Commonwealth Joy School 2024

Common Wealth Crush Co. is a unique winery incubator and custom crush facility in Waynesboro Virginia.. What? Virginia? Well what better way to celebrate our nation's 250th birthday than with wine from where it all started.. Well…. tried to start. You  see, Mr. Jefferson had a dream, that dream died in the humidity of the East Coast summers.  Year after year he would replant his vines and after several years he gave up. That’s why we have Rye whisky and beer, because he couldn’t get grapes to work out.

Located in the historic Virginia Metalcrafters building, it functions as a business incubator, think tank and production facility for small, low intervention producers using a mix of Vinifera and hybrid grapes. Established just a few years ago in 2022, with three co founders, Ben Jordan, Tim Jordan and Patt Eagan based in the Shenandoah Valley.

We laughed when ole’ Jonny Marvin brought up the idea of tasting ‘all natural’ Virginia wine as the gimmick factor seemed high with this one. But after tasting them, we thought that they deserved a bigger audience, so here they are!

‘Joy School’ comes from a hybrid grape called Chardonel, a cross of Chardonnay and hybrid Seyval Blanc developed at Cornell university in 1953. The wine shows stone fruit, golden raisins, honeysuckle, apricot and wet stones with great acid and balance. Drink with chicken or Indian food. (Jason)