HOW DID KING FAMILY VINEYARDS in Crozet, Virg., become one of the most prestigious wineries in the state? The winery's story began almost 30 years ago.
When David and Ellen King moved from Houston, Texas to Virginia in 1995, they wanted to live somewhere other than in a big city. David had one requirement for the property: It needed to have 13 flat acres where he could put in a polo field. He had started to play polo while he was in law school at the University of Houston Law School and wanted to continue pursuing his passion for the sport. Suitable land for growing grapes was not a consideration at that time, and in 1996 the couple purchased the 327-acre property, which had been growing corn and alfalfa and raising sheep and pigs. The property, now named Roseland Farm, is in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and is situated about 20 minutes west of Charlottesville. It had an appropriate acreage for a polo field, which was created in 2004.
The following year was not a good season for corn or alfalfa, as there was no rain, and the fields dried out. Early in 1998, a young man named Tom Vandenberg, a recent graduate from Virginia Tech, knocked on the Kings' door and asked if he could lease ten acres of their farm for a vineyard. Intrigued by the idea, David did some research, hired a renowned vineyard consultant, Chris Hill, acquired some vines and planted eight acres-two of Viognier and six of Merlot - all in 1998. The family planned to sell the fruit, but in 2000 decided to use a part of the harvest to make some wine. That first season they hired Michael Shaps (now the owner of Michael Shaps Wineworks south of Charlottesville) to make 480 cases of wine, and the next year the winery produced 1,050 cases.
All the wine sold through wholesale distribution, and the family decided they liked growing grapes and needed to build an appropriate winery facility. A 10,000-square foot building with a capacity of 5,000 cases was constructed in 2002 to house the processing area, rows of barrels, and a tasting room. All equipment not being used was stored in a hay barn. That same year, Carrington King, David and Ellen's eldest son, graduated from the University of Maryland with a degree in horticulture, and returned to the family business to manage day-to-day operations of the vineyard. His wife, Corie, now helps manage accounting for the winery.
Two major events occurred in 2003 for King Family Vineyards: It was the first full year that their tasting room was open for sales and, in many ways most importantly, Matthieu Finot arrived in Virginia to work at Afton Mountain Vineyards down the road. Michael Shaps continued to serve as winemaker for King Family Vineyards through 2006 but left to ramp up his consulting business. Finot happened to call the Kings that year and inquired about possible employment. With Shaps exiting to pursue other goals, Finot was placed at the helm of King Family Vineyards as head winemaker.
Finot had grown up in Crozes Hermitage in the Rhone Valley of France. While his parents were not farmers, his father was a wine lover, and his mother's side of the family were "true French farmers," with orchards, animals and a small vineyard. Finot spent his summers with an uncle who had taken over the family farm. Because he wanted to get back to his farming roots, he chose to study viticulture and enology at Beaune in Burgundy, graduating in 1995.
Finot worked in different wine regions in France, including the Rhone Valley, Bordeaux, Burgundy, Provence and Jura, and had the opportunity to work with experienced winemakers who grew the grapes organically, had true respect for the terroir, and practiced comfortable but, at the same time, hands-off winemaking. The goal of these practices was not to interfere too much with the quality of the fruit before the winemaker could find out what was going to come out of it and then standardize the product.
According to Finot, "This was my true source of inspiration." He went on to work in other places in France and then started to travel around the world, moving on to Italy and then to South Africa to learn more about winemaking in different regions.
In 2003, Finot came to the United States and found that working in Virginia was very exciting, because he wasn't working in a place where everything had been done the same way for decades or centuries. Everything had to be thought through, and sometimes finding a different approach to what was the classic way to make wine. He learned to think outside the box and figure out how to get to where he wanted to be with what he had.
"I ended up in this region where there were a lot of younger winemakers who were moving the needle in the right direction," Finot commented. "We became a small community, all knowing each other very well, with our personal approaches and styles, but always sharing, always trying to get us as a region. We're farmers, we're scientists, and we're artists. I think that's why we are where we are today."
In 2007, Finot was hired by David King, who appreciated the fact that Finot had experience in numerous regions that produced very different wines, and he wanted Finot to be creative in his winemaking. King's approach was that he, Ellen and their sons would grow the grapes, and Finot would make the wine, including "Small Batch" wines that allowed Finot to try new winemaking approaches to different wines.
The winery proceeded to expand their wine production and sales increased during the years between 2003 to 2006. The business also started hosting private events, including weddings and family gatherings, an unexpected additional revenue stream. Prior to 2007, a tent was attached to the tasting room to host such occasions; however, in 2007, the Kings built a 10,000 square foot facility named "The Carriage House" to ensure that all private events could be held in a comfortable space that is often described as "rustic elegance."
David King became active in the Virginia wine industry and served as chair of the Virginia Wine Board from 2007 to 2009 (and again in 2013-2018). As chair, he went frequently to Richmond to work on legislation to loosen local regulations on wineries across the Commonwealth, and helped advocate for the industry in general. According to Finot, King's philosophy was, "The more we work together, the better our wine will be" and his favorite phrase was, "A rising tide lifts all boats."
By 2013, production at King Family Vineyards reached 7,500 cases, and it was apparent that a new winery building was needed. Finot designed the new 28,000-case capacity winery so that the grapes come in at one end of the building where they are processed, then are moved into the tank room or barrel room, and at the appropriate time, the wines are bottled at the far end of the building. According to Finot, one important aspect of the building is that the winery flooring is polyurethane. Concrete was installed, then sandblasted and layers of polyurethane were added so that spilled wine would not damage the floor.
