. The first two grapes are nearly unheard of in Virginia, while the later retains a degree of acidity that’s rarely found.
This unique microclimate is the inspiration for an initiative that Ankida and nearby 12 Ridges Vineyard are working on; a new American Viticultural Area (AVA) dedicated to high-elevation vineyards.
Details are scarce since it’s mostly conceptual, but the idea is to have a non-contiguous AVA which only includes vineyards situated above a certain elevation. 1,000 feet has been bandied around as the measuring stick to join the club, but fine details such as the vineyard’s elevation in relation to its surrounding area are just as important as the site’s true elevation above sea level.
Fortunately for my group, Christine didn’t let my geeky wine questions stop her from pouring. Out came several cheese plates and a number of bottles, starting with their newest wine, the Blanc de Noir champenoise-style sparkling.
As much as I missed their Blanc de Blanc, this Blanc de Noir was equally good. Even in a lineup full of stars, it was special.
Next up were a pair of pinot-based wines; Ankida’s rosé and “Verday”, plus a chardonnay.
The rosé was nice, but I’ve had lots of great rosés and it was almost unfair to it put it next to a wine that truly surprised me; the Verday. Named after the light, refreshing wine that Portugal is known for, Verday had the same zestiest as any Vino Verde I’ve had.
Next up was their chardonnay. While the pinot noir gets the majority of the press, I think their bright & creamy 2021 Chardonnay should get equal billing. Not sure if I should give credit to the terroir or winemaker Nathan Vrooman, but dang I liked that one.
Then came a pair of pinot noirs; 2017 Reserve and 2019. The former was a special treat and made me kick myself for not ordering it while I could (granted it was $85…but still). 2021 wasn’t quite as complex but was still very quaffable. I was excited to learn that a 2021 Reserve was also in the works.
We ended the day sitting at the top of the vineyard finishing off the open bottles and admiring the view before heading home – but not before we were treated with a ride through the vineyard.
During a 4-winery visit weekend last month, a group of friends and I kicked things off with a visit to Mountain & Vine (which for now still goes by its old name, DelFosse).
I’d been to Mountain & Vine a few years earlier, but this was my first stop since they won the 2023 Virginia’s Governor’s Cup for their 2021 Screaming Hawk Meritage. If the chance to taste this wine wasn’t enough, getting to catch up with their new winemaker Stephen Barnard (formerly at Keswick) sealed the deal.
Mountain & Vine is located about 30 minutes SW of Charlottesville in the lower hills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. It feels like an exceptionally rural area, but the tasting room is pretty and the view from the top of the hill is absolutely killer. They even have a B&B on the property.
Stephen was gracious enough to host my group, but we lucked out we also got to meet with owner Mike Albers.
He and his wife Adrienne purchased the property from Claude DelFosse in 2017. It didn’t make sense to keep the name of the old owner forever, but the Albers weren’t in a rush to change it either. They slowly shifted the name to Mountain & Vine, focusing on rebranding the name on the bottles as opposed to the name of website.
This new labeling proved fortuitous as their Cup win brought a ton of publicity. While the sign at the entrance still says DelFosse, they’ve almost completely pivoted to Mountain & Vine.
As for the vineyard, based on the slopes I saw it was easy to tell this is a great place for winegrowing. The have 17 acres vines using 11 varietals; all vinifera with the sole exception of some chambourcin. At an elevation of 850-1,100 feet, those vines are (for the most part) safely above the frost line.
Mike fully admitted that when he submitted the Screaming Hawk he thought it was a bit too young, but figured he’s submit it anyway just to get their opinion. Well – surprise! The judges obviously disagreed and he came away with the Cup.
Once Stephen came in from the vineyard we sat down for an extended tasting. As he’d only been here for a matter of weeks none of these wines were his, but that didn’t stop him from chatting them up. All in all we easily tried at least a dozen wines, all estate grown.
We kicked things off with the whites, and I found a lot to love. The Grand Cru Reserve is a rich white blend and one of my favorite wines of the weekend. I also loved the sauv blanc and chardonnay. I left with two bottles of the Cru.
