Family Owned Winery producing a variety of hand-crafted, Award-Winning Specialty Fruit Wines
MATTAPONI WINERY
ABOUT US
Our Family, Our History, Our Vision
Mattaponi Winery is a family-owned winery in the heart of Spotsylvania County, with a passion for making a variety of National and International Award-Winning wines. Our Evans family has lived on their land for over 100 years, which is surrounded by four rivers: Mat, Ta, Po and Ni. These rivers begin coming together in Spotsylvania County, and then Caroline County to make up the Mattaponi River as it flows 103 miles towards the York River. Our wine makers, the late Michael Evans and Janette Evans used to love fishing small mouth bass and catfish daily on the riverbanks. This love is what brought Mike and Janette together with a vision.
Their passion for fishing the Mattaponi River was as strong as their passion for making wine, so they decided to bring both together, and named their winery after the river they loved so much. These Mattaponi wine makers have made wine for over 30 years, opening their winery in 2002, and naming it after the river dear to their hearts. They added an amazing filtration system that filters the water 11 times making it 99 percent pure to make their wine still today.
Their neighbors and friends would come to their property just to fill jugs of water to take home and enjoy because of how wonderful it tasted after it was filtered. The Evans family hand-craftmanship has the love and passion for making delicious wines with over 40 awards coast-to-coast, from California to Virginia and New York to Texas, which inspires them with the love they have for the Mattaponi River.
Mike and Janette Evans are from Spotsylvania County, Virginia. Their family roots are Italian, Boricua (Taino Ancestry), and Cherokee as their family continues to grow, they enjoy people of every culture. Mike has passed down his extensive knowledge and passion of perfection to his son, Caleb. Making wine has come from generations of wine makers from a small village called Lappano in Calabria, Italy which provided the family exposure to wine to them here in Spotsylvania. Each new wine experience with the aromas and flavors to the life of art and science gives Caleb enthusiasm with endless discoveries.
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Janette Evans is the founder of Mattaponi Winery. With the help and gracious support of her family and friends, the vision became a reality. Her passion was also to bring her family’s life and culture into the winery along with the history of Spotsylvania and the Rivers. A sixteen-year cancer survivor, she is always interested in helping many different causes with God’s Blessing. Greater challenges and opportunities await her as Mattaponi Winery continues to grow.
Mike Evans Rest in Peace, 2019