Bringing in the grapes at the
right time is important
- it's all in the brix.
A water pouch was sometimes filled with wine. In the early days of colonial settlement, wine was much safer to drink than most available water.
Our estate wine is made in small batches to assure the highest quality and most outstanding wine we can produce. We are dedicated to making wine in an uncharacteristic way - largely by hand in a manual fashion the old-fashion way.
Aspen Dale was carved out of the Ball Family land holdings. Lord Fairfax's Leeds Manor was just developing. Two Maryland merchants, John Adams and Zephaniah Turner, with Barbados trade connections, first leased then purchased large chunks of land where Aspen Dale began its life.
Thomas Adams was given the land where the winery stands. Members of the Adams family and the family of John Marshall - the first constitutionalist Supreme Court Judge - married and cared for this land and surrounding lands for decades. We are enormously privileged to be only the seventh owner of Aspen Dale Estate in over 200 years.
The great care and love required for horses is excellent training for becoming a wine farmer.
Aspen Dale Winery at the Barn was once home to some of Virginia's finest race horses.
Today the newly formed racing stable and training ring are located just beyond the patio. You just might catch Hugh training. It is a delight to watch.
Standing at Aspen Dale is Executive Branch, in training, and Shay's Slew, our little filly who is just playing for the moment but about to go to work..
Traveling by horses - many a journey was made easier by a sip of wine from the pouch. What would they think today to see their barn a tasting room?
Wine farmers with a passion for the land and its history ... come share the experirence
