The York River

One of the larger tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay, the York River runs just south and parallel to the Rappahannock River, framing a land mass known locally as the “Middle Peninsula.” An exquisitely beautiful and remote region, the area is probably best known for the tiny Tidewater port of Yorktown – or rather, for the famous battle that took place along her banks in 1781. That victory, for all intents and purposes, signified the end of the Revolutionary War and the emergence of the United States of America. And what changed the fate of that late September battle was the presence of a heavily armored French fleet floating in the mouth of the York River, commanded by none other than the Comte de Rochambeau. 

Our Rochambeau farm is situated at the mouth of the York, where those very same French ships lay in wait, a mere 28 miles from the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay and the great Atlantic Ocean. This proximity to the sea delivers a far greater bite of salt than the Rappahannock, and yet the Rochambeau is still touched by the sweetness of its freshwater beginnings in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Often described as the quintessential Bay oyster or the Goldilocks oyster, due to its perfect blend of sweet and salt, the Rochambeau could easily be the best of both worlds.