Fine Wine Confidential Podcast
58 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 1 month ago - ★★★★★ - 15 ratingsThe Fine Wine Confidential Podcast tells the story of how the modern-day Virginia wine industry has progressed during the past forty-five years and is now achieving Thomas Jefferson's aspiration to produce world-class wine. Fred Reno interviews many of the Old Dominion's prominent winery owners, winemakers and viticulturists. In their own words, you the listener, will learn why Virginia is the most exciting wine-growing State in the country today.
The Fine Wine Confidential Podcast having chronicled the beginnings of the Virginia modern-day growth is now focused on the wines produced from the Norton grape as Virginia is its ancestral home. Look for All About Virginia Norton.
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Episodes
EPISODE #7 ARTERRA WINERY/JASON MURRAY
March 31, 2024 19:00 - 44 minutes - 30.8 MBArterra Winery owned by Founder & winegrower Jason Murray believes in producing wine that is reflective of the grape from which it is grown. Thus, he uses only native yeasts, neutral barrels, and screw caps for bottle enclosure. He feels that when you have a bottle of Arterra you will taste exactly what the grape gave him that vintage and nothing else. After 20 years of growing grapes in Fauquier County in Northern Virginia he is guided by the philosophy that if you plant the grape vine in t...
EPISODE #6 DR. BRUCE ZOECKLEIN/EMERITUS PROFESSOR OF ENOLOGY VA TECH
March 17, 2024 19:00 - 45 minutes - 31 MBDr. Bruce Zoecklein is nothing short of an Icon here in Virginia. When he was recruited by VA Tech in 1985 to head up their Enology Program the Virginia Wine Industry was just beginning to take shape and form. Bruce brought a level of knowledge about winemaking that would prove invaluable to the growth of Modern-Day Virginia winegrowing. His credentials are incredible and include authoring over 100 hundred papers and publications about winemaking and wine growing. Topped off by his book on W...
EPISODE # 5 MICHAEL HENY, "ALL ABOUT VIRGINIA NORTON"
March 04, 2024 19:00 - 30 minutes - 20.7 MBMichael Heny spent close to 20 years in winemaking at Horton Cellars before taking the position as winemaker at Michael Shaps Wineworks in 2019. As a result of his many years working with Dennis Horton, who was the person responsible for re-introducing Norton back to Virginia, he has a great deal of knowledge regarding the challenges that Norton can pose both in the vineyard and the cellar. Michael addresses those and brings a different perspective to the dialogue about Norton wines. He als...
EPISODE # 4 DuCard Vineyards/Scott Elliff & Julien Durantie "All About Virginia Norton"
February 06, 2024 16:00 - 30 minutes - 21 MBIn this Episode I interview my friend Scott Elliff the Founder & Owner of DuCard Vineyard along with his winemaker Julien Durantie. It is an in-depth look at how one small Virginia Estate tackles the challenges of growing and producing world-quality wine from the Norton grape. For my part I say, "and they do produce world-quality wine". DuCard happens to be the first winery I ever tasted a bottle of Norton from in my now 45 years of wine industry experience. It opened my eyes to a world of...
EPISODE # 3 FIFTY-THIRD WINERY & VINEYARD ALL ABOUT VIRGINIA NORTON
January 30, 2024 20:00 - 36 minutes - 24.9 MBEpisode # 3 found me in my studio interviewing the owner of Fifty-Third Winery & Vineyard Dave Drillock and his winemaker Chelsey Blevins who is quickly being recognized as a young rising star in the Virginia wine industry. Fifty-Third Winery & Vineyard produces an outstanding Norton along with a wide range of wines from both vinifera and hybrid grapes. They are my favorite what I call off the radar winery here in the Old Dominion. But that is changing rapidly as a result of the steady le...
EPISODE #2 ALL ABOUT NORTON/JENNIFER McCLOUD FOUNDER CHRYSALIS VINEYARDS
January 15, 2024 16:00 - 32 minutes - 22.4 MBEpisode # 2 features Jennifer McCloud the Founder & Owner of Chrysalis Vineyards at the Ag District in Middleburg, Virginia. Along with producing some of the finest Viognier and Albarino in the country she is the proud owner of the largest single vineyard planting of Norton in the world. It makes up over 40 acres of the 70 acres of vineyard land she farms. Chrysalis was founded in 1998. and in addition to producing estate wines, she also has 10 Dairy Cows at the property from which they pr...