For reds, obviously my favorite was the bigger, drier wines, but they had several options that were designed to be served chilled or could satisfy a sweeter audience.
The 50% Petit Verdot, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc and 10% Malbec Screaming Hawk was the favorite of the lineup. For a PV-heavy wine it didn’t taste overly ‘big’, and neither did I feel it was overly youthful. It was totally drinkable now and had Mike poured me more I would have finished it right there.
The runners up were their “Grinning Fox” (75/25 PV and Malbec), 2020 PV, and “1970” chambourcin. It’s not often that I’m impressed with chambourcin but I really liked the fruity-strawberry notes.
Rounding it out we tried a soft cabernet franc, the “Deer Rock” and the “Hippie Chick” that was more for a sweeter palate. Sadly no 100% Malbec (theirs is one of the few in Virginia); that was already sold out.
All the wines were good-to-great (even ones that normally don’t fit my palate). But if the quality wasn’t enough, I really appreciated how the prices were easily a good 10-20%-ish cheaper than elsewhere in the Charlottesville area. Being remote has other advantages.
To anyone who visits – TAKE PICTURES FROM THE HILL. The view alone is worth the trip.
Common Wealth Crush Co. (CWCC) is tough to describe at a glance because it has a lot going on. Its core business is to make wine for other customers (a process often called ‘custom crush’, but technically should be referred to as contract winemaking) but it also provides a venue for vintners to make their own wine. Winemakers Ben and Tim Jordan bottle under the Common Wealth Crush Co. logo, plus make wine for their personal and family brands.
CWCC is located in an old metal crafting facility in Waynesboro. While most of the space is dedicated to winemaking they also have a small tasting room which serves bottles from CWCC, Midland Wine (using fruit from the Jordan family farm in the Shenandoah Valley), Lightwell Survey (Ben Jordan’s side project), and Star Party (Tim Jordan’s side project).
The backstory to CWCC is the founders (Ben and Tim, plus partner Patt Eagan) recognized the Virginia wine scene needed a contract winemaking facility that is scalable to different customer needs. When locals think of this process they often think of Michael Shaps Wineworks, who famously makes wine on behalf of at least a dozen major customers. But others have gotten in on the action, recognizing a number of vineyards lack the space, funding, or expertise to support winemaking on their own property.
In most cases contract winemaking facilities do all the work from start to finish. While CWCC offers this same beginning-to-end service, what makes them different is they allow winemakers the option of renting space and equipment so they can do their own winemaking.
This is important as many small producers, including winemakers working on their own side projects, are at risk of being displaced from their existing facility should the owner require the extra space. This makes CWCC a great incubator for micro brands that need a place to call home for an extended period of time.
The Jordan brothers also make a ‘family of wines’ that are branded separately but share broad stylistic similarities. For one, all or nearly all the fruit used for CWCC, Midland, Lightwell, and Star Party wines are from the Shenandoah Valley, so they tend to be higher in acidity. Ben and Tim also share a love of fanciful labels, minimal intervention winemaking, and a flair for blending, often using varieties that are otherwise rarely seen together.
My group met up with partner Lee Campbell, a somm with extensive restaurant experience who previously acted as Early Mountain Vineyard’s New York state rep. Saying she’s a wine rock star is an understatement; we jumped at the chance of a tour.
Lee explained how their broad customer base requires multiple sizes and styles of fermentation vessels to meet different needs. Wandering down the aisles we saw a number of fiberglass tanks as well as more traditional steel ones. CWCC currently has 6 start-to-finish customers, 5 ‘winemaker’ customers, and several others who fell somewhere in-between.
After our tour we sat down for an extended tasting of CWCC, Midland, Star Party, and Lightwell wine in their cozy tasting area. Lee stayed with us to walk us through all the options.
Nearly all of these labels include ‘non-traditional’ blends or styles, which made for an exciting tasting. I soon realized with around 20 wine options at my disposal it was unnecessary to visit another winery afterwards.
