Virginia producer says freeze will limit its 2026 vintage to one wine
Boxwood Estate Winery figures it lost close to three-quarters of its crop from the April 21 freeze that damaged vineyards and orchards to varying degrees across a wide swath of the East Coast.
“Every bottle of wine has a story long before it reaches your glass: the soil, the vines, the weather, the hands that care for them, and sometimes, the challenges that Mother Nature brings our way,”
The Middleburg, Virginia, producer detailed the impact of that freeze on Facebook in a post that was published late last week, saying it now plans to produce one wine from the 2026 vintage: its sparkling called Cremant.
“For a small, estate-grown winery like ours, the impact is significant,” the post read.
“But farming is part of wine. And farming means adapting, working hard, and showing up even in the difficult seasons. Our vineyard team is back in the rows, carefully harvesting what we were fortunate enough to save. Because of the freeze, 2026 will be a very different vintage for us.”
Stephen Rigby is the winemaker there, entering his eighth harvest. His wife Joyce is the vineyard manager.
“Under the circumstances, I think it’s a good option for us, as it’s a very popular wine and we’re getting enough fruit from the varieties we use for it to approach a normal production level,” Stephen wrote in an email earlier last week. “We’re not getting enough fruit from any one variety to make anything close to our usual production volumes, so the Cremant will constitute our 2026 production. What a year … let’s not do it again!
“So far we have pulled in only the Merlot and Cab Sauv and they are at about 25% of last year’s tonnage. We still have Cab Franc and Petit Verdot to pick, and I think they may come in at even less than 25% of last year’s crop.”
There will be no harvest of Sauvignon Blanc or Sauvignon Gris grapes, he added, noting that those vines bud earlier and “their shoots were well advanced from the hot spell we had” within a week before the freeze.
The Facebook post drew on a refrain similar to what many in the industry have expressed since the morning of April 21.
“Every bottle of wine has a story long before it reaches your glass: the soil, the vines, the weather, the hands that care for them, and sometimes, the challenges that Mother Nature brings our way,” it said.
“So when you visit, taste, and support a small Virginia winery, you’re supporting the farmers, the vineyard team, and all the work that goes into growing wine from the ground up.
“Here’s to the vines that endured, the team that keeps going, and the hope for what comes next.”