#virginiawines

Jennifer 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 spoke to her.  She would later engage Alan Kinne to consult for her when she wanted to plant her own vineyard in 1997.

Jenni claims to have the largest planting of Norton grapes in the world at 40 acres.  There is no question of her commitment to Norton.  However, she pioneered planting Albarino on the east coast and produces one of the finest of all Viogniers in this country. In addition, here 400+ acre farm has dairy cows from which she produces cheeses to sell at the Ag District outlet, here retail space just off of Virginia Highway 50 in Middleburg, VA.

One of the comments Jenni made during her interview resonated with me.  She said: "why not plant a grape vine that wants to grow there, and not try and grow a grape vine that doesn't."  I thought that was an interesting and thought-provoking comment.  Think about it.

There is a lot to unpack in this Episode.  Some of the Highlights are:

a).  How she went from selling her Tech business to becoming a winegrower in VA.
b). The background and deep history of the Norton grape which was propagated in Richmond, Virginia by Daniel Norborne Norton, a medical doctor back in the 1820's
c). Her inspiration and motivation to reclaim Norton as Virginia's grape.
d). The challenges she has faced on this journey and the successes she has enjoyed.
e). The reasons she believes Norton was not a focus of winegrowing here in the Old Dominion after the repeal of Prohibition.
f). Her commitment to the land and how the Ag District became an entity recognized by the state.

So much more.  Listen to the Episode below or read the text transcript and learn all you will ever want to know about Norton.

Tim & 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 winery.  Tim's wife is also a winemaker at a Northern Virginia winery and comes from a winegrowing family in the region located in the Southwest region of France that produces Monbazillac.

Between the two brothers the winery is in good hands as their Father, Gabriele continues in his day job as the Director of the Gardens and Grounds at Thomas Jefferson's former estate, Monticello which is just up the road from his namesake winery.

This is a classic winegrowing family story.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE EPISODE:

a). Peter recounts the story Gabriele often tells about when Peter was 3 years-old he once gave a tour to some guests that were visiting what at the time was called Simeon Vineyards. Simeon Vineyards was planted by Gabriele for the Woodward family in the early 1980s. The guests were amazed as he answered all of their questions accurately an indepth. That vineyard is now called Jefferson Vineyards.

b). Surprisingly both Tim & Peter did not feel they were necessarily destined to run and operate the winery while growing up.

c). Tim tells the story of when they first started to replant the Redlands Vineyard down the road from them how they went about choosing which varietals to put in the ground. There is a funny story surrounding the reasons behind planting Chasselas Dore and then how they figured out to make wine from it that would sell.

d). Tim recounts how his wife and Peter came up with the idea of producing a sulfite free wine and the story behind the interesting naming of Vino dal Bosco.

e). Both Tim & Peter had fascinating answers to my question about which wine they remember that got them to say, Ah, that is what wine is all about!

Much, much more as I capture what it is like to follow in the footsteps of a wine ICON in the Virginia Wine Business.

Listen below or read the text transcript

Joy 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 teaching positions she start to take the accredited viticulture courses at Piedmont Valley Community College in Charlottesville and would then teach several course in the Science of Wine. 

She got her big break when Michael Shaps hired her in 2013 as his Lab Technician at Michael Shaps Wineworks.  Because of the contract winemaking that Michael was doing they could afford a full-time Lab person.  Eventually, she would move into the role of the production manager in 2015 and from 2016 to 2018 she took on the winemaking duties as Jake Busching who was there moved into the vineyard side of the business..

The Winemakers Research Exchange which Joy is currently in charge of as the Coordinator began started when it received a grant from the Monticello Wine Trail in 2014.  In 2016 WRE was funded in total by the Virginia Wine Board and was extend its services to the entire state of Virginia and its winegrowers.

Additionally, Joy still produces small amounts of wine under her own wine label, Joy Ting Wine.  Well worth a search if you can find any as they are terrific expressions of the specific vineyards and terroir she sources grapes from

HIGHLIGHTS:

a).  She recounts her trip to Napa and how it has such an effect on both her and her husbanc.
b).  Explains how she was fortunate to get in the wine business after having a degree in Marine Biology, Biology being her first love.
c). Gives me some perspective on why working for Michael Shaps at his Wineworks was so instrumental in her knowledge and development in both research and winemaking, which she still enjoys today.
d). Recants that when she took the position at Winemakers Research Exchange, (WRE) she wanted to still continue to make wine on her own and they not only agreed but believed she should continue as it would remind her daily of what the winemakers she would be working with at WRE were experiencing.  In essence to keep her in touch with the reality of winegrowing.
e).  Shares stories from the early days of during the formation of what would become WRE when a small group of winemakers received a grant from the Monticello Wine Trail which would ultimately lead to the Virginia Wine Board taking over the funding at substantially higher levels allowing for her full-time positions as the Coordinator and extending it to the entire state of Virginia and its winemaking community.
f). Joy shares her opinion about the future of winegrowing in Virginia and the role that hybrids will most likely play along with grape varietals that are being developed for the future.

Much, Much more.  It is a terrific interview and you can download the full text transcript on my website.   Thanks for listening.