Honah Lee Vineyard
July 7, 2022. This begins our 2022 annual wine trip to the Monticello AVA. Last year, we endured blistering heat during the trip. It was great to take a dip in the pool after a hard day’s tasting in the sun. This year, the temperatures were mostly in the 80’s, but with some annoying rain each day, heavy at times. I plan to post on each of the ten wineries we visited over the next week or so. On the way to Charlottesville, we stopped at Honah Lee Vineyards in Gordonsville on the recommendation of our friends, Joe and Belle. The name came to owners, Vera and Wayne Preddy, during a beach vacation; it is indeed named after the enchanted land where Puff the Magic Dragon lives, a land of independence and liberation. Wayne died in 2016, and Vera carries on with Brandy Hopwood, a daughter-in-law, as a manager. The vineyards were planted in 2000 on land that was a cattle farm. This seems to have happened quite a bit around the state. Now there are some 90 acres under vine.