PVCC Announces first Chris Breiner Scholarship Recipient

Charlottesville, Va. – The first scholarship in memory of Chris Breiner, winemaker and managing partner at Stone Mountain Vineyards in Dyke, has been awarded.

The recipient is Gregory Marcellus, who is working to establish a winery on a family farm in Powhatan. He is enrolled in the year-long certificate program in viticulture at Piedmont Virginia Community College.  PVCC’s viticulture and enology program has enrolled more than 400 students and awarded nearly 50 certificates since it began in 2005. It is the only program of its kind in the commonwealth.

Breiner, who died in February, was known for creating Italian-influenced Virginia wines and working to promote Virginia vintages. He served as vice president of the Virginia Wineries Association and was past chair of the Jeffersonian Grape Growing Society/Monticello Wine Trail. He supported PVCC’s viticulture and enology program from the beginning, teaching the bottling class at Stone Mountain and helping with the wine marketing class.

Friends and family established the Chris Breiner Scholarship for Viticulture and Enology to honor his memory and to support students who will be the future grape growers and wine makers in Virginia. The annual scholarship covers the cost of either certificate program. Contributions to the fund may be made to the PVCC Educational Foundation. For information call 434.961.5204 or email development@pvcc.edu.