Valley Roads Vineyards is located in Afton, in Nelson County west of Charlottesville. Valley Road was opened in 2016 by former Richmond lawyer Stan Joynes and partners. The first winemaker is Mathieu Finot, who has achieved an excellent reputation as the winemaker at nearby King Family Vineyards, one of Virginia’s best wineries.
Wine. Tier II. Nine Valley Road wines were awarded silver medals at the 2023 and 2022 Virginia Governor’s Cup state-wide wine tasting competitions. In 2023, the 2019 Meritage and Petit Verdot, and 2021 Cabernet Franc and Chardonnay were silver medal winners, while in 2022, it was the 2017 vintage Meritage, 2019 Cabernet Franc, and 2020 vintage Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Viognier. The 2021 “Torn Curtain” received a bronze medal. Valley Road’s early wines are off to a good start, under the oversight of Matthieu Finot, though for now the grapes are coming from elsewhere in Virginia, awaiting the maturing of the vines here. Interestingly named and popular “Destana” (a white Viognier, Petit Manseng and Sauvignon Blanc blend) and “Torn Curtain” (unusual red Petit Verdot and Chambourcin blend).
Setting. Two stars. At the head of the Rockfish Valley, Valley Road has one of the most spectacular settings for a winery, as easily attested to by the winery photograph on their website. Large tasting room but rarely overrun like some of the some more established places around Charlottesville. Cheese and bread available.
Stories. Crossing the Blue Ridge: the Crozet Tunnel. During the Golden Age of railroads, in the mid-19th century, railways multiplied across Virginia, enabling the long-distance transport of goods and people at previously unimaginably rapid speeds (and low costs). As new goods flowed from the Piedmont to Richmond and the coastal cities, the big prize remained out of reach: connecting the vast agricultural and mineral resources of the Shenandoah and farther West back to Richmond and the coast. The route West was blocked by the barrier of the Blue Ridge Mountains. It took unprecedented engineering feats to surmount the barrier, and in 1858 these were accomplished. Four tunnels, including the then-longest tunnel in the United States, were engineered by Claudius Crozet to cross the Blue Ridge at Afton, in Central Virginia. Both the longest of the tunnels and the nearby town of Crozet memorialize the name of the man who made the great crossing possible. The tunnel was initially used by the Virginia Central Railroad, and after the Civil War by the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad. It remained in use for almost a century, until it was replaced in 1944. The old, and now abandoned, Crozet or Blue Ridge Tunnel is a Historic Engineering Landmark.