Winemaker
Chris Pearmund
- Discipline
- Winemaker
- Based in
- Broad Run, Virginia, United States
i. Biography
Chris Pearmund owns and makes wine at Pearmund Cellars in Broad Run, Virginia. The work there sits at the center of a career built across service, production, consulting, ownership, buying, and distribution, with Virginia wine as the throughline. The discipline comes from the cellar and the line; the palate was trained in restaurants. Across all of it, taste is the fixed point: learned, tested, and then translated into something that can be poured.
Coming Up
Restaurant work at Clyde Restaurant Group in Tysons Corner from 1980–1989 gave Chris Pearmund a close view of how flavor, timing, and service are shaped in practice. He began there as a wine geek, with cooking already part of the picture, and the back of house offered the day-to-day training ground. Winemaking at Naked Mountain in Virginia from 1990–1993 moved that restaurant-grounded palate into production, where the bottle itself became the work. That shift was matched by the founding and operation of a mobile bottling line business from 1991–1997, a practical layer that widened the view from one cellar to the logistics around it. By then, Chris Pearmund was working across more than one part of the trade, moving between making, packaging, and the systems that support both. A later turn came in 2006–2006, when Chris Pearmund served as winery founder at Winery at La Grange in Prince William County, Virginia. By that point, the career had gathered into a clear pattern: maker, builder, consultant, buyer, seller. Since 1993, he has been owner of Meriwether Vineyards / Pearmund Cellars, and since 1994 he has also been consultant of wine industry consulting, a combination that shows how long he has stayed in the work and how many sides of it he has handled.
Where They Are Now
Pearmund Cellars in Broad Run, Virginia is where Chris Pearmund’s current work remains rooted, with ownership and winemaking joined to a long practice of Virginia advocacy. The name is tied to a career shaped by restaurants, production floors, and consulting, but the daily task is still the same one that has defined the arc all along: making decisions that hold up in the glass. The result is a body of work built by repetition, observation, and steady attention to what Virginia wine can do.
Signature
Ameritage, Cameo collection, Virginia Heritage project, and Covert Winework’s Enigma are the signature wines named to Chris Pearmund. Taken together, they point to a winemaker working across identity, structure, and place, with Virginia still serving as the frame. They also mark the breadth of a career that has moved through several parts of the trade without losing focus on the state’s wine economy and its expression in bottle.
Honors
Governor's Cup for best wine in Virginia is among Chris Pearmund’s honors, placing his work in a recognized standard of quality within the state. The award reflects years spent refining a practical, place-based approach to wine, with Virginia as both subject and measure.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Chris
What is Chris Pearmund's current role?
As of 2026, Chris Pearmund is Owner and Winemaker.
Where did Chris Pearmund work before?
Chris Pearmund's earlier career included Clyde Restaurant Group, Naked Mountain, and mobile bottling line business.
What recognition has Chris Pearmund received?
Governor's Cup for best wine in Virginia (1990).
