By Doug Fabbioli Father’s Day 2021 Over the years, I have developed something of an eye for the father/son relationship. I am fortunate to have had a good man as a father. Not perfect… but he certainly tried time and again to do the right thing. I’m sure he gained that from his own father. […]

Exploring VA Wine By Doug Fabbioli Rosé in 2021 When I was a kid growing up in Upstate New York in the early 70’s, my parents didn’t really drink much wine. There was always a Gallo Hearty Burgundy in the cabinet for the spaghetti sauce, but they would buy a bottle of Mateus when guests […]

By Doug Fabbioli Get Out of the Cab Once in a While This winter we had a bit more snow than usual, and the snow removal process is something that we get to do ourselves out on the farm. I heard the comment from somebody, and I cannot remember who, that “the plow driver does […]

Exploring VA Wines By Doug Fabbioli Defining the Art of Winemaking Winemaking takes a lot of science, a good bit of artistic creativity and, although many don’t like to talk about it, a fair amount of challenging business sense. And it’s all based on the fruit that the winery grows or can buy and turning […]

Exploring VA Wine By Doug Fabbioli   A Nice Package In these writings I sometimes make an attempt at explaining a few of the different parts of my job, sharing insider tidbits and hoping to make it interesting to both the wine geeks and the non-wine geek consumers. This month I want to get a […]

By Doug Fabbioli   What is Terroir and Why Does it Matter? One of the nice things about social media is that we can have some thought-provoking discussions without having to be together in the same room. Yes, sometimes we get some trolls or ridiculous characters spouting off their opinions so they feel better, but […]

By Doug Fabbioli We Farm – We Don’t Hibernate Many folks may think that farmers get to hibernate for the winter months until the sun warms the ground back up to a reasonable temperature in the spring. Mother Nature gives us a grand season each year to reap the sunshine and turn it into a […]

Exploring VA Wines By Doug Fabbioli Once the Grapes are in… Sometimes winemaking is one giant game of Tetris. There are so many moving parts, and each one is vital to the process, but it can be challenging to get them all happening in the order that’s necessary for a good outcome. Harvest is an […]

By Doug Fabbioli Cowboy Up The iconic image of a cowboy and his horse silhouetted against a setting sun, his head heavy from a long day on the range, has been used to represent so many products and thoughts over the decades that it might be worn out. I think the image still says a […]

By Doug Fabbioli The Art of the Blend One of the skills that I was fortunate to learn a number of decades ago was the process of blending wines. Blending is something that has happened in the industry for many generations: the French have their Bordeaux and Rhône blends, the Italians blend Chianti, Tuscans, and […]