EPISODE #1 INTRODUCTION TO THE WORLD OF NORTON
December 31, 2023 17:00 - 31 minutes - 22 MBThis Episode kicks off my new series of Podcasts focusing on wines produced from the Norton grape here in Virginia. In Episode #1 I recorded a conversation between the judges at the Homestead Norton Cup Challenge the weekend of November 3rd & 4th, 2023. It was during the lunch break before the judges finished judging the Final Four Norton wines that had made it into the final round that morning. It is an interesting insight into their thoughts. I especially enjoyed the conversation at the e...
EPISODE # 6 JAY YOUMANS MASTER OF WINE
July 06, 2023 14:00 - 37 minutes - 26 MBThanks for being a listener to the Fine Wine Confidential Podcast. For more information go to www.finewineconfidential.com
EPISODE #1 INTRODUCTION TO THE FINE WINE CONFIDENTIAL PODCAST
July 05, 2023 14:00 - 18 minutes - 12.7 MBThanks for being a listener to the Fine Wine Confidential Podcast. For more information go to www.finewineconfidential.com
EPISODE # 44 DENNIS HORTON MONTAGE EPILOGUE
April 27, 2023 19:00 - 31 minutes - 21.4 MBThis Epilogue to my Montage about Dennis Horton and his contribution to the Virginia wine industry you get the opportunity to hear directly from 3 generations of women in the Horton family. It was my intent to give them the last word on Dennis Horton. The interview was at Horton Cellars where I sat with Sharon Horton, his wife and partner, Shannon Horton their daughter and Caitlin Horton Shannon's daughter and the current winemaker at Horton Cellars. If was a fascinating experience to cap...
EPISODE # 44 PART 2/DENNIS HORTON MONTAGE
March 29, 2023 19:00 - 52 minutes - 36.3 MBPart 2 of Episode #44 Montage about Dennis Horton features my interviews with Jenni McCloud, Owner and Founder of Chrysalis Vineyards who was inspired by Dennis Horton and planted the largest vineyard of Norton currently in the World. Followed by one of the most respected individual in the Virginia Wine Industry, Luca Paschina General Manager & Winemaker at Barboursville Vineyards. And last, but certainly not least Lucie Morton one of the foremost Ampelographers and Viticulturist in the wor...
EPISODE #44 DENNIS HORTON MONTAGE Part 1
February 07, 2023 16:00 - 36 minutes - 24.8 MBBecause I never had the opportunity to meet of know Dennis Horton before he passed away, I wanted to include his story and contribution to the Virginia Wine Industry in some fashion. I was given an idea by Bruce Zoecklein Professor Emeritus of Enology at VA Tech. He suggested that I interview a handful of folks in the Virginia wine community and have them share with me their thoughts on Dennis and 1 or 2 of their favorite stories. I thought it was a terrific idea. So, for Episode # 44 I...
EPISODE # 43 JASON MURRAY/ARTERRA WINERY
December 15, 2022 19:00 - 51 minutes - 35.7 MBArterra Winery was founded by Jason Murray in 2013. Jason is a veteran of winegrowing in Northern Virginia for over 20 years. Arterra, which means "Art of the Land" represents Jason's quest to grow wine in a fashion unseen by most of us in the wine business. His Marketing moniker is " Clean Wine." When I first heard that I didn't really understand if it was yet another take on "Natural Wine". I learned in my interview that it is much more than that. Essentially, as Jason describes it simp...
EPISODE # 42 COMMON WEALTH CRUSH COMPANY/BEN JORDAN, TIM JORDAN, PATT EAGAN
November 25, 2022 20:00 - 45 minutes - 31.6 MBCommon Wealth Crush Company is a new exciting development in the Virginia Wine Industry. Ben Jordan along with his brother Tim and Jordan and Patt Eagan have opened what I term a winemaker Studio in the historic district of downtown Waynesboro, Virginia. Conceptually, it will allow small wine brands to have access to a winemaking facility without having to shell out the up-front costs of building their own winery. Common Wealth Crush hopes to be an incubator for future Virginia wine brand...
