Purple Wolf Vineyard
Purple Wolf Vineyard will be joining us this year at the August 5, 2018 Wine and Oyster Festival On Sunny Slope Farm in support of the Artisan Center of Virginia. Come on out to taste their wine as well as wine from 10 other Shenandoah Valley Virginia Wineries.
White Oak Lavender Farm is owned and operated by the Haushalter family in Harrisonburg, Virginia. This is in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley near Massanutten Resort. We grow over 8,000 lavender plants and about 3,000 grape vines in many interesting varieties. We harvest our lavender plants in the summer to dry the flowers for buds and to extract the essential oil and hydrosol or floral water through steam distillation. We harvest our grapes in the Fall to make 11 delicious wines.
Julie Walton Haushalter began growing lavender as a hobby on the farm and soon was making products for family and friends. Next, Julie’s parents, Jim and Jessie Walton, volunteered to help harvest and make bundles for drying so that Jessie and Rick Haushalter’s mother, Margaret, could sew items such as lavender pillows, eye masks, neck wraps and lavender-filled sock monkeys. It wasn’t long before they were off to the Downtown Harrisonburg Farmer’s Market to sell their products! In addition to products being offered year- round online and at the farm store, products are available April – December on Saturdays at the Harrisonburg Farmer’s Market.
The farm has been open to the public since 2008 and has grown into a popular year-round agritourism venue. We offer a wine tasting experience, tours, lectures, classes, a petting area and a lovely lavender gift shop.
As CEO, (Chief Experience Officer) Julie’s life experiences and career path has influenced her commitment to helping others become more aware of ways in which to manage the effects of stress on the body and spirit at White Oak Lavender Farm. Our theme, Color My World Purple, is focused on how the farm and our products can bring hope, love, encouragement and peace to the world. Check out the many classes, labyrinth workshops and farm tours that are available!
Rebecca Haushalter Frakes, daughter of Rick and Julie, also works full time in the family business as the farm operations manager. After graduating from Virginia Tech in Hospitality and Tourism from the Pamplin School of Business, she invested several years learning the wine industry. She interned in Napa Valley and then worked as a manager at CrossKeys Vineyard. She has since planted several thousand vines on the family farm and now manages our tasting room called The Purple WOLF Vineyard! You can often find her husband, Matt volunteering as a Tasting Specialist!
Our winemaker, Randy Phillips is the owner of Cave Ridge Vineyards in Mt. Jackson, VA. Randy has over 25 years of experience in winemaking and is well renowned in the Virginia region. Randy makes our wines from grapes on our estate, his estate or sourced in the Shenandoah Valley. We are continuously developing new combinations of grapes and lavender types for new and exciting flavors! We all enjoy this, as someone has to do all the flavor testing!
