Last weekend a group of friends and I went on what amounts to a pilgrimage to one of our favorite wineries in the state – Linden Vineyards.
I say ‘pilgrimage’ only half-jokingly. While I’ve seen owner/winegrower Jim Law described as the ‘high priest of Virginia terroir winemaking’, he actually dislikes lavish praise. Jim’s favorite title by far is ‘winegrower’, and he’s modest enough to still bus tables at his own winery.
Moreover, this wasn’t my standard visit. This event marked the return of Linden’s cellar tastings, an event that disappeared when COVID hit.
Linden’s cellar tastings include either a vertical (same vineyard different years) or horizontal (same vintage year but different vineyards). This particular event included verticals of Hardscrabble chardonnay (2015, 2019, 2020), and Avenius red (2015, 2019, 2020), plus a barrel sample of their 2024 Petit Verdot.
Weather-wise, we lucked out with a warm but not overly hot afternoon. I didn’t get a chance to chat with Jim, but I did catch up with his daughter Samantha, who was running tastings at the bar.
I did learn that despite the rain, things were looking OK in the vineyard. It also looks like this will be their last vintage of their Wabi Sabi white blend, which I’m not entirely sad about. Jim did spray earlier than usual to address the Spotted Lanternfly issue, which is unavoidable now given their prevalence in the state.
Once the last person arrived, we headed down to the cellar with McKenzie, a new addition to Team Linden. I didn’t get her full background, but she did have experience working the DC restaurant scene prior to moving to Culpepper. Hopefully we’ll see more of her.
I believe nearly everyone who attended this event was familiar with Linden’s wines, so we didn’t need to spend too much time on Jim’s low-intervention winemaking philosophy. That said, McKenzie was very extroverted host who loved telling us about the 6 wines before us.
We kicked off with our Hardscrabble Chardonnay flight (made from the estate vineyard). I’ve had all of these before, but except for the 2019s not recently. I was especially excited by the 2015 Chardonnay, which Jim once said was one of the favorite wines he’s ever made.
2015 Hardscrabble Chardonnay: Very ‘full’ as white wines go. While it was starting to turn nutty, it still doesn’t present itself as a decade-old wine. Except for ‘age’ on the nose, it was still pretty vibrant and a tribute to the ageability of Jim’s wines. That said, Jim once told me this wine was probably at its peak, so it wouldn’t get any better than it was now.
2019 Hardscrabble Chardonnay: Very different from the other two. Much more stone fruit, plus very ‘bright’ due to being the product of a very warm year. I did detect a tad bit of newer oak on it. I think this wine will only get better.
2020 Hardscrabble Chardonnay: Stylistically similar to 2015, but riper. Good acidity; Kenny Bumbaco said it was ‘Chablis-y’. It was better than I remembered, although not quite in the same league as the other two. Still, it was a good wine from a vintage that isn’t well regarded in Virginia wine.
Next up was the Avenius red blend flight, grown just down the road at Shari Avenius’ vineyard. Shari has retired from the tasting room so I haven’t seen her in a long time, but it seems she is still tending her vineyard.
2015 Avenius (46% Cab Sauv, 46% Merlot, 8% Petit Verdot): Earthy nose. Not a lot of fruit but doesn’t need any, as it was an overall amazing wine. I have ‘persistent and chewy’ in my notes. I’m very glad I have a bottle of this in my cellar, although I probably should drink it sooner than later.
2019 Avenius (50% Cab Sauv, 42% Merlot, 8% Petit Verdot): Mix of fruit and earth on the nose. Good fruit on palate. You could likewise tell this was the product of a hot year, due to its ripeness.
2020 Avenius (57% Cab Sauv, 47% Merlot): OK; admittedly not my favorite. Brett on the nose and some on the palate, which gave it that barnyard/funk quality. I think you have to appreciate a little bit of brett to enjoy this, although it did give this wine an extra oomph of complexity and earthiness.
With the cellar tasting complete we adjourned upstairs for their regular tasting. Linden only recently switched over to a ‘summer’ tasting, now comprised of the 2023 Avenius Sauv Blanc, the 2023 Hardscrabble Sauv Blanc, the new 2022 Claret, and a full-varietal Cabernet Franc. And oh yeah – that 2024 Petit Verdot sample!
2024 Petit Verdot: Fruitier and lower in tannin than I expected. While different from what I usually expect, I definitely liked it. I believe it was made in steel, which is likewise unusual for PVs.
2023 Hardscrabble Sauvignon Blanc: Something a return to form, as this wine had a dash of Sémillon. Layered. In a way, it was like a riper version of a white Bordeaux.
2023 Avenius Sauvignon Blanc: Notes of boxwood…which is sometimes referred to as ‘cat pee’ (I hate that term, BTW). It was higher in alcohol, which meant the acidity wasn’t as prominent as it usually is.
2022 Cabernet Franc: This was the first full Cab Franc I’ve ever seen from Linden; certainly the first since 2010. All Hardscrabble vineyard fruit. It had a slight hint of the pyrazine notes that Cab Franc is known for, but they didn’t lean into that direction at all.
2022 Claret: I don’t have any notes for this one!
Afterwards we adjourned for snacks on their patio on a perfect summer day, ordering a 2015 Hardscrabble Chardonnay for the table and eating charcuterie. Then it was off to Barrel Oak, which has been upping its game of late (click this link for Dan’s blog on Barrel Oak; he loves more hits!).
Few Virginia wineries have what are sometimes called ‘old vines’. Those that do will most likely happily let you know about them, with the implication that “old vines = better wines”.
But what does the term ‘old vines’ actually mean, and why are they important?
There is no legal definition for what constitutes a wine made with ‘old vines,’ although private organizations have their own criteria.
In 2024, the International Organization of Vine and Wine defined an “old vine” as a plant that is documented to be 35 years or older. Plots where 85% of such vines meet this criterion may be considered ‘old vineyards.’ Several other organizations, including the South African Old Vine Project and the Old Vine Registry, use these definitions.
The Historic Vineyard Society has a different set of criteria, only certifying California vineyards with vines that are a minimum of 50 years old and when at least 1/3rd of producing vines can be traced to the original planting.
Few old vines exist in Virginia. Prohibition wiped out Virginia’s wine industry, and it wasn’t until the 1970s that it started making a comeback. Even Virginia’s oldest wineries seldom have anything left of their original vineyards.
Fortunately, a number of older vineyard plots do survive. Such vines are living time capsules, representing the kind of wines Virginia’s viticultural trail blazers thought would perform best.
Many of these surviving vines are Burgundy or Bordeaux varieties that remain popular today. Chardonnay is still produced at Virginia’s two oldest commercial vineyards, Meriwether Vineyard and Montdomaine Vineyard. Founded in 1976 and located at Pearmund Cellars, Meriwether is recognized by the Old Vine Registry as Virginia’s oldest vineyard. Montdomaine was founded in 1978 and is located just below Michael Shaps Winery.
Founded in 1976, Meriwether Vineyard is Virginia’s oldest vineyard (Photo credit: Pearmund Cellars)
Older vineyards are also the home of varieties that were once more prevalent in the state. Cool-climate vines often struggle in Virginia, a fact only appreciated after decades of trial-and-error. While many wineries have since torn out their riesling, Gray Ghost Vineyards, Shenandoah Vineyards, and a handful of others still tend to their plots.
Virginia’s first vineyards also widely utilized French American hybrid grapes, such as chambourcin and seyval blanc. These vines are relatively easier to maintain; an important consideration in a then-young industry with little institutional knowledge of how to handle more finicky vinifera.
Why Winemakers Prize Older Vines
A well-tended grape vine can last 50 years or more, which makes ‘old vine’ status obtainable. The “Mother Vine” in Roanoke, considered the oldest grapevine in North America, was first recorded in 1584.
While younger vines are more productive, older ones are often thought to produce higher quality fruit. The reasons for this are complex, but much of the credit goes to how older vines have deeper root systems.
Deep roots allow older vines to more easily access water and nutrients that are inaccessible to younger vines, which is especially beneficial during periods of drought. This more balanced intake allows them to create more complex, intensely flavored fruit.
Older vines have an additional advantage in wet regions, such as Virginia.
The roots of younger vines are more likely to become saturated during periods of heavy rainfall, diluting their fruit’s flavor profile.
