Wine & Country Life - Book 2 - Spring Summer 2016

Living

LIFE &

TM

Style

IN JEFFERSON’S VIRGINIA

FA R M - T O - TA B L E

|

THE ARTS

|

E N T E R TA I N I N G

|

DÉCOR

|

T R AV E L

Set among some of the most prestigious and historic estates in the greater Charlottesville area in one of the most lovely and historically significant districts of Albemarle County is The Farms at Turkey Run. Boasting spectacular views of the Blue Ridge Mountains, flowing streams, quaint ponds, beautiful rolling pastures and country wooded areas all within an 800-acre haven surrounded by the 5,000 acres of protected rural splendor that is Mount Ida Reserve.

Lifestyle. Convenience. Affordability.

Whether you’re considering a move-in ready home or prefer to buy your dream lot now and build when the time is right for you, Spring Creek has it all.

Located minutes from Charlottesville, Spring Creek is a meticulously-planned, amenity-filled, 24-hour gated residential golf community with single family homes, townhomes, and villa homes priced from the upper $200s. Spring Creek is the gem of Louisa County, offering the best in amenities, convenience, security, and privacy for the homebuyer that is just starting out, starting their family or enjoying their retirement years—there’s something for everyone.

With beautiful golf & conservation lots priced from the low $80s, enjoy all the benefits of lot ownership now and build when the time is right for you.

WWW.THEFARMSOFTURKEYRUN.COM Situated along Blenheim Road just 12 miles (15 minutes) south of the City of Charlottesville, Virginia, Turkey Run is within minutes of Monticello, Ash Lawn-Highland, University of Virginia (UVA), Dave Matthew’s Blenheim Vineyard and Trump Winery

Residents receive preferred status at The Lodge at Mount Ida Reserve, a renovated 100-year-old 12,000 sq ft building conveniently located within minutes of every estate site. With its oversized indoor and outdoor stone fireplaces and distinctive oak timber framing, the Lodge serves as an enticing base from which residents can participate in private guided activities within Mount Ida Reserve. Fly fishing in one of our 21 lakes, horseback riding, bird hunts and skeet shooting are but a few of the amenities offered residents within this private 5,000 acre reserve.

PHOTO BY JEN FARIELLO

The epitome of elegance, the comfort of home.

www.keswick.com | 701 Club Drive, Charlottesville, VA | 434-979-3440

I’m a different kind of investment manager.

I am accountable and I am transparent.

Accountable in that we assume 100% of the responsibility for ALL

investment results – this is not how your current manager structures responsibility, but should be. Additionally, I am transparent in that I do not invest in high-cost, confusing and proprietary products.

And because I work independently, my fees are significantly lower. People too often forget that a dollar saved in costs or fees is actually worth more than a dollar earned from investment returns (thanks to taxes). What is absolutely compelling is that fee savings represent risk-free returns to investors and I deliver it all at a personal-but-sophisticated level of service.

fees matter and your fees should be half what they are presently complexity is unnecessary and counterproductive to consistent investment returns Every person is a cost – get your assets as close to the investment decision maker as possible.

Investment Management with an Alternative Perspective.

MILLERASSE T.COM | SEAN@MILLERASSE T.COM | 434-825-0000

PHOTO BY WILL FAULCONER

THE RIGHT REALTOR MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE Trust your real estate needs to the leading residential, farm and estate brokerage firm in Central Virginia.

We offer the best professional services available, superior market knowledge and marketing techniques, cutting edge technology and the highest level of integrity. Since 2000, we are the only real estate firm in this area to close over one billion dollars in sales of properties priced above $1,000,000.

