A 225-year-old family-run farm in Spotsylvania will open a winery.
Willow Oak Farm and Vineyards, owned and operated by the Smith family: Lee, Jeffrey, and Kenny, is currently in the design phase for its winery and production facility. The farm is located on Mill Pond Road.
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“Chris Pearmund owns three wineries and has been in the business in Northern Virginia for more than 30 years. The big change he’s seen over the last decade isn’t a good one. Put simply, fewer people are drinking wine, which means it’s harder to make a winery profitable,” reports Prince William Times.
DeShundra Jefferson, chair of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors, answered resident and media questions about housing, data centers, and the future of the county at the Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024, town hall event.
Hosted by InsideNoVa, Jefferson took questions from members of the media and residents during the nearly hourlong virtual town hall event. Jefferson was sworn in as chair in January.
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The winery, already the first bi-coastal wine brand in the United States after opening a second location in Santa Barbara, CA, will showcase several of its key blends, including last year’s Virginia Governor’s Cup Case Winner, the 2021 Petit Verdot, at the Wine Paris Vinexpo event. The renowned international wine and spirits exhibition, one of the largest wine shows in the world, is scheduled from February 12 – 14 in Paris, France.
In addition to the Petit Verdot, the winery will also be pouring the Cabernet Franc Petit Manseng and the specialty PVT (50% Petit Verdot/50% Tannat), which will also be served at the U.S. Ambassador’s home during the U.S. Ambassador Dinner this week.
“To think of the journey we’ve been on since opening the winery over 18 years ago, to now have our wine being well received globally by audiences in different regions that are known the world over for producing excellent wines, is a really satisfying feeling,” said Kirk Wiles, CEO & Founder of Paradise Springs Winery. “Having served as the chairman of the Virginia Wine Board for 8 years now, we’ve always had a vision for where Virginia wine can go, and to be here in this moment is validating for the Commonwealth – being recognized as producing some of the best wine in the United States. The goal is to reach new audiences that don’t know the quality of Virginia wine, and the more people that know about our exceptional product, the higher the demand will be.”
Paradise Springs, nestled in Fairfax County’s bucolic town of Clifton, has been family-owned and operated for 18 years. The historic property where the winery is located was part of the original land grant from Lord Fairfax in 1716 to the family’s direct ancestors and has been passed down through the generations since.
