Vintner’s Blend Layered with Story
January 12, 2026What does time taste like? What about place, people and commitment?
Most of us don’t reflect on those concepts while sipping from a bottle of our favorite wine. While uncorking Chatham Vineyards’ Vintner’s Blend is an invitation to savor the colorful fruits, savory notes and bright acidity that define its flagship red wine, there’s an added complexity too special to dismiss.
Vintner’s Blend honors the earth it comes from and the people on this small family farm on Virginia’s Eastern Shore who nurture the vineyards from budbreak to bloom to varaison to harvest.
“We want the distinct elements of this place – the soil, the air, the weather – to shine through in our wines,” said Jon Wehner, Chatham vintner and a second-generation wine grower.
The terroir is rich in shell, still benefitting from the minerals displaced during a meteor strike on the Shore some 35.5 million years ago. That coupled with a salty ocean breeze due to vineyard’s proximity to the Chesapeake Bay, contribute to the flavor profile of the individual clones.
A sense of place, unique in this case due to a terroir unlike any other, is but one of four pillars Jon identifies as defining his family’s experience at Chatham Vineyards, a working farm for four centuries in Machipongo.
When Jon’s parents, Harrison and Joan Wehner bought the manor house on Church Creek in 1979, Jon and his brothers spent weekends alongside them, picking away at the arduous work that goes into restoring a historic property. Jon planted the first grapes at Chatham Vineyards in 1999.
Jon was never interested in finding investors to build a corporate profile for Chatham. He wasn’t interested in making wine to win contests or achieve ratings.
Jon cared about the process of growing grapes to make authentic, site-expressive wine that mirrors the heart of the Eastern Shore. The people on his team are family to him, and most have been with him since the beginning. That includes José, the recently retired vineyard manager, who has weathered unpredictable weather, unusually wet and cold seasons, low yielding harvests and more with the same meticulousness as Jon.
“Time and consistency are everything,” Jon said. “When you’ve been working with the same vines and soil for years, you get to know them—anticipate what’s coming and adjust as needed.”
That mindset also extends to the tasting room, where Janice is a fixture, the winery’s longest tenured employee who is considered family.
Every bottle of Vintner’s Blend reveals that unparalleled care and consistency.
Maintaining a trusted team makes for thoughtful perspective. The quest for profits and the embrace of technology don’t play a role for maintaining the vineyards. Jon listens to the land and what he refers to as “calculated, intentional decisions to fully invest in the vineyard.” In the 2000s, that meant shifting Chatham’s approach to high-density planting, cane pruning to making the vines less susceptible to disease and adding French clones given their ability to thrive in the environment.
The decision to plant Cabernet Franc in 2005, Petit Verdot in 2006 and Cabernet Sauvignon in 2007 marked another chapter for the vineyard that embraced the long-term commitment necessary to create exceptional wines.
And then there’s experience, and unlike the Jim Croce classic “Time in a Bottle,” which laments the lack of time, Jon is patient. Shortcuts have never been part of canopy management at Chatham Vineyards.
Slow, sustainable growth enables the vines to mature and develop that complexity that distinguishes Chatham’s wines.
We’re not guessing,” Jon says. “We know what grows well here and how to adapt to Mother Nature.”
It’s not a surprise that the Vintner’s Blend has evolved over time. Earlier vintages featured a Merlot-dominant blend, while the wines from 2019, 2020 and 2021, produced after hot, dry years when rain and cooler temperatures arrived at precisely the right time, epitomize the consistency, time and maturity of the vines.
One caveat, it’s intentional that Vintner’s Blend is not called a reserve wine. “A reserve wine is made with more cellar input, more barrels, and a focus on accolades,” Jon said. “The Vintner’s Blend isn’t about any of those things. It’s about the four pillars that define our experience here at Chatham Vineyard.”
Place, consistency, commitment and time.
Add legacy to that. What started with Harrison and Joan Wehner and continued with Jon and Mills will pass to a third generation, Jon Henry, William and Lydia Wehner, whose only home has been at Chatham.
“All of us,” Jon said, “are all in.”
Relaxing with a favorite wine is time well spent, when rather than passing the minutes, we’re treasuring the moment. Take a moment to savor to savor the story in every sip of Vintner’s Blend.