At the Foot of the Blue Ridge ~ Veritas Vineyard & Winery

Seven hundred fifty hard miles, eight states (NH, MA, CT, NY, NJ, DE, MD, & VA), GPSed through or around three major east coast cities (NY City, Baltimore, & Washington DC)  and on into the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia brings the one to the young but innovative and industrious family-owned & operated Veritas Vineyard & Winery in Afton, Virginia.  In Roman mythology, Veritas, meaning truth, was the goddess of truth, a daughter of Saturn and the mother of Virtue. It was believed that she hid in the bottom of a holy well because she was so elusive. Veritas is also the name given to the Roman virtue of truthfulness, which was considered one of the main virtues any good Roman should possess. The Hodson family, owners of Veritas Vineyard & Winery, present the origin of the name of their vineyard as deriving from the Roman historian Pliny the Elder’s observation: “In Vino Veritas” ~ “In Wine There Is Truth.”

Roses serve as the canary in the cage in vineyards. The roses suffer sooner than the grape vines.

The Hodson family’s first wine grape plantings were in 1999, prior to that the property was a cattle farm. The proximity of the Blue Ridge, the orientation to the sun, and the rolling hills falling away to the east lent the property excellent potential for a vineyard. Grape vines take at least three years to mature into producers of vintner-ready grapes. The vineyard opened its doors for business in 2002. Mother Patricia Hodson tends the growing grape vines and the vineyard grounds.   Emily Pelton, a Hodson family daughter and a Virginia Tech trained enologist (I had to look that one up) is the vineyard’s winemaker, ably assisted by father Andrew.  The youngest Hodson daughter, Chloe, joined the family business after graduating from the University of Virginia. Chloe is the special events and wedding coordinator while also running the tasting room operation. Weddings and special events along with the tasting room comprise a significant portion of the vineyard’s activity. The Hodson family son George is now the vineyards general manager.

An inclusive family business.

A business of energetic and positive wine people that enjoy interacting with the public about, around and over Veritas wine.

Veritas is located twenty minutes west of Charlottesville, Virginia in gorgeous Nelson County. Veritas boasts a state of the art facility,  from the beautiful rolling vineyard grounds, to the french oak and sparkling steel wine-making environs and the lovely event  function rooms and veranda. The vineyard employs 12 full time staff and approximately 90 seasonal employees.

After checking his watch and digital calendar one of the tasting room staff was more than willing to grant our unreserved-on-the-spot request for a tour ($10.00 pp, with an along-the-way wine tasting included). This was much appreciated and enjoyed. Veritas does appreciate and suggests reservations ahead of time for tours. The tour involved presentation of the crush pad, the wine cellar, the barrel aging room and a discussion of basic wine production along with the wine tastings. Page Foster our urbane and knowledgeable guide was very willing to answer all our questions and was very accommodating for this tour party of two. Page accommodated me on the second day for one of his tours so I could grab some images. This is a very busy season in the wine making business. The lay of the land and presentation and organization of the wine cellar had changed in 24 hours.

Good wine and the Blue Ridge Mountains back drop not withstanding the real draw for us to drive the distance we did was Veritas’ final Starry Nights event of the season featuring the Charlottesville music scene’s own raucous bluegrass band:  The Hackensaw Boys. These guys have been on my musical radar for quite some time. This is the closest to New Hampshire that I had been able to find them playing. Veritas wine, a sumptuous three course dinner on the covered deck and then some over-the-top-hard-driving-uptempo americana music. Here’s hoping that The Hackensaw Boys find their way to play above the Mason-Dixon in the northern Northeast soon.

Veritas out did themselves with their organization and presentation for the final Starry Nights event of the season. Excellent wine by the bottle paired with a lovely and sumptuous three course meal. The folks at our table under cover on the deck were a joy to share the meal and the night with. The staff for the event were all very energetic and positive while working hard to meet people’s needs.

Threatening weather passed Veritas and The Hackensaw Boys by and the music and energy held sway.

Kudos to Veritas on a very comfortable and professional event presentation.

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