Later, both the King family and their staff realized that sparkling wine has different requirements than wine for production and storage over time, so 6,200 square foot riddling hall and case storage building was constructed, as well as a 6,000 square foot case storage building for wines.
During the COVID pandemic in 2021, King Family Vineyards purchased Yonder Hill Farm, a 110-acre farm on a south facing slope across the street from Roseland Farm. The Kings put 95 acres into a conservation easement, with the balance of the acreage for the existing buildings. Fifteen acres, that include seven division rights, were kept out intentionally to provide room for future expansion by the Kings or a future buyer. Five acres were planted to Merlot and Cabernet Franc, and one acre with Nebbiolo.
The Winery Today
The main vineyard on Roseland Farm currently has a total of 25 planted acres and is managed by David's three sons, Carrington, Stuart and James. With the six acres on Yonder Hill Farm and an additional 16 acres that they manage on neighboring Fidelis Farm & Vineyards, the Kings can produce 65% of grapes needed for wine production. The additional 35% of the grapes needed to meet current demand are purchased locally from within the Monticello AVA from the Chiles family, who are fifth-generation fruit growers and the largest growers in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Seven workers do the vineyard management, and then hand harvest the grapes into lugs. Finot told WineBusiness Monthly, "We pay per acre, not per ton. Some years we get more production, some less, but the vineyard owner gets the rental no matter what. In addition, I can control the crop load. The grower isn't losing money if it's necessary to drop some of the crop."
Winery production now totals 16,000 cases, and Finot manages the crew of two full-time assistant winemakers and four part-time, seasonal winery interns from across the globe. He prefers to have the crew eat lunch together, inside the winery when it's raining, and outside when the weather is nice, especially during harvest. Finot noted "Harvest lasts for three months, and the guys have long hours. From my experience in Burgundy during harvest, I decided it was important that we all stop work and eat lunch together. During harvest the winery provides the food, and I want one member of the crew to cook (a different person each day), then the others come together, become friends (and learn to cook). We can sit down, letting the press run, and keep everyone informed about what's coming and share more with everyone. They know what's happening, ask questions and establish camaraderie." He noted that when designing the winery they didn't think to include a real break room; in hindsight, it would've been nice to have one with a table for ten.
Winery Sales
Eighty-five percent of King Family Vineyards' wine sales take place at the winery, and that includes Direct-to-Consumer, the wine club and online sales. Between 75 and 100 weddings and private events are held each year in the Carriage House. Depending on the season and the day of the week, between two and 20 people handle the tasting room traffic, which is especially busy on Sundays when they frequently have 1,000 visitors. Ellen King continues to help out in the tasting room, as she has done since the winery opened."
Finot noted that one problem is that their wine is not available anywhere outside of Virginia.
"It was difficult for us to get into Washington. We work with a distributor in Washington now; we know what he wants and can get him the wines when he needs them.
"What can we do to get wine sold out of state? We need to get outside of Virginia and let more people try our wine and be surprised that it's not what they were expecting to get. In February we went to Vinexpo in Paris. We had Dutch, Swedish, English buyers try our wines and, after tasting they would say, 'it's more old-world than I thought it would be.' They may be familiar with the West Coast and California wines, but these wines have a different balance. We can harvest grapes with not as high Brix and have more delicate flavors."
Future Plans for King Family Vineyards
When James King was asked what his (and his family's) plans for the future of King Family Vineyards might include, it was not surprising that his first comments were, "continue to follow the best vineyard practices" and "increase sustainability." Other vineyard ideas included:
• Begin replacing old vines.
• Increase red wine production by adding more acres of red wine varieties, plant reds on Yonder Hill Farm.
• Increase overall acreage managed internally and decrease the amount of purchased fruit.
• Focus on soil health.
Ideas for the winery include:
• Hire a full-time wine director to manage the wine library, educate staff/ guests, and host library/vertical tastings.
• Open a secondary tasting room on Yonder Hill Farm.
• Increase in-state and explore out-of-state distribution.
• Explore exporting Virginia wine abroad.
David King's Polo Legacy
One unique feature of the Roseland Farm property is the prominent location of the Roseland Polo grounds, just across the lawn from the tasting room. The Roseland Polo Club and other polo-related activities are managed by Stuart's wife, Ali. James King, David and Ellen's youngest son, commented that "Without polo, King Family Vineyards would be just like many other Virginia wineries. Polo events bring in 1,000 people every Sunday to the polo grounds and the winery." Not surprisingly, there is a special wine produced to appeal to polo enthusiasts. The wine, made from Petit Verdot, is named "Seven" as an "ode" to the "Seventh chukker," the tie breaker round in a polo match. Appropriately, the label shows a polo player on top of the number 7.
Roseland Polo matches are held every Sunday from Memorial Day weekend to mid-October, matches are open to the public, and admission is free. Spectators encircle the field "in festive tailgating fashion to watch friendly competition, to enjoy their polo picnics, the good company of friends and family and to savor the vineyard's wines. Roseland Polo now has 54 ponies (all horses for polo events are called "ponies").
The Roseland Polo Club School, located on the King Family Vineyards property, offers comprehensive polo education for both children and adults. Established in 2019, the school aims to introduce and educate people about the sport of polo. . A variety of lessons and clinics cater to all skill levels, even those with no prior riding experience.