On Friday the 13th (of September, 2013), I attended my first live land auction with my vineyard real estate agent (Jodi). An opening bid, and 2 more, later, I walked away somewhat poorer in the bank account but with a contract for 16+ acres of prime vineyard land in the middle of wine country near DC (Route 9, Hillsboro/Purcellville, Loudoun County, VA). Finally, after about 3 years of searching, I’ve acquired land with settlement a short 43 days away. I’m planning timber sales, land clearing, and land use tax management as I write this. Heady times and now the real work begins.
I engaged a very good vineyard consultant (Alex) for THE parcel of land my wife and I have under contract. Preliminary soil samples were good but more detailed mapping and sampling were required before closing. We had to be sure we could grow at least 5 acres of good quality vinifera fruit, build a tasting room/winery, and put in the necessary infrastructure (road, parking, septic/drain field system, deer fence, and equipment shed). After further testing and mapping (by Alex), we determined planting would be limited to a little over 3 acres (about 600 cases) and conventional septic/drain field systems wouldn’t work. The latter means we’d spend 3 or more times the money for waste water treatment thus diminishing the available...
First step in a new vineyard is not land acquisition. Per my best friend and coach (my wife), its getting smart and working in a vineyard. So I did that over the course of about 2 years. I got certified in viticulture via PVCC’s (in Charlottesville, VA) workforce services program in viticulture (and am near certification in enology) and I worked at a few vineyards pruning, planting, leaf pulling, shoot tucking, fruit dropping, fruit picking, general laboring and cleaning, fruit crushing, wine bottling, wine labeling, wine packing, wine racking, wine blending . . . you get the picture. Second step in a new vineyard is checking the bank account and land search and acquisition. I started searching for land on my own...
