A passion for sci-fi informs Caitlyn Horton’s Gears and Lace wines.
Winemakers love dreaming up special blends to please their own palates. For Caitlyn Horton, the result is Gears and Lace, a line of steampunk-themed wines with names drawn from Victorian-era slang. The inspired theme earned Horton, the daughter of Horton Vineyard founders Dennis and Sharon Horton, a feature in Sci-Fi magazine.
“Everything I learned about winemaking was on the job,” Horton says. “There was no formal education.” But at 27, she’s a quick study. Her sparkling red, sold under the name Knott and Shuttles (a lacemaking reference) is a personal favorite. “Sparkling reds are out there, but they’re underappreciated,” she notes. “People who don’t love reds, love this,” she says. It’s even attracted committed beer drinkers—an achievement for any winemaker.
Her port-style dessert wine, Bone Orchard (2013), is fortified with brandy. After six years of barrel aging, it debuted in 2019, earning 95 points from The National Wine Review along with glowing praise: “It ranks among the finest port-style wines produced in Virginia.”
“When we open a bottle for a tasting,” Horton acknowledges, “there’s always a fight over who gets to take the leftovers home.”
Bone Orchard also came out a winner among our 2021 Made in Virginia entries. Find out more in our special section in this issue. HortonWine.com
This article originally appeared in the December 2021 issue.