Older vines are less likely to encounter this problem. The soil above them acts like a shield, preventing water from penetrating to the roots far below. This allows their fruit to maintain good chemistry, despite pre-harvest deluges.
Linden Vineyards winegrower Jim Law has observed older blocks have additional benefits beyond deep roots.
“Older vines sometimes ripen up to 10 days later. This helps keep them in the sweet spot of late September/early October when nights are cool; a big advantage in our warmer climate. They are also more homogenous, which leads to more synchronistic ripening. This is important for quality,” he wrote over email.
Jim Law, owner and winegrower of Linden Vineyards
Even so, it’s overly simplistic to assume old vines are superior to younger ones, according to winegrower David Lambert. David manages the winegrowing at both Shenandoah Vineyards and Stoney Creek Vineyards, two of the oldest in the state.
In answering a question about the quality of ‘old vine’ wine, David opined, “The answer is not as simple as old vines vs. young vines. Newer clones are superior to the older clones with questionable genetics. In particular, the 2018 riesling plantings at Shenandoah Vineyards ripen fruit sooner, have clusters that are looser, and are less prone to bunch rots, allowing them to produce wine superior to our 1981 riesling plants.”
Finding “Old Vine” Wine In Virginia
There are opportunities to sample wine from Virginia’s oldest vines, if you know where to look.
Pearmund Cellars is one of the few wineries in Virginia that makes wine exclusively from ‘old vine’ blocks. Next year Pearmund will celebrate the 50th anniversary of its Meriwether Vineyard with a special labeling of its “Old Vine” chardonnay, vinified from these blocks.
Gray Ghost Vineyards produces a Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon that is only made from its 1988 block. Fruit from these vines have been consistent award winners, most recently earning a Best in Class award from the 2024 East Meets West Challenge at Santa Rosa, California.
Linden Vineyards uses fruit from its 1985 and 1988 blocks (as well as its 2010 block) for its Hardscrabble Chardonnay, although the proportions differ every year.
Shenandoah Vineyards’ 2019 Riesling, made with vines planted in 1981, won Gold at the 2023 Virginia Governor’s Cup.
If you ever find yourself at a vineyard with old, gnarly trunks – ask about them! There’s likely a story behind how they’ve persevered.
To summarize my findings; Pinot Noir struggles in the warm-weather sites that characterize much of Virginia. The reputation of locally grown Pinot was so bad that when wine-legend Jancis Robinson tasted an Ankida Ridge Pinot in 2011 that she exclaimed in the most back-handed compliment ever; “It tastes like Pinot!”.
For my event I picked what I felt are the best 4 Pinot growers Virginia has to offer. These vineyards succeed in growing Pinot where previous ones had failed by planting at relatively high elevations: 12 Ridges (3,300 ft), Ankida Ridge (1,800 ft.), Cave Ridge (1,200 ft), and Hazy Mountain (1,600 ft). All are located in the Shenandoah Valley or the adjoining Blue Ridge Mountains, areas that have strong track records for growing cool weather varieties.
My group picked 4 Oregon Pinots to pair them against. I recently attended a wine dinner with Evesham Wood, so I had 2 wines from this quality producer. Other guests brought two more wines; a low-cost Pinot from Argyle, and a high-quality wine from Résonance.
I honestly had no idea how Virginia would fare here. Oregon has a great reputation for Pinot Noir, so I would have been happy if Virginia simply showed well against a heavy hitter in this category.
Tasting & Scoring Methodology
We did 4 rounds of 2 wines, consisting of a Virginia and Oregon Pinot Noir side-by-side, served blind. After we finished all 8 wines, we voted which were our Top 2 of the day. The Top 2 were set aside and revisited during a ‘Finalist” round.
The advantage of revisiting these wines is this gave the Top 2 more time to open up. The introduction of food changed our palates, adding another dimension to the event. After re-tasting them, we declared an overall winner.
The 4 flights were generally arranged lowest-to-highest in terms of price point.
Admittedly this was not our favorite round; not surprisingly as I started with the lower-priced wines and worked my way up.
This round ended with Oregon as the favorite by a wide margin. While this particular Oregon wine isn’t this producer’s top-tier wine, it did have all the rich fruit qualities you’d want from a mid-$30 Oregon Pinot Noir.
Bottle #1 / 2022 Evesham “Eola-Amity Hills Cuvée”. Overall we felt this wine showcased fresh fruit, with some earthiness. Most attendees felt this was the Oregon bottle, although not everyone felt confident enough to vote.
Bottle #2 / 2021 Hazy Mountain. This wine was more expressive on the nose; maybe with some notes of oak. On the palate several guests detected notes of earth and allspice.
Votes:
Annie: Voted #1
Chris: Voted #1
Larry: Voted #2, since he preferred the more earthy, ‘aged’ qualities of this wine.
Matt: Voted #1
Kathy: Voted #1. Noted #1 was fresher, while #2 had notes of forest floor but seemed too cooked.
Stacy: Voted #1
Patti: Voted #1. Enjoyed #1 for its richer body; could tell it was Oregon. Felt #2 was too tart.
In retrospect I should have paired #1 vs #4, since the #3/Argyle was arguably our least favorite wine of the day. But since Cave Ridge’s Pinot isn’t yet priced, I wasn’t sure which wine to pair against it.
That said, I think Cave Ridge was the surprise of the night. 8 out of 8 attendees felt this wine was from Oregon, which I’ll take as a compliment for this wine.
Bottle #3 / 2023 Argyle. We could tell this wine was mass produced. It had too much of an effervescent ‘cherry coke’ quality to it, or maybe candy notes.
Bottle #4 / 2023 Cave Ridge. Lots of compliments regarding the fruit notes in this wine. Others noted it had notes of almond or marzipan. Multiple people (including myself) really enjoyed the initial ‘attack’ on our first sip.
Now we’re talking! At 3,300’, 12 Ridges is the 2nd highest-elevation vineyard on the east coast. Evesham’s Le Puits Sec was also an excellent wine.
While we definitely liked the 12 Ridges, it just didn’t compare well to an excellent vineyard-specific Oregon wine.
Bottle #5 / 2021 Evesham Woods Le Puits Sec. We generally identified this as the Oregon wine, although not universally. This was very well-enjoyed with lots of great descriptors, ranging from “Fresh and well-integrated”, “delicate”, and “balanced”. A few picked up on notes of baking spice, maybe dark cherry. Harissa was mentioned by one guest. I detected a lot of mushroom on the nose.
I felt this particular wine had, hands down, the best nose of any wine enjoyed that evening.
Bottle #6 / 2021 12 Ridges. This was definitely a higher-acid wine, which in retrospect makes sense since it was grown at 3,300 ft’.
Our tasting notes were all over the place. One guest mentioned notes of salted caramel; another said they got notes of sea salt. Yet another mentioned smoke or sour cherry. I didn’t get a lot on the nose, but I did feel it had nice complexity.
Votes:
Annie: Voted #5
Chris: Voted #5
Kathy: Voted #5
Larry: Voted #6 (still the outlier!)
Matt: Voted #5
Patti: Voted #5; her ‘happy place’ since she’s a big Oregon pinot fan
This was by far our favorite pairing of the night. Not everyone voted to identify the region, although most of the guesses were accurate. It was very much a competition between ‘grace (#7)’ vs ‘power (#8)’. We were evenly divided on which we preferred, so it was a tie.
The #7 was rounder and more balanced. #8 was a ‘big’, but in a good way. Someone said it was “ready to party”, if you will. Both had great complexity, and opinions differed on which was heavier.
Bottle #7 / 2021 Résonance Founders Block. Notes of sour cherries and mushrooms. It had a perceived sweetness; not from sugar levels but had a ‘fruit sweet’ quality to it.
Bottle #8 / 2021 Ankida Ridge Pinot Noir Reserve. “Grabby” was my favorite descriptor. Several mentioned notes of sour cherry. The wine was lighter than I expected, although conversely it was still a ‘big’ win in terms of tannin. Kathy mentioned it was ‘layered, had complexity, and notes of forest floor’.
Of all the wines we tasted that evening, #8/Ankida was the most capable of standing up to heavier foods, especially a dish like steak. It was very drinkable now but could still use more time. I later learned the tannin came from the heavy use of stem inclusion.