MCLEANFAULCONER.COM

PH.434.295.1131

HOMES@MCLEANFAULCONER.COM

O U R FA B T E A M

P U B L I S H E R S | Robin Johnson-Bethke, Jennifer Bryerton C R E AT I V E D I R E C T O R | Robin Bethke E D I T O R - I N - C H I E F | Jennifer Bryerton T E C H N I C A L D I R E C T O R | Peter Bethke G R A P H I C D E S I G N | Erin Q. Hughes, Barbara A. Tompkins E D I T O R | Sarah Pastorek O N L I N E E D I T O R | Mandy Reynolds E D I T O R I A L P H O T O G R A P H Y | Jen Fariello, Andrea Hubbell, R. L. Johnson, Rachel May, Robert Radifera, William Walker W R I T I N G & E D I T I N G | Peter D. Bethke, Becky Calvert, Caroline Hirst, Tracey Love, Catherine Malone, Brian Mellott, Abby Meredith, Elizabeth Morgan, Suzanne Nash, Jisel Perilla, Lynn Pribus, Beth Whitehead Rawling, Brantley Ussery, Eric J. Wallace, Winifred Wegmann S A L E S M A NA G E R | Laura Renigar S A L E S C O N S U LTA N T S | Susan Powell, Laura Renigar, Jenny Stoltz, Brandi Washburn A D M I N I S T R AT I V E M A NA G E R | Denise Simmerman A D M I N I S T R AT I V E A S S I S TA N T | Caitlin Morris

TM

Charlottesville Wine & Country Living™ is published in print biannually by Ivy Publications, LLC and has a companion website and social media.

Although every effort has been made to present correct information, we do not in any way accept responsibility for the accuracy of information or for the performance or goods of businesses and organizations presented herein. No portion of this publication may be reproduced in part or in whole without the express written consent of the publisher.

Copyright © 2016. All rights reserved.

Ivy Publications, LLC is proud to work with a Certified Green Press. Charlottesville Wine & Country Living™ is printed on recycled content paper with up to 10% post-consumer waste (PSW) using only soy-based ink and supporting responsible forestry. You can find our paper-free digital edition online as well at CharlottesvilleWineandCountryLiving.com, and please do recycle.

Printed in the United States of America.

A WARM WELCOME

T

o crest a hill and catch a wide vista of stunning vineyards with a Blue Ridge Mountain backdrop is a common occurrence here.

Tasting the most amazing farm-to-table cuisine al fresco downtown with great, intellectual and creative people followed by a concert of a local up-and-coming band is another. It is these everyday charms we love about our community that have inspired us to take pen to paper and to celebrate the people and stories of this country-town.

Grounded in centuries of rich history as the beloved home of the esteemed Thomas Jefferson and his University of Virginia, Charlottesville is the perfect

balance of tradition and innovation with a unique style all its own. The influence of Jefferson’s interests and passions surround us and mold us. In Charlottesville Wine & Country Living, we seek to express Charlottesville’s style, charming in its lack of pretense yet elegant.

You will find not only the spirit of a landscape but also the inspiration for elegant, wholehearted living, celebrating those in our community who inspire the true meaning of authenticity. We invite you to explore our personal passion for this place and its people along with the sheer beauty of this land—a region known as Jefferson’s Virginia.

W&CLiving.com | 9

Contents

58

W I N E & FOOD 14 TASTING NOTES

A TASTE OF HISTORY

28 SEASONAL PAIRINGS | Simply Fresh

page

20

Jefferson Vineyards Celebrates Heritage

32 MEET THE WINEMAKER | Gabriele Rausse 42 FARM-TO-TABLE NOTES

STARR HILL BREWS ANEW

46 JAM MAKER | Daniel Perry

page 36

Craft Beverages and Music

48 MEET THE CHEF | Walter Theo Xavier Slawski 52 COUNTRYSIDE FÊTES | Picnicking at Polo

SOME LIKE IT HOT

5 4 THE FOOD SCENE | Food Trucks

page 58

Celebrating the Hotter Side of Local Cuisine

6 6 FARM-TO-TABLE CUISINE | Underground Kitchen

LIFE & S TY LE 88 HOME & GARDEN | Garden Tours 92

68

WATERCOLOR ARTIST | Maria Pace

102

THINGS WE LOVE | CHO•ho Style

105

THINGS WE LOVE | CHO•ho Foxfield Style

ROSELAND POLO

page 68

Polo at King Family Vineyards

HOME & VINE

ˆ

page 78

Winery Owner Opens Her Home

DINING AL FRESCO

page

96

Entertaining Under the Stars

96 Cover image of polo at King Family Vineyards by R. L. Johnson. Portrait of Robin Bethke and Jennifer Bryerton by Robert Radifera.

