Stoney Brook Vineyards

June 20, 2026.  The Showalter family have had a plot of land near the town of Troutville in Botetourt County since the mid 19^th Century but it is only since 2010 that the family shifted from a specialty in tomatoes to growing grapes for wine.  We are along Interstate 81 about 20 minutes north of Roanoke. Stoney Brook is one of only three wineries on the Botetourt County Wine Trail.

My impression is that founders Jim and Judy Showalter are passing on operation to their daughter, Carrie Vernon, and her husband Kevin Vernon.  They opened a small basic tasting room in 2012.  I mean small - with space for 3 tables and a short bar inside.  There are no comfy chairs and no fireplace. 

 

Most of the seating is outside where there are groupings of shaded chairs that seat around 30 altogether and a shaded patio.  There is also a wide unshaded lawn.  With this openness, dogs and kids are welcome, and feel free to bring your picnic.  When we visited, the late June temperatures were in the low 90’s.  As I write this post, however, the “feels-like” temperature is over 110° where even shade won’t help.  We elected to stay in the tasting room where it was air conditioned, even though we discovered that it can get very cramped in there in a hurry. 

 

Within this 28-acre property, five acres are under vine, and from these vines, around 80% of Stoney Brook’s wine is made.  The rest of the grapes, like the Chardonnay grapes for their Sangria, come from other growers in Virginia.  All of the wine is produced in a custom crush arrangement with Prince Michel Vineyards near Madison.  The staff told us that they expect Stoney Brook’s white wines will be produced at the Troutville site in the future.

Stoney Brook can do weddings for between 200 and 700 people.  In fact, a reception was going on during our visit but we weren’t dressed to crash it.  The winery will simply cordon off a part of the patio for these special events. 

We were pleased to have a long chat with Alex Frey, tasting room manager at Mountain and Vine Vineyard, who stopped in on his way to see family in the Carolinas.  The Stoney Brook staff pointed him over to us because they were too busy to speak with us themselves.  Alex has the look of a young man who enjoys tucking-in and was happy to give us his eatery recommendations for the Roanoke area.  Best of luck to him on his travels.

Here’s what we tried during our visit. 

2023 Viognier.  The winery’s tasting notes say this is a full-bodied white.  Kim wrote “Ha Ha – Weak!”  This equates to a C from Kim.

2021 Petit Verdot.  A fairly standard Petit Verdot with suitable tannins.  Like most Petit Verdot wines, this would go well with red meat roasts.  B.

2022 Cabernet Franc. Stronger tannins than the Petit Verdot.  Creamy and tacky.  B.

2021 Cabernet Franc Reserve.  Heavier than the regular Cabernet Franc with a touch more red fruit on the palate.  Long finish.  B.

2022 Hankerin’ Red.  This is a blend of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot.  Supposedly an off-dry wine, but I didn’t detect any residual sugar.  Velvety and an okay table wine.  Nevertheless, only a B rating from me.

Stoney Brook and Great Valley, our post immediately before this, are similar in physical plant and what they offer, but Great Valley is more accomplished as a winery.  Still, Stoney Brook is an okay place if you happen to be in the area.