Cobbler Mountain Cellars [now only serving cider]
- In Delaplane, Fauquier County, though south of Interstate 66 unlike most Delaplane wineries. Started by Jeff and Laura Louden on an old farm property. The vineyard overlooks Little Cobbler Mountain, from whence the winery’s name. The winery story from their website is worth replicating below:
Cobbler Mountain… home to the “Little Winery That Could,” is where fairies live in big poplar trees, children run barefoot to Thumb Run Creek & stories of the wise Grandfathers and kind Grandmothers are shared around the Grand Fire Circle at the foot of the forest. A legendary dreamer and human rights activist of the 60s, Grandfather McCarthy, discovered Big Cobbler Mountain in 1959. His love of creatures & exploring has been preserved & passed down to his children & grandchildren. Come hike a wooded trail. Open a bottle of imagination. Sip handcrafted wines with the makers. Find a little fantasy under the old apple tree. Who knows who you will meet along the way?
- Wine. Tier II. Unlike many other wineries which are offering their 2015-2016 vintages to taste, Cobbler Mountain is featuring their 2010-2012 wines, which gives them more time to mature. Cobbler Mountain also produces a dozen different types of ciders, including “Traditional Jeffersonian.” Some reviews comment that cider tastings have more variety than the wine tastings, and the ciders get more play from on-line reviews than the wine.
- Setting. Beautiful drive on rural roads (be prepared for some rough road stretches). Nice grounds and some hiking trails. Small tasting room so good to avoid peak periods.
- Stories. Early American History – Chief Justice John Marshall. A few miles north of the winery, along Interstate 66 in the village of Marshall (you take the Marshall exit on I-66 to get here), can be seen Oak Hill. Thomas Marshall, the father of future Chief Justice John Marshall, built Oak Hill about 1773 and relocated his family there. Marshall became the 4th Chief Justice of the United States in 1801, and retained the position for over three decades – the longest-serving Chief Justice in American history. He is credited with laying the basis for constitutional law in the United States, and making the third branch of the government – the Judiciary – co-equal with the other two – the Executive and the Legislative. It was said of Marshall that he had mastered the art of “putting his own ideas into the mind of others, unconsciously to them.” Amazingly when one thinks of today’s courts, the then Justices had no clerks, and wrote all opinions themselves – Marshall half of all the ones in his three decades as Chief Justice. John Marshall became the owner of Oak Hill in 1785 when his father moved to Kentucky. Although Marshall resided mostly in Washington, D.C. and Richmond, he improved Oak Hill and used it as a retreat (Oak Hill is privately owned and cannot be visited). Highway 55 running parallel to Interstate 66 here in Fauquier County is named in his honor, “John Marshall Highway.”