130 ART S & CULTURE

1 1 6 JEWELRY MAKER | Tricia Humphreys 1 2 6 THE ARTS SCENE | The Garage 1 3 6 LITERATURE NOTES 1 4 0 WRITER & POET | Charlotte Matthews 1 4 8 TRAVEL LOCALLY | Keswick Hall

page 108

EN PLEIN AIR

Artist Meg West Celebrates Painting

118

BOYD TINSLEY

page 118

DMB’s Violinist Reflects on What it Means to Be a Local

MR. JEFFERSON'S UNIVERSITY

page 130

‘Hoo Graduates Reminisce on Times Past

PROVENCE

page 142

Bringing France to Jefferson’s Virginia

142

Stay in touch

LIVING@IVYPUBLICATIONS.COM B

| CHARLOTTESVILLEWINEANDCOUNTRYLIVING.COM

Proud to be a partner with Virginia Vineyards Association, Virginia Wine Council, Jefferson Heritage Trail & Monticello Wine Trail

CONTRIBUTORS Peter D. Bethke, our technical director, has a master’s in screenwriting from USC Cinema Television School and a bachelor’s in creative writing from Middlebury College.

Jennifer Bryerton has been our co-publisher and editor-in-chief since 1998 and has a master’s in education.

Her writings can be found in many of our publications.

Becky Calvert has written for a number of local news weeklies and regional magazines. Her interests span from the local wine scene to teaching an array of cooking classes.

Tracey Love, a level one sommelier, is director of wine sales for Blenheim Vineyards and also runs Hill & Holler, a roving farm dinner event company that supports local food and agricultural organizations.

Catherine Malone has master’s degrees in art and history and has worked as a local arts writer for many years. She is passionate about the vibrant arts community in Charlottesville.

Brian Mellott has a master’s degree in education and is a writer and photographer whose work shows his passion for food and the people who create it.

Abby Meredith is a recent UVA graduate who is in love with Charlottesville. She is studying at Vanderbilt Law School and freelance writing to enrich her creative side.

Suzanne Nash has been writing book reviews and freelance articles for local publications for over 10 years as well as working with authors developing their marketing and publicity.

Sarah Pastorek, our editor, has degrees in English and journalism and enjoyed getting to know the many talented people in our community while working on this project.

Jisel Perilla has worked in Panama and Colombia and has written for many publications including The Washington Post and Frommers, the internationally famed travel guides.

Lynn Pribus is an Albemarle County writer, editor and musician, passionate about community.

She has been featured in well over 30 publications, both locally and nationally.

Beth Whitehead Rawling has been part owner and director of development of an architectural firm and is passionate about beautiful interior and garden design.

Brantley Ussery, writer and photographer, shares his love for this region through his work in local publications as well as in Food & Travel Magazine.

Eric J. Wallace's writing has appeared locally as well as in Backpacker Magazine, All About Beer, Twisted South, Scalawag, Canoe & Kayak, Adventure Kayak, and other national magazines.

Winifred Wegmann is the proud owner of Pour la Maison on Ivy Road and has traveled to France many times since she first fell in love with Paris at the age of 22.

Mandy Reynolds, our online editor, has master's in art and history, enjoys the local culture and has worked as a press liaison for the Edinburgh International Festival.

