News
Labeling Listening Sessions Annouced by TTB
The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) is announcing virtual listening sessions to receive input from the public on labeling of wine, distilled spirits, and malt beverages to disclose per-serving alcohol and nutritional information, major food allergens, and/or ingredients. The Department of the Treasury’s February 2022 report on “Competition in the Markets for Beer, Wine, and Spirits” recommended that TTB revive or initiate rulemaking in these areas. These listening sessions are intended to engage the public, including consumers, public health stakeholders, and industry members of all sizes, and facilitate the public’s ability to provide input to inform rulemaking. This notice sets forth the dates and times of the virtual listening sessions and instructions for registration. It also opens a docket for submitting written comments on the issues to be discussed in the listening sessions.
Listening sessions and requests to speak: The virtual listening sessions will be held February 28, 2024, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Eastern Standard Time; and February 29, 2024, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., Eastern Standard Time. The deadline to register to virtually attend either session is 12 p.m., Eastern Standard Time, February 27, 2024. Submit requests to speak during one of the listening sessions by 12 p.m., Eastern Standard Time, on February 26, 2024. If all registered speakers have had an opportunity to speak, the session may conclude early.
Site: Regulations.gov
Posted Feb. 11, 2024
VVA Elects New Officers to Board in 2024
AJ Greely, winemaker at Hark Vineyards, Earlysville, has been elected president of the Virginia Vineyards Association. AJ, who served as treasurer on the VVA Board of Directors for the past three years, succeeds Skip Causey, owner of Potomac Point Vineyard & Winery, Stafford, who will now serve as immediate past president.
During elections held this winter, the VVA membership also voted in Aury Holtslag of Sunset Hills Vineyard as vice president. Kevin Sutherland of Nicewonder Farm & Vineyards was re-elected secretary and Dave Cearley of Cincinnatus Vineyards was elected to serve as an at-large member of the board.In her current role at Hark, AJ oversees both winemaking and vineyard management. She has been involved in the Virginia wine industry for over a decade and worked at a number of vineyards and wineries prior to joining Hark, including, most recently, Michael Shaps Wineworks and Blenheim Vineyards, both in Charlottesville. Starting in the vineyard, she also worked in the tasting room and in wine club management before finding her way into the cellar and winemaking.
“It is my firm belief that the quality of our wines is only as solid as the quality of the fruit we grow and use,” she said. “I look forward to working with the VVA Board and our membership to continue strengthening our organization and industry.”
As VVA president, she said, “I’d like to see a growth in outreach and education to vineyard workers. These workers represent the next leaders in our industry. By actively engaging vineyard owners, managers, and workers, we strengthen our industry and its future.”
AJ thanked Skip not only for his eight years of service in various capacities on the VVA Board, including his first term as president, but also for stepping in to serve an additional year as president after his term ended.
“His dedication and hard work for our industry is evident and much appreciated,” she said. “I look forward to having him in the advisory position of past president as I step into the role of president. He leaves big shoes to fill.”
Skip congratulated AJ on her election as president, and said he wished the new board members good luck. He also thanked two outgoing board members who served while he was president – Jeanette Smith, who was vice president, and Nate Walsh, who was immediate past president.
Aury, who just completed a two-year term as an at-large VVA Board member, graduated from Virginia Tech in 2015 with a B.S. degree in Agriculture and Applied Economics and a minor in Horticulture. He interned with E&J Gallo Winery, Modesto, Calif., in the Viticulture, Chemistry and Enology Department, then returned to Virginia where he worked in several vineyards, including Brown Bear Vineyards, Woodstock. In 2023, he became vineyard manager for Sunset Hills Vineyard, Purcellville, and 50 West Vineyards, Middleburg.
“I would love to see the Virginia wine industry head into a more sustainable future through variety selection, better (and less) use of pesticides, and more technological innovations,” he said. “I’m excited to have the opportunity to serve on the VVA Board at a time when Virginia wines continue to distinguish themselves.”
Kevin, vineyard/winemaking manager at Nicewonder Farm & Vineyards, Bristol, has been involved in Virginia viticulture since 1998, when he began working part-time during the harvest and planting seasons at Abingdon Vineyards, Abingdon, Va. In 2005, he joined Abingdon full time and worked there until joining Nicewonder in 2019. He was elected to his first term as VVA secretary in 2022. He also writes the Southern Virginia Regional Report for Grape Press, the VVA’s quarterly newsletter.
“I have actively worked with regional and statewide viticulture organizations on several spray studies and other research programs,” he said. “We are currently part of the vineyard Sentinel project and are always open to any studies that our vineyard or winery can help with.”
Dave is beginning his first term on the board. In 2015, while living and working in Norfolk, he bought an abandoned farm in Roseland and planted a four-acre vineyard of vinifera grapes. He continued as a weekend grower until he retired in 2022 and moved to the Roseland farm, where he is building a winery and tasting room.
“Since then, I have become a full-time vineyard manager, farmer, and builder as I grow infrastructure and capability to make wine a bigger part of the operation,” he said. “The VVA has provided me with guidance and support since I began, and now, in return, I would like to be of more assistance to the association.”
See a complete list of VVA Board members here.
Posted Jan. 23, 2024
VVA to Hold Special Election for Treasurer; Nominations Sought
With the election of AJ Greely as VVA president, the VVA Board is now seeking nominations for someone to finish out AJ’s term as treasurer. A special election will be held for the one-year that remains, and nominations are now open.
