Merrie Mill Farm and Winery

July 7, 2022.  At the recommendation of friends Joe and Belle, we stopped in at the new Merrie Mill Farm and Winery near Cismont.  Just over a year old (May 2021), Merrie Mill is owned by Guy and Elizabeth Pelly from Great Britain who purchased the property in 2018.  They have already suffered through a frost that killed their 2020 crop. 

There are 12 acres under vine at Merrie Mill with plans for growth.  These vines produce their Rose, Viognier and White Blend offerings.  According to Haley Verdi, the Wine Club Manager who helped us, fruit for other wines comes principally from Castalia Farm in Keswick, maintaining a strong sense of place.  At this point, Merrie Mill is not fully in production on the range of products they want.  Of the ten wines listed on the Merrie Mill website, only five are Merrie Mill products (MMF); on the tasting menu, only three of seven wines are MMF.  The others are from Veritas Winery and Veritas’ second label, “True Heritage.”  The plan is to serve both Veritas/True Heritage and MMF wines until the Merrie Mill vines are producing more and then transition to only MMF wines in a year or two.  See, Arielle Patterson, Merrie Mill Farm and Vineyard in Keswick is Charlottesville area’s newest tasting room with a playful spirit, Savor-Virginia accessed at https://savorva.com/be-merry-at-merrie-mill/ 

It has a quirky tasting room – cozy but modern and very sharply decorated.  A nice fireplace.

Outside there are umbrellas on the patio and terraces overlooking the vines. In winter, there are firepits.  Pets and children are okay, but outside food is allowed only outside.  We were inside and split a caprese panini that was really quite good.  We did have to contend with a lot of flies, however, and that a bit distracting. 

The two wines we sampled happened not to be Merrie Mill wines, but we’ll give our impressions anyway, below.

2020 Veritas Saddleback Chardonnay.. Kim rated this a B or B+. It was aromatic and medium bodied.  Light straw color.

2019 True Heritage Estate Red Blend.  Haley recommend this Red Blend over the True Heritage Petit Verdot.  It was dry and medium bodied. Some bite and some alcohol on the back.

This is a winery that has some growing to do.  It is certainly worth a re-visit once they have more of their own product to offer. 

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