Visiting the Collective and Bellefox Vineyard

What a great day! Kathy won an item in an auction that supported the Sexual Assault Resource Agency – an afternoon with Jake Busching in one of the vineyards he manages as he pours samples and talks about his wine. We were lucky enough to be invited along and Jake sweetened the deal by adding a visit to the new custom crush collaboration space, the Virginia Wine Collective in Charlottesville. This was a day to remember for sure!

We met Jake, Kathy and her husband Rich, and Kenny early in the afternoon at Bellefox Vineyards, north of Free Union.

This vineyard was planted in 2017 with Jake hired to guide the planting. The owners currently don’t intend to open a tasting room and launch a brand, so these grapes are sold to various winemakers around the area. Jake takes some to make wine under his label, and some are sold to others. Amusingly, this gorgeous curve of vines is the source of the amazing 2023 Merlot I tasted when Jake gave a quick tour to Matt and me a year and a half ago. That was some spectacular Merlot and I’m waiting to see what it becomes!

When we arrived, Jake poured some 2021 Sauvignon Blanc from the Bellefox site. He spoke to us about the history of the site and the various grapes planted. The site is currently growing Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot, Petit Verdot, and Petit Manseng.

This is a really interesting site, with rolling slopes and varying soil types, some red clay that suddenly shifts to a sandy loam. During our conversation we talked about why the grapes were planted in this curving formation, and how hard that makes harvest, since the amount of time facing the sun directly impacts when they fully ripen, and thus, harvest. It’s beautiful, but not easy.

This setting is just stunning, surrounded by mountains. The entire property is 100 acres, with some very steep slope. While we spoke about the vision for the property, Jake also poured some Sauvignon Blanc for us to enjoy. While this was a 2021 Sauvignon Blanc, it was retaining plenty of acid (the style I always prefer!).

Jake gave us a pour of the 2B, a recent red blend release from him, which was a blend of Merlot and Petit Verdot from the Bellefox site, and Cabernet Franc from the Beacon Tree site he works with. More on this wine a little later. He did talk with us about using new French oak for some barrels, but also how he will only use American oak from Minnesota because of the Allspice characteristics that particular oak imparts – he finds other American oak imparts some dill or sage qualities that he isn’t trying to bring to his wines, but oak from Minnesota brings a whole different quality. This kind of thing fascinates me.

After about an hour and half at Bellefox, we left the site and headed to the Virginia Wine Collective on Avon Street in Charlottesville, the new incubator project for Eastwood Winery. It’s almost ready to open to the public, and it’s exciting. The space was previously home to Michael Shaps Wineworks Extended, who left after Shaps purchased and moved into Thatch winery. They’ve done substantial renovation to accommodate a number of small batch producers, house all of the production equipment, and incorporate a tasting room, full kitchen and event space. This is going to be incredible.

We toured the production area, especially the cages/jail cells where the winemakers will each have their own space in the facility. My husband noted that they looked a bit like dog kennels!

The real treat is the tasting room and bar, and that’s what will bring the space to life. There is ample table seating and bar seating for some wind-down wine after work here, or a refreshing weekend stop after errands.

The bar will serve the wines of all of the producers there and have a menu of small bites. When we got there, a few people were wrapping up some Sunday work on the space, and one left – the other was Jeremy, part of the Eastwood team (and Athena’s other half). Jeremy joined us at the bar for some more Jake pours and conversation.

Jake started with a familiar friend to all of us:

While I assumed this was a bottle much like the one on the rack in my basement, it turns out that this was 2015 F8, his very first vintage. A ten year old red blend – Tannat and Petit Verdot – holding up beautifully. The nose reminded me of the beloved 2017 vintage – rich and inviting while also dark and mysterious. It was a softer version of the bold and lovely F8 I’m used to – age has been kind to it and calmed it a great deal. Given the two grapes, I’m certain this could age longer, but probably not on my racks – I’d drink it now if I had any. Those 17s downstairs may see 2026, but not likely much more.

Our next wine was the 2007 Pollak Meritage. Jake noted that this was his third vintage there, and he was excited and curious to see how this wine was doing.

Despite the cork giving him a tough time, this wine was stunning. An EIGHTEEN YEAR OLD VIRGINIA RED BLEND, people. This was Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot, and held up beautifully in the bottle. It presented with a lovely softness but some clear fruit came through as we sipped. It smelled amazing and continued to open up. I am heartily impressed by this wine, and I’m thrilled Jake brought it from his personal library.

And he poured it because the 2B we had earlier was a similar blend, and recreating this 2007 Meritage was something Jake was going after as he blended it. He remembers this vintage well, and with 2B he has likely built something that will age similarly and for at least as long. He poured more of the 2B for us after we sampled the Meritage and we agreed that we could see the same trajectory. To my taste, while I think 2B is starting to be good, I want to age it longer. Make no mistake, the wine is nice now. But I think in a year or two, 2B will show up refined, big, and gorgeous. It’s clear that the Meritage had been a big beautiful wine in its prime, and while it was by no means going downhill, it was not as big as it had once been.

Jake took us around the upstairs, which is getting close to completion, and described the plans for furnishing the space. I’m really excited about this because I’m hoping to host an Out and About meetup with Black Women Who Wine there at the end of June, and from the sound of things, this is a place we’re going to want to visit again and again.

Speaking of Black Women Who Wine, I bought a bottle of Tasha’s (founder of the group) first release, Zora Chloe 2023 Dark Fruit.

This is a 50/50 blend of Petit Verdot and Merlot, and was released a few days ago – Tasha is launching this brand of wine. It’s a lighter Petit Verdot with plenty of fruit and an easy-drinking sensibility that is just plain fun. I was so excited to be able to get a bottle and try it out with my wine friends. We all enjoyed second pours as we chatted about the day. I think she is going to have quite a following with this, and cannot wait to see what else she will be working on for this line!

In my heart of hearts, I love Virginia Wine because it’s really about time and place – and today’s event really put that together. Visiting Bellefox and tasting wines grown there gave us insights into the objectives for the vineyard (and Jake) and a good sense for the characteristics we tasted.

The Wine Collective is really about opening up the wine industry – Eastwood is an established player, but a bunch of newer brands are establishing their licenses there and getting support to launch themselves. Delve, Zora Chloe, and others will join Jake, Mathieu Finot, and Joy Ting in this space to share ideas, support each other and make incredible wine that we will be able to sample in the tasting room onsite. This is a universal win.

The Wine Collective will open soon. Get in there and try out the wines you read about here and the others on the bar. I’m watching for events like dinners and bar takeovers to highlight specific aspects of the wines – a vintage, a grape, and/or a site. Keep your eyes open, great things are coming!