EPISODE # 41 CHRIS PEARMUND/PEARMUND CELLARS
October 30, 2022 15:00 - 44 minutes - 30.9 MBChris Pearmund has been in the Virginia wine industry for over 30 years. He started his career in 1990 when he managed to snag an entry level position at Naked Mountain. He would then purchase Meriweather vineyard in 1996 which has the oldest Chardonnay vines in Virginia today, planted in 1976. The numerous ventures and positions Chris has held in the Virginia Wine Industry is very impressive. He started Pearmund Cellars in 2002 and today manages that operation along with several others...
EPISODE # 40 LEE HARTMAN BLUESTONE VINEYARD WINEMAKER
September 08, 2022 15:00 - 42 minutes - 29.3 MBBluestone Vineyard started out as a small family vineyard when Curt and Jackie Hartman were, encouraged by their friends Phil and Lois Kreider, to help them expand their own availability of grapes for the purpose to produce wine for their own personal use in 2003. In 2007 the decision was made to turn it into a commercial venture and in 2008 they began to plant more vines at their already existing property on the hill alongside of their house. In 2009 they had their first production of jus...
EPISODE #39 CHELSEY BLEVINS/WINEMAKER FIFTY-THIRD WINERY
July 01, 2022 18:00 - 36 minutes - 24.8 MBChelsey Blevins would tell you that winemaking found her. It was in 2010 that she visited Horton Vineyards and was given a full tour of the cellars. It was after the tour that Mike Heny, who was the winemaker at that time asked her if she wanted to work the harvest. She said, why not. Thus, her entry into the wine business. Next, she got a position at Barboursville Vineyards working in their library tasting cellar. She caught the wine bug and decided to enroll in the wine program at ...
EPISODE # 38 DAMIEN BLANCHON:AFTON MOUNTAIN VINEYARDS WINEMAKER & VINEYARD MANAGER
June 12, 2022 16:00 - 45 minutes - 31.1 MBDamien Blanchon was born and raised in the South of France where his family had roots in the Beaujolais Village region of Burgundy. He grew up with wine in his family and when he was 8 years-old he already knew this what he wanted to do--drive a tractor in the vines and be a winegrower. He would go to school to learn the craft of winemaking and recalls a teacher tell him when he was finishing to gain his degree in Viticulture & Enology that he English would be the most important language h...
EPISODE # 37 AFTON MOUNTAIN VINEYARDS/ELIZABETH &TONY SMITH OWNERS
May 09, 2022 18:00 - 43 minutes - 30.1 MBAFton Mountain Vineyards was one of the first of the early farm wineries in Virginia when it was planted in 1978 by David Medford a Chemist from Richmond, Virginia. However, he named it Bacchanal Vineyards after the Greek god Bacchus. It would be purchase later by Tom & Shinko Corpora and renamed Afton Mountain Vineyards in 1987. In 2009 Elizabeth & Tony Smith would purchase it. Elizabeth and Tony were both from Charlottesville, had been married at the Chapel on the campus of UVA and wan...
EPISODE # 36 WILLIAMSBURG WINERY/PATRICK DUFFELER;FOUNDER & MATTHEW MEYER;WINEMAKER
April 27, 2022 15:00 - 1 hour - 42.5 MBPatrick Duffeler purchased his tract of land called Wessex Hundred just outside of Williamsburg, Virginia in 1983 and would start to plant his vineyard in 1985. Patrick was born in Belgium and after gaining his degree in Economics & Finance from the University of Rochester, New York he started his professional career with Eastman Kodak. He would go on to work in the International Division of Philip Morris in Switzerland as the Director of Marketing and ultimately become President of Fragran...
EPISODE # 35 BILL CURTIS/OWNER & CHEF:TASTINGS RESTAURANT, WINE BAR, & WINE SHOP CHARLOTTESVILLE
April 05, 2022 18:00 - 40 minutes - 27.7 MBWhen Bill Curtis opened TASTINGS Restaurant, Wine Bar, & Wine Shop in 1990 it was the first of its kind on the East Coast to combine all these elements under one roof. Bill has been involved in the Virginia wine and food scene for close to 40 years and has a tremendous Passion still, for the wine world. He is exceptional in his breadth of knowledge and is especially sharp when it comes to wines from Burgundy, France. Bill is an example of a "fine wine merchant" in the true sense of that d...
