Alcohol: 13,7%
Grape(s): Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc
Localization: Front Royal, Virginia, USA
Tasting notes: Suffice to say, the wine is exceptional. What is the opening wine for Glen Manor, let's be honest, it is like the high end of the line at a lot of other places. Jeff is a meticulous winemaker, and his wines show it. There's lots of fruit upfront. Dark raspberry, ripe cherry, red cassis, and plum. Lively, with notes of cedar and spice, and a nice acidity that keeps this wine alive in the mouth for some time. Absolutely lovely.
The Domain: Glen Manor Vineyards is located in Virginia approximately 70 miles west of Washington D.C., situated on a western flank of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The surrounding mountains, ranging between 1400 and 3400 feet in elevation, form a Glen which gives the vineyards a unique environment: A world of its own. The vines grow high on very steep mountain slopes characterized by deep, well-draining, and rocky soils. We employ a permanent cover crop between the rows and under the vines to aid in controlling the vines' summertime growth and to increase the biodiversity of the vineyard.
Their ancestors arrived in this area in 1787, when what is now their estate (along with the approximately 14,000 surrounding acres which were then known as Gooney Manor Leeds) was included in the vast 5 million acre land grant owned by Lord Fairfax of England. In 1812, Lord Fairfax’s heirs sold Gooney Manor Leeds to James and Chief Justice John Marshall. The Marshall family sold about 8,000 acres to William Woodward in 1837, and Stephen Clifton Lawson (Jeff’s great-grandfather) purchased a small part of the Woodward tract in 1901.
Beginnings
Stephen Clifton Lawson and his wife, Annie Susan Beaty bought this property in 1901. They were the first generation of our family to live on and farm this land. The only structure on the land at that time was a very nice log cabin. The Lawsons lived in this cabin while they built a larger home that is still used by our family today. In addition to the Manor home, the Lawsons also constructed a large German-style bank barn and numerous other outbuildings. Most of these structures are still being used today although for different purposes and include a separator house with well porch and spring dairy, a corn house, a garage, a wood house, a meat house, a light-house for generating electrical power, a vinegar house, an ice house, a blacksmith shop, a hen house, two brooder houses, a turkey house and other structures for maintaining livestock.
This is a mountain farm and although the Lawsons grew both wheat and corn in the lower more fertile fields, much of the farm which is steeply sloped and with less fertile soils, was first planted to apple and peach orchards. It is high on these mountain slopes above where once orchards flourished that we now grow our wine. In addition to selling wheat, corn, apples and peaches, the Lawsons sold cream, butter and eggs. Everything else raised or grown on the farm was for their family’s consumption.
Passing on the Family Farm
The Lawsons had one child, Ruth Ardelia, who married Raymond Hodder Rudacille. They were the second generation of our family to work and live on this land. Ruth gave birth to two children in the Manor home, a son Stuart Lawson and a daughter Anna Rae. Upon the deaths of Ruth and Raymond, the farm passed to their two children. Anna Rae married Alpheus Lee White, and the portion of the farm that Anna Rae inherited is where the vineyards and winery are now established. Alpheus and Anna Rae had three sons, the youngest of whom developed an interest in and an appreciation for fine wines.
