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).

1. 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.
2. 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?
3. 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.

1. Root Chatter (Saparavi): A rare grape for Virginia, source from a farm outside Lynchburg. Juicy and bright, with earth notes and spice overtones.
2. 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.
3. Free Lens (Saparavi/Chardonel blend Rosé): Co-fermented; notes of lemon rind.