EPISODE # 34 JENNI McCLOUD/CHRYSALIS VINEYARDS AT THE AG DISTRICT
March 07, 2022 19:00 - 37 minutes - 26 MBJennifer McCloud's journey and pursuit to reclaim Norton as Virginia's native grape began in the mid-1990's when she found herself in Charlottesville, Virginia at the Eastern conference of the American Society of Enology and Viticulture, (A.S.E.V.) where Dennis Horton and his winemaking consultant at the time Alan Kinne were speaking about Viognier and Norton, two grape varietals that Dennis had been producing wine from. She was intrigued and when she had her first taste of Norton it just s...
EPISODE # 33 TIM & PETER RAUSSE/GABRIELE RAUSSE WINERY
February 15, 2022 19:00 - 38 minutes - 26.6 MBTim & Peter Rausse were involved in the planting and development of the Gabriele Rausse winery beginning early in their youth. Although Tim went off to school shortly thereafter, he would return and immerse himself in the operation and winemaking and hasn't looked back. Peter calls himself the unofficial GM these days and recounts in this Episode how his role is to make sure everything at the winery works. While Tim continues to stay focused on the vineyard and winemaking side of the win...
EPISODE # 32 MIKE HENY/WINEMAKER: MICHAEL SHAPS WINEWORKS
January 25, 2022 19:00 - 37 minutes - 25.6 MBMichael Heny graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and Comparative Literature from University of Virginia in 1990. Hardly, the typical training or studies that would lead to a successful career. He was in need of a job just out of college when he answered and ad for a position as a cellar worker at Montdomaine Cellars where Shep Rouse was the winemaker. He remembers Shep tasting wine one afternoon outside the cellar when Shep asked him to join him. It was the first time he ...
EPISODE # 31 JUSTIN ROSE/WINEMAKER ROSEMONT VINEYARDS
January 05, 2022 20:00 - 35 minutes - 24.2 MBRosemont Vineyards was established in 2003 by Stephan and Chandra Rose on a farm that had been in the Rose family since 1858. When Stephan retired as a successful Dow Chemical executive, he was interested in returning to the family farm and get back to land, so to speak. With the help of a family friend, he was introduced to Lucie Morton the world-famous Ampelographer and Virginia based viticultural consultant and expert. After many meetings with Lucie, she determined that it was a good lo...
EPISODE # 30 JON WEHNER/CHATHAM VINEYARDS AT CHURCH CREEK
December 08, 2021 19:00 - 38 minutes - 26.6 MBIn 1999 Jon Wehner and his family established Chatham Vineyards at Church Creek located on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. Jon is a second-generation winegrower following in the footsteps of his mother and father who had a small home vineyard for over 30 years in Great Falls, Virginia. The quality of the grapes from that vineyard produced a Vidal Blanc that was the house wine at one of Washinton, C. D. areas finest restaurants for many years, L'Auberge Chez Francois in Great Falls, VA. He gre...
EPISODE # 29 Sharon Horton & Shannon Horton/Horton Vineyards
November 22, 2021 17:00 - 32 minutes - 22.5 MBDennis and Sharon Horton planted a small hobby vineyard at their home in Orange, Virginia in 1983. That hobby turned into the full-time pursuit in winegrowing and in 1989 they planted their first commercial vineyard. In 1993 their Viognier stunned the experts and was proclaimed the best Viognier in the country. That quick fame and Dennis ambition to pioneer the growing of many different varietals made an indelible mark on Virginia winegrowing for years to come. Dennis was once quoted as ...
EPISODE # 29 Sharon Horton & Shannon Horton/Horton Vineyards
November 22, 2021 17:00 - 32 minutes - 22.5 MBDennis and Sharon Horton planted a small hobby vineyard at their home in Orange, Virginia in 1983. That hobby turned into the full-time pursuit in winegrowing and in 1989 they planted their first commercial vineyard. In 1993 their Viognier stunned the experts and was proclaimed the best Viognier in the country. That quick fame and Dennis ambition to pioneer the growing of many different varietals made an indelible mark on Virginia winegrowing for years to come. Dennis was once quoted as ...
