ur vineyard resides in Albemarle County among the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the spectacular Monticello AVA. The vineyard is certified-organic, only one of a handful on the East Coast.

Because we grow our grapes organically, we chose grape varieties that are fairly resistant to diseases (mildews, rots, etc.). Most of the world’s fine wines are made from Vitis vinifera grapes, which include Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, etc. These grapes are extremely susceptible to diseases, so we don’t grow them.

The grapes we grow are hybrids, meaning that the pollen of one variety was crossed with the flower of second variety to produce a third, entirely-different variety. Hybrids have been produced by viticulturists at universities since the 1800s, but the ones we grow are relatively new. Hybrid research has focused on overcoming the weaknesses of vinifera grapes (like cold tenderness or disease susceptibility).

We grow one variety of white wine grapes, two varieties of red wine grapes, and are trialing eight more varieties for their suitability for organic farming.

The vineyard was certified organic by QCS (Quality Certification Services) after three years of demonstrating strict adherence to federal guidelines governing organic farming. The certification is renewed annually by the same process, and provides our customers assurance that we do what we say we do.

For more, click on Organic Farming.