There are far too many to list individually, so here are a few of the more interesting wines:
Star Party 2021 Rosé, made with the hybrid noriet (their 2022 was a blend of chambourcin and traminette)
Lightwell 2021 Colorwave Rosé, made with vidal, petit manseng, chambourcin and noriet.
Lightwell “Btw Dark & the Light”, a co-ferment with 2/3rds grapes and 1/3rd apples
CWCC 2022 MISE, an orange wine with PM, sauv blanc, and chardonel
CWCC The Artist Formerly Known as Sparkling, a white wine originally planned to be a sparkling but ultimately became a still wine
Midland 2019 Petit Manseng, I can’t find my tasting notes but remembering having several stars next to it
Midland 2018 Blanc de Blancs “Zero”, sparkling wine (also my favorite here)
20 potential tastings are too much for a single visit, but I did my best to sample the menu (being able to share with my group helped). Needless to say, we found a lot we liked and left with many bottles.
I asked about Lightwell Survey’s old space and was told they will continue to use it for big events. But otherwise, this is basically the new Lightwell tasting room.
I loved the entire idea of CWCC; you’ll have to make multiple trips before you try everything. I also love how Lee (and presumably others) are partners or otherwise paid staff since this is a gratuity-free space. With exciting wine and fair labor, so what’s not to love?
Lately, clean air has been something in short supply in northern Virginia. I spent much of the week inside, plotting where I would spend the weekend (and more importantly, someplace I could breathe easily). Fortunately, Shenandoah Park specializes in clean air…which also meant a side-trek to DuCard Vineyards was in order.
DuCard is located not far from the Sperryville entrance of Skyline Drive, and even closer to the White Oak Canyon and Old Rag trailheads. I’ve long thought of it as a hidden gem, although more of my friends including My NOVA Wine Blog have been discovering it.
DuCard exemplifies a theory of mine; wineries off the beaten path work extra hard to make your visit worthwhile. Not only has the wine consistently been above-par, their service is always top notch. It helps the local scenery serves as a great brand ambassador.
I’d last wrote about DuCard in 2019 (and been back a few times) but since they’d had a few changes in the lineup, a new blog seemed necessary.
Owner Scott Elliff was making the rounds amongst guests when I walked in, showcasing his latest wine; “Pet-Nat”. He even made t-shirts with a gnat logo for the occasion! My group managed to grab a table near the brook and settled down with a glass. Even the 2 1/2-year-old seemed to appreciate the color.
Scott wasn’t the only friendly face there; Kathy Wiedemann was at the tasting bar when I came in for a fresh bottle. Asking her to join a mini vineyard tour with Scott was an easy sell.
While walking amongst the vines Scott told us about his three vineyards. The main one at the winery had 20-year old vines; not something you see everyday in Virginia.
He also talked about the trellising system for his Norton vines. I’m probably mis-remembering half of the details but there was something unique in how they designed it, allowing the fruit to hang in such a way to minimize its acidity. Norton is a HUGELY acidic grape, so taming that quality is important. But it must have done the trick, since DuCard’s was the favorite of a Virginia Norton comparison last year.
But it was his new additions that really excited me. Scott managed to convince his neighbor to sell him a few extra acres of land adjacent to his vineyard, which he’s using to plant two acres of Albariño. Not only that, but Tannat is being planted at another vineyard. I mean seriously; just when I thought I couldn’t love this place enough, they are planting two of my favorite grapes.
Since it was the weekend of National Rosé Day, we of course had to have the obligatory photo of a bottle, perched on the bridge across the brook.
After some snacks, we made our way inside of a seated tasting.
They had a red, white, and mixed flight available. Scott talked us through much of it before going off to check on other guests. They also had a library tasting, which made Kathy’s eyes light up.
The mixed flight had two Chardonnays (one made in steel, one oaked), the Popham Run red blend, and a fairly soft Cab Franc. I liked the two reds, but LOVED one the “TANA ” Macon-style Chard. Very full for a Chardonnay; I think it would be even better with food but great on its own.
