It’s a hot August afternoon in Charlottesville, and the Virginia Wine Collective is buzzing with activity as harvest begins. Athena Eastwood, founder of the Collective, greets me with a warm smile as winemaker Jake Busching emerges from the production area where grapes are arriving from the vineyards. “Working on the chiller,” he says, wiping his hands with a towel.
Athena Eastwood and Jake Busching
Sandy Robertson, vineyard manager at Blenheim Vineyards, steps in briefly to discuss a grape delivery for his own label, Dogwood & Thistle, which he produces here with his wife Erin. Nearby, enologist Joy Ting and production manager Brooks Hoover stand over bins of sauvignon blanc grapes, readying clusters for the press.
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Hoover carefully feeds the fruit into the elevator as Ting climbs a ladder to check the grape levels. Golden juice drips into a steel basin below, the promise of another vintage taking shape. Contractors, meanwhile, work quickly to finish installing the facility’s glycol system, crucial for cooling tanks during fermentation.
The Collective is the vision of Eastwood, a commodities attorney turned grape farmer, who founded Eastwood Farm & Winery in 2016 with her partner Jeremy Christian and daughters, Megan Taub and Hannah Velie. After realizing the daunting expense of launching a winery, Eastwood envisioned a collaborative space where small producers could share equipment, expertise, and a public-facing tasting room.
“We started with a vision to support agriculture while lowering barriers to entry,” Eastwood explains. “This is about building something together — an inclusive, impactful venture that reflects the diversity of our community.”
The result is a collaborative space where established winemakers, aspiring vintners, and small vineyard owners can make wine without assuming the full financial weight of land and equipment. Today, nine producers operate in the facility, each with a dedicated workspace, private storage, and shared access to expensive essentials such as presses, tanks, and a bottling line.
At the center of production is Busching, the Collective’s head winemaker. A veteran of more than 25 vintages in Virginia, he has built many of the region’s most notable vineyards and wineries, from dirt to cork. Working alongside him is Hoover, formerly of Pippin Hill Farm & Vineyards, who manages daily production and assists in winemaking. Ting, a University of California Davis–trained winemaker and research enologist for the Winemakers Research Exchange, brings years of technical expertise. After years at Michael Shaps Wineworks and the launch of her eponymous label, Joy Ting Wine, she has become one of the most respected voices in Virginia winemaking.
The synergy among them is one of the Collective’s greatest strengths. By pooling equipment, space, and knowledge, they can focus on what matters most — learning, mentoring, and collaborating to craft compelling wines. “The winemaking process can be overwhelming,” Busching explains. “We meet aspiring winemakers where they are in their winemaking journey and help them through the process.”
Jake Busching
The Collective’s mission is attracting people from all walks of life, like Julie Linker, a psychologist, Tasha Durrett, a communications professional, along with wine industry veterans like Erin and Sandy Robertson, who have worked in the wine industry for over a decade.
Linker planted a five-acre vineyard in Nelson County in 2022 and now produces wines under her new Delve label. “As a newcomer, access to expertise and resources is critical,” she says. “Being in a community with others who share the same passion makes the journey possible.”
Tasha Durrett, a longtime wine enthusiast who recently released her first wine under her Zora Chloe label. For Durrett, founder of the affinity and advocacy group Black Women Who Wine, the Collective was a natural extension of her mission to expand agritourism and inclusivity in Virginia’s wine industry.
Her debut release Dark Fruit — a bold blend of petit verdot and merlot — was crafted in collaboration with Busching and Ting. “There’s no way I would have access to this kind of mentorship or equipment on my own,” she says. “The Collective makes it possible to turn vision into reality.” Durrett now has her sights set on a line of sparkling wines, beginning with a Lambrusco-style red.
Meanwhile, the Robertsons continue to expand Dogwood & Thistle, applying their industry knowledge in a collaborative setting. Together with the Collective’s other vintners, they represent the heart of Eastwood’s vision of many people unified by a common goal.
The Collective is more than a winery — it is also a gathering place where food and wine are designed to be enjoyed together. Food from locally sourced ingredients is central to the Collective’s mission. The kitchen is led by Chef Andrew Partridge, formerly executive chef at Marigold by Jean-Georges at Keswick Hall, along with his brother Cory Partridge.
Busching expects the tasting room lineup to eventually showcase as many as 30 different wines from the nine producers, all of which will be available in the tasting room to pair with food — a remarkable offering made possible by an ambitious project that represents a promising direction for Virginia’s wine industry.
