Edible Blue Ridge Summer 2022

LIQUID ASSETS

RevalationVineyards Madison,VA

“It was a wild dream.”

grow grapes that produce wines she enjoys: “right now we have vidal blanc, pinot gris, petit manseng, sauvignon blanc … We also have a Merlotage — a take on Meritage, a bottle blend; it’s a light red from 2018. en we have cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, tannat and merlot.” Working your way through a tasting flight, you may discern the influ ences of both the winemaker and of Seillier-Moiseiwitsch’s European background, although the soils, winds and waters of the Shenandoah make their presence known as well. All the wines have little to no residual sugar, and are fruit-forward with a healthy balance of min erality. e whites are aged in stainless steel or neutral barrels, while the reds are aged in half-neutral, half-new oak barrels. Revalation will be releasing their first orange wine — a Viognier with extended skin contact — by the end of summer. Integral to the philosophy of Revalation is the desire to foster passion for this industry in future generations. In 2016, Seillier-Moiseiwitsch contacted the local high school, in part because the vineyard had been having trouble finding local workers and in part because she wanted to develop a section on viticulture for the school’s horticultural cur riculum. She met with the principal, and in the spring of 2017 started visiting high school classes, presenting four sections of ninety-minute lectures. Prior to the pandemic, the program had been met with much success and was in the process of expanding to Culpeper and Orange Counties. ere is interest in expanding the program at the state level as well. Ideally, high schools would offer a workforce development tract in viticulture and vineyard management, which would extend into a

at’s how owner and vineyard manager Françoise Seillier-Moisei witsch describes the desire to start a winery. Both Seillier-Moiseiwitsch and her husband, Julian Moiseiwitsch, hail from Europe. e former grew up in Belgium and the latter in Northern Ireland; at the time, the wine business was for those who were either already surrounded by it or had family members working in the industry. Instead of the world of viticulture and enology, they both pursued careers in the sciences,; Moiseiwitsch is an endodontist, and Seillier Moiseiwitsch pursued a career as a mathematician in academia. Her work brought the couple to Stanford University in California. In Napa and Sonoma counties, they discovered scientists such as them selves —with little to no prior experience in the industry —who were learning how to grow grapes and make wine. Good wine. A subsequent move to the D.C. area and a trip to Madison County one weekend proved fateful. “We stayed at the Inn at Willow Grove and took a hot air balloon trip and we just fell in love with the area. By the last day of our stay, we were looking for a property,” Seillier Moiseiwitsch recalls. It took them four years to find the right property, and then, in 2006, the beginnings of Revalation Vineyards took root. “We worked on it on weekends, as we both had full-time jobs.” ey labored little by little, purchasing a neighboring hillside that was ideally-suited for grapes. “My husband likes to say I had hill envy,” jokes Seillier-Moi seiwitsch. In 2010, beginning to grow tired of academia and itching to work more on the winery, Seillier-Moiseiwitsch and her husband had a serious discussion about how to expand and grow the vineyard. “He gave me the freedom to say, OK, I’m no longer going to be an academic researcher and I can spend my time, devote my time to this, this enterprise.” eir first wine was produced in 2014. In 2016, the couple relocated a circa 1830s log cabin to the Hebron Valley and had it restored as their tasting room. Upon visiting the tasting room, with its wrap-around, rocker-ready porch; quiet atmosphere; and unobstructed views of the mountains, you feel as if you have stepped back in time. Your cares fall away as you rock and sip on some truly delicious, unique wines. Revalation produces small-batch wines, generally 25-150 cases. e current winemaker is Matthieu Finot. Seillier-Moiseiwitsch likes to ings have been steadily growing (or vining, perhaps?) ever since.

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