Presidents corner – April 21 2026 Frost
Written By: Aj Greely, VVA President Late April Freeze Brings Crop Loss to Much of Virginia Grape Growers All, I know many of us are hurting right now. The freeze experienced across the state from Monday night into Tuesday morning was devastating for an industry already experiencing difficulties from economic [...]
Spring 2026 – Virginia Wine Board Grant Updates
Written By Jennifer Reichert At the start of April, the Virginia Wine Board awarded approximately $400,000 in grants for research, education, and marketing initiatives to address Virginia’s challenges in winegrape growing, build technical understanding of Virginia wine and cider characteristics, and educate Virginia’s wine industry. Funded projects are listed here [...]
The Natural Wines of Georgia
2025 Study Tour Bruce Zoecklein, Enology Professor Emeritus, Virginia Tech Sheep in the vineyard was at Ikano Estates in Kakheti These terrific Georgians had the fierce gaiety of the Italians and the physical energy of the Burgundians. Everything they did was done with flair…. nothing can break the individuality of [...]
2026 Winter Technical Meeting Recap
Conference hall at 2026 VVA Winter Technical Meeting Written By Jess Trapeni The 2026 VVA Winter Technical Meeting, held February 24–26 at the beautiful Hotel Madison in Harrisonburg, brought together over 200 grape growers, winemakers, researchers, and industry partners from across the Commonwealth. Now in its second year at this [...]
President’s corner – Spring 2026
VVA President AJ Greely Introducing Hybrid Panel Written By AJ Greely VVA WTM AIDS GROWERS IN FACING CONTEMPORARY CHALLENGES IN THE VINEYARD Once again, we gathered together for our annual Winter Technical Meeting in Harrisonburg, VA. Considering the growing challenges we all face in our vineyards, whether disease and pest [...]
Fall 2025 Vintage Report
Petit Verdot at harvest, Chestnut Oak Vineyard The regional reports for the second half of the 2025 vintage follow, these reports were compiled and edited by Jason Burrus. Thanks to all of our regional contributors for their valuable commentary on this memorable vintage! The 2024 Commercial Grape Report can be [...]
Presidents Corner Winter 2025/2026
By AJ Greely Hark Vineyards VVA President What a year! After what seemed like a return to a “normal” Virginia growing season, with rains throughout the spring and right up to harvest for much of the state, dry weather came in for most at the beginning of harvest. That said, [...]
2025 Summer Technical Meeting
Photography and writing by David Eiserman This year's Summer Technical Meeting was held at the Alison H. Smith Jr. Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Winchester. This facility is managed by Virginia Tech and has been in operation for roughly 100 years. This facility's mission is to support research and [...]
Chardonnay Tasting Panel from 2025 Winter Technical Meeting
A comparative tasting of Virginia Chardonnay wines, with technical discussion from growers and winemakers. Filmed at the Virginia Vineyard Association's 2025 Winter Technical Meeting 29 February 2025 The Hotel Madison Harrisonburg, Va. Moderator: AJ Greely, VVA President, Hark Vineyards Panelists: Benoit Pineau, Pollak Vineyards Christine Vrooman, Ankida Ridge Vineyards Stephanie Pence, Brix & Columns [...]
Managing Spotted Lanternfly: A Pennsylvania Grower’s Hard-Earned Lessons
Written and edited by Jess Trapeni SLF Nymph in upper canopy June 2025 As the Spotted Lanternfly (SLF) continues to expand its reach in Virginia vineyards, I wanted to share insights from a Pennsylvania grower who has spent the last five years actively managing this invasive pest and pass along [...]