Veritas Vineyard growing new grapes, marking growth following the pandemic

AFTON, Va. (WVIR) - An Afton-based winery is planting new grapes for the first time in a few years.

More than 4,000 new vines are being put in the ground at Veritas Vineyard.

“Couldn’t be a better place to be planting grapes, I can tell you that,” Vineyard Manager Bill Tonkins said.

Crews are hammering in posts, filling soil, and planting the Merlot vines across three acres. It’s the first time in more than five years that Veritas has planted new grapes.

“It means where we’re growing, we’re not shrinking. That, and life goes on,” Tonkins said.

“As we’re emerging from the pandemic, we’re in a place where we can start kind of looking forward,” CEO George Hodson said. “Specifically here around Charlottesville and Albemarle County, a lot of vineyards are going in production is going up and the quality of wine is improving.”

As far as these new grapes, you can expect to see them in Veritas’ Merlot in the coming years.

“We’ll get the wine in two years time. Not much, but we’ll get probably a ton an acre, and we’ll get about three tons out of this in two years’ time,” Tonkins said.

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