It started with a dream
Twisted Pines Farm & Vineyard started with a love of wine, a passion for agriculture, and a growing curiosity about what it would take to make both part of our everyday lives.
For years, Chris sought opportunities to learn from those already working in the wine industry, including vignerons and established winemakers in Maryland. What began as an appreciation for wine gradually grew into a dream of planting a vineyard and making wine of our own.
That dream took root in 2020, when we traded the idea of “someday” for 40 acres in Staunton, Virginia, and started building Twisted Pines Farm & Vineyard from the ground up.
Of course, once you have that much acerage, it’s pretty easy for one idea to turn into several. The vineyard came first. Then came the cattle, the birds, and the rest of the menagerie. Somewhere along the way, Twisted Pines became more than a dream. It became our family’s farm, our creative outlet, and a place where we get to combine the things we love—and occasionally see where a good idea takes us.
As for the name... Twisted Pines is a nod to Chris’s longtime fascination with reptiles, particularly the Pine Snake. It seemed fitting for a place that was never destined to be entirely straightforward.
Then came the animals
As the vineyard began to take shape, so did another part of the dream: a farm filled with animals. What started with a few feathered friends and farm residents has grown into a wonderfully eclectic collection of Highland cattle, geese, ostriches, horses, and other two- and four-legged characters.
For us, raising animals is about more than simply having them around. We appreciate animals that are beautiful, useful, and well suited to life on a working farm—and we enjoy learning about the breeds, their histories, and the role they can play in agriculture. We also enjoy sharing what we've learned with others, whether they're just beginning their own farm journey or have been raising animals for years.
And, of course, life on a farm rarely goes exactly according to plan. There are feathers flying, mud slinging, moos and honks echoing, and the occasional escape artist. There's always something happening, adding just enough unpredictability - and a little twist - to the daily routine.
Growing something of our own
Once we had the farm, it was time to turn the vineyard dream into something we could actually see—and touch, and weed, and prune, and wonder if we had completely lost our minds.
Our vineyard sits at roughly 1,800 feet in elevation on a northeast-facing slope on 10 acres. In 2021, we planted our first 5,500 vines. What started as rows of leaf-less sticks has slowly become a vineyard, with each season bringing a little more growth and a lot more work.
We have chosen a mix of traditional European varietals that we felt were well suited to our site—and our palates.
-
Malbec
-
Dornfelder
-
Gewürztraminer
-
Petit Manseng
-
Riesling
Growing grapes at our elevation has certainly given us plenty to learn, but that's part of what we enjoy about it. Every season brings new challenges, new lessons, and another opportunity to figure out how to coax the best from the vines.
Eventually, all that work has to become something you can pour into a glass.
Our inaugural wines were released in January 2025, marking another milestone in a dream that began years earlier. But we're far from finished. We're still learning and figuring things out. Turns out a little experimentation, a dash of curiosity, and a willingness to do things differently are where we do some of our best work.
Making wine our way
For us, that something is wine made in small batches, with a hands-on approach and a willingness to do things a little differently. Chris brings together what he’s learned from others along the way with a healthy dose of experimentation, creating wines that reflect both the fruit and our own particular style.
Some of our wines begin with grapes grown right here at Twisted Pines. Others start with fruit from fellow Virginia growers whose vineyards we know and trust. Either way, our goal is the same: to make well-crafted wines that let the character of the fruit come through while giving each one a little twist of its own.
We also like making wines for different palates and different occasions. Some are bright and crisp, some are rich and velvety, and some lean a little sweeter. Whatever the style, our goal is to make wines that are enjoyable, well-crafted, and distinctly Twisted Pines.
We don't believe making good wine has to follow a rulebook. Winemaking is part science, part art, and, occasionally, part “let's see what happens.” We enjoy all three.
And that's part of the fun. Wine should be appreciated and enjoyed—but never taken too seriously. Around here, it's meant to be shared with good food, good company, and plenty of those none-too-serious moments that make life interesting.