Conrad's home wine making dates back to the 1950's and the family's wine grape growing in Virginia dates to the mid 1960's.  When they purchased their current house site in 1971, the Brandts' recognized the grape growing potential of the adjoining 14 acre tract. In 1986 they acquired that tract and began planting the sandy, 7.5 acre plateau-like field with grafted vinifera grapevines

Participation in the King George Chapter of the American Wine Society has provided breadth and depth to the Brandts' wine knowledge and appreciation They developed preferences for Bordeaux style red wines and Rhine style white wines. Anticipated customer needs dictated planting the limited acreage to half red and half white grapes. Jacques Recht, famous as a Virginia winemaker, offered guidance in selecting the best Bordeaux varieties for our warm, humid locale.  We knew we had to plant Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc as the grapes for the red wine blends.  Jacques' pessimism regarding the ability to produce a good Rhine wine from locally grown Riesling grapes led to a search for a more suitable white grape.  Riesling, Emerald Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, and Symphony were grown experimentally before 2.5 acres of Symphony were planted in 2000. Symphony is a Muscat variety developed in 1941 for the warmer regions of California.

Immediately after the vineyard site was acquired, sketches and calculations were initiated for a winery design.  Average vineyard yield, grape-to-wine-to-bottle process flow, bulk wine aging, bottled wine aging, energy consumption, waste disposal, and aesthetics were a few of the factors that influenced the final design. All of the family's talent and time resources were challenged when construction of the winery began in the spring of 1999.  At harvest that fall, Oak Crest had licenses to produce commercial wine in the basement fermentation room while the roof was still under construction.