FOREST — The name of the farm winery off Cottontown Road — Burnbrae Vineyards — is Scottish and means “little rolling hill to a creek.”
The name suits the property, as the vineyard sits up on a hill that slopes down to Ivy Creek, which runs along the bottom of the 270-acre property right outside Lynchburg.
Brothers Paul and Ed Gerhardt purchased the property from family members about 15 years ago, and the vineyard is operated on the Gerhardt farm, which has been in their family since the early 1940s.
What was once a cattle and horse farm now is a working vineyard with about six and a half acres of vines.
The Gerhardt brothers grew up in Lynchburg. Paul now lives in Williamsburg, while Ed moved from Greensboro into a renovated farmhouse on the property in April after working 35 years as a cardiac surgeon.
“I tell people I didn’t actually retire, I just changed jobs,” Ed Gerhardt laughed. “I’m working more sometimes, but I get fewer nighttime calls to the ER.”
Just a short 1,200 feet from Cottontown Road, the quaint winery is located on pasture land and feels like stepping back in time.
“Unlike some of the larger wineries, it’s a small family winery farmland,” Paul Gerhardt said. “We’re trying to create more of an intimate experience with people to come out and enjoy and see what we’re doing. We could have developed the land, but we want people to enjoy the wine and enjoy other people. We’re very low key.”
The brothers put their heads together to find a way to preserve the property as well as share it with others.
“I sort of jokingly said, ‘Well we have this piece of property and we need to do something with it other than raise pine trees and ticks,’” Ed Gerhardt said.
What was intended to be a small vineyard suddenly became suddenly became much larger. With the help of their spouses and friends, they planted about 14,000 grape vines in 2019.
“We planted a few grapes and thought we’d see how that goes, and it got a little bit out of control,” Ed Gerhardt laughed. “You can’t do it part way; you’re either in it or you’re not. There’s got to be a commitment for paying attention to it every day.”
As all vignerons will know, maintaining a vineyard and growing grapes comes with its challenges in Virginia, and the Gerhardts are no exception.
They found obstacles including unpredictable weather, weeds, mildew and critters.
They brought in a soil scientist to dig test pits and analyze the soil composition. They had another consultant educate them about the different grapes that would be successful in the Forest climate, which as locals know is humid and can get extremely hot in the summer but frigid in the spring and winter.
They have planted Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot, Vidal Blanc, Chambourcin and Petit Manseng grapes.
Burnbrae has 14 wines for sale, including Rose, Merlot, Cabernet franc, Chardonnay, Traminette, Viognier, Petit Verdot and a Meritage red wine — a Bordeaux-style blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Petit Verdot.
“You can go to the grocery store and buy a bottle of wine from New Zealand that’s $10 and not very good. And you really have no idea what they did with it,” Ed Gerhardt said. “You don’t know who made it. You don’t know where it was. And there’s not much connection to it. Everything we make is local and is grown and processed here.”
The Burnbrae tasting room sits inside the renovated two-story log cabin — one of three on the property — where the Gerhardt family would spend time enjoying on the weekends. The ground-floor has a cozy living room, kitchen, bathroom and tasting room in the foyer. The second floor still has two bedrooms.
The tasting room opened about a month ago and is open by appointment on the weekends.
Visitors much have access to nearly the entire property around the tasting room, inside and out, which includes a porch and picnic tables on the lawn.
“This is what we enjoy and we want to share it with people and want them to enjoy the oasis,” Paul Gerhardt said.
Janet and Terry Chalker are Lake Vista residents who said they could walk to the vineyard if they wanted to and love that it’s so close to their neighborhood.
“We came and tasted wine with a group and we love supporting a local business,” Janet Chalker said. “We now give wine away as gifts, we love it so much.”
Terry Chalker, who has had a hard time finding a Virginia red wine he enjoyed, said those at Burnbrae are excellent.
“We have friends coming in from out of town and are looking forward to bringing them here,” Janet Chalker said.
Ed Gerhardt said it’s not uncommon for people to come to the winery and meet others who are there and realize they are neighbors.
“It’s partly about the wine, but I think it’s partly about just connecting with other people, whether that’s the people you come with or those that are already here” Ed Gerhardt said. “I usually say if we don’t get people to sit down, they won’t come back. You know if it’s just a bar that you walk in, drink two glasses of wine and leave, that’s not really the point.”
