081 Jake Busching, Jake Busching Wines

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Wine Work. In The Car. Dirt and Stuff With Jake. Welcome to Episode 81, a conversation with a former goth slash punk rock frontman, a gentleman who has spent years making wines of place. Now he’s producing his own artisanal wines using the very best selection of grapes from vineyards he helped design. The results? Extraordinary. Meet Jake Busching of Jake Busching Wines. How did wine appear? As with so many great stories, he met a girl, eventually landing in Charlottesville. A chance meeting with the owner of Jefferson Vineyards set him on his path. Initially, he initially took over farm management duties. Then Chris Hill, the Vineyard Manager, needed someone to fix stuff. He also needed help laying out a new vineyard. Michael Shaps happened to be the winemaker. The planets aligned back in 1997 at the birth of a new Virginia industry and a winemaker was born. He also found his tribe in wine, a cast of characters passionate and creative about wine without the snobby attitude. A little more rock and roll than classical symphony. Different from the early days of Napa, grape-wise, but with the same edacious feeling. Growing grapes in Virginia is never a sure thing where rain and humidity always threaten harvest. This gamble adds to that attitude of we’ll give it a shot and hope for the best. When you do get a great harvest? It’s that much sweeter. Farming Virginia grapes is also very different than in Europe where folks spend decades learning their dirt and the best grapes that grow in it, transitioning that knowledge into making wine with a team of experts including a chemist, farmer, and vineyard manager. Jake spent years learning how to grow grapes for various vineyards, including Jefferson and Horton. There’s a reason they call him The Dirt Guy. When he got the call from Pollak to design one from the ground up? Yes please! He applied his viticulture there, his wine growing skills. There’s a difference. Growing grapes means you’re trying to grow as many as possible. An agricultural crop. Growing wine means you’re growing the best bottles you can. There’s a reason he calls his business Jake Busching ARTISANAL Wines. A journey that began as a grape grower, eventually moved to wine grower, then on to vineyard manager, and now to winemaker. Area vineyards trust Jake, allowing him to choose which rows of grapes he wants to use to make his wines. For example, at Honah Lee Vineyard, Jake selected a certain row of grapes because they lay on a gentle south-facing slope of land. A beautiful place with a great view. A perfect site for perfect fruit. And what about those wines of his anyway? Jake currently has four in rotation, including his F8 and his Orphan which he just released with a big tasting at Tavola. He makes wines of place. Transitioning away from that, Jake wants to remain a relevant winemaker under his own artisanal label. In limited quantities, 50 cases at a time. His 2015 Viognier sold out. With good reason. It’s gorgeous. After tasting it, I went to his site and bought ALL the wine. Pair that with expert design from Watermark? You’ve got all the hallmarks of a truly great emerging wine collection. These days, Jake spends most of his time in the car, visiting up to 10 vineyards a day. His broad knowledge means he can look at your dirt, your vineyard design, your grapes, and tell you what you could do better to build a sustainable business. What happens when wineries win awards for vintages that Jake and Michael made? What’s the first thing Jake looks at when someone asks him to design a vineyard? What essentials does he teach in his wine course at PVCC? What is Man Church? What is Tannat? Listen to find out! The episode was recorded right before grape harvest, the busiest time of wine season which is happening RIGHT NOW! So send all our local winemakers your blessings for good sunny weather.