Pollak Vineyards

Pollak Vineyards Pollak Vineyards is a family owned winery and vineyard founded in 2001 in Greenwood, Virginia, outside of Charlottesville and part of the Monticello AVA.
(1311)

08/31/2026

One of the best parts of winemaking? The toys. 🍷🔧

Like our lotus pumpover head, one of the pieces of equipment we use during red wine fermentation.

As our red wines ferment on their skins, the grape skins naturally rise to the top of the tank, forming what winemakers call a cap. To keep the wine and skins working together, we perform regular pumpovers where we gently draw juice from the bottom of the tank and distribute it back over the cap.

Why? Those pumpovers help extract color, flavor, tannin, and texture from the grape skins while also keeping the cap hydrated and encouraging an even, healthy fermentation.

The lotus pumpover head helps make that process especially gentle and uniform. Its curved design distributes the juice evenly across the cap rather than blasting one area with a concentrated stream, helping us achieve thorough extraction without excessive bruising or breaking apart the skins.

So yes, it may look like a fun winemaking gadget, but there’s also plenty of science happening behind it. 😉

🍷And just like that... SOLD OUT!🍷 Thank you for the incredible interest in the wine. We hope these special bottles find ...
08/28/2026

🍷And just like that... SOLD OUT!🍷 Thank you for the incredible interest in the wine. We hope these special bottles find their way into many wonderful celebrations!

Collaboration has been part of the Virginia wine story since the beginning. 🍷

The 2009 “3” was the inaugural vintage of a collaborative Virginia wine project, created during Jake Busching’s time as our winemaker here at Pollak Vineyards, along with our neighbors at Veritas and King Family Vineyards.

The concept was beautifully simple: three wineries, three vineyards, three varietals turned into one wine.

A blend of equal parts Merlot, Petit Verdot, and Cabernet Franc, 3 was created through a shared vision and a spirit of collaboration among Virginia wine colleagues.

Now, after all these years in the cellar, we’re releasing our remaining inventory so it can be enjoyed as it was meant to be.

🍷Sold at its original price of $33.33
🍷 Limit 3 bottles per order
🍷 No additional discounts
🍷 Available only online
🍷 Winery pickup and shipping available

Let's cheers to a wine made through friendship, collaboration, and a shared belief in what Virginia wine could become!

SHOP: https://www.pollakvineyards.com/product/3

**Available while supply lasts**

08/27/2026

🍇A vine's first harvest is always something to celebrate🍇

As we mentioned yesterday, we brought in 8 tons of Merlot from our fourth-leaf vines at our Windcrest Vineyard, and this marks our first harvest from this young block of Merlot clones 181 and 343.

While some of our other vineyard blocks were heavily affected by this spring’s late frost, this particular section of the vineyard came through without needing any frost mitigation.

The early reports from the vineyard and cellar crew have us feeling excited about what these vines have given us this year! The berries were small, which is a promising sign for concentration and quality, and the fruit arrived beautiful and clean, with high sugar and a good pH.

Now the 100% estate grown clusters have been destemmed and sorted into two concrete tanks, where the fruit will undergo a 48-hour cold soak to slowly build into primary fermentation. The Merlot will then ferment on its skins, allowing the juice to gradually extract color, tannin, and flavor from the grape skins.

We did take a 15% bleed for rosé, and now the remaining Merlot begins its journey toward becoming a red wine.

Exactly which Pollak red program this fruit will ultimately find its way into is a decision that will happen in early 2027, but for now, the first chapter of these young vines is looking very promising🍷!

This morning, 8 tons of Merlot from our Windcrest Vineyard made its way into the cellar. The fruit is looking beautiful,...
08/26/2026

This morning, 8 tons of Merlot from our Windcrest Vineyard made its way into the cellar. The fruit is looking beautiful, and we’re very pleased with the chemistry 🍇🍷Stay tuned for the next steps ➡

It may only be Monday, but we’re already looking forward to Friday evening. ✨Start planning your weekend now and join us...
08/24/2026

It may only be Monday, but we’re already looking forward to Friday evening. ✨

Start planning your weekend now and join us for Final Fridays at the Vineyard for an evening of live music, local fare, our estate grown wine, and a Blue Ridge sunset.