Votes:
Annie: Voted #7
Chris: Voted #7
Kathy: Voted #8
Larry: Voted #8
Matt: Voted #8
Patti: Voted #7
Rob: Voted #7
Stacy: Voted #8
Finalist Flight
After the last round we did a poll to pick two wines from any flight to go into the finalist round. 7 votes went to wine #7/Résonance, 5 votes went to wine #8/Ankida, and 3 votes went to wine #5/Evesham Woods Le Puits Sec. #4/Cave Ridge was generally considered the #4 wine of the evening.
With the votes in, #7 and #8 went to the finalist round, and we enjoyed dinner drinking the remaining wines.
This food break worked to our favor as #7 and #8 opened up. The complexity of both improved, with the Ankida especially becoming more graceful. An Ox Eye Blanc de Noir accompanied our beef bourguignon.
We voted a second time…and for the second time in a row, it was again a tie. Ironically, 2 people from each ‘team’ switched sides.
Virginia represented very well; far better than I could have hoped for. It’s fair to say that the state has very few high-quality examples to pull from, but the top ones we used were well received.
I should note that most of the attendees didn’t have pre-conceived notions of what Pinot should taste like. Our self-described Oregon wine aficionado almost always went for the Oregon wine (the Cave Ridge being the exception), but overall the attendees simply wanted something tasty.
Winners round: Our “Top 2” wines were the Résonance and Ankida…and they tied again.
PS – the 2021 Ankida Reserve and 2023 Cave Ridge were both gifted to me for this event (thank you Christine and Randy!). While the Reserve is Ankida’s ‘top’ wine currently being sold, their 2022 Pinot is also getting headlines of its own.
For Virginia to tie Oregon as the evening’s ‘best’ wine is remarkable. Ankida Ridge should be very happy with that result.
I still say that the 2023 Cave Ridge Pinot Noir was the surprise of the evening. It was only recently bottled, so it has time to go. Yet it could easily have fared well against an Oregon wine in the mid-$30 price range.
Few wines are as versatile as Pinot Noir. Its high acidity and ‘silky’ tannins makes it a go-to pairing for many dishes, while Pinot’s lighter body makes it easy to drink on its own. Pinot Noir is also popular for higher-end sparkling wines, which is why it accounts for 38% of the grapes grown in Champagne.
Yet Pinot Noir’s popularity is almost equally matched by its fragility. Pinot is nicknamed “the heartbreak grape” because of its vulnerability to spring frost, disease, and harsh weather. Its need for very specific growing conditions would give even Goldilocks fits.
Virginia’s warm, humid climate makes this task especially hard. Dennis Horton, a man famous for introducing multiple varieties to the Old Dominion, reportedly once said of Pinot, “I don’t think Jesus Christ could grow Pinot Noir in Virginia. You can do it, but it doesn’t taste like Pinot should.”
Pinot’s reputation as a finicky grape is why it only makes up 41 out of nearly 3,500 acres of Virginia grapevines. Difficulties pushing their grapes to full ripeness also means many winegrowers only use them for sparkling wine or rosé, adding to Pinot’s scarcity as a red wine.
Fortunately, the tide is turning. A growing number of wine growers, mostly in the Shenandoah Valley and Blue Ridge Mountains, have finally cracked the code on how to properly cultivate Pinot. A grape once confined to 2-3 consistent producers is slowly becoming more accessible.
New pinot vines at Cave Ridge VineyardCave Ridge Vineyard
The Evolution of Virginia’s Pinot Noir
It’s difficult to say which winery first planted Pinot, but several, including Barboursville and Swedenburg, tried in the 1990s and early 2000s. These viticultural pioneers didn’t yet realize how badly their low-lying sites would struggle, and eventually ripped out their vines. “Pinot is hard for Virginia. It doesn’t do very well here for still wine,” one grower admitted.
The key change from the wines that Dennis Horton tried is these newer vineyards usually select higher-elevation sites, often 1,600 feet and above. This elevation ensures a constant flow of cool air and moderate temperature swings, which protect Pinot’s tightly bunched clusters from damage and allow them to evenly ripen.
Ankida Ridge became Virginia’s most famous Pinot producer based on the strength of their high-elevation site; a 1,800’ mountaintop vineyard with a steep slope. Its inaugural 2010 vintage received such acclaim it became the first Mid-Atlantic wine to participate in the invite-only International Pinot Noir Celebration.
While Ankida may have paved the way in demonstrating Pinot Noir’s place in Virginia, others were close behind. Ox Eye Vineyards planted Pinot vines at their 1,780’ foot site in 2009, as did Hazy Mountain at its Swoope vineyard in 2016. 12 Ridges founded their 3,300’ foot site in 2016, which includes 3 acres of Pinot Noir. Fox Meadow and Stone Mountain, both with 1800’ vineyards, recently joined the Pinot club as well.
Elevation helps, but that’s not Pinot’s only requirement. John Kiers of Ox Eye Vineyards was encouraged to plant Pinot after seeing its success in the Finger Lakes, a region which shares a similar climate to the Shenandoah Valley. The valley’s limestone soil and limited rainfall provide additional advantages.
Randy Philips of Cave Ridge Vineyards likewise sees parallels between the Shenandoah Valley and upstate New York. “It was partly an experiment, partly a business plan,” Randy said during our chat. “We grow Riesling, which shares many of the growing conditions that Pinot requires. Pinot also has name recognition, which helps with sales.” Today, Cave Ridge and Ox Eye both have an acre of Pinot.
12 Ridges Vineyard
Where To Find Virginia Pinot
The roster of wineries which typically produce a full Pinot is far larger than most realize. Ankida Ridge and 12 Ridges are Virginia’s most famous producers, but they’ve since been joined by Above Ground, Cave Ridge, Hazy Mountain, JBR, and Ox Eye.
Other wineries, including CrossKeys, Rockbridge, and Trump, occasionally make a still Pinot during better vintages. Mediterranean Cellars uses Pinot in its rosé.
Pinot Noir has also been a boon for sparkling producers. CrossKeys Vineyards’ 2019 Estate Blanc de Noir took “Best of Show” at the 2022 Atlantic Seaboard Wine Association, while Trump Winery’s 2015 Blanc de Noir won the San Francisco Chronicle “Sparking Sweepstakes” award. Ankida, Ox Eye, and others also make Blanc de Noirs.
Must Try Virginia Pinot Noirs:
12 Ridges: Located along the Blue Ridge Parkway, 12 Ridges is the 2nd highest elevation winery on the east coast. Their wines are difficult to find, as the growing conditions which promote great acidity and minerality comes with the tradeoff of lower tonnage per acre. This shouldn’t deter local Pinot lovers from making a pilgrimage.
Ankida Ridge: They weren’t the first winery in Virginia to make Pinot, but they certainly put it on the map. During an 2025 industry tasting of Virginia Pinot Noirs, their 2022 vintage was the consensus favorite.
Cave Ridge Vineyards: Megan Philips was so convinced their 2023 vintage was ready to go she convinced her dad Randy to bottle their Pinot as a still wine instead of making it into a sparking. Clean, fruity, and with notes of cherry and red plumb, she was right.
Ox Eye Vineyards: Their 2022 vintage is charming and approachable, and 2023 promises to be even more so. At $27, this is also one of the best values local Pinot lovers will ever find. Owner/winemaker John Kiers doesn’t make a still Pinot every year, but his $35 Blanc de Noir is a great alternative.
Barrel Oak winemaker Jeremy Ligon took home a Best in Class for his 2023 Sauvignon Blanc and a Double Gold for a rosé at the SFCWC. Vint Hill’s Mark Ward earned a total of 5 Double Golds, including the “Best White Wine in Show” at the SFIWC for his 2023 “Madison” Petit Manseng.
These were just a few of the 182 medals won by Virginia wineries at these events. Many Best in Class and Double Golds were won by Virginia in categories where California wine traditionally dominates.
This is especially impressive given the boutique nature of the Virginia wine industry. California produces 81% of American wine, according to recent industry statistics. By comparison, Virginia only produces 0.3% of this total.
This over-performance hasn’t gone unnoticed by the international wine community. SFCWC wine judge Mike Dunne wrote on the event website, “Each year, some wine region of North America seems to gain recognition for a disproportionate share of high awards at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. In 2025, it was Virginia…”
While not all wineries enter major competitions, they nevertheless provide an important metric on how Virginia wine fares on the international stage.
