Woodbrook Farm Vineyard

October 26, 2023.  If you look at a map of the Monticello Wine Trail, Woodbrook Farm Vineyard in Orange is at the farthest northeast limit, off the beaten path for those wineries.  And yet to get there from Charlottesville is a pleasure because you are on Route 20 most of the journey – through Barboursville and past Montpelier Station. 

When you arrive, what you see first, coming over a hill, is the back-end of a somewhat dilapidated barn.  Please don’t be put off by first impressions.  Drive around to the entrance to see what Twyman Family has in store.  Noel Twyman was a professional steeplechase rider in the 1980’s; the barn was originally his training barn.  Daughter Vaughn Jenkins and son Robert Twyman, co-owners, kept their father’s silks as the winery logo and retained about a quarter of the barn in its original state.  They converted the rest of the barn into a beautiful tasting room with light blonde exposed woods and surrounding windows.  There is a fireplace downstairs and upstairs in the loft, comfy sofas looking to the Blue Ridge.  The patio offers soft seating from where we watched smoke from a fire on the distant hills.  

 

 

Opening in November 2022, Woodbrook is less than a year old when we stopped by for a visit.  We spoke with Vaughn and with her sister-in-law, Carey Twyman, about the winery.  Thanks for their hospitality.  They are just beginning to explore the space, hosting their first wedding after Thanksgiving and holding meetings and receptions.  The long main hall and flagstone floor would be great for dancing.  Pets are fine and outside food is okay so long as there are no special events. 

 

                                                                                        Vaughn (l) and Carey (r) 

According to Vaughn Jenkins, Woodbrook produces around 1,000 cases per year.  They have six and a half acres of grapes under vine in rich Davidson soil, with plantings of Petit Manseng, Pinot Gris, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Sauvignon.  Presumably these will produce in a couple of years.  (They managed to harvest some Petit Manseng in 2022, miraculously).  But at this point, none of the fruit in Woodbrook wines is estate grown.  

Woodbrook has hired Michael Shaps Wineworks to produce their wines from grapes sourced within Virginia.  (Vaughn mentioned Honah Lee Vineyard in particular).  I don’t believe they have plans to move from this custom crush model.  The Woodbrook team works with Michael Henry, the head winemaker at Michael Shaps.  He presents four options for tasting by Woodbrook team (Vaughn and her husband, Noel, Robert and Carey).  The end result, therefore, reflects the choice of the winery and their preference to eschew heavy oak in favor of neutral oak, if anything.  Woodbrook does some distribution through the Virginia Winery Distribution Company [See, Bureaucracy tab for explanation] and to some restaurants in Culpeper.

Here are our impressions of the five wines we sampled:

2021 Pinot Gris.  Light bodied and short finish.  Not much fruit or aroma.  11.5% ABV.  We rate it a B.

2021 Viognier.  This is a very nice Viognier.  B+.  We bought a bottle.  It has 5% Chardonel added for a nice balance and mid length finish.  Fermented through stainless and oak.  Pleasant trace of sweetness on the tip of the tongue.

2021 Samba.  Samba is a blend of Vidal (83%) and Viognier (17%) with 2% residual sugar.  Pleasingly sweet but not overbearing.  A good hot day wine chilled.  Rate it a B.

2022 Rosé.  Merlot leads this Rosé blend (65%) with Cabernet Franc added and a small amount of Chambourcin for the final pale peach color.  Dry and weak.  I rate it a B+.

2022 Cabernet Franc.  This is 100% Cab Franc.  Mild tannin.  Mid-length finish.  Nice.  Still young.  Might benefit from a bit of aging.  B.

Woodbrook has a lot of potential and is well worth the trip off of Route 29 to Orange to check up on where they are going.