Louisa County’s Cooper Vineyards was founded in1988 by Jacque Hogge and Geoffrey Cooper. Situated in the rolling hills halfway between Charlottesville and Richmond, Cooper Vineyards has over eleven acres of grapes planted on site and sources grapes from many neighboring growers.
Cooper Vineyards opened a new tasting room this spring. Beyond being very visitor friendly, the tasting room is also in the process of becoming LEED platinum certified, making them the first winery in that category on the East Coast and the second in the country.
LEED, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, validates the construction of a green building and is broken into a four-tier award classification system ranging from Certified to Platinum, the highest level of certification.
Some features of the new tasting room at Cooper Vineyards that adhere to the LEED Platinum qualifications include using rainwater collection and low flow fixtures to reduce water usage by 40%, structurally insulated panels for the roof and walls, geothermal heating and cooling system for the building, low voltage LED lighting coupled with daylight and occupancy sensors, solar panels which provide over 15% of energy needs for the building, and the use of many recycled and locally sourced materials for the construction.