Pearmund Cellars owner Chris Pearmund has long advocated Virginia wineries showcase their work in settings beyond state-level competitions. “National competitions bring Virginia to the national stage,’ he wrote on Facebook. “The wine industry needs consistent, top-quality producers to participate in national competitions to sustain and grow our industry.”
While Barrel Oak and Vint Hill have been part of the Virginia wine industry for decades, their winemakers tend to stay out of the limelight. Jeremy and Mark have been making wine for over a decade, and this recent acclaim will only raise their profile.
I caught up with both winemakers to talk more about their career paths, as well as the importance major awards have on highlighting Virginia wine as a whole.
Barrel Oak Sauv Blanc (left) and Vint Hill “Madison” Petit Manseng (right)
Jeremy Ligon, Barrel Oak Winery
Jeremy grew up in southern Virginia on a winery owned by his parents, but some of his best career advice came from none other than Bruce Zoecklein. Wine geeks may recognize that name, as Bruce was the Professor of Enology at Virginia Tech.
On Bruce’s advice, Jeremy applied to the wine program at Fresno State. After graduating, he found his way back to Virginia, bouncing around several wineries before accepting the winemaker job at Barrel Oak in 2021.
A year after his arrival, Barrel Oak was purchased by Kavelle and Ken Bajaj, IT entrepreneurs with a love of wine. The Bajajs not only brought with them a wealth of managerial experience, they were willing to invest in Barrel Oak’s success.
Those investments have translated into visible upgrades to the tasting room and kitchen, but what really excites Jeremy is the new equipment in the cellar.
“We brought in new red wine tanks which help us with the processing, plus new pumps and a new sorting table. The table has already paid for itself in the first harvest; it’s just smoother and more efficient.
Ken keeps insisting we make the best wine possible, so I suggested we invest in some new barrels. When I asked him how many we should get, Ken said, ‘Let’s get 10 of them!’”
Part of elevating their tasting experience is to make the wine list more manageable. Jeremy started at Barrel Oak making 32 different wines, but is aiming to streamline his roster to around 15. Fortunately, this hasn’t prevented Ken from exploring new options, such as adding a sparkling wine program.
Another part of raising the bar is to get feedback from world-class judges, like those at the SFCWC and SFIWC. Such exposure helps Barrel Oak push for greater distribution.
“I think it’s important to get out there and get that feedback,” Jeremy exclaimed. “Those judges are serious! We want to be judged by our peers.”
Mark Ward, Winemaker for Vint Hill, Effingham Manor, and Pearmund Cellars
Mark started his winemaking career the way many of his Virginia peers did – by first working in a field completely unrelated to viticulture.
His first job was in IT consulting where he was often on the road. After 25 years of this, Mark was open to a career change, he explained during a chat at Vint Hill.
“I got to thinking; I grew up on a farm. I was interested in wine. How can I combine all of these things that I’m interested in?
So I went back to school in Washington State for their Enology and then Viticulture programs. That led to my first internship in Oregon in 2013.”
Mark’s family encouraged him to consider Virginia, and his school put him in touch with Chris Pearmund, the managing partner of Vint Hill, Effingham Manor, and Pearmund Cellars. These wineries form a trifecta, sharing the same staff and winemaking facilities.
By 2015, Mark was the Assistant Winemaker for this trio, and rose to the Head Winemaker position in 2020. Since then, Mark (and his team, he’s quick to note) has racked up a series of awards.
Mark explained deciding what wines to submit to major competitions is often complicated, but these events play an important role in elevating Virginia’s profile.
“If you look at the national competitions in San Francisco, we’re always sending the kind of wine Virginia is known for. For a more regional competition like the Atlantic Seaboard, we’ll send a broader sample.
I think the rest of the world is starting to understand what Virginia wine drinkers have always known; there are talented growers and winemakers in the state.
Not only are we getting awards for things we’ve traditionally done well – cabernet franc, petit manseng, petit verdot – places like Barrel Oak and Veritas are doing great things with sauvignon blanc. Outsiders don’t always think Virginia can compete across the board, but when they see a wine like our Effingham ‘Kings Ransom’ Bordeaux blend get 97 Points/Double Gold, they start to appreciate we can win against the best in the world.”
Few Virginia wineries are as terroir-driven as Linden Vineyards. Probably the best proof behind this statement is how many of Linden’s wines are named after the vineyards they come from; namely Avenius, Boisseau, and Hardscrabble.
These vineyards are the only places Linden uses for fruit, and their varying soil types and elevation means each provide a different tasting profile. While not every wine Linden produces is vineyard-specific (they also make a multi-vineyard Chardonnay called “Village” and red-blend named “Claret”), owner/winegrower Jim Law prefers to let the vineyards speak for themselves.
Avenius Vineyard (5 acres, 1,300-1,400 feet elevation). Linden’s highest and coolest site. Named for and farmed by Shari Avenius. Located less than a mile from the winery, but on a very different soil profile.
Boisseau Vineyard (4 acres, 600 feet). This is Linden’s lowest and warmest site. Named for and farmed by Richard Boisseau. As the smallest vineyard, it’s not uncommon for a vintage to lack a vineyard-specific Boisseau wine as the fruit was blended into Claret or Village.
Hardscrabble Vineyard (~20 acres, 1,100-1,400 feet elevation). This is Linden’s largest, oldest, and most diverse vineyard, located at the winery. The best blocks go into Hardscrabble (red or white), while the younger ones go into Claret & Village. Some vines date back to 1985.
Picking a favorite Linden vineyard is something of a parlor game for Virginia wine nerds. Hardscrabble arguably produces Linden’s most famous wines, but don’t discount the other two. “Acid-heads” love Avenius’ higher-elevation fruit, while Boisseau produces some of Linden’s easiest-drinking, more fruit-forward wines.
Nevertheless, I wanted to try all three side-by-side, and it wasn’t difficult to find helpers for this task. Most had tried Linden wine before, although only a few of them had been exposed to this kind of multi-vineyard, multi-vintage experience.
My tasting was both a vertical in that the reds came from two different years (2017 and 2019), and a horizontal in we had all three vineyards represented. 2017 and 2019 were also two of the better growing years in recent Virginia history.
Our Chardonnay flight (only 2019 vintage)
2019 Avenius
2019 Boisseau
2019 Hardscrabble
Our Bordeaux blend flights (2017 and 2019 vintages)
2017 Avenius (54% Merlot, 46% Cabernet Sauvignon)
2017 Boisseau (40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Petit Verdot, 20% Merlot and 6% Cabernet Franc)
At the end of every round, I did a poll to determine our favorite from the flight. But in reality, “Best” was entirely subjective. Even the wine that was the ‘least’ favorite was something we’d have happily enjoyed.
All reds were decanted for 1.5-2 hours prior to the event. Jim has exceptionally detailed notes describing the vintage years and individual wines, so follow the embedded links more information on the Linden website.
2019 Chardonnay Round
Linden vineyards exist in no small part because Jim Law was inspired by Chablis. While most winemakers tend to advertise red blends as their ‘flagship’ wines, Chardonnay is of such importance that I’d argue Linden’s ‘flagship’ is its Hardscrabble Chardonnay.
These three Chardonnays had distinct personalities, but we usually saw more similarities than differences. Avenius and Hardscrabble are definitely ‘cousins’, while Boisseau was more of an outlier. Yet there was still a common thread of fruit and minerality to all three.
Linden 2019 Avenius Chardonnay. You could tell this was ‘mountain’ fruit because its acidity was more pronounced, plus it showcased minerality and structure. Very *bright*. Several of us detected notes of citrus, specifically lemon. Kathy mentioned chalk. Daniel mentioned ‘apple tart’.
Linden 2019 Boisseau Chardonnay. Lots of fruit notes. Tropical nose, notes of banana. Daniel mentioned maybe an herbal note. I heard someone mention tarragon and kiwi. Another guest mentioned a bitter note.
Linden 2019 Hardcrabble Chardonnay: This wine just felt ‘big’ on the palate. Apple and butterscotch notes. Also notes of orange peel, citrus, specifically a sweeter orange. The acidity is there, but you sometimes had to wait a moment for it to hit you. One person mentioned it had almost a certain waxiness to it.
When I did my poll, 7 out of 8 of us preferred Avenius. We almost universally felt the 2019 Avenius was very clean and ready to drink.
Hardscrabble was the runner up. It also had acidity, just not to the degree of Avenius. That said, we felt HS would only get better and better. Boisseau was definitely well enjoyed, but it was just a different animal than the other two.
