Lost Mountain Vineyards
July 31, 2026. When he was a young man, George Washington came out to survey land for Lord Fairfax in the country around what is now Delaplane in Fauquier County. He came with rudimentary maps of the area and discovered at one point that his map failed to include the mountain he was looking at. It was a lost mountain. This yarn is what staff will tell you about how Lost Mountain got its name. It helps explain why Lost Mountain Vineyards adopted the name for a great wine and then for its whole operation.
I offer some advise so that you yourself don’t get lost visiting Lost Mountain Vineyards: turn on your GPS. The winery is not listed on the “Attractions” sign for Exit 23 on Interstate 66; there are no grape cluster signs pointing the way through the town of Delaplane, and the entrance and driveway for the winery is totally unmarked.
The recent history of Lost Mountain Vineyards is inextricably twined with its predecessor, RdV Vineyards and former owner, Rutger de Vink, who plotted a different approach to growing, grapes, making and selling wine than most of his fellow Virginia growers.
Rutger, a former Marine and venture capitalist, sunk his company profits into a new winery in the foothills outside of the hamlet of Delaplane. After doing an internship with Jim Law at Linden, Rutger purchased land in 2004 and began planting in 2006. His goal even then was to make world-class Bordeaux-style red wines by blending Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot to produce all Estate-grown and Estate-produced wines. His pricing approach was somewhat of a departure from how most of his fellow Virginia growers approached making and selling wine.
George Washington’s hillside behind Lost Mountain is only around 400 feet in elevation and has only 18 inches of topsoil and clay before the grape vines encounter granite, but they have grown into the porous rock so that the fruit now benefits from that struggle. The granite can insulate the roots during extreme winters. The 30° slope drains water quite well, and the near constant breeze blowing through the Delaplane wind gap keeps the canopy free of mildew and frost. In fact, Lost Mountain avoided the April 2026 frost that killed so much of Virginia’s grape crop this year.
Rutger built a minimalist tasting room and modern production cellar by excavating a literal mountain of granite. He laid out a three-spoked wheel of a structure with a decorative silo at the center. Purposed spaces fan out on the spokes from the entrance – one area for people like me who come for a tasting, one area for wine club members, and an area for offices and the kitchen. The silo is really an empty shell whose sides resemble a large Japanese lantern diffusing light into the main floor and down into the wine cellar.
The walls alternate between exposed concrete and faintly Japanese-influenced opaque panels. Members have use of a nice veranda with a view of close Blue Ridge Mountains.
Below deck, one spoke of the wheel contains the stainless-steel temperature-controlled tanks where grapes come after sorting and destemming. Another spoke holds cool rows of barrels giving off that musky smell of fermentation. A side tunnel leads around to an exposed wall of the granite that Rutger left intact as a reminder of the work needed to build this place. It also serves as a kind of barometer where winemaker Josh Grainer can assess the impact of rain and drought basically from beneath his vines. The tunnel ends at the third spoke of the wheel where wines are bottled, corked, and labeled for sale. This is also where they keep a wine library of all their past vintages.
Rutger opened this neat facility in 2011 with only two red wines for general sale. At the time, he had 16 acres of mostly Cabernet Sauvignon, and this has grown to 19 acres today. The vineyard now includes a plot where Josh Grainer is experimenting with white wine grapes (gasp!) like Petit Manseng, Semillon, and Albariño. Vineyard production volume has remained around 2,200 cases per year.
With this vineyard, Rutger made RdV’s reputation. In 2013, RdV placed its two red wines into the Governor’s Case at the Virginia Governor’s Cup competition. Since then, however, it does not appear that the vineyard has competed for the big Virginia wine prize. But noted wine critics like Hugh Johnson and Jancis Robinson have lauded RdV wines over the years.
The next big event in the life of the vineyard came in June 2024 when Rutger sold RdV Vineyard to Eutopia Estates, the wine portfolio of the Bouyges family of France. Eutopia owns a number of wineries in France, including Château Montrose, a Second Growth winery in Saint-Estèphe. It speaks volumes that the only property this company holds outside of France is Lost Mountain Vineyards in little-old Virginia. With the new owners came a renaming of RdV Vineyards as “Lost Mountain Vineyards.”
We had a great tour from staff member Liz who had her hair swept back into a high Regency bun. She was altogether a no-nonsense young lady in her black sheath and sneakers for walking the vines; cordial but obviously she knew her stuff.
We peppered her with questions about the future of the winery. To their credit, it does not appear that Eutopia intends to change much about Lost Mountain’s operations. While Rutger retired and moved to Oregon to pursue other opportunities, Josh Grainer continues as winemaker making wine the same way. The Eutopia group will take over marketing and distribution of Lost Mountain products. Liz told us that eventually all Eutopia wines will be sold at Lost Mountain while Lost Mountain wines will be sold at Eutopia wineries in Bordeaux, Burgundy, and the Loire Valley. According to the Director of Hospitality, Jeff Turok, a sandy-haired young man of great bonhomie, there are plans to expand the vineyard up to 20 acres with additional plantings of Cabernet Franc and Merlot. (Liz told us their maximum vineyard space is 23 acres.)
