Rappahannock County Apples in Fall 2026: After the Freeze
October 8, 2026
October 8, 2026
In early April, Kathy Pelunkias, one of the owners of F. T. Valley Farm in Sperryville, examined the blossoms in her apple orchard. The fresh petals were already browning at the edges. A freeze on April 8 had hit just as they opened, but secondary blooms were still coming. Then came a second freeze. Brett Elford, the farm and orchard manager, said hope for what was meant to be a "record-setting year" was essentially gone. He had never seen a bloom in the orchard like this year's. "This year we got hit twice, and it was the worst possible timing," Elford told Rappahannock News.
Six months later, the farm market on FT Valley Road is open and fully stocked. Many of the apples in its bins came from orchards southwest of Charlottesville. The same thing is happening at some county wineries, in a more formal way. This fall, Rappahannock's presses, taps and tasting rooms are running much as usual. The fruit going through them has often traveled farther than usual to get here.
The damage came fast and hit almost every crop. "The first freeze [this spring], the orchards were in bloom, and they lost crop. Then the second one, the remaining crop was killed … it's pretty much a total loss, and the same thing with the vineyards," Kenner Love, Rappahannock County's agricultural extension agent, said in May. The freezes also landed during a long dry spell. The county had been in moderate or severe drought since the previous September.
The vineyards in Washington took the same hits. Bill Gadino of Gadino Cellars walked his rows picking off withered leaves. "Ninety percent of my buds, wiped out," he said. At Quiévremont Vineyard and Winery, owner John Guevremont reported losing about half his Chardonnay. The losses were in lower-lying parts of the vineyard where cold air settles, and most of his other varieties saw little damage. That difference between two properties in the same town comes down to slope and elevation. It explains the rest of this story.
F. T. Valley Farm is clear about its season. Its visit page says the late freeze took 100% of its peaches and most of its apples. The apples in the market were sourced from orchards southwest of Charlottesville. The farm's homepage, updated October 1, tells a more hopeful story. It says that despite the freeze, the gates are open for you-pick this weekend, starting Thursday, October 1 and running through October 4.
The listing splits the fruit into two groups:
The two pages don't agree on whether you-pick is happening. Calling ahead before driving out for a picking morning is worth the minute it takes. The cider is more settled. The farm says it pressed on September 30, and its fresh cider is never pasteurized and has one ingredient. The hard cider on tap mixes local partnerships. Kilby Creek Hard Cider is made for F. T. Valley by Du Card Vineyard from the farm's own fresh-pressed cider, and there is also cider from Sage Bird Ciderworks in Harrisonburg.
Statewide, James Atwell of the Virginia Apple Board told Axios in September that the 2026 apple crop should come in at 40% to 60% of a normal year. The Winchester area, home to many of the state's larger growers, was hit hardest, with losses estimated at 60% to 80%. Early-maturing varieties suffered the most, including Gala, Honeycrisp and Ginger Gold.
Central and Southwest Virginia fared better. Atwell credited higher elevations, different microclimates and better airflow. Sherif Sherif, a Virginia Tech fruit crop expert, said parts of the state such as Nelson County and areas of central Virginia avoided the most severe freezes and still set a commercial crop. Sherif has seen freeze damage every year since he arrived at Virginia Tech in 2017. This year was the first time he saw an essentially 100% crop loss in the Winchester area.
So the apples in a Sperryville bin this October trace a route the freeze laid out: up from orchards to the south that were spared. Rappahannock's own fruit is usually what other markets want. This year the county is the one buying.
Apples can be trucked in and sold without paperwork. Wine works differently. Virginia farm wineries face limits on how much out-of-state fruit they can use, and on how much can come from vineyards they don't own or lease.
On September 14, 2026, Virginia ABC answered a request from the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. It granted waivers to farm wineries in localities with a USDA disaster designation for the frost and freeze events of March 17 through May 4. The letter authorizes the wineries to
purchase additional fruit or agricultural products to achieve the level of production that was anticipated had not the multiple frost and freeze events … caused severe crop damage
The automatic waivers went to 169 wineries and vineyards. Four are in Rappahannock County: Gadino Cellars, Magnolia Vineyards & Winery, Narmada Winery and Rappahannock Cellars. The USDA disaster declaration behind the waiver covers 104 Virginia localities, including Rappahannock County.
The waiver gives these wineries permission. It doesn't mean they used it. No reporting so far says how much outside fruit any of the four has bought, if any. What the waiver does mean is that the 2026 vintage from a Rappahannock tasting room may, legally and openly, include more fruit from elsewhere than Virginia law normally allows. The goal is to keep these wineries making wine while their vineyards recover.
The waiver matters more because 2026 follows a bad 2025. Last October, Foothills Forum reported that county peach losses ran as high as 70% after a warm March and a hard April freeze, and apples fared about as badly. Bryant Lee of Lee's Orchard in Washington had three apple varieties that fall, down from his usual seven. Eddie Williams of Williams Orchard in Flint Hill had enough apples to run his packing shed but not enough to send to canneries. He expected to run out around the first of December instead of in January. F. T. Valley lost roughly 70% of its peach and apple orchard in 2025. It dropped wholesale accounts to focus on retail and pick-your-own. Near Sperryville, Jesse Jenkins of Jenkins Orchards came through better: "We don't have a full crop and we lost some, but we're still blessed to have nice apples."
Love called this spring the second year that damage this widespread has hit the county's orchards. He put the cost plainly: "Could you live two years without a paycheck? Not many people can." Federal help is open to some growers. A USDA freeze and frost disaster declaration made emergency loans and other Farm Service Agency assistance available to eligible farmers, with an eight-month application window. A drought designation reported in August added case-by-case eligibility on top of that.
No 2026 harvest reporting has turned up yet for Lee's, Williams, Jenkins or Roy's Farm Market on Old Hollow Road. If they're part of your usual October rounds, a phone call will tell you more than a website can.
The fruit may come from farther away, but the presses, taps and stages are local, and they have a full October schedule.
Low-lying blocks lost the most, and higher ground often kept its crop. That pattern showed up at Quiévremont, at orchards across the state, and in Nelson County, where Silver Creek & Seamans' lower orchards were badly damaged while its higher ones produced what the farm called a "beautiful crop." Where cold air settles on a property is worth knowing before you plant trees or vines. If you're looking at acreage for an orchard, vineyard or small farm and want someone who knows how the slope, drainage and frost pockets on a given parcel work, the team at Rappahannock Real Estate can walk the land with you. Contact us.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
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