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Our Farm & Vineyards

Our Charlottesville property is on the West side of Carters Mountain Ridge, where apples and pears have flourished for centuries. In addition to our traditional wines, we have embraced Virginia’s apple heritage with our White Blend, made entirely from apples and pears. Notes of honey, fig, and vanilla are pronounced on the nose and palette. It is deliciously smooth and drinkable. The White Blend has been a consistent Virginia Governor’s Cup medalist since our first harvest in 2018. We also make a very popular Apple Pear Prohibition Cider, which is available on tap in The Barn at the winery. 

We have over twenty acres of vineyards growing Viognier, Chardonnay, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Cabernet Sauvignon in Albemarle and Nelson counties. Eastwood is committed to supporting local farmers and expanding vineyard plantings across Virginia. Our biggest vineyard partners, Silver Creek Orchards & Vineyards and Crown Orchard & Vineyards, also have rich agricultural histories. Like Eastwood, Silver Creek Orchards is women-owned and operated. Ruth Sauders is a 7th generation farmer. We first met Ruth and some of her sisters who run other aspects of the business in 2016 when we were looking for someone to help crush apples from the Eastwood orchard. We were intrigued by their story. Her great-grandfather, John Morton, started the farm as a hobby in the 1800s and, along with his business partner, built their original packing house and cold storage facility. Ruth’s grandmother managed that original facility. After graduating from college and working in the corporate world for a few years, Ruth and her husband, John Saunders returned to work for the family farm in the early 1990’s. They planted their first stock of wine grapes in 1999 and have expanded the vineyard almost every year since. The Virginia Vineyards Association named Ruth Saunders the 2017 Grower of the Year. 

Winemaking Team

Jake Busching

Head Winemaker

Jake Busching has worked in Virginia wine country for 26 years planting, growing, and developing industry-leading wineries. He has worked both in small batch and commercial production operations, custom crush, and vineyard and winery consulting across the state of Virginia and beyond.  He is also known for his highly praised private brand of small batch vineyard-sourced wines, Jake Busching Wines, which launched in 2015. 

Jake served as a board member of the Monticello Wine Trail for 13 years, has chaired the Research and Education Committee for the Virginia Wine Board for 5 years and has taught Viticulture and Enology classes at Piedmont Virginia Community College in Charlottesville since 2012.

Jeremy Christian

Director of Infrastructure & Cidermaker

Jeremy is known by many for the numerous years he has spent in the local beverage scene in Charlottesville. Jeremy has literally moved mountains to bring this dream to life. A man of many talents and unstoppable energy, Jeremy is Eastwood’s cidermaker and also personally manages all farm operations.

Vineyard Spotlight

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John & Ruth Saunders

Silver Creek Orchards & Vineyards