Nominations (name and farm/vineyard) should be emailed to info@virginiavineyardsassociation.org by 3 p.m. on Jan. 29. If you are nominating yourself, please include a short bio (3-5 sentences),
Here’s a brief outline of the duties of the office of treasurer:
The VVA Treasurer’s position usually requires approximately 5 hours a month in addition to attending the monthly VVA Board Meeting (four in-person meetings, the balance virtual), special projects such as the audit, and the Winter and Summer Technical meetings. In-person Board meetings are usually held near Charlottesville due to its central location.
Areas of responsibility include:
- Manage accounts in Quickbooks and work with staff to reconcile deposits and payments
- Write expense checks
- Provide a monthly updated budget and an annual budget at the Winter Technical Meeting
- Support the president by providing data for grant applications and reports
- Provide audit support
- File taxes
- Provide hands-on support at the Winter & Summer Technical meetings
Posted Jan. 23, 2024
Sponsors & Exhibitors for the Winter Technical Meeting Now Being Accepted!
Meeting dates: Feb. 21-22, 2024. Details and registration information can be found here.
Posted Nov. 28, 2023
Registration Now Open for the Winter Technical Meeting!
Meeting dates: Feb. 21-22, 2024. Details and registration information can be found here.
Posted Jan. 8, 2024
Entomologist Named AREC Director to Replace Tony Wolf
Dr. Kevin Rice has been named Entomology Specialist and Director of the A.H. Smith Jr. Agricultural Research and Extension Center, effective Aug. 10, 2022. The Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station and College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Virginia Tech has announced that Dr. Rice will fill the entomology position vacated by the retirement of Dr. Chris Bergh in March 2022, and the AREC directorship vacated by Dr. Tony Wolf’s retirement in February 2022.
Dr. Rice had served as Assistant Professor of Entomology in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Missouri. His research and extension programs focus on sustainable management of insects in agricultural and natural ecosystems. Prior to joining University of Missouri in 2018, he was a postdoc at the Appalachian Fruit Research Station with USDA-ARS in Kearneysville, W.Va., where he examined foraging and visual ecology of invasive species in small fruit production.He has also served as a postdoctoral scholar at Penn State University in the Department of Entomology, and as an Extension Agent at the University of Arizona. Dr. Rice completed his PhD degree at The Ohio State University, his M.S. at Auburn University, and his B.S. in Biology at the University of North Carolina at Asheville, N.C.
He has extensive experience in his field and a strong record of scholarship and graduate student mentoring, Virginia Tech said in its announcement. He has obtained extramural funding from federal agencies and private industry in support of his research and extension programs. Dr. Rice has held several leadership roles, including State Extension Specialist in Missouri where he was lead Biopesticide Expert for the Minor Use Foundation where he directed field trials across 30 countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, and collaborated with the Asian-Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions, Economic Community of West African States, Center for Agriculture and Bioscience International, USDA-Foreign Agricultural Service, and American Embassy personnel.
He has also served on several national professional society, departmental and university committees. He can be reached at rkevin@vt.edu.
Posted Sept. 11, 2022
Virginia Wine Contributes $1.73 Billion to Virginia Economy
The following is a press release from the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services:
A new study finds the economic impact of Virginia wines to be an estimated $1.73 billion as of 2019. After evaluating all economic activity in Virginia related directly or indirectly to wine production, sales and wine grape farming, the study reports a 27% increase in overall economic impact from 2015 ($1.37 billion).
“We’re excited by the growing impact of Virginia wines and are proud to provide over 10,000 jobs and contribute almost $200 million dollars in taxes to the state,” said Kirk Wiles, Chairman of the Virginia Wine Board. “First and foremost, Virginia Wine is an industry of people — business owners, farmers, wine lovers — and we’re fortunate to be able to give back to the Commonwealth through the local economy.”
Almost all categories reported an increase from 2015; the number of full-time equivalent jobs (+27%), the number of wineries (+37%) and the revenue from wine-related tourism (+31%).
“The agriculture and tourism sectors are the biggest contributors to Virginia’s economy, thanks in large part to industries like Virginia Wine,” said Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry Matt Lohr. “I’m proud to represent and help support local, craft products as they remain a staple in the Commonwealth — and in this case, both for the quality of the wines and the evident impact to our economy.”
Economic Forensics and Analytics, Inc. conducted the analysis. View the full report …
Posted July 9, 2022
Spotted Lanternfly Quarantine Expanded in Virginia
Posted July 8, 2022
More Information on Freezing and Primary Bud Damage
MORE RESOURCES REGARDING primary bud damage from recent freezes are available from Joseph A. Fiola, specialist in viticulture and small fruit at University of Maryland Extension. They include:
Understanding Grapevine Bud Damage: https://extension.umd.edu/resource/understanding-grapevine-bud-damage
Assessing Grapevine Bud Damage: https://extension.umd.edu/resource/assessing-grapevine-bud-damage
Grapevine Frost/Freeze Damage I: Background and Prevention: https://extension.umd.edu/resource/grapevine-frostfreeze-damage-i-background-and-prevention
Grapevine Frost Damage II: Compensation, Management and Potential Options: https://extension.umd.edu/resource/grapevine-frost-damage-ii-compensation-management-and-potential-optionsPosted April 8, 2022
New Publication Focuses on Floor Management Strategies in Va. Vineyards
Posted Aug. 8, 2020