Checking Out Fox Meadow!

I’m so glad I hit the Fauquier County Wine Showcase a few weeks ago, because I met one of the owners of Fox Meadow Vineyards, and man, am I glad I made time to take a friend there this weekend!

It’s so close to so many NoVa wineries I have loved (Linden, Crimson Lane, Capstone which I still have an unfinished pre-pandemic post sitting the “drafts” folder for) for so long, but you gotta keep going up, up, up Blue Mountain, where you come into this unexpected almost suburban area with tons of homes (and a monastery!) and then there you are at the vineyard and winery.

Fox Meadow sits at 1800 ft above sea level, about a thousand above so many wineries making incredible wine, and this is important, as you will find shortly. The views are shockingly amazing, and I could sit on their deck sipping and contemplating every weekend. Exhibit A:

(and this was on an overcast meh kind of day……. gotta get back there in gorgeous weather….)

Location is everything, and they’ve got airbnbs (and this 70’s sounding place called Hot Tub Heaven) all around them, and as owner Whiticar said, “We have people just walking across the main road to come have some wine sometimes….” Currently re-thinking retirement location……

I knew what I would adore on their menu, though I had not yet sampled all their wines, thanks to the time I spent with Amanda a few weeks prior. With my friend, we gravitated to the Unoaked Chardonnay (amazing!) and the Cab Franc Reserve right away. Both were as amazing as I remembered, and while I contemplated rosé for the deck (it was high 60s with intermittent sun, after all!) after trying a few of their wines, we settled on a bottle of the Unoaked Chardonnay. This wine is so crisp and clean and bright – it has all the qualities of Virginia Chardonnay that I adore.

In addition to those, Whiticar let us try out the Le Renard Rouge, their signature red blend – this was a lovely blend of Bordeaux grapes that drank just lovely – would pair well with a beef-focused meal, or just drink well on its own. Whiticar let us sample a few other wines and we grabbed our bottle and went to the deck.

We hung out for a while enjoying the view, and Whiticar was able to spend a little time with us (I will say customer service here is exceptional, and Whiticar was very conscious of spending time with all of their guests, even while he spent a good bit of time talking with us).

While savoring their Chardonnay, I learned a few things about Fox Meadow:

• Whiticar and Amanda sort of just wound up here, they worked corporate jobs and went through a life re-evaluation, relocated to Aldie, Va and then bid on a nearby winery, and that bid fell through. When the agent they worked with told them Fox Meadow was available, they did not let it fall through. He considers them “accidental winery owners.” We’re so lucky!
• They’re growing the winery – they have to source grapes from other Virginia vineyards right now, but have plans to continue planting – with some Pinot Noir (under the tutelage of the amazing Christine at Ankida Ridge! This is where that 1800 ft elevation becomes so important, as that is the elevation at which Ankida is growing their Pinot Noir – it may be that high altitude makes growing amazing Pinot Noir in Virginia possible!) and a white grape hybrid (I did not do my best note-taking and I remember him mentioning Cayuga and another grape I didn’t recognize) – this could turn into sparkling in the future – method traditionale, not pet nat too! Wooohoooo! I am always down for another Virginia sparkling – this one will be a few years ago, but I’m excited!
• Whiticar also brought us a barrel sample of the 2022 Petit Verdot. I adore this varietal (we had been talking about the influence of PV on blends and how it supports long-term aging) and I found this one fascinating. My friend, who generally doesn’t like PV much, enjoyed it. I found it unusual for PV, especially young PV – less brash and forward than PV typically presents, but subtle and pleasant. I will be so interested to see how this evolves towards bottling in the future.

We ended up grabbing a few bottles of Unoaked Chardonnay and Cabernet Franc Reserve to take home. This was a fantastic few hours to spend learning about a place that I didn’t even know or hear about before. I feel like this winery is a well-kept secret on the western edge of Fauquier County – incredible views, beautiful wine, and great people.

Have you been to Fox Meadow yet? What are you waiting for?