EPISODE # 28 CORRY CRAIGHILL/SEPTENARY WINERY & ASHLEIGH WHITE/GLEN MANOR VINEYARDS
November 06, 2021 19:00 - 42 minutes - 28.9 MBBoth Corry Craighill & Ashleigh White have had an interesting start to their careers in the wine industry. Corry has made wine all over the world and Ashleigh has worked on the West Coast and the East Coast of this country. While Ashleigh had the good fortune to have her uncle, Jeff White turn the family farm into a vineyard, thus providing her with an opportunity to take a shot at winegrowing-- Corry started by working in the tasting room at Jefferson Vineyards for her first taste of wha...
EPISODE # 27 ENOLOGY PROFESSOR EMERITUS BRUCE ZOECKLEIN/VIRGINIA TECH UNIVERSITY
October 21, 2021 20:00 - 42 minutes - 28.9 MBBruce Zoecklein began his career in Enology on the staff at Fresno State University in California. He was recruited in 1985 by the University of Virginia to head up a new initiative to support the Virginia wine industry. His West Coast friends thought he was "crazy" as they couldn't fathom that quality wine was being produced in Virginia. Bruce took the position and relocated to Virginia. His contribution to winemaking in the Old Dominion has been significant and he is well respected b...
EPISODE #26 KIRK WILES/CO-FOUNDER & CEO PARADISE SPRINGS WINERY
October 01, 2021 20:00 - 41 minutes - 28.7 MBParadise Springs Winery was founded in 2007. However, the Fairfax County Board challenged the Wiles family's right to open a winery and start a vineyard. There was over two years of litigation which Kirk and his mother eventually prevailed and won. During that two year period Kirk was so confident that with the help of consultant and Virginia vintner Chris Pearmund they began to produce small amounts of wine in 2007. Once Paradise Springs became active and started selling wine their br...
EPISODE # 25 JOY TING/WINEMAKERS RESEARCH EXCHANGE COORDINATOR
September 13, 2021 14:00 - 46 minutes - 31.7 MBJoy Ting fell for the wine bug after a trip visiting here boyfriend, now her husband, while he was stationed in Northern California during his stint in the Air Force. They took a trip to Napa Valley and that experience intrigued the both of them. When they settled in Charlottesville, Virginia because he got a position at University of Virginia in the medical department she realized quickly that her degree in Marine Biology wasn't going to lead to a budding career there. After taking some ...
EPISODE # 24 JAKE BUSCHING/JAKE BUSCHING WINE & HARK VINEYARDS
August 31, 2021 18:00 - 44 minutes - 30.4 MBJake Busching got his start in Virginia winegrowing after he moved to Richmond Virginia and was a struggling musician working in the restaurant business to make a living. Eventually he would move to Charlottesville and take a position at Jefferson Vineyards working for the Woodward family. When Chris Hill, the consulting viticulturist at Jefferson Vineyards realized that Jake knew his way around a farm and could repair equipment he made a point of getting him into the vineyard side of the ...
EPISODE # 23 NATE WALSH: WALSH FAMILY WINE FOUNDER & WINEMAKER
August 07, 2021 19:00 - 40 minutes - 28.1 MBWalsh Family Wine was birthed when Nate and Sarah Walsh had the opportunity to lease Bethany Ridge Vineyard and produced their first wine, a Sauvignon Blanc in 2014. Several years later they entered an agreement with the owners of North Gate vineyard and winemaking facility where they had been sharing space since 2017. They would end up purchasing it. They now produce wine from several vineyards they farm which includes Bethany Ridge, which they would eventually expand from its original 4...
EPISODE # 22 GLEN MANOR VINEYARDS:JEFF WHITE/FOUNDER &WINEMAKER
August 02, 2021 14:00 - 39 minutes - 27.4 MBThe Glen Manor property has been in Jeff White's family since 1901. However, it was Jeff who saw the potential that the family property had as an ideal site for a vineyard. He planted his first vines at Glen Manor Vineyards in 1995. A mere 1.2 acres of Sauvignon Blanc. At the time Jeff was working for and learning about winegrowing from Jim Law at Linden Vineyards. He would sell his grapes to Jim for a number of years until he ultimately planted additional vines and started to produce hi...
