Paul Vigna

The future of any industry rests with who’s coming along to take the reins. That’s certainly true in winemaking, where families are turning over responsibility to their kids or hiring a college grad. Here are vignettes on four under-35 mid-Atlantic winemakers who already have made an impact.

Identifying potential production partners is getting easier, thanks to a growth in facilities - devoted to offering wine production services and an increase in wineries that are utilizing extra space by making wine for others. Identifying the right one? That’s more of a challenge.

Roman Roth's competitive fire was mentioned by many of his associates. It has driven Wolffer Estate to star status in a wine region that now occupies an international stage with Roth playing a leading role during that ascent. It has earned him, besides numerous accolades and critical acclaim, recognition as one of Wine’s Most Inspiring People.

Rosen said, “through data and boots on the ground we support the independent brand, because frankly the distributor doesn’t have the time nor inclination.”

“If you’ve ever had a stuck ferment, you want to avoid that in the future. In the past, I’ve battled with stuck fermentations that were mainly fructose, and they’re a bear to restart.”

Kevin Atticks, the longtime executive director of the Maryland Wineries Association, has seen a rapid growth of wineries in his state and others around it the last 10 years. It’s a business model that continues to outpace vineyards, which cover 800 acres across Maryland with another 100 new acres not yet producing.

For years, Pennsylvania’s wine industry was growing in numbers and scope but stagnant in legislative and financial support, especially when compared to neighboring states such as New York and Virginia.

How long has Jerry Forest been in the wine business? So long, in fact, that he can remember when his three wines were called Red, White and Rosé. So long, indeed, that there were only a handful of wineries operating across Pennsylvania, from Bucks County near Philadelphia where he was located, across to Lake Erie.

Coming off the announcement a few days before Christmas that federal excise taxes on wine, beer, and spirits were being reduced as part of President Donald Trump’s tax reform bill, WineAmerica president Jim Trezise has something substantive that he can build his hour-long workshop around. Scheduled for 4 to 5 p.m. Feb. 21, the program entitled “Washington D.C.: Politics, Policy and Your Bottom Line” will wrap up the first day of the third annual conference.

By Paul Vigna For years, Matthieu Finot was explaining in a phone conversation, a number of winemakers connected to the Monticello Wine Trail were experimenting...

Manage people in a profession for 25 years, as Chris Upchurch has done as the head winemaker for esteemed DeLille Cellars, and you will see some of your best apprentices find better jobs.

By Paul Vigna Wine’s Most Inspiring People 2018 Chris Upchurch is at a point in his life where the temptation is to look back, at more...

Sean Comninos, as much as anyone, symbolizes the lofty potential of East Coast winemaking. He’s young, having graduated with highest honors from the Wine School of Philadelphia in 2008. His background is diverse, having studied Marine Biology at the University of the Virgin Islands before traveling throughout Europe.

There is some kismet in that the co-founders of the San Francisco biotech company, which has done groundbreaking work in identifying the microbiome fingerprint of vineyard soil are part of families that have deep roots in wine.

Mazza Vineyards several months ago hired Ana Trigo, a winemaker from Portugal. That in itself is a story, given the track record that the winery aside Lake Erie has established going back to the early 1970s.