But arguably the hit of the day was their 2019 Petit Verdot (which Kathy shared a sample of with me). I was tempted to open the TANA right there, but as time was running short I took it home with me. Kathy was so impressed she grabbed the TANA, a library 2019 Petit Verdot, and the very effervescant and quaffable pet-nat.
All in all, a really successful day. Extra kudos to the staff for giving the dog a water bowl, which he sampled while under my table.
Mattapony Reserve is one of Virginia’s newest wineries, opening in late 2022 on the Mattaponi Indian Reservation on the banks of the Mattaponi River east of Richmond. This wasn’t on my original itinerary, but I had some free time so I scooted over to try it out.
Since there isn’t a vineyard, the tasting building isn’t obvious at a glance. The winery is located at the end of a long circular road (maybe I could have taken a right instead of a left and sped up my journey, but I didn’t know). I passed a number of family homes, a church, and the Mini Ha-Ha Educational Trading Post (I never thought I’d see a sign like that, but there it was!). But the GPS was right on, and as soon as a saw a big parking I figured that was the place.
The entire experience has a very mom-and-pop vibe to it. It helped that Ginger and Lonnie Custalow, the owners/winemakers were behind the counter. Ginger poured while telling me their backstory.
They were home winemakers for a while, finally making their first commercial vintage in 2020. They named the winery ‘Mattapony’, which is an older spelling of the local tribe. There’s a separate Mattaponi winery as well, although the two couldn’t be more different.
All of Mattapony’s fruit is from Virginia, and the wine is made via ‘natural winemaking’. This is a bit of an open-ended term, since there is no technical definition of ‘natural wine’. But generally speaking it means limited intervention, low chemical spraying, and (in their case) no added sulfites.
While there isn’t a lot of indoor seating it has something I think is even better; a covered patio next to the river. I was told that if you watch long enough you might even see some bald eagles swooping down. No eagles were seen when I was there, but the view was well worth the visit.
Nine wines were available during my visit; a pair of Nortons, a pair of Petit Verdots, a Pinot Grigio rose’, a 2021 Chardonel, a 2020 Chardonnay, DeChaunac, and a red blend called “Two Rivers”.
I got to try them all, with my favorites being the rose’, Chardonnay, and DeChaunac (if only because I see it so rarely). The prevalence of hybrids is very common in natural winemaking.
The Chardonnay was definitely my favorite. It was almost an orange wine; very dark hue to it. Notes of pineapple and coconut abound.
The Pinot Grigio rose’ was nicely done; lots of peach notes. I almost got a glass, but opted for the Chardonnay instead.
That DeChaunac was damn interesting. It’s a French-American hybrid that was one of the first created in the wake of phylloxera. I found it was very acidic and tart. I later found they got the fruit from Rockbridge.
If you like smoky reds; this is your place. The 2021 Norton and 2020 PV were both was lighter than I expected. Did it have something with the winemaking style? I forgot to ask.
It may be further out than many wineries, but there’s something to be said about kicking back on the porch and hoping to see eagles fly-by.
If there was a prize for great neighborhoods to open a winery, Capstone Vineyards would be in the finalist round. With Crimson Lane Vineyards literally next door and Linden Vineyards down the road, the town of Linden has become a wine tourism mecca.
These wineries all recognized something crucial; these hills have great soil. Capstone’s new owner Theo Smith put it this way; “With dirt like this, making wine is easy. All I have to do is not screw it up.”
Capstone opened in February 2019, although founders Dave Adams and Andrea Baer preferred to stay under-the-radar. That was by design; they only made a small batch of wine from their 2015 and 2016 vintages (produced by Jim Law at Linden Vineyards, no less) and sold all subsequent harvests to Early Mountain Vineyards (EMV). Dave and Adrea only accepted visitors by appointment, slowly selling their remaining stock but not making more.
EMV used Capstone’s fruit to produce a series of vineyard-specific bottles. This is high praise; EMV knew this was a quality vineyard, and these ‘Capstone’ wines were usually gone after their wine club took its share.