EPISODE # 21 PROFESSOR TONY WOLF
July 19, 2021 19:00 - 42 minutes - 29.3 MBTony Wolf by all measures has contributed a significant amount of research and experience that has advanced winegrowing in Virginia during the past 35 years. He has been the Director of the Alson H. Smith, Jr. Agricultural Research and Extension Center for the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, (VA Tech) since 2004. He has published many articles that have been Peer Reviewed about Viticulture and is considered one of the leading authoritative voices in the field of Horticu...
EPISODE # 20 KESWICK VINEYARDS: STEPHEN BARNARD WINEMAKER & VINEYARD MANAGER
July 02, 2021 18:00 - 43 minutes - 29.7 MBKeswick Vineyards was established by Al and Cindy Schornberg in 2000 on a property that has Virginian historical roots dating back to 1727. Stephen Barnard joined them in 2002 which was their first vintage and jumped right into making the wine. He left in 2004 and rejoined Keswick in 2006 and has been the winemaker and vineyard manager ever since. Stephen got his start in wine at Groot Constantia Winery the oldest winery in his native country South Africa. First as a tour guide, then as ...
EPISODE #19 KING FAMILY VINEYARDS:MATTHIEU FINOT/WINEMAKER
June 16, 2021 19:00 - 47 minutes - 32.8 MBMatthieu Finot was born into a winegrowing family in Crozes-Hermitage, France. In 1995 after graduating with his degree in enology from the university in Beaune he proceeded to work in multiple wine regions in France including, Rhone Valley, Bordeaux, Burgundy, Provence, and Jura. He did stints in Italy and South Africa before arriving in Virginia in 2003. He then landed a position at Afton Mountain Winery and would become the full-time winemaker at King Family Vineyards in 2007 succeeding...
EPISODE # 18 EARLY MOUNTAIN VINEYARDS:BEN JORDAN/WINEMAKER
June 02, 2021 18:00 - 43 minutes - 29.8 MBBen Jordan began his winemaker career in California and would move back to his native state of Virginia in 2012 where he took the position as winemaker at Michael Shaps Wineworks. He was then recruited by Early Mountain Vineyards and became their winemaker in 2015. He is recognized as one of the most respected upcoming winemakers in the Virginia Wine Industry today. Early Mountain Vineyards has grown in acclaim as their wine quality continuously improves under Ben's leadership. Ben and ...
EPISODE #17 EARLY MOUNTAIN VINEYARDS, AILEEN SEVIER VP STRATEGY & MARKETING
May 22, 2021 20:00 - 32 minutes - 22.5 MBEarly Mountain Vineyards was established in 2012 after Jean and Steve Case, the founders of AOL, purchased a vineyard in Madison County, at that time called Sweely vineyards, when it went on sale in 2011. Jean Case took the lead on the project with the goal to not just produce world class wine at Early Mountain but to promote Virginia winegrowing and its wines as a region that stands next to the best in the world. She started to feature wines from other top Virginia wine producers in thei...
EPISODE #16 TRUE HERITAGE: GEORGE HODSON/CEO & EMILY PELTON/WINEMAKER
May 09, 2021 18:00 - 33 minutes - 22.9 MBTrue Heritage is the new wine project of the brother/sister team, George Hodson/ CEO & Emily Pelton/Winemaker at Veritas Vineyards. They created this new Brand with the expressed intent to showcase Virginia wine on a more National and Regional scale. There is no tasting room, hospitality center or any of the Agritourism trappings that a vast majority of Virginia winegrowers use to promote their wines. The vineyards which were planted are producing grapes for these new wines are centered ...
EPISODE #15 BLENHEIM VINEYARDS/KIRSTY HARMON WINEMAKER & GENERAL MANAGER
May 03, 2021 19:00 - 36 minutes - 25 MBKirsty's story of how she fell into winemaking begins as almost a fairly tale. At the young age of 24 early in her career working as a microbiologist she decided to leave the lab and devote her time to a side project she had as a calligrapher and wedding planner. In the course of that business she planned the wedding for none other than Patricia Kluge owner of what would become known as Kluge Estate. It was there that she met Gabriele Rausse , Kluge's vineyard consultant. In 2000 Kluge a...