Favorites:
Alex: 2/1/3. The outlier of my group!
Daniel: 1/3/2. By technical standards, he felt #3/Hardscrabble was the ‘best’ wine of the lineup, but felt Avenius was drinking great now. While both still had years to go, the Hardscrabble hadn’t yet peaked.
Kathy: 1/3/2.
Lieven: 1/3/2. Felt the Avenius was ‘ready to drink’ right now.
Matt: 1/3/2
Mark: 1/2/3
Todd: 1/3/2
Vanessa: 1/3/2. Felt the Avenius had the most lift and was clean, even waxy.
2017 Red blend round
2017 was one of Linden’s best vintages in years, for both reds and whites. These wines are likely to last for many, many years to come.
I was surprised that a vintage 8 years old tasted so fresh. As Virginia’s weather becomes increasingly erratic we are seeing more instances of ‘hot years’ that causes local fruit to become disjointed, or ‘rainy years’ which results in underripe fruit. But 2017 was a goldilocks year where the pieces fit almost perfectly.
Linden 2017 Avenius red: 54% Merlot, 46% Cabernet Sauvignon. Refined tannin but a shorter finish. We detected newer oak but it’s so integrated you don’t mind at all. It also leaned heavily on the fruit, with notes of blackberry and boysenberry. Someone mentioned notes of pine, eucalyptus, and it was ‘forest-y’. This wine also evolved the most in the glass.
Linden 2017 Boisseau red: 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Petit Verdot, 20% Merlot and 6% Cabernet Franc. Fruit notes, especially dark cherry. Some felt it was almost too fruity, and they struggled to find notes beyond it. Others noted a root beer quality to it, plus notes of pyrazines and pepper. While the general consensus was while this wine had more fruit than we preferred, it was “nice” fruit; not jammy at all. It also had a good structure to it.
Linden 2017 Hardscrabble red: 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 43% Merlot. Balanced; medium/medium plus acidity. Ripe fruit, especially plumb. But there were also notes of minerality, including graphite. Notes of cassis were mentioned, while another guest said it was “meaty” and had a cigar box quality to it. This was also the most food-centric wine of the trio.
By a unanimous vote, the 2017 Hardscrabble red was our favorite. Avenius came in 2nd and Boisseau 3rd, also with unanimous votes by all eight attendees.
I’m absolutely not surprised that the 2017 Hardscrabble red was the favorite wine here. I’ve blind tasted it numerous times, and it’s nearly always my favorite in a contest of other championship-level wines.
Note to self; I should decant it more the next time I pop a bottle, since I felt the 2017 HS initially presented more earthy notes than I personally prefer, but the complexity popped out once swirled in the glass.
Favorites:
Alex: 3/1/2. Thought of steak when drinking the Hardscrabble, but felt the Avenius could be enjoyed on its own
Daniel: 3/1/2. The Hardscrabble was “balanced and complex”. The Avenius shared many of its qualities, just less so.
Kathy: 3/1/2
Lieven: 3/1/2. Felt the Hardscrabble was “elegant and elevated”
Matt: 3/1/2
Mark: 3/1/2
Todd: 3/1/2
Vanessa: 3/1/2. Said “The Avenius has structure, but the Hardscrabble has everything”
2019 Red blend round
While this vintage was two years younger than the 2017 round, the 2019 reds actually presented as being older and smoother than the 2017s. I attribute that to 2017 being such a great year that balance was easy to achieve, while 2019 was a hotter, riper year.
Linden 2019 Avenius red: 50% Cab Sauv, 42% Merlot, 8% Petit Verdot. The barrel notes were well integrated. Notes of black cherry and raspberry were mentioned. Tart. Higher acidity than the other wines in this flight.
Linden 2019 Boisseau red: 61% Cab Franc, 19% Petit Verdot, 17% Merlot, 3% Cab Sauv. Our notes were all over, but my favorite descriptor was “Hedonistic”. Long list of fruit and/or earthy notes, with some tasters leaning one way or the other. Many mentioned notes of black cherry, perhaps with a compote/sweet fruit note to it. A few mentioned liquorish. Others said it was ‘grippy’ and chewy. Still others felt it had more earthy characteristics, maybe a little mushroom, even ‘spice box’.
Linden 2019 Hardscrabble red: 65% Cab Sauv, 19% Cab Franc, 16% Merlot. Balanced. Notes of bramble fruit, baking spices, maybe a little brett. Cigar box and leather was mentioned. The tannin was chewy bur refined. Not a lot of fruit notes, though.
By another 8-person unanimous vote, the 2019 Boisseau red was decreed the favorite of our 3rd round. When he first tried it, I believe Daniel said something to the effect of, “That’s what I’m talking about!”. Avenius was almost universally the runner-up, and Hardscrabble was 3rd.
My best guess was the warmer year accentuated the fruit qualities of the Boisseau. It was also an outlier in this was our only red that was Cabernet Franc heavy, and people seemed to gravitate towards some of the spice notes that better Cab Francs have.
Favorites:
Alex: 2/3/1. Felt the #3/Hardscrabble needed more time
Daniel: 2/1/3. Likewise felt the Hardscrabble needed more time
Kathy: 2/1/3
Lieven: 2/1/3
Matt: 2/1/3
Mark: 2/1/3
Todd: 2/1/3. Felt #2 was the most open and balanced
Vanessa: 2/1/3. Said that #2/ was “great right now”
The results
In summary, here were the favorites per round:
2019 Avenius Chardonnay (7 out 8 votes)
2017 Hardscrabble red (8 out of 8 votes)
2019 Boisseau red (8 out of 8 votes)
I love that every round picked a different vineyard as their favorite. The qualities of each vineyard definitely shined through, influenced by the year the wine was made.
That said, I’m positive that had we tried this event either a year earlier or later, we easily could have come up with different results. Certain wines we tried this day were just ‘in their prime’, while others (especially Hardscrabble) arguably needed another year to reach their peak.
I admit I was somewhat surprised how unanimous we tended to be, given my group was rather diverse. 3 of us had been visiting Linden for years. Another 3 were DC-based wine experts who had experienced Linden, although not necessarily older vintages. The last 2 guests had until recently been living in Sonoma and were just starting their Virginia wine journey. Yet this group was extremely consistent in how we rated all 3 flights.
I did one last poll regarding favorite vineyard…and the overall favorite vineyard was Avenius. Guests seemed split whether they preferred the Avenius red or white. Again; ask us on another day, or with a different variety, we may have selected otherwise.
The Governor’s Cup may be Virginia wine’s best-known event, but the wine world is full of wine competitions large and small. Two of the most prestigious are held annually in San Francisco nearly back-to-back.
30 Virginia wineries and cideries entered these events, earning a total of 182 medals. Of these, 22 were Double Gold and 38 were Gold.
A number of these Double Golds earned top honors in their respective categories. The SFIWC awarded Vint Hill’s Covert Wineworks “Madison” 2023 Story Petit Manseng “Best White Wine in Show”, as well as “Best Other White Varietal”. The SFCWC gave “Best in Class” awards to 6 of Virginia wines.
One of the judges at the SFCWC summarized his view of Virginia’s impact with this statement:
“Each year, some wine region of North America seems to gain recognition for a disproportionate share of high awards at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. In 2025, it was Virginia” SFCWC wine judge Mike Dunne, on Virginia’s entries
While not all wineries enter major competitions, they nevertheless provide an important metric on how Virginia wine fares on the international stage. These competitions also provide increased visibility, marketing value, and bragging rights to those who do well.
I asked Mark and Maggie Malick, former owners of Maggie Malick Wine Caves, their view of these events. Maggie once earned Best in Class/Double Gold at the 2021 SFCWC for her 2017 Tannat, and Double Gold for her 2014 Tannat at the 2017 SFIWC.
According to Maggie, “They’re both big hitters. Judging is pretty strict in both. If you enter a Virginia wine and beat another country, you’re doing good.”
Biggest Winners at San Francisco
Winning Gold is a major kudo at either the SFCWC or SFIWC, but Virginia’s haul of 22 Double Golds and numerous “Best of” awards is especially impressive for a wine region that makes less than 0.3% of the nation’s wine production.
