For nearly 200 years, Vernon and Toni Wright’s family has raised corn, cattle and quarter horses at Hill High, a 400-acre Virginia Century Farm located on the outskirts of Winchester. In September, the couple found a new way to steward the land and its bounty by opening Three Wives Distillery, where they turn homegrown grains into bourbon, whiskey, vodka, moonshine, brandy and rum.
Photo Above: Vernon and Toni Wright turn grains grown on their family farm into freshly distilled spirits.
Courtesy of Three Wives Distillery.
“I’m using all my [own] corn, wheat and rye,” Vernon says. “And the company where I’m getting my barrels from [is] going to make barrels out of my oaks.”
The distillery’s name is a nod to the unconventional love story of Carl King Wright, Vernon’s great-grandfather, who lived his entire life on the farm. Born in 1874, the farmer turned the Wright family tree into something of a maze by marrying three Brumback sisters — one after another — and twice becoming his own brother-in-law.
Carl and his first wife, Maude, tied the knot in 1909. She died at the young age of 27, and was, shares Toni, “the love of [Carl’s] life.” Next came Lela, the mother of Vernon’s grandfather, in 1918. She passed in 1936, once again leaving Carl a widower. Then along came Anna, whom the farmer married in 1939. She survived Carl when he died in 1955.
Vernon has found that distillery patrons “love to hear a good story” like the tale of the three wives as much as they love sippin’ homegrown hooch.
Visit Three Wives during the warmer months to enjoy tasty spirits from a rocker on the expansive patio, then plan a return trip for fall to explore the farm’s pumpkin patch, haunted house and corn maze.
The story above first appeared in our March / April 2026 issue.
