Eastwood Farm and Winery

July 9, 2022.  We finished a long day of sampling with a visit to Eastwood Farm and Winery in Charlottesville.  Eastwood is a small winery which impresses with its open design.  The tasting room flows onto a side porch with comfortable seating.  Outside food is ok.  We had a good time talking with fellow visitors and tourists, some happy groups, and some couples playing quiet board games.  (We learned places to avoid in Florida should we ever want to move there.)  A nice place to sit and watch the rain come down. 

Eastwood is a woman-owned winery led by Athena Eastwood who formed it in 2007, and who purchased this property in 2016.  According to Maggie, the tasting room manager, the winery opened to the public in February 2020 with the tasting room opening a year later.  They produce around 1,000 cases a year from ten acres under vine which I believe are mostly acquired in their partnership with Silver Creek Orchard and Vineyard near Tyro. 

Eastwood’s lead winemaker is Claude Thibaut who is one half of the Thibaut-Janisson label of Virginia sparkling wine and an expert in traditional Methôde champenoise. 

We had two wines on this visit:

Non-vintage Cabernet Franc (Tall Tails).  Medium bodied.  Cherry fruit.  High tanins that should calm down over time.  Mid level alcohol and acid.  Deep purple, young wine judging from lack of core to rim variation. 

2021 Chardonnay (non-reserve).  Kim rated this a C+.  Very light.  100% Stainless steel fermentation.

 

 

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