Sitting on a hilltop, there are two tasting “rooms,” although neither hardly qualifies as just a room. It’s hard to truly describe just how beautiful the Stone Tower property is, without selling it short in some way. To that point, recent visits from international wine luminaries, such as author and educator Steve Spurrier and Master Sommelier Fred Dame, have only confirmed that the wines being produced are indeed exceptional and signatory.Īnd then there are the views. Other team members on the Stone Tower grounds include enologist Preston Thomas and vineyard manager Daniel Mumbauer, whose skills and dedication are immeasurably important to the quality of the wines and their success. Having studied enology and viticulture in Bordeaux, Pineau brings international experience to the wine table and with Bordeaux being the inspiration for so many of the Stone Tower red wines, this influence runs deep. The winemaking team is headed by Benoit Pineau, whose impressive resume includes head winemaker stints at Pollack Vineyards, in Greenwood, Va., and First Colony Winery, in Madison, as well as Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyards. What has become the true signature of the Stone Tower wine line-up is their Estate collection, wines that are solely grown, produced and bottled on the property. That label still exists, but has transcended into a group of wines whose fruit is now sourced from Loudoun County and beyond, including the West Coast. Their first release was in 2013 under the label Wild Boar. These plantings would prove to be the shining stars of Stone Tower. Early plantings of viognier and chardonnay would be followed by the Bordeaux red varietals of cabernet sauvignon and franc, merlot and petit verdot, each given their own sites. Over the next few years, and to aid in the growth of Stone Tower, additional wine experts would be consulted, including Jim Law, of Linden Winery fame, and Luca Paschina, of Barboursville Vineyards. In 2009, the Huber’s planted an initial 22 acres of vines, and Stone Tower Winery was born. After an extended period of both property and soil analysis, Morton declared the land suitable for growing wine grapes, and even designated various vineyard sites for certain varietals. To get things started, they brought in legendary Virginia ampelographer Lucy Morton, whose consulting credits included Black Ankle Vineyards, Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard in Maryland, and Boxwood Winery in Northern Virginia, as well as numerous other consulting credits across the state. What it would become was beyond their wildest dreams.Īs Zimmerman says, “There was a strong desire and effort from Mike and Kristi to preserve the agricultural integrity of the land, and the idea of grapevines seemed to be to the perfect way to do that.” Turns out, they were right. As for the Stone Tower land, Mike and Kristi purchased the 300 acres in the early 2000s, from an original 1,100 acres owned by Mike’s parents. operation, Belfort Furniture, whose name was also inspired by the Belgian fort. To this day, the Huber family is still in the furniture business, as they own the renowned Virginia and D.C. The winery itself derives its name from two turrets situated on an ancient fortress in Belgium, where the father of co-owner Mike Huber (with wife Kristi) worked at a furniture factory a young man. The locals named the mountain Hogback after its silhouetted resemblance to the spiny ridge of a wild boar. Stone Tower Winery is a stunning 300-acre property located on Hogback Mountain in Loudoun County. My host was Jeremy Zimmerman, director of hospitality and sales, and he afforded me the opportunity not only to absorb the incredible landscapes, but also to taste through an array of their outstanding wines. Very recently, I had the wonderful fortune to visit one of the most beautiful wineries I’ve seen, Stone Tower Winery, in Leesburg. Well, there’s no time like the present and no wine like the one in my glass. And if there was ever a state in the union filled with beautiful wineries to visit, marvelous people to meet, and time to take it all in, it’s Virginia.įor me, I have every hope and intention of visiting as many Virginia wineries as I can this year, as last year I wrote about the great wine heritage of our Commonwealth, and how 2019 is the year we celebrate its 400 th anniversary of winemaking history. It is places, people, and time, both spent and invested, in all aspects.
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