Reitano Vineyards
August 16, 2025. Reitano Vineyards opened in June 2024 to much fanfare with local elected officials from Warren County and nearby Front Royal in attendance. Reitano is the brainchild of Shelly Cook, who took her family cattle farm and turned it into an “extravagant vineyard.” The name “Reitano” comes from Shelly’s grandfather who immigrated from Reitano, Sicily through Ellis Island into America. We are in the Shenandoah AVA.
Reitano has two main buildings with a third one due to open in October 2025. Currently, the Old Springhouse serves as the tasting room and the main event space. A pavilion allows for other large events.
Outdoor seating is on a wide patio that wraps around the Springhouse. One side of the patio is shaded. The sun side of the building has an unobstructed view of the valley. Raptors glided overhead.
We spoke with co-owners Shelly and her son, Jeremy, a square-chested young man who handles the busy tasting room bar on weekends while using his law degree to manage the business side of Reitano day-to-day.
Reitano has a 15-acre vineyard, and all of their wine is estate-grown. Today, Reitano’s wine is made at Fox Meadow Winery by Theo Smith, owner of Capstone Vineyard (See our post from May 2024). Their first harvest in 2024 yielded around 20 tons of grapes from their young vineyard, equaling roughly 1,000 cases.* Jeremy tells us that one might expect yields to increase to around 1,700 to 1,800 cases as the young plants mature.
While the plants are coming into their own, Shelly plans to move production back to Reitano when the new tasting room and production facility is completed in October. The new 11,000 square foot tasting room and production building is visible over the ridge from the Springhouse.
Looking at the Reitano website, it appears that Shelly is aiming at the lucrative wedding market. For weddings and corporate events, the Springhouse can hold up to 250 people. Once the tasting room is open, however, not only will the Old Springhouse be freed-up for more large events, but the growing and making of wine will become an equal partner of the work here. You might see a shift to reflect both the winery and the wedding/event sides of the business. My sense from Jeremy is that Reitano wants to grow and make wine on property to support events, for sure, but more importantly for sale in the tasting room, independent of the special events. It is encouraging that their goal is not to be just another wedding venue. For both sides of the business, Shelly has been vocal about focusing her hiring on people from Warren County.
Jeremy told us about some future plans to make Reitano more of an entertainment venue than strictly a winery or wedding venue. They understand the downward trend in alcohol consumption and are planning to meet it by offering a wider range of ABC products, cigar rooms, and full golf simulators. The new tasting room will have a commercial kitchen, allowing for an expanded menu. hey plan on building twenty overnight cabins and hosting seasonal events (like a harvest maze). All of this to welcome wine lovers and those looking for other diversions and to provide a casual entertainment atmosphere for the county.
Families are welcome at Reitano, and pets are allowed outside. Reitano does not allow outside food as they have a reasonably good selection of charcuterie, salads, sandwiches and flatbreads. Kim and I had a sharable chicken salad board served on apple slices with honeyed pecans.
One issue on our visit to the Old Springhouse was that the
music was very loud. The two-bubba performing
group that afternoon was “Chicken N Dumplins,” and their music bounced up
into the rafters and back down to the concrete floor multiple times. Even Shelly thought they were too loud. Why do so many musicians think they are performing in a beer hall instead
of a winery? Plus, I’m not sure their rendition of “Purple
Rain” really fit their repertoire.
Instead of a full tasting, we elected to get two glasses of Reitano wine with our chicken salad board. Here’s the short list:
2024 Pinot Grigio, 100% Pinot Grigio. Medium-minus body. More depth than many Pinot Grigio’s. Kim rated it a B.
2024 Heritage. I suppose this is intended to be Reitano’s answer to “Meritage” as it is a blend of Petit Verdot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Cabernet Franc. Medium-bodied, mild, bright fruit. I rated it a B on price.
Reitano bears watching as they evolve the business.
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*Wine Spectator estimates that one ton of grapes equates to roughly 120 gallons or 50 cases of wine, accounting for a number of variables like grape variety and the inclusion of material other than grapes, like stems and pits. https://www.winespectator.com/articles/how-many-gallons-of-wine-are-in-a-ton-of-grapes
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