A Breezy Summer Day: Brightwood Vineyard & Farm

In August Megan was in town and it had been too long since I had last visited the Charlottesville vineyards, so we made that our destination. We decided to start the day at Brightwood Vineyard & Farm, a micro winery that  is only open a couple of weekends a year which also promised sightings of baby animals. We were excited for wine, but a bit more so for the baby animals! Upon our arrival we were greeted by one of the 3 farm dogs and a couple of seasonal interns. The interns showed us around the farm where we did get to mingle with donkeys, see some lambs from afar and see lots of chicks and ducks around.

Enjoying the day

After checking out the animals we met Dean, the owner and winemaker at Brightwood. Dean and his wife are very focused on the farming aspect of their business selling in the Charlottesville and Madison farmers markets weekly, while the wine making is Dean's passion on the side. The tasting area, a barrel for the wines and a table for us to sit at was set up in the shade of the trees with a great view of the countryside. Dean produces all of his wines from fruit, none being grapes! He is very passionate about his Elderberry plants and makes both Elderberry and Elderflower wines. We tried his dry and sweet versions of the Elderberry and 3 versions of the Elderflower. The Elderflower has been done in a sweet, dry and reserve. Its is also quite a contrast to the berry version. My favorite was actually the Elderberry sweet wine. It was so interesting the difference in flavor the berry and flower had.  In addition to the wines, Dean makes a British inspired non-alcoholic Elderflower Cordial. The cordial is a concentrate that you mix with a little bit of soda water and it is so refreshing. Megan walked away with a few bottles of that.

Making farm friends

We weren't done with the Elderberry wines, we then moved to a couple other fruits. There was a nice light pear wine and a more distinctive peach wine, which we were informed engaged in a "violent fermentation," which helped it pack its punch. As we sipped and chatted with Dean we also tried his wife's Elderberry pie, as well as their Elderberry and Elderflower jams. We had a great time learning about the farm and enjoying the ambiance of the farm. If you can't make it to one of Brightwood's open weekends I'd definitely recommend finding them at the Charlottesville farmers market and picking up some of their delicious creations!