I, Jeremiah Strunk, am a Virginia native who moved out to beautiful Page Valley in 2020 and immediately saw the potential for a vineyard here. Throughout my time living here, I have been crafting my vision for the future of House Strunk Winemaking.

Ultimately, my vision as it stands is to shape my vineyard around grape varieties found in Georgia, the birthplace of wine. The first step towards this is the creation of a small vineyard on my 3 acre property in Luray, Virginia. The first vines to be planted, Rkatsiteli, were chosen based on their reported resistance to certain infections. Other varietals that have similar promising characteristics for both the vineyard and the winery are also being evaluated and processed for future plantings.

Wine is history. When you drink a glass of wine, you are tasting a time, a place, and a culture. Grapes have been continuously cultivated since the earliest days of human civilization. Wine was originally made in clay pots buried under the earth to maintain a cool temperature for a steady fermentation. This method has served as the inspiration for all skin-contact wines to be fermented inside of clay pots at House Strunk Winemaking. From that point onwards, each wine is aged in the matter most appropriate towards the varietal, whether that be in neutral carboys, or in an oak barrel.

Wine is made in the vineyard. The future of the House Strunk Winemaking property is to create a vineyard that is less reliant on chemical interventions, and more towards a biodynamic approach. The first step of achieving this is through the planting of varietals that are more suited to the humid and rainy climate of Virginia. The second step is through the usage of regenerative farming practices such as the rearing of ducks and geese in the vineyard for insect and vegetation management.

As part of the steps towards embracing a regenerative, yet realistic, approach to vineyard maintenance, House Strunk Winemaking is raising a vineyard flock of ducks and geese in order to manage both insects and the vineyard undergrowth. Visitors to the winery can watch the birds as they carry out their duties (or, more likely, are enjoying a break in the shade).