Eventually Dave and Andrea decided to move on. EMV was interested in purchasing the vineyard, but the owners decided to go with Theo as they liked the idea of helping a young vintner get his start. Capstone changed hands in December 2022.
The first thing that visitors experience is a long, steep driveway to the small tasting room which overlooks the vineyard. The vines are south facing, which maximizes sun exposure. The steep slope tops out 1500 feet, so it has excellent drainage. Right now, they have 12 acres of mostly Bordeaux varietals planted (with room to expand), plus some rows of Roussanne, Chenin and Muscat Ottonel.
The tasting room is tiny, but some improvements have been made. One of Theo’s first moves was to install a new deck and put some tables outside. Now it’s a lot easier to take in the fantastic view, which includes a look at Avenius vineyard just a few hills over. Theo expects to eventually build a new tasting room further up the hill, but a wine production facility takes priority.
Theo greeted me and poured a glass of sparkling before running off to take care of another customer. Eventually things settled down enough to take me through a tasting, where I was able to pepper him with questions. Turns out that he’s from Nova Scotia and originally had a job in the cancer research field. But Theo wasn’t so keen on office life and eventually made his way into winemaking.
Local winelovers may recognize his name; until very recently Theo was the winemaker at nearby Rappahannock Cellars for over a decade. Theo described his time there as a fantastic learning experience, overseeing its transition from a 6,000 case/year facility to one making over 30,000 cases/year (plus adding a sparkling program).
But being a winemaker is one thing; becoming an owner seemed the natural evolution. So when Capstone became available, he jumped at the opportunity.
Right now Capstone only serves 4 wines; two of the original 2016-vintage red blends (one Cabernet Franc-heavy, the other Merlot-heavy), a sparkling he made from Monticello fruit, and a still-unlabeled Chenin-Chardonnay blend.
Of the lineup my favorite was the Chenin blend, which had a delicious creaminess to it. The runner up would be either the 2016 Fielder’s Choice or sparkling.
As 2023 will be his first vintage using Capstone fruit, it will likely take a while for Theo to make his own estate wine. But the Chenin blend was promising, and I’m hopeful Capstone will have some great whites coming out in another year.
Theo seemed especially psyched about his future sparklings. Rappahannock had a great sparkling program and he learned directly from Claude Thibault. With a background like that, things seemed really promising.
Right now Theo is running the entire tasting room by himself, so things were a little hectic. But he knows he has a great location, so he’ll get more help as the word gets out.
* This is an update to my January 2020 blog on the same location, but with the previous owners.
Over the past year I’d slowed my roll when it came to visiting new places. Between trying to reduce my (overly abundant) wine inventory and revisiting old favorites, exploring took a back seat.
Fortunately, 2023 kicked off with a bunch of new wineries opening in easy driving distance, plus others opened in 2022 that I hadn’t spent much time at. Despite having a rainy Friday, I took the opportunity to get out and try two of them; Good Spirit Farm and the new October One Tasting Room in Leesburg.
First off was Good Spirit Farm, named after the English transition of the owner’s name – Gutermuth.
Located in the town of Round Hill (not far from Bluemont and Purcellville), the winery looks like the bottom point of a triangle-shaped mini wine trail consisting of Otium and Bluemont Vineyards, with Bogadi Winery and Monk’s BBQ thrown into the mix for good measure. Any wine trail that puts me within 10 minutes of good BBQ earns bonus points, so a visit was an easy sell.
This region feels like a blend of modern residential areas and old-time Virginia farm country. If you take Snickersville Pike you’ll pass a mixture of old farm manor homes and cow pastures, with the occasional small home, general store, and Airbnb thrown in for good measure. Eventually the sign for Good Spirit Farm popped up and there I was.
It’s a shame the day was so overcast because my photos don’t do the place justice. The farm was (until a few years ago) a private home sitting on 42 acres. The owners repurposed main building into a tasting room and the hills in their backyard became the vineyard. White dotted posts marking baby vines dot the backyard. There’s an Airbnb coming as well.
