High-profile Virginia winery to be acquired by start-up
A newly-formed ownership company will purchase Veritas Vineyards & Winery, known for its luxury wine tourism offering, as the producer’s British founders retire.
A group of entrepreneurs has formed a new company in order to acquire Veritas Vineyards & Winery in Nelson County, Virginia. The transaction is expected to be completed by “early summer”, with the newly established Veritas Legacy Partners LLC keen to take advantage of the “world-class hospitality” offered by the winery during peak tourism months.
Led by health tech architect Kurt Wassenaar and Eric Trebour of Virginia-based investment firm the Trebour Family, the new group stated: “We aren’t changing what makes Veritas special; we are providing the support it deserves to flourish for the next generation.”
Genuine distinction
The move comes as the winery’s founders, Patricia and Andrew Hodson, plan to retire this year. However, their daughter Emily Hodson will stay on as head winemaker, and son George Hodson will continue as CEO.
“We are acquiring one of the top winery destinations East of the Mississippi because we believe in the quality of the wines made by Emily Hodson and the world-class hospitality the Veritas team has built,” said Wassenaar.
According to a release issued by the winery, the acquisition is “subject to various conditions and approvals” and is expected to close in early summer 2026. Veritas insists that “all operations will continue without interruption” and has reassured customers that all wine club memberships and reservations will be honoured in full under the new ownership.
Speaking about handing over the wine estate to its new owners, founders Patricia and Andrew Hodson said: “Veritas was built on the belief that Virginia could produce wines of genuine distinction. Passing the stewardship of this land onto partners who share our vision, and who have the resources and commitment to take it further, is the best possible outcome for our family, our team, and Virginia wine.”
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Who exactly are the buyers?
Intriguingly, neither of the two co-managers of the newly formed Veritas Legacy Partners come from a wine background.
Kurt Wassenaar has spent many years working in technology-driven healthcare. He was chief architect for the University of Virginia Medical Center and also became director of research and technology at the University of Virginia School of Architecture. Additionally, Wassenaar co-founded The Epsilon Group, which among other things pioneered groundbreaking clinical trial systems for Type I and Type II Diabetes.
Meanwhile, the Trebour family is known for its commercial real estate activity across Virginia, with a portfolio spanning land development, consulting, and major hospitality and legacy estate transactions. Several members of the family run their own real estate businesses in the Charlottesville and Richmond areas, including Eric Trebour who focuses on “long-term value preservation, disciplined capital deployment, and asset-backed opportunities” via his company Results Real Estate, Inc.
What makes Veritas such an appealing asset?
Founded in 1999, Veritas Vineyards & Winery was one of the key properties responsible for putting Virginia firmly on the US wine map. Convinced that the Blue Ridge foothills were capable of producing world-class wines, English-born founders Patricia and Andrew Hodson set about building a wine tourism profile that was previously unseen in the region.
They opened The Farmhouse, an eight-bedroom “luxury bed and breakfast” within the estate’s vineyards, with the tagline: “European heritage meets Southern charm”. And this hospitality offering soon extended to fine-dining, with The Farmhouse providing four-course, wine-pairing dinners for guests at US$140 per person. Elaborate dishes include the likes of Black Angus filet mignon with roasted garlic demi glace, white cheddar-chive pommes mousseline and grilled asparagus paired with the estate’s Claret.
Other expressions in the winery’s portfolio include single-varietal Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Malbec wines, as well as Sauvignon Blanc and Petit Manseng, a highly aromatic white wine that is gaining popularity in Virginia. Current vintages on the market range from about US$33 to US$50 per bottle.
Winemaker Emily Hodson has said that her philosophy is to make wine with “classic, old-style principles” using state-of-the-art technology to capture varietal and regional character.
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