Episode #8 Shep Rouse /Rockbridge Winery

Fine Wine Confidential Podcast

Shepherd (Shep) Rouse is Virginia through and through. His ancestors roots trace back to the 17th century in Virginia. Shep was a Fulbright Scholar and after spending time in Germany he fell in love with their wines and Riesling specifically. When he returned to the U.S. he decided to take up the art of winemaking and headed to the West Coast where he would as a get his degree in Enology at U.C. Davis. He worked for several of the early pioneers in Northern California and would eventually make it back to his native state, Virginia, where he took the position as winemaker at Montdomaine winery in what is now the Monticello AVA. He and his wife Jane founded Rockbridge Winery in the Shenandoah Valley in 1988 after he found what he believed to be the ideal site at an elevation of 2,000 feet. Shep has been making wine in Virginia longer than anyone other than Gabriele Rausse, and Jim Law.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE INTERVIEW
a). as a 9 year old he discovered an artifact which is the second oldest wine bottle unearthed in this country today.
b). he describes his beginning days in winemaking at several of the early pioneers in California, most notably Veedercrest Vineyards, Mark West, Ch. St. Jean, & Schramsberg.
c). He takes the winemaking position at Montdomaine Winery and moves back to Va in 1986. he describes what the industry was like at that time.
d). Founding Rockbridge winery with his wife in 1988 and produces his first vintage in 1992.
e). discusses why he choose to plant a significant amount of hybrid grape varieties.
f). explains how is early love for the wines of Germany led him to plant and cultivate Riesling which he prefers to this day over all the other wines he produces.
g). states how important it was for him to get his enology degree at U.C. Davis and how that has been so valuable to him in his winemaking here in Virginia.
Much, much more.

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