It’s too much to describe every one of these Double Gold winners. But if I were to narrow it down to a handful of the Virginia’s ‘biggest winners’ by winemaker, winery, or as a category that deserves highlighting, these are my picks:
Mark Ward, Winemaker for Effingham, Pearmund, and Vint Hill. Mark took home 5 Double Gold and 5 Golds between the SFC and SFI events. His Vint Hill 2023 Petit Manseng also earned “Best White Wine in Show” at the SFIWC. He’s been the head winemaker for the “Pearmund trifecta” since 2020.
Jeremy Ligon, Barrel Oak Winery.Jeremy was awarded a Best In Class/Double Gold for his Sauvignon Blanc (in the $35 and over category), Double Gold and runner-up for Best of Class for this dry Rosé, Double Gold at the SFI for his sparkling Norton, and three Golds.
Philip Carter Winery. PCW earned two SFCWC Best in Class awards, for its Nomini Hall Cabernet Franc ($35.00 – $49.99), and Chardonnay ($38.00 – $42.99). Matthieu Finot is their winemaker.
Veritas Vineyard. Emily Hodson of Veritas earned SFCWC Best in Class awards for her 2023 Sauvignon Blanc ($30.00 – $34.99) and 2023 Monticello White ($31.00 and over White blend), plus four Golds.
The 2023 Vintage. 2023 is the kind of high-quality vintage that is often only seen once a decade. Virginia wine lovers already knew this, but now the rest of the world does too.
It’s notable that 28 of the 59 Virginia wines (discounting one that used fruit from the west coast) that earned either Gold or Double Gold came from this magical juice. So far, most of what’s been released were white wines. That means our recently bottled reds are going to be making incredible waves on the competition circuit, once they are unleashed.
Virginia Sauvignon Blanc. I admit, I didn’t see this one coming. Yet it’s important enough to warrant its own mention, because the respective winemakers deserve it.
Virginia earned two SFCWC “Best in Class” awards for Sauvignon Blanc; Barrel Oak ($35 and over) and Veritas ($30.00 – $34.99). Endhardt earned a Double Gold and was runner-up to Veritas for its Upper Block Sauvignon Blanc.
This is a massive win for a category that is usually dominated by California. If we kicked-ass in Sauv Blanc, think of what the rest of the 2023 vintage is going to do.
The SFCWC website had this to say on these Sauv Blancs:
“At the 2025 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition, two of the five best-of-class Sauvignon Blancs were from Virginia, an unprecedented showing. (In all, 198 Sauvignon Blancs were in the competition.)”
“The Barrel Oak the richer, riper, and rounder of the two, its fruit fleshy and saturating,” while saying of the Veritas, “The wine is frank, lithe, dry, citric and astonishingly persistent for a Sauvignon Blanc. Its perky acidity makes it a perfect match for raw oysters.”
San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition (SFCWC) and San Francisco International Wine Competition (SFIWC) combined roster
The 2025 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition (2025 SFCWC) reviewed 5,500 wines submitted from over 910 wineries throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico, making it the largest wine competition in North America. 4,991 medals were awarded.
There are often multiple awards for the same variety or style for different price brackets. The “Best in Class” award goes to the highest-scoring bottle within that price bracket. It additionally has a “Sweepstakes” award to identify the top wine from among the “Bests” in different categories (no Virginia wine won this category this year).
The wines were judged in mid-January, and the results were released on 17 January 2025.
The 2024 San Francisco International Wine Competition (2024 SFIWC) reviewed wine submitted from 20 countries. 1590 medals were awarded to 476 wineries.
The wines were judged in mid-December, and the results were released on 13 January 2025.
Note on the Virginia medal winners: The La Grange Winery Syrah that earned Gold in the 2025 SFC used non-Virginia fruit. The other 59 Golds/Double Golds all used Virginia fruit. The ‘182’ medals includes 16 wines made using non-Virginia fruit. I include these numbers here only for the sake of being complete.
Several years ago while visiting wineries around Charlottesville, I encountered a curious sight. In the city that is the epicenter of Virginia wine was…a sake brewery.
What? Sake??? In Virginia?
Yet thinking about it, my surprise was misplaced. Sake exports from Japan have more than doubled from 2012 to 2022, according to figures provided by the Japanese Sake & Shochu Makers Association. Not only is the US the world’s top sake importer, there’s a growing local sake industry as well.
Charlottesville based North American Sake Brewery is one of only 20 or so sake breweries in the US, and the first (and only) in Virginia. Founder and head brewer Andrew Centofante gave me a lesson on sake brewing and a tour of his facility.
“Sake is such a fascinating and historic beverage. It’s a pretty niche market, but it’s one of the fastest growing beverages there is,” Andrew said during our interview. “As people explore Japanese cuisine, they are finding sake is a key part of it.
About 15 years ago, I went to an “izakaya” (casual drinking establishment) in Japan,” he continued. “The bartender walked me through different styles, regions, and profiles of sake, and it hit me that sake was similar to the craft beer movement. A few years later, I started making sake at home, and that led me to go back to Japan to work at a 200-year old brewery outside Osaka to learn the craft.
We’ve been open since 2018, making very traditionally handcrafted sake as well as some experimental styles.”
Defining Sake: Beer? Rice Wine? Or Something Unique?
The four basic ingredients for sake are rice, koji, water, and yeast. Of these, koji is likely the ingredient least-understood by American audiences.
Koji is a mold, cultured in hot, humid conditions to promote propagation. It’s an integral part of many of Japan’s most famous drinks and dishes, including sake, miso, and soy sauce.
Brewers apply the mold to rice, ensuring it’s thoroughly spread over every grain. When the brewing starts in the tank, the mold provides the enzymes to convert the rice starch into sugar. This sugar is then devoured by the yeast, which turns it into alcohol.
This process is called “multiple parallel fermentation,” and it’s what makes sake brewing unique.
While sake is usually referred to as ‘rice wine,’ that definition is a misnomer. Sake is its own category of alcoholic beverage, despite often being classified as either a wine or beer in the western world.
Andrew gets the question of, “Is sake a rice wine?” all the time. “Like wine, you can sip it, savor it, pair it with food. Sake is the same way. It has nuance of character, but the process is grain based, so it’s much closer to brewing than winemaking.
While they use similar processes, sake and beer come out at very different strengths. Since sake usually has around 15% alcohol and is sipped like wine, it’s often classified as rice wine.”
Balancing Creativity With Tradition
Unlike wine, which is ‘terroir’ driven, sake is more brewer-driven, according to Andrew.
“We talk a lot about the concept of intent in sake making. That’s what makes sake a difficult beverage to understand.”
The brewer’s treatment of their rice greatly influences the end product, a process called milling.
“Milling is where we remove fats and other proteins to get to the grain’s “shimpaku,” or starchy core, and it helps delimitate the style of sake you create,” Andrew explained while showing a handful of rice grains. “The more milled the rice is, the fruitier and more aromatic the end product is. The less it’s milled, the more earthy and savory notes you’ll get.
“Daiginjo” (50% milled) sake rice on the left, and sushi-grade rice on the right
The kind of rice you use is important, but think of it like a white canvas. It’s the brewing that helps bring out the nuanced flavor and aroma.
We get our rice from Arkansas. The farm we use has been making sake-specific rice for years. Sake rice is a short-grained style, usually with a great shimpaku that’s easy to mill and melts well in the tank.”
Japanese sake already comes in many different styles, based on the ingredients and production methods used. Local producers like North American Sake aren’t afraid to get even more creative to appeal to American consumers.
Andrew pondered my question regarding how far local sake diverges from what’s found in Japan before answering.
“It’s an interesting question. The sake industry in North America is so young, there aren’t defined styles of sake in terms of regionality. Being in the US, we have this huge opportunity to break out of traditional sake conventions.
We play on the edge of what sake is, and make everything from super-premium to fun, table sakes. There are people who are casual drinkers who just want something fun, or something gluten free.
For this crowd we make fruited styles using regional fruits or herbs, we make sparkling sake, and we’ve done collaborations with different brewers to make hopped sake.
But we also have customers who are looking for great sake. Since we’re in the game of making sake, we have to be as good or better than any Japanese sake out there.”
I wrote my first “Year In Review” in 2020, mostly as a way to summarize my favorite articles of the previous year and post the latest winery openings & closings. Over time I added new material to these yearly updates, focusing on events and themes that stood out.
To see my other ‘Years in Review’, check out my 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 articles as well.