Jeff also said that they don’t plan to compete in the Governor’s Cup. Instead, the winery has chosen to establish its brand internationally. Wine writers continue singing the praises of Lost Mountain. Jeff noted that Lost Mountain recently bested a blind tasting of red Australian wines from the Margaret River.*
The winery continues to follow Rutger’s focused vision by carrying a product line of only two red blend wines for general sale. (We are told that a third wine, called “Friends and Family,” is available only to wine club members.) Lost Mountain will continue to be a 21+ facility. No kids; no pets. No outside food is allowed. There are no plans to make the public space at Lost Mountain available for special events or weddings, but they will continue to have events for wine club members.
Please note that going to Lost Mountain is by reservation only. If you show up on the spur of the moment, you will be shown the door. A regular tasting is currently priced at $120. A more exclusive tasting is $140. For comparison, a quick check of average wine tasting prices in Napa Valley shows a range from $40 to $125; in Bordeaux and in Virginia, tastings at wineries range from $15 to $35. Your reservation includes a great tour of the vineyard and production plant. (You would do well to get Liz to take you around if she’s available.) The reservation also gets you a charcuterie board of Virginia ham, Virginia cheese, Virginia peanuts, biscuits and other local foods.
Our tasting included a two-vintage vertical sampling of both Rendezvous and Lost Mountain wines. To begin, we had a rosé as a palate cleanser. Lost Mountain only produces around 220 bottles of rosé by saignée, and it is not for general sale.
Our wines were served in four very civilized crystal glasses and we were left to our own devices without intrusive commentary from the staff.
2024 Rendezvous. It used to be that Rendezvous stood-in for a mostly Merlot “Right Bank” style of wine. More recently, however, Rendezvous is being made without strict regard for proportions. I believe that the distinction now is in the quality of grapes between Rendezvous and the winery’s flagship “Lost Mountain.” The just-released 2024 Rendezvous is 38% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc, and 10% Petit Verdot. It is still pretty tight, but give it some time to mellow. After all, Rendezvous is made to be aged in the bottle for 10 years.
2023 Rendezvous. The 2023 Rendezvous is 48% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 17% Petit Verdot, and 5% Cabernet Franc. It is looser than the 2024, not as grippy but apparently similar in alcohol content. It is full-bodied with plum and smoky notes. Deep dark.
2022 Lost Mountain. Liz felt that the 2022 Lost Mountain is more representative of Virginia than the 2023, and I would have to agree. The blend is 61% Cabernet Sauvignon and 39% Cabernet Franc. More floral than the 2023 with blackberry. Full-bodied. Neither the 2022 nor the 2023 have any of the trademark Bordeaux minerality. The 2022 is lighter in color and the legs are not as pronounced. I found the 2022 more balanced than the 2023. Very mellow wine. Some spice at the back of the palate. Lost Mountain tends to have a longer bottle life than Rendezvous – 15 years or so. If I were to buy one of these four wines, it would certainly be the 2022 Lost Mountain.
2023 Lost Mountain. The 2023 Lost Mountain will be available for sale later in 2026. It is made up of 66% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Merlot. Full-bodied, deep color, strong legs. Good long finish. Liz felt that the 2023 Lost Mountain reflected a hotter and drier growing season and skewed toward a bigger and bolder final product ala California.
Dear Reader, as you know, Kim and I score wines based on quality and price together. I would rate all of these wines in the C to B range because, while I appreciate tasting wines in the upper ranges of quality, and these certainly are, I had to recognize their high price. The old RdV Vineyards was the first Virginia winery to charge more than $100 for a bottle of their wine. The flagship wine, “Lost Mountain,” now costs around $225 per bottle. The cheaper “Rendezvous” is around $110. There is a huge price gap between Lost Mountain and the next highest-priced Virginia wines: Williamsburg Winery’s Adagio lists for $85 a bottle and Barboursville Winery’s Octagon sells for $75.**
Further, I appreciate the desire of the new owners to get into the international market. A number of other Virginia wineries have plans to expand their international footprint as well. But I have an issue with claiming a wine is the best expression of Virginia terroir and not putting that to the test against other Virginia wines. Terroir is more than soil and climate; it also encompasses winemaking traditions and, in a sense, the local community. Lost Mountain seems to be an outlier of the local community. Much as the Virginia wine industry may applaud Lost Mountain’s prices, but is this really the rising tide that will float all ships? I have a concern that the wine being produced will lose its sense of place and more importantly that normal Virginia consumers will never be able to experience these wines. Many foreign wines have already priced themselves out of reach of the average consumer. Should we wonder why wine is slumping in popularity. Just some thoughts.
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*See, Ricard Hemming, MW, Margaret River v. the World, 23 February 2026, accessed on Jancis Robinson.com on August 1, 2026 at https://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles/margaret-river-v-world
** According to websites for those wineries.
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