Dennis Grundman/Daily
Randy Phillips, owner of Cave Ridge Vineyards, examines a grape near the end of harvest time.

By Jessica Coleman
(Daily Staff Writer)

More than 200 years ago, Thomas Jefferson tried unsuccessfully to bring good quality wines to Virginia.

“We could in the United States make as great a variety of wines as are made in Europe, not exactly of the same kinds, but doubtless as good,” he once said.

While Jefferson may not have lived to see that come about, many vintners are now working to further the third president’s dream. Not only are these entrepreneurs making great wine, they are doing so on sustainable vineyards that take into account the impact their businesses have on the environment and balancing that with profitability.

Jefferson, a nature-lover, farmer and inventor would have seen this trend as a great advancement in the Virginia wine industry as well.

“While the farmer holds the title to the land, actually it belongs to all the people because civilization itself rests upon the soil,” Jefferson said. Randy Phillips, owner of Cave Ridge Vineyards in Mt. Jackson, and Thomas Kelly, vineyard manager of Rappahannock Cellars in Huntley, have similar agricultural philosophies. They are both working hard to ensure that their vineyards are sustainable in a national climate where the demand for organic and health-conscious foods is on the rise.

According to the Organic Trade Association, more than $13.8 billion in organic food was sold in 2005, and the trend is steadily growing.

“It makes good business sense to use sustainable practices, I believe,” Phillips said.

In California and other wine-producing states, some vineyards have gone completely organic, while others maintain that sustainable practices are still the way to go.

That same trend is reflected in the operations at Cave Ridge and Rappahannock Cellars. Both vineyards are conscious of creating quality wines, managing a profitable business and leaving as little mark on the environment as possible.

In Virginia, though, Phillips and Kelly say vintners face farming problems that their California-based colleagues do not. As a result, organic viticulture here is impossible without further technological advances.

“Sustainability doesn’t necessarily mean going organic,” Kelly said. “It means planning for the future.”

For instance, the humidity in Virginia causes mildew on the leaves, which can only be treated with certain chemicals, usually a soft chemical like sulfur, according to Phillips and Kelly. The mildew, in effect, kills the leaves, which affects the ripening ability of the grapes, Kelly said.

“Organic would mean I couldn’t prevent some of the mildew,” Phillips said. “That’s one reason Thomas Jefferson could never cultivate European varieties successfully. He didn’t have the technology.”

Japanese beetles also are prevalent in Virginia vineyards and resistant to any of the methods listed above, Kelly said, making organic farming impossible.

“There’s no good organic control methods for them,” Kelly said. “There are some insects there are just no biological controls for.”

There are several sustainable practices, though, that Virginia vineyards can and do take part in, according to Phillips and Kelly.

Cover crops are used at both vineyards to decrease the amount of herbicide and insecticide sprayed.

Compost is also used on both sites, made from left-over grape remains and other natural ingredients.

“In the vineyard, we recycle everything we can,” Phillips said.

“This allows us to put back what we’re taking out of the vineyard,” Kelly said.

In California, some growers rely on birds to keep insects down.

“We have resident hawks,” Phillips said. “We don’t have to do a lot to keep them here. For the most part, birds are a nuisance unless they’re birds of prey.”

Kelly said he is looking into building owl houses and perches, although these things have not yet been done at Rappahannock Cellars. He added that we wants to “encourage the presence of wildlife out here, provided they aren’t the kind of wildlife that eats my fruit.”

The vineyard isn’t the only place where sustainability can be seen in the wine-making process.

“One of the interesting things about sustainability is that it carries over into the winery,” Kelly said. “It’s about making sure the business is going to be around for a long time.”

At Cave Ridge and Rappahannock Cellars, oak barrels are recycled and reused to get more life out of them.

The tasting room at Cave Ridge is made entirely of wood from sustainable forests, Phillips said. They also use only biodegradable products, such as bags for their wines, whenever possible, he added.

At Rappahannock Cellars, Kelly said environmentally friendly cleaners are used instead of harsh chemicals to ensure sustainable practices are carried over into the winery.

Phillips and Kelly both said that wine making is a constant learning process and they are open to any further improvements in their sustainable practices that will help them better protect the environment, make profit and create great wine.

For some time, there was an underlying myth among wine-drinkers that organically produced wines and those made using sustainable practices were poor in quality. That perception is changing.

Phillips and Kelly believe that not only do these practices make good ecological sense, they are good for business, too.

“There’s no question that a healthier environment for these vines to grow in will provide higher-quality fruit for years and years to come,” Kelly said.

“You have to look at the total vineyard to get a sense of the management,” Phillips said, implying the necessity of sustainable practices in good business. “When its managed well, it’s a beautiful thing.”

Contact Jessica Coleman at jcoleman@nvdaily.com