Five years in, it’s hard to write these annual blurbs without revisiting topics I’d previously mentioned. But that’s ok; topics such as climate change, diversity, and sustainability won’t ever go out of style, and there are always new events to keep things interesting.
Virginia ended 2024 with a total of 278 wineries, 36 cideries, and 12 meaderies, plus 30 wine/cider/mead brands that lack tasting rooms. Here is a link to my winery roster.
This article is entirely my personal opinion and doesn’t reflect the position of the Virginia Wine Marketing Board or any other entity.
2024’s Major Stories and Trends
1. Industry Still Expanding Despite Closings Creeping Up, Including Oldest Winery in Virginia
2024 Winery Openings and Closings:
15 New Wine/Cider/Mead Tasting Rooms Opened: Blue Wall Cider and Wine, Domaine Fortier, Eagle Zen, Fallen Tree, Farm De Vine, Hermitage Hill Cider at Stable Craft Brewing, Muddy Paws, Private Label Cellars, Reitano Vineyards, Roslyn Farm and Vineyard (who for now, only sells other VA wine), Squabble State Hard Cider & Spirits, South Paddock Winery, Three Leg Run Brewery, Winery, and Meadery, Loudoun Cider House, and Thistle Rock Meadery.
6 New Micro-Labels Started: Cavalier Wine, Delve Wine, Holmes Wine, The Parallax Project, Prelude Wines, and Wound Tight.
10 Winery or Meadery Tasting Rooms Closed: AmRhein Wine Cellars, Blacksnake Meadery,Chapelle Charlemagne Vineyards, Forever Farm, Leo Grand Vineyard, Mountain Cove, Plumb Creek, Preston Ridge, and Spring Run (still open for events but not selling their own wine). Aspen Dale advertises itself as ‘mostly closed’ so I count it here, although it’s occasionally open to sell the winery’s remaining inventory. While not yet closed, Stanburn Winery will likely follow suit soon.
In summary; older, more rural wineries suffered the most in 2024, while new businesses generally chose to stay small rather than invest in a high-priced venue. For wineries who did open a tasting room, they nearly always opened in established wine regions.
The closure of Mountain Cove is an especially hard loss, as this was the oldest operating winery in Virginia (having purchased the land in 1973 and opening in 1977). That title now goes to Shenandoah Vineyards.
A total of 9 wineries closed. Notably, all were smaller venues located away from major wine trails. Economics almost certainly played a role in their closings, but other factors did as well.
Several had been open for years, even decades. But wine is a hard business, and eventually owners want to retire. Those who didn’t sell the winery may have simply decided to close shop and move to their next chapter.
Fortunately, new openings (surprisingly?) outnumber closings.
You’d think in a time of declining wine sales I’d be reporting that the number of new winery openings is shrinking. While 15 new venues represent a slower pace than the breakneck over ~20/year openings seen during the 2010s, it’s still comparable to an ‘average’ year in Virginia.
But there’s a catch. While the raw number of new wineries that opened in 2024 is strong, these businesses tended to be smaller in scale (both production capacity and tasting room size) than wineries that opened in previous years. If you measure only wine production, 2024 almost certainly represents a slowdown compared to 2023.
Moreover, some new businesses are forgoing tasting rooms all together. 2024 saw the opening of 6 ‘micro wineries’ (brands that sell their wine via pop-ups instead of a tasting room). This was a new record for this model, which I partially attribute to the success of ‘wine incubators’ (more on that later).
Even larger wineries are not immune to economic trends. Paradise Spring was set to open a new tasting room in Afton but decided to hold off for the time being, while Michael Shaps is selling his “Wineworks Extended” tasting room in downtown Charlottesville (but keeping his main location).
2. The 2024 Vintage & Another Year of Extreme Weather
In the words of one winemaker, “The 2024 vintage was…weird”.
It started off strong. Spring didn’t inflict serious frost damage, and the summer was especially hot and dry. These conditions allow vineyards to produce fruit with high-intensity berries, suitable for making powerful wine.
Alas, the drought was so harsh that winemakers actually wished for a few inches of rain. Yet when it finally came, it was a deluge. What could have been an awesome 2023-like vintage was knocked down a peg or two in many places.
Late-ripening reds such as cabernet sauvignon and petit verdot most likely suffered the most as they either had a hard time drying out or growers were forced to pick them prematurely. Fortunately, many vineyards brought in excellent merlot and cabernet franc earlier in the season, and their white grapes came in well before the rain.
Of course, this is a generalization. There are wineries that were extremely happy with their fruit and others that were less so. While uneven phenolic ripening due to the accelerated growing season may pose a challenge, most winemakers seem satisfied with the quality (but not the quantity) of the 2024 season fruit.
Some may label this as a year of ‘extreme’ weather, given multiple records for early harvesting were broken. But given how the last several years were crazy in their own unique ways, I think this proves that ‘extreme’ weather has become something of the norm.
3. A Good Year For Diversity and Inclusion
2024 was a triple win for diversity and inclusion, with well-deserved callouts to Pride in the Vines, Virginia Women in Wine (VWIW), and The Oenoverse.
Loudoun County’s ‘Pride in the Vines’ hosted its second wine trail this past June for Pride Month. Not part of the trail but thematically connected was Culpepper Pride, hosted by Mountain Run Winery. Pride flags are now flying in towns that didn’t welcome them even a decade ago.
Next up is Nancy Bauer’s VWIW, which launched its inaugural event in August. The necessity of this organization is driven by how two-thirds of the local wine industry workforce are female, yet women are severely underrepresented in industry leadership positions. The VWIW’s mission is to close this gender gap, offering opportunities for networking, leadership development, and highlighting the industry’s female trailblazers.
Blenheim Vineyards’ Oenoverse (Ee-Nuh-Verse) isn’t new, but this wine club/wine community/access & opportunity program has been ‘in the news’ in 2024 as co-founder Reggie Leonard received national recognition for his outreach to historically underrepresented communities.
Oenoverse-related events in 2024 included the Two Up Wine Down wine festival, which highlighted a number of BIPOC winemakers/owners. It also partnered with The Veraison Project, which hosted an immersion program aimed at members of historically underrepresented consumers & industry professionals.
4. Banner Year For Media Recognition
In 2023, Wine Enthusiast selected Monticello as their “Wine Region of the Year”. Since then, there has been a notable uptick in national recognition of the Virginia wine industry.
Major outlets which showered praise on Virginia wine include The Wall Street Journal, Decanter, Vogue, Southern Living, Travel & Leisure, and Men’s Journal (to name just a few). While Virginia wine has been recognized in the press before, it’s fair to say Wine Enthusiast supercharged the press circuit.
Hopefully, this will normalize Virginia as an ‘established’ region known for its quality wine, rather than constantly be identified as an ‘up & coming’ area to watch out for.
The number of small-batch wine labels has grown significantly over the past decade, with six micro-brands opening in 2024 alone. This has given rise to ‘wine incubators’, which provide a space for these tiny enterprises to grow.
While such spaces aren’t new, Eastwood Farm’s “Virginia Wine Collective” may be the most innovative.
Eastwood plans on renovating the current Michael Shaps Wineworks Extended tasting room in Charlottesville, creating individual spaces that can be licensed separately. This allows the winemakers operating in these spaces start-to-finish control over their wine. This also sets Eastwood apart from other “incubators,” as their lack of separately licensable spaces prevents these entrepreneurs from operating heavy equipment because of insurance liability.
Owner Athena Eastwood hopes this facility will encourage fresh talent to enter the industry by lowering the startup costs encountered by new winemakers. Yet this facility isn’t just for new winemakers; many small-batch operations will operate from here.
Athena explained the goal is to create a joint tasting room for Eastwood’s participating “Wine Collective” members, which include local wine luminaries such as Jake Busching, Joy Ting, and Matthieu Finot.
6. Invasion of the Spotted Lanternfly
If 2023 saw scouting parties, then 2024 saw the full invasion of the spotted lanternfly (SLF).
It’s hard to visit a winery in NOVA without the little buggers flying all around you, and they’re now being spotted in the Shenandoah Valley and Charlottesville.
The SLF sucks the sap out of vines, potentially causing vascular damage. They also excrete a sugary substance that attracts nuisance insects. This ‘honeydew’ also creates a difficult to remove sooty mold that inhibits photosynthesis.
The only good news is Pennsylvania wineries (ground zero for the invasion) are reporting SLF populations have started to collapse, indicating nature is bringing things back into balance. Until then, vineyard managers will have to lean on their spray programs to control the infestation.
