Veritas Vineyard and Winery

(Been there, checked it!)

Veritas Winery, a family business owned by Andrew and Patricia Hodson, opened for business in June 2002; with the help of their daughter Emily they have succeeded in consistently producing a range of complex and elegant wines. The idyllic setting is easy to find but hard to leave, located just off I-64 at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

The unique wines of Veritas are all of high quality, derived from vitis vinifera with the exception of one French hybrid. Our philosophy is to make wine with the classic, old-style principles of Viticulture and Vinification, at the same time using state of the art technology to capture varietal and regional character.

Monday through Friday, 9:30 am to 5:30 pm
and Saturday and Sunday, 11:00 am to 5:00 pm. Closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day. Tastings cost $5 per flight (there are three different flights).

We visited Veritas on 25 July. Here’s a link to Nancy’s post on our visit. Since our research for the app is taking us to 150 Virginia wineries, we’re trying to keep our buying under control. Our living room/aka wine cellar can’t begin to handle everything we’d like to stuff into it. So we try to keep it to one bottle or less per winery. And still we left Veritas with three bottles.

All photos from this winery

In business since 2001, Veritas Vineyard and Winery is thriving, producing a very respectable 10-15,000 cases each year. The tasting sheet is long, so visitors are offered red or white for $5, each with 6 or 7 wines. We opted for one of each at the bar, though we could have settled into the couches surrounding the massive stone fireplace for a self-guided tasting, or taken a seat in one of the Adirondack chairs out front. Once you set foot in Veritas’ tasting room, though, you won’t want to leave.

The vast two-story room is so full of elegant touches that your head goes on permanent pivot, taking in the wagon wheel chandelier (sounds goofy, but works), the crimson ceiling, the clerestory windows, the French doors with chocolate velvet drapes framing the vast fields of vines.

“There’s so much land…” our guest taster, Gigi, marveled. Land that goes on for miles.

Scintilla (sparkling blend of Cab Franc and Chardonnay); Sauvignon Blanc; Chardonnay (a couple of types); White Star (blend of Viognier, Traminette, Chardonnay, and Petit Manseng); Petit Manseng; Kenmar (blend); Mousseux (sparkling Rose wine of Chardonnay and Cab Franc); Rose (blend of Cab Franc and Merlot); Cabernet Franc; Vintner’s Reserve (blend); Red Star (blend of Cab Franc, Merlot, and Chambourcin); Othello (Port-style blend of Tannat and Touriga Nacional, fortified with brandy).

From Charlottesville: I-64 west, exit 107. West on Rt. 250 for 6 miles to Rt. 151. South 3 miles to Rt. 6. West 1.3 miles to Veritas Lane ~ the entrance will be on your right.

From Staunton: I-64 east to exit 99. East on Rt. 250 for 2.3 miles. Turn right onto Rt. 6 East. Follow two miles to Veritas Lane ~ the entrance will be on your left.