Fine Wine Confidential Podcast Fred Reno

Episode # 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 o...

Arterra 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 i...

Rappahannock Cellars was established when John Delmare and his wife Marialisa made the decision to sell their vineyard in the Santa Cruz Mountain area of California and move their family to Virginia back in 1998. They soon purchased the historic Glenway farm in Rappahannock County which would become their new home and vineyard. It is truly a family affair as three of their twelve siblings have returned to the farm after college graduation and work actively in important segments of the fa...

This 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 ...

Episode # 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 t...

In 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 wo...