7. RdV Vineyards purchased byChâteau Montros
This June, RdV announced it was purchased by Château Montrose, a “Second Growth” winery in Bordeaux. This is the first time a high-powered French château has established itself in the eastern United States.
This acquisition is a huge vote of confidence in not just RdV, but the future of Virginia wine as a whole. Founder Rutger De Vink has already moved to Oregon, passing the reins to the Bouygues family. RdV will now be led by Charlotte Bouygues, who plans to split her time between NYC, Paris, and Virginia.
Charlotte explained this purchase was motivated by a desire to find a location abroad that stylistically fits with their Bordeaux wines. Locating a business where the existing team was willing to stay on, especially Winemaker Joshua Grainer, also encouraged them to make this move.
At some point in the near-future the winery will be renamed Lost Mountain, after RdV’s flagship wine and hilly location.
8. Norton (and Hybrids) Getting Well Deserved Recognition
This November a number of wineries joined together to form the “Norton Network”, giving special tastings to highlight this grape. Fred Reno has an entire podcast series on Norton. Even Lucie Morton is getting in on the action, raising funds for her film “Odyssey of Forbidden Wines” and testing if Cynthiana and Norton are the same or different grapes (she suspects the later).
Native and hybrid grapes are surprisingly not increasing as a percentage of total grapes planted, according to recent Virginia grape grower reports. I suspect this will change in the next few years, especially as more vineyards such as Briedé Family Farm plant a next-generation of hybrid grapes.
Honorable Mentions:
Passing of Paul Armstrong: This August, Virginia lost a huge advocate and amazing person with the passing of Paul Armstrong, half of the Virginia Wine Time team. Virginia Wine Time was Virginia’s first wine blog and an inspiration for my own. We miss you, Archer.
Low/No Alcoholic Wines Gaining Traction: I wrote an article in January 2024 about Low/No Alcoholic wines in Virginia, and it became my most viewed article of 2024. I can’t help but think there’s a huge, untapped market for Low/No beverages, and wineries had better take note of this consumer trend.
Frank Morgan Shakes Up the Governor’s Cup: 2024 was the first year that Virginia Wine guru Frank Morgan managed the Governor’s Cup, the state’s most prestigious wine competition. His changes include bringing in a slew of new judges and limiting wineries to 6 entries. Additionally, sweet wines are now excluded from the Case, a previous change that took effect this year.
New Tasting Spaces for Bluestone, Lost Creek, and Ramulose Ridge. Lost Creek Vineyards closed its Lucketts tasting room and will use its Echelon Wine Bar will serve as its de-facto tasting room until further notice. Ramulose Ridge opened tasting rooms in Staunton and Natural Bridge. Bluestone winemaker Lee Hartman opened the Rootstock wine bar in Harrisonburg in December 2023, which sells an assortment of wine and hosts Virginia wine events.
I think Jake’s Busching’s initial ‘bar takeover’ at Walsh Family Wine many years ago was the reason I started going to these events, and I still count it as my favorite ‘independent wine brand’ (a wine that doesn’t have a tasting room, that is). I visited Jake earlier in the year at Commonwealth Crush to try some of his wines in barrel, and since then had been looking forward to him pouring them at Walsh this December.
But as the commercial goes…“But wait…there’s more!”
In addition to Jake Busching Wine, Walsh also hosted Corry Craighill’s Wound Tight, her personal wine label. Corry is Septenary Vineyard’s winemaker but Wound Tight is where she gets to play around with different winemaking techniques. Together, Jake and Corry were a great double-header.
JBW and Wound Tight are two of the many ‘small batch’ independent wine brands that are making some of the most exciting wine in Virginia. While many wineries prefer their winemakers stick with what’s popular and conventional, these smaller brands have the flexibility to experiment as they see fit.
Jake Busching Wines
Jake’s been around the Virginia wine scene since 1997, first at Jefferson Vineyards but jumping around different places in the Monticello AVA. While working at Michael Shaps he had the opportunity to make wine under his own label, leading to the first vintage of “Jake Busching Wine”.
While he’s a longtime winemaker, Jake thinks of himself as a ‘dirt guy’. Jake consults all around Virginia, helping new vineyards get started.
That role gives him a leg-up on finding exciting new vineyard sites to source from. Jake has especially high praise of Beacon Tree and Belle Fox vineyards, but those are just two of the many sites he works with.
These sites were on display tonight. Jake brought with him three wines; his 2017 Tannat (from Honah Lee), his “Cheninquisition” Chenin (from Beacon Tree Vineyard), and his “2B” (Beacon Tree and Belle Fox Vineyard).
2017 Tannat: Jake’s tannat is always a favorite of mine, and he has high praise for how this grape does in Virginia. Tannat needs time to express itself, but even at 8-years this wine has not yet reached its peak.
2023 “Cheninquisition” Chenin: While Jake called this his entry-level wine, there was nothing simple about it. Lots of texture here. Chenin is tough to grow, but apparently Beacon Tree is one of the few local places that can do it well. I also love the pun-y name; why didn’t something think of this before?
2021 “2B” (red blend): The name is inspired as a follow-on to “F8” naming convention, and that fact that two vineyards that start with “B” were the sources of this fruit. Notes of spice and jam. It was still young, but that also means it will have time to get even better.
PS – 2B was sold out when I tried to buy it, so I’ll have to track Jake down for more. But besides tasting wine, we also had the chance to talk about the future.
Understanding “The Winemaker’s Collective“
Jake’s independent brand makes him something of a ronin, but he’s ‘settling down’ in the near future. While he was pouring, he described a project he’s closely involved with; the “Winemaker’s Collective”, organized by Eastwood Farm and Winery.
This ‘Collective’ is set to play an important role in the Virginia wine industry by providing a home for small-scale wine businesses that lack a tasting room or production facility. While new winemakers may especially benefit from Jake’s consulting expertise, it’s really for any label that lacks a permanent home.
For a winemaker to have front-to-end control of their winemaking, they need have their license parked at a facility. That’s challenging for many smaller operations, since operating a winery requires a huge up-front investment they just don’t have.
To get around that challenge, many startups borrow space at a separate facility. Yet there are problems in this approach as well. Due to liability issues, only the license holder can operate the equipment necessary to fully execute the winemaking process. That means the guest essentially loses creative control over their own wine.
What makes Jake excited about the Winemaker’s Collective is it solves this problem by creating a production facility designed to allow multiple licenses to operate at the same time. Not only that, but this building will also have a joint tasting space.
According to owner Athena Eastwood, Eastwood Winery is refurbishing the current Michael Shaps Extended facility to create this dream production building/tasting space. When complete, participating “Wine Collective” members Joy Ting, Jake, and others will be pouring wine under the same roof.
Wound Tight
Corry Craighill has been at Septenary Winery outside the Afton area of Charlottesville since 2020, having previously worked at Sunset Hills (where she started right after Nate Walsh). Ironically, only recently have her own reds been hitting the tasting room, since the owners at Septenary prefer extended aging on their bottles.
She and Nate previously collaborated on a pair of wines called “Sun Room”, which proved something of a precursor for this project. Wound Tight is the next step forward, with bottle art designed by her husband.
She created Wound Tight because she wanted to try something different from Septenary, which sticks with more conventional blends and styles. Those wines are great, but Wound Tight wines are definitely more creative.
The name comes from her dad’s nickname for her, but they also reflect the life cycle of every grape, which start of ‘tight’ in the bud. All told, she only makes 24 cases of wine from each batch, and aiming at 100 cases/year in 2025.
Low intervention and the use of natural yeast is prevalent here, but it’s more than that. She uses a mostly different set of grapes than what visitors to Septenary may be used to, including saparavi and chardonel.
Root Chatter (Saparavi): A rare grape for Virginia, source from a farm outside Lynchburg. Juicy and bright, with earth notes and spice overtones.
Little Light (Sauvignon Blanc): To make this wine, she dried SB stems for 2 days, wrapped them in cheesecloth, and steeped them in the wine for 10 days, like a tea. It wasn’t ‘sauv blanc-y’, although it did share the same zesty-ness. Think of a sauv blanc but with bite. LOVED this wine.
Free Lens (Saparavi/Chardonel blend Rosé): Co-fermented; notes of lemon rind.
Wine Trails and Wanderlust 