Co-owner Mike Gutermuth was behind the bar when I came in; his wife Luanne soon joined us. Their ‘how I started a winery’ story rhymes with what you hear from many owners; both started off by visiting Virginia wineries and telling themselves ‘We can do this too’. As they got closer to retirement, those discussions became more serious until they took the plunge.
Of course, owning a winery is likely a busier line of work than their last gigs. Mike even explained “I don’t think I ever worked so hard!”.
The Gutermuths looked at several wineries currently on the market but ultimately decided to start from scratch and found this location in 2020. Most of the 7.5-acre vineyard was planted in 2021, so it will be a while before they have their own estate wine. The vineyard has many of the usual suspects from Bordeaux, but also includes some Albariño and Pinot Blanc.
Since Good Spirit Farm is just getting started they’re serving a combination of wines from both Virginia and around the world. All of them emulate styles the Gutermuths plan on producing from their (still baby) vineyard. Red and white flights are available. They also advertised some light bites including burrata and charcuterie plates.
Of the Virginia wines available, my favorite was the 2020 Petit Verdot, which was made at Veritas. The other Virginia bottles include a red blend, rosé and Chardonnay. Not surprisingly, I also liked their Galician Albariño.
I was really happy to hear Nate Walsh will make their wine in the future; his custom crush business has been killing it. I had a glass of the PV while enjoying the view outside; I loved the expansive set of windows with a view of the vineyard. Then, off to my next stop – October One.
October One Tasting Room
The namesake October One Vineyard (O1V) is located in Bluemont, but the business of selling wine for years was conducted at both the Leesburg and Cascades Farmers Markets. In good weather and bad, Bob and Loree Rupy grew their business at these venues until they were ready to take the next step of moving into a brick-and-mortar location.
For a small business their wine got a lot of recognition early on. Their 2018 Viognier won the Loudoun Wine Award’s Grand Chairman Award in 2019, and their 2020 Viognier won the prize again in 2021. Nate Walsh is also their winemaker.
That ‘next step’ occurred in August 2022 when they opened a tasting room in Leesburg near the corner of Loudoun and King Street (they still keep up with the markets, though). Their new location is conveniently located right across the street from a parking garage, plus its walking distance of several great restaurants.
O1V doesn’t just sell O1V wine. If anything, it’s probably the most Virginia-centric wine store in Virginia right now. You can find a rotating selection of other Virginia producers from around the state including NOVA, Charlottesville, and the Shenandoah Valley.
They offer both glasses and comparative flights, consisting of an O1V wine and friends. The tasting room even had a Chardonnay from Ankida Ridge, a glass of which I enjoyed while waiting for the event to set up.
Most of their production focused on Bordeaux grapes, but they also have estate Viognier and Albariño. While the former has been killing it at the local wine awards, the latter is probably my favorite. So when they announced a special Albariño and oyster event, it was an easy sell for me.
Oysters and Albariño are a famously great pairing. This grape has a natural saline and minerality quality to it that pairs well with seafood. Bob explained they got the idea from a neighbor at one of his farmer’s markets, and they’d frequently join forces because who could resist either when served side-by side?
This time the event included a trio of Virginia Albariños; their own, plus Cana and Chrysalis. Their event from a few months ago included Maggie Malcik and Boden Young as their ‘guest’ wines. The oysters themselves came from a spot off the Eastern Shore.
Of the three options, my favorite was the house 2021 O1V. But I have to say, the tiny sample I had of the 2022 Albariño was my favorite of the day; it was just very fresh and full bodied.
Anybody else visit these places? Let me know what you thought!
I sometimes joke how I wish some places were closer to me, but the remoteness of the Northern Neck is actually one of its appeals.
It’s also the trifecta of what I look for on a road trip; good wine, history, and a fun local cuisine (in this case, seafood). It’s not just colonial history either; it’s the history of Virginia wine.
Wine Trails and Wanderlust 