Zephaniah Farm Vineyard

August 11, 2023.  When we first visited Zephaniah Farm Vineyard outside of Leesburg in 2016, we had gotten lost on the way because, the owner told us, he purposefully used small signage.  At least that is what my notes said about the visit.  That guy must have been Bill Hatch, who else would have said it?   

In 2023 we returned to Zephaniah early on a typically humid Virginia summer day and met Mr. Hatch in the parking lot as his only guests of the morning.  (Bill admitted that he spends no funds on signage except for the sign at the end of the driveway.  Don't miss it.)  In 2016, we remember walking up to the winery through the garden to a stately manor house.  Tastings then were conducted in the living room of the manor house filled with antiques and charm.  The 1820 manor house is still there as a venerable presence, while the tasting room moved to a new building next door. 

 

The tasting room is a high-ceilinged and wood timbered affair.  As with the manor house, all tastings are seated tastings.  You won’t be jostling at the bar at Zephaniah.   

 

On nice days, guests may want to have their tasting on the covered porch, although we found we interrupted the yellowjackets out there fighting with the hummingbirds for nectar.  There are also seating areas in the garden shade.  There is no fireplace in the tasting room for the colder months.

We were happy to spend a long time speaking with Bill Hatch, the owner, vintner, and winemaker. 

 

He is co-owner with wife Bonnie.  The winery is named from great grand-father Zephaniah Jefferson Hatch, who built and owned a steamship company in San Francisco.  With the construction of bridges in the Bay Area, steamships were edged out and the Hatch family used the proceeds from the sale of the steamship company to buy the Mill Road Farm in Loudoun County in 1950.  In the 1950’s Loudoun had around 400 dairy farms, among them the Hatch farm.  As we noted elsewhere on this blog, demographics eventually made this kind of farming economically untenable and farmers looked to other ways to preserve the farms, such as by growing grapes. 

Bill’s epiphany came visiting his daughter in the Tyrol.  He enjoyed their wine so much that he resolved at age 50 to try to grow and make similar wine on his Virginia farm.  Even though without viticulture training, a professor over there advised him: “It’s farming; just plant the damn grapes!”  And that is still the motto today. 

The Hatch family began planting grapes in 2002 and now offers twelve different varietal wines including “the basics” (e.g., Cabernet Franc, Chardonnay, Petit Manseng and Petit Verdot) and later somewhat more exotic selections like Muscat Ottonel in spring 2012 and Vermentino in 2014.  More about those grapes later.  Ten acres of vineyards begin at the crest of the hill near the tasting room.  Bill has another four acres near Oak Hill.  Winery production takes place below the tasting room.  All wines at Zephaniah are estate grown.  Open sources discuss attention to canopy management at the winery and harvesting is by hand.  

Be aware that Zephaniah is a 21+ facility.  Neither children nor pets are welcome.  A big reason is that this working farm altogether is around 350 acres and still has livestock roaming on it.  We saw some of the cows near the tasting room.  Outside food is allowed, by the way.

We very much appreciate Bill and server Nick’s time with us.  We can report that Zephaniah does tasting in the proper way: with real glasses so the wines can breathe and with fresh glasses for each wine.  Here was our wine experience:

2022 Amber Limited (Vermentino).  This wine is named, oddly enough, after the family’s 1938 Buick Limited, which you can visit in its own garage.  There is a great story about how this car came to rest at the winery.  Ask Bill to tell it.  The wine is orange in color.  Some acidity helps to balance with green apply crispness.  It is 67% Vermentino, a Sardinian-Tuscan white wine grape known for full body and herbal notes.  Chardonnay and Traminette round out the wine.  We rate the Amber a B+. 

2019 Adeline.  Adeline is named after Zephaniah’s wife.  This is a white wine mostly of Muscat Ottonel originally from Alsace and used in dessert wines from central Europe.  At Zephaniah, it is used with Vidal Blanc and Petit Manseng to make a slightly sweet floral wine with a longer finish. We rate this wine a B. 

2018 Steamship White  As you might guess, Steamship White is named after Zephaniah Hatch’s maritime trade in California.  The most popular of the winery’s offerings, it is light-bodied and citrus and nicely priced.  It is 81% Chardonel, the American-French hybrid of Seyval and Chardonnay that has been developed grow better in Virginia than Chardonnay.  We rate it a B+ and bought a bottle.

2017 Chambourcin.  This is 100% Chambourcin.  Brambly aroma.  Bright fruit.  Medium body, light tannins.  Oak-aged.  Very nice.  B+.

2017 Three Captains Red.  This is a red blend of Chambourcin (37.5%), Cabernet Franc (25%), Cabernet Sauvignon (25%), and Petit Verdot (12.5%).  Compared to the Chambourcin varietal offering, this wine shows darker fruit and longer finish, with a similar brambly nose.  I appreciate the more complex blend.  I rate it B+ and bought a bottle.

2019 Friendship Red.  The 2019 Friendship won a Gold Medal at the 2023 Virginia Governor’s Cup competition.  It is made from Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Petit Manseng.  Smoother than the Three Captains and alittle sweet on the edges.  B.  Nick, the server, let us try the Friendship straight from the bottle and decanted.  As you might expect, the decanted version was more open and flavorful.  If you buy the 2019 Friendship, you might benefit from decanting it as well to get the Gold Medal treatment. 

2019 Possibilities Sparkling White.  At the end of our tasting, Bill and Nick offered us a taste of their sparkler, Possibilities.  This uses all estate-grown Chardonel that has undergone the traditional method.  B+.  We also bought a bottle of Possibilities (sounds like a song from a Broadway show), but we have to admit we had a break on the price.  Normally this would not be in our price point.

This was a great destination and a wonderful experience.