EPISODE #14 LUCIE MORTON
April 14, 2021 18:00 - 1 hour - 44.4 MBLucie Morton is recognized today world wide as one of the foremost Viticulturist and Ampelographer in the Wine Industry. She started in winegrowing back in 1971 when her Dad asked her to take a gap year as she was finishing up grad school to be his farm manager and look into planting vines at Morland their family farm. She never looked back. She would later go to France to gain her formal education in winegrowing. Eventually, her career would take her to California where she consulted fro...
Episode # 13 Claude Thibaut/ Thibaut-Janisson
March 28, 2021 19:00 - 43 minutes - 29.9 MBClaude Thibaut was born in a Gran Cru village in the Champagne region. His grandfather once worked as a vineyard manager for Moet-Chandon and his father was among the first of the grower champagne producers as they have become to be known in the country today. Claude received his winemaking degree from the university in Reims which at that time was a recently established program. Prior to that the only Universities that offered a degree were in Bordeaux, Dijon, or at Montpellier. Claude...
EPISODE #12 DuCard Vineyards, Scott Elliff Founder & Owner.
March 23, 2021 17:00 - 44 minutes - 30.8 MBDuCard vineyards was established in 2001 after Scott and Karen Elliff purchased property on the eastern slope of the Shenandoah National Park west of the historic town of Madison, Virginia. The property, at an elevation of 1,000 feet was once the site of a thriving Apple Orchard at a time when Virginia was the leading state for apple growing. Scott and his wife bought the property as a getaway from Washington, DC and after consulting with the Virginia Agricultural Extension Service were ad...
EPISODE #11 ANKIDA RIDGE, CHRISTINE, DENNIS, & NATHAN VROOMAN
March 08, 2021 16:00 - 41 minutes - 28.5 MBAnkida Ridge was established by Christine & Dennis Vrooman with the planting of their first vines in 2008. Lucie Morton was their vineyard consultant and she brilliantly, in my opinion, advised them to plant Pinot Noir. She believed that the southeastern facing slope at 1800 feet nestled into the Blue Ridge Mountains along with the granite soils gave them the chance to be successful with the varietal. She was 100% correct. Ankida Ridge in a short period of time has been producing some...
Episode #10 Andrew Hodson/Founder & Owner of Veritas Vineyards and Winery
February 26, 2021 19:00 - 41 minutes - 28.4 MBVeritas Winery was established in 1999 by Andrew Hodson and his wife Patricia. They both had successful careers in the Medical field but asked themselves is this all there is? So, during a folk tour after meeting a couple who had moved to Virginia and described how they had never been happier and that Virginia had a budding winegrowing industry. Andrew and Patricia looked into Virginia and eventually bought a piece of property that was Saddleback Farm in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mo...
Episode 9 RDV Vineyards/Rutger de Vink
February 10, 2021 20:00 - 38 minutes - 26.2 MBRutger de Vink the founder of RDV established is Vineyard in 204 after having working as an intern with Jim Law and Linden in the early 2000s. He credits Jim for a fortuitous trip he took at Jim's invitation with a group of winemakers to travel to Bordeaux in 2002. It was during that trip that he met a fellow Dutchman, Kees van Leeuwen, when they visited Cheval Blanc in St. Emilion. It was Kees, who was a vineyard consultant, that he listen to about what was necessary for a vineyard site ...
Episode #8 Shep Rouse /Rockbridge Winery
February 02, 2021 19:00 - 42 minutes - 29.5 MBShepherd (Shep) Rouse is Virginia through and through. His ancestors roots trace back to the 17th century in Virginia. Shep was a Fulbright Scholar and after spending time in Germany he fell in love with their wines and Riesling specifically. When he returned to the U.S. he decided to take up the art of winemaking and headed to the West Coast where he would as a get his degree in Enology at U.C. Davis. He worked for several of the early pioneers in Northern California and would eventuall...
Episode #8 Shep Rouse /Winery
February 02, 2021 19:00 - 42 minutes - 29.5 MBShepherd (Shep) Rouse is Virginia through and through. His ancestors roots trace back to the 17th century in Virginia. Shep was a Fulbright Scholar and after spending time in Germany he fell in love with their wines and Riesling specifically. When he returned to the U.S. he decided to take up the art of winemaking and headed to the West Coast where he would as a get his degree in Enology at U.C. Davis. He worked for several of the early pioneers in Northern California and would eventuall...