Stunning scores from James Suckling honor many of our new & future releases.

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2020 Quaker Run Chardonnay - 95 pts

Inviting aromas of lemon leaf, white peaches and dried orange peel. Medium-bodied with supple texture. Refined and elegant with subtle tannin structure and phenolic tension. Nuanced. Bright and fresh, too. Long. Lovely now, but will age nicely. Drink or hold.

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2020 Petit Manseng - 93 pts

Aromas of baked peaches, beeswax and rosemary stem. Medium-bodied with silky texture. Well-structured and generous without being overdone. Rounded character to the fruit with a bit of citrus brightness. Drink now.

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2021 Chardonnay - 92 pts

Aromas of lemon curd, white peaches and rosemary stem. Medium-bodied with bright, driving acidity. Crisp and clear on the palate with transparent fruit and a subtle herbal character. Drink now.

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2019 Petit Verdot - 92 pts

Aromas of blackberries, blackcurrants, cocoa and bark. Full-bodied with powdery tannins. Textural and deep on the palate with steady balance. Dry and succinct with good intensity. Best after 2024.

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2021 Shenandoah Valley Cabernet Franc - 92 pts

Aromas of blueberries, blackberries and red licorice. Medium- to full-bodied with soft tannins. Linear onto the palate with black and blue fruit melding through to a subtle finish. Drink now.

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Madison, VA, August 28, 2022 – Early Mountain announced the appointment of Maya Hood White as winemaker at the award-winning Virginia winery. After overseeing Early Mountain’s vineyards and playing an integral role in the development and production of multiple award-winning vintages asAssociate Winemaker, Maya’s promotion represents a doubling down on EarlyMountain’s commitment to quality, innovation and vision that have been the hallmark of the winery. 

“It is an exciting time at Early Mountain Vineyards as Maya HoodWhite steps up to become Winemaker. I am fully confident that Maya will leadEarly Mountain to even greater heights as we enter our second decade”, saidJean Case. “Our winemaking approach has been highly collaborative over the past5 years which will allow us to seamlessly transition under Maya’s leadership, while maintaining the extraordinary quality and style that has earned us significant recognition from the industry and from our treasured customers. All of us at Early Mountain are proud and grateful that we have reached such a high quality in our wines produced in Virginia and, I have no doubt with Maya as winemaker, we will continue to build on our successes and reach new heights.” 

According to long-time celebrated enological consultant PaulHobbs, “Maya brings the rare combination of detailed knowledge in both the vineyard and winery whereas most in this industry focus on only one. She is a thoughtful winemaker with serious analytical chops able to craft wines of texture, complexity, and beauty.”   

Maya has been an integral part of the Early Mountain team since2014 quickly progressing through the ranks to Vineyard Manager & Enologist and then to Associate Winemaker & Viticulturist for five harvests. She has contributed to winemaking across the portfolio as well as leading our sparkling wine program. Maya has also overseen our 55 acres of estate vineyards throughout her tenure bringing a philosophy of low intervention, sustainability, and ongoing experimentation to best bring the essence of our sites to bottle. According to Maya, “While I never planned to stay in Virginia wine country, the opportunity at Early Mountain to farm extraordinary vineyard sites like Quaker Run, while also being supported to use innovation and cutting-edge agricultural practices to respond to ever changing vintages, really drew me in. The ability to engage deeply in both viticulture and winemaking kept me here and I am fully sold on the bright future for Virginia wine.”

Maya has deep roots in wine with a childhood spent in Santa Barbara, California, and fond memories of exploring wineries together with her parents and grandmother. After a degree at Virginia Tech focusing on mathematics and a stint in engineering, Maya sought a career in which she could be hands-on in nature while also applying her tangible understanding of chemistry. She returned to her home state and achieved a MS degree at the prestigiousUniversity of California at Davis in Viticulture & Enology. Maya’s thesis work focused on bubble nucleation in sparkling wine, with her work published in The American Journal of Enology & Viticulture. A focus on the burgeoning Virginia wine industry came after a role as the first research coordinator at the Winery Research Exchange, a nascent group of young and ambitious Virginia winemakers who pool knowledge to quickly advance understanding of wine growing in this region.

Peter Hoehn, CEO, shares that, “We are deeply grateful to Ben Jordan, our winemaker since 2015, whose foundational work and leadership has helped bring Early Mountain and our wines to national attention. Early Mountain has been proud to incubate Ben's two partner wine projects and wish him well as he begins the next chapter of his career, building a new wine venture with his brother in the Shenandoah Valley.”  

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Welcome to Early Mountain

FAQ’s and Tips for your Visit

We are thrilled to welcome you to Early Mountain! Pairing spectacular hospitality experiences with our world class wines is our passion and we cannot wait to share Early Mountain with you. We hope that this overview helps guide you to your ideal visit. Please don’t hesitate to contact us at cheers@earlymountain.com if you have any additional questions.  

Hours of Operation

On-site service: Thursday - Monday 11 am – 5:30 pm (with adjustments in the case of private events- the most up to date hours will be listed on our home page).

Curbside pick-up: All On-site Service hours & Tuesday - Wednesday 10 am – 4 pm

Reservations are strongly suggested and available on Tock.

Your Visit

We are pleased to welcome parties up to 10 in our Tasting Room and parties up to 14 in The Meadow (which is open seasonally from April through October).  There is no fee or minimum spend for your reservation, but we kindly request that you cancel 48 hours in advance if your plans change.

When you make your reservation, please select whether you would like a full-service or more casual experience. For full-service, select to be seated indoors in our Tasting Room or outdoors on our Patio. At these tables, you can select wines by the flight, glass or bottle with our full Early Mountain offerings as well as our Best of Virginia selections from other Virginia wineries. You can also order delicious snacks or a full meal from Executive Chef Tim Moore’s menu.

If you prefer a more casual experience or would like to book for a group larger than 10, select our Meadow when the weather allows. The Meadow offers stunning views and picnic table seating with umbrellas. We accept reservations of 7-14 guests and welcome walk-ins to this area as well. There is also an extensive lawn if you’d like to bring blankets or your own chairs to spread out and enjoy our wines and Meadow fare.

We offer walk-in bar tastings - these guided tastings allow lots of interaction with our wine educators and are the best way to explore our Early Mountain offerings. We also offer an array of seated wine flights table side as self-guided tastings. These flights include both Early Mountain and Best of Virginia Selections from other wineries. Our Elevation Tasting is an intimate, bespoke tasting in our Wine Library with access to library and pre-release options. Elevation Tastings require advance booking.

No outside food or alcoholic beverages are allowed on our property.