When the great-aunt of Kirk Wiles died about two decades ago, she left the family an old farm in Fairfax County, Virginia, on the Bull Run river, granted to their ancestors in 1716 by Lord Fairfax himself.
“We almost ended up losing the property to inheritance taxes,” said Wiles. But his grandmother bailed the family out, which triggered conversations between Wiles and his mom about the future of the farm. “She loved Virginia wine and wanted to turn it into a winery,” said Wiles, who was 23 years old at the time in 2005 and vowed to figure it out. “That’s when the journey started.”
Seventeen years later, the family’s Paradise Springs Winery is one of the biggest and most respected in that state, Wiles is the chair of the Virginia Wine Board, and the brand also makes wine from Santa Barbara County, which they serve in a Funk Zone tasting room. Billed as the first bicoastal winery in America, Paradise Springs is the bridge between two wine regions that are steeped in history, awash in quality, and yet still fighting for broader recognition.