EPISODE # 24 JAKE BUSCHING/JAKE BUSCHING WINE & HARK VINEYARDS

Fine Wine Confidential Podcast

Jake Busching got his start in Virginia winegrowing after he moved to Richmond Virginia and was a struggling musician working in the restaurant business to make a living. Eventually he would move to Charlottesville and take a position at Jefferson Vineyards working for the Woodward family. When Chris Hill, the consulting viticulturist at Jefferson Vineyards realized that Jake knew his way around a farm and could repair equipment he made a point of getting him into the vineyard side of the business and his career grew from there. Michael Shaps we there at the time and he would along with Chris Hill be instrumental in Jake's early career.
He would go on to work at Horton, Keswick Vineyards, Pollack and Grace Estate before joining forces with Michael Shaps, once again, as the head winemaker and GM for Michaels Contract winemaking piece of Shap's Wineworks. It was there that Jake started to produce a small amount of wine under his own label and would continue making wine under Jake Bushing Wines. During a stint of teaching viticulture at PVCC in Charlottesville he met Aaron Hark who with his wife wanted to plant a vineyard and were taking classes at PVCC to learn about winegrowing. It was there that Jake and Aaron met and ultimately after Jake had started his own consulting business he would become the wine grower at Hark Vineyards in 2017 and manage their vineyard estate. He remains there today.
HIGHLIGHTS:
a). Jake explains how a Minnesota native who grew up on a cattle ranch would come to Virginia and eventually start a career in the wine industry.
b). He goes on to detail after going to work for Stanley Woodard at Jefferson Vineyards Chris Hill would bring him over the vineyard side of the operation and have a significant impact on his career path and future.
c). He touches on his relationship with Michael Shaps at times in the interview and how that influenced his career and the understanding about the winemaking side of the business.
d). Jake shares a great story of how he sub in for Chris Hill teaching viticulture classes at Piedmont Valley Community College and how that would eventually lead to the relationship with Aaron Hark and come to be his winegrower at Hark Vineyards to this day.
e). Jake explains to me why he likes working with Cabernet Franc here in Virginia.
f). He goes on to describe the difference between the fruit from Shenandoah Valley vs. the Monticello AVA.
g). Jake was there right at the table when the Winemakers Research Exchange was birthed. A complete result of when Bruce Zoecklein retired as the active Enologist at Va Tech.
Learn more and in greater detail when you listen to the Podcast Episode or read the text transcript below.

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