Common Wealth Crush Co.
Founded in 2022, Common Wealth Crush Co. is the first winemaking operation of its kind in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. Built with small producers in mind, we are custom crush meets business incubator meets thinktank cooperative. As small producers ourselves, we founded CWC to help grow the next generation of fellow Virginia winemakers, bringing these minds together under one roof where collaboration and creativity can flow. Leveraging strength in numbers and community, we strive to generate “common wealth” for all the makers in our ecosystem. We are passionate about the winegrowing potential of our region, and believe sustained momentum requires a thoughtful and honest approach to winemaking. We aim to use each vintage to convey the time and place our grapes are grown, while seeking out fellow makers who share this philosophy.
Featured wines:
2024 Joy School
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96% Chardonel, 2.5% Sauvignon Blanc, 1.5% Other varieties
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Alcohol: 12.8%
2024 Grandassa
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65% Tannat, 32% Fer, 3% Other varieties
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Alcohol: 13.9%
Meet the winemaker:
Ben Jordan
Ben began his career in Sonoma County and has worked in Virginia as winemaker at Early Mountain Vineyards, as well as GM and winemaker at Michael Shaps Wineworks. Alongside his brother, Tim, he oversees his family’s wine project, Midland, and associated vineyards planted on their Shenandoah Valley farm, Mount Airy. Ben is also a partner in Lightwell Survey, a collaboration wine project utilizing Shenandoah Valley grown grapes. He recently co-founded the grape breeding program, ViRV, which works with the USDA and Virginia industry to develop resistant varieties that produce high quality wines in the state’s shifting climate. Ben is a graduate of Duke University and received his MFA in playwriting from Carnegie Mellon University.
Meet the winemaker:
Lee Campbell
After getting her start in Washington D.C.’s and Manhattan’s top culinary and oenological establishments, Lee has been instrumental in establishing America’s natural wine fair circuit and promoting Virginia wines. A certified sommelier also working as a consultant, she draws from experience in nearly every aspect of wine and hospitality – retail, import, distribution, hotels, restaurants, wine fairs – and advocates for the integration of food and wine into a balanced, healthy, and joyful life for people of every background to savor. A native New Yorker, Lee is a graduate of the University of Virginia.