This month, we’re welcoming the John D’Earth Quintet back to the vineyard for an evening of jazz, with dinner available from Two Brothers Southwestern Grill.

We don’t think there’s a better way to ease into the weekend than with wine in your glass and music in the air.

📅 Friday, August 28
🕠 5:30–8:30 PM
📍 Pollak Vineyards

Smuggler Society Members: Table reservations are available by calling the tasting room at 540-456-8844.

Consider this your sign to start making Friday plans. 🍷🎶✨

If you’ve visited the vineyard lately, you may have noticed some clusters of Pinot Gris still on the vines just outside ...
08/22/2026

If you’ve visited the vineyard lately, you may have noticed some clusters of Pinot Gris still on the vines just outside the tasting room.

There aren’t many clusters this year as our original vineyard site was hit by the late spring frost, and this block was one of those heavily affected. Pinot Gris is normally the first variety we pick each year, and we’re still looking at harvesting these grapes likely in the coming week.

And despite being destined to become a white wine, Pinot Gris doesn’t look much like a typical white wine grape. The berries develop this distinctive grayish-pink tone, hence "gris", the French word for “gray", and this is actually a natural color mutation of Pinot Noir.

The color is mostly in the skin though, while the juice inside is essentially clear. With gentle pressing and minimal skin contact, that gray/pink fruit can become a pale, fresh white wine.

We're not quite sure that the 2026 vintage of Pinot Gris will bring yet, but in the meantime, we invite you to visit the tasting room and enjoy our current 2023 vintage which has lovely notes of passionfruit and nectarine.

08/21/2026

🫧The Chardonnay is Alive!🫧

As we mentioned earlier this week, our 2026 Chardonnay has been pressed and transferred to two distinct fermentation and aging programs.

Here you see a visible sign that primary (alcoholic) fermentation is taking place for what will be our 2026 Chardonnay Reserve. The bubbles you see in this video are carbon dioxide being produced as yeast converts the natural sugars in the grape juice into alcohol and CO₂.

The small plastic device on top of the barrel is a fermentation airlock, or bubbler, and its job is to let the CO₂ escape without allowing oxygen and airborne contaminants to enter the barrel. During an active fermentation, that little bubbler can be surprisingly busy and also mesmerizing the watch!

Once primary fermentation is complete, this Chardonnay will undergo a secondary malolactic fermentation, where the sharper malic acid turns into softer lactic acid and this will also produce a small amount of CO₂ along the way too. This process can soften the wine's acidity and contribute to its eventual texture and character.

Then the wine will continue to age in these 350L French oak barrels until bottling in spring of 2028!

A second round of mustard is beginning to bloom 🌱Earlier this year we planted mustard as part of our work to rebuild the...
08/20/2026

A second round of mustard is beginning to bloom 🌱

Earlier this year we planted mustard as part of our work to rebuild the health of one of our vineyard blocks. Once the cover crop completed its lifecycle, we tilled the seeds and organic plant material back into the soil. Now a second growth is beginning to bloom and turn the field a bright yellow again 🌼

Mustard can serve as a biofumigant crop, so once incorporated into the soil, compounds released from the plant help suppress certain soil pests known to spread grapevine leafroll virus, which is one of the vineyard challenges we're working hard to avoid again in the future.

Other benefits of having a cover crop while we wait for the right time to replant include:
🌼 the deeps roots are helping aerate the soil and aiding in water pe*******on
🌼 increasing soil stability and erosion control
🌼 adding nutrients and nitrogen to the soil

Right now, it looks like we will be able to begin replanting our 10-acre block in 2027!

Full bins and a Blue Ridge sunrise are some of our favorite things!
08/19/2026

Full bins and a Blue Ridge sunrise are some of our favorite things!

Address

330 Newtown Road
Greenwood, VA
22943

Opening Hours

Monday 11am - 5am
Wednesday 11am - 5pm
Thursday 11am - 5pm
Friday 11am - 5pm
Saturday 11am - 5pm
Sunday 11am - 5pm

Telephone

+15404568844

Website

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