12

CONTRIBUTORS

R. L. Johnson is our co-publisher and creative director, Robin Johnson Bethke, who began her career as a professional photographer in Los Angeles before moving into graphic design and art direction when she relocated to Charlottesville in 1994. As our company’s co-founder and visionary, she enjoys all aspects of the publishing process from story conception to graphic design to photography. Her work is often seen in many of our publications.

Jen Fariello has been taking beautiful photographs since 1996, specializing in journalistic, fine art wedding and portrait photos. Jen’s work has been featured in many regional and national publications like Time, People, Rolling Stone, Southern Weddings, The Knot, Weddings Unveiled, Southern Living and Charlottesville Wine & Country Weddings.

Robert Radifera has been creatively photographing weddings, interiors and portraits for over two decades.

His outstanding interior work has been published in Romantic Homes, Small Room Decorating, Home and Design, Traditional Homes Kitchens and Spectacular Homes, as well as in many other local and national publications. For the last six years, he has been the official photographer for the Charlottesville Design House project.

Rachel May is a Virginia, D.C. and destination photographer who strives to serve her clients with a joy-filled heart.

Inspired by people, beautiful moments and meaningful details, she looks to celebrate each and every moment with her clients as if it were her own. Rachel’s work has been featured in Southern Living, Southern Weddings and Weddings Unveiled.

Andrea Hubbell creates timeless, evocative lifestyle images. She specializes in interior and culinary photography, drawing on her background and education in architectural design to focus on form, space, composition and color in each image she creates. She is best known as co-creator of the popular Our Local Commons book series, highlighting the best of Charlottesville’s farm-to-table movement.

William Walker, a Charlottesville native, has been specializing in beautiful weddings, creative portraiture and artistic photojournalism in the region since 2006. Some of his terrific work has been featured in The Knot and on Borrowed and Blue.

W&CLiving.com | 13

tasting Monticello Wine Trail Excels in Governor’s Cup The 34th annual Virginia Governor’s Cup Wine Awards early this year celebrated the winemakers, vineyard managers and the industry workers whose efforts are making Virginia wine among the best in the country and beyond. The gold medalists from this year’s Governor’s Cup were selected from 432 entries of both red and white wines from 95 wineries. Over 40 world-class judges participated, giving marks on appearance, aroma, flavor, overall quality and commercial suitability.

The 2016 awards mark the second time Keswick Vineyards has won the prestigious Governor’s Cup. The first was in 2009 for its 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon. This year, Keswick Vineyards won for its 2014 Cabernet Franc Estate Reserve. The tasting notes describe the wine as “light and graceful, but also powerful—dense with black pepper and exotic spices that turn into darker fruits as the wine is aerated.”

“With clean ripe fruit harvested,” says Keswick Winemaker Stephen Barnard in a press release from Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s office, “our intention was to stand back and let the soul of the vineyard shine through in the wine.”

Not only does our region boast this year’s winner, but the Monticello Wine Trail represented 42 percent of this year’s Governor’s Cup Case—12 Virginia wines outscored over 420 entrants. Our community’s 32 Monticello Wine Trail wineries comprise only 13 percent of the state’s 250 wineries, yet they earned an impressive 105 of the total 378 medals awarded.

Grace Estate’s New Winemaker No rookie to the winemaking process, Frantz Ventre has spent his entire life in the industry, even assisting his parents with grape harvesting when he was just 5-years-old. Ventre earned his master’s degree in winemaking at the University of Oenology of Bordeaux. For Ventre, “this job is a passion. It’s nice to grow and make something yourself that other people get joy from. But I also can’t emphasize enough how much it is a team process—from the people growing the vines to the ones bottling the wines; it’s incredible to be a part of.”

Ventre came to Charlottesville in 1996 for an internship at Jefferson Vineyards, where he later became the head winemaker. From there, he went to the former Sweely Estate (now Early Mountain Vineyards), before becoming a consultant for Grace Estate Winery in August 2015. Ventre joined the team full-time as the winemaker in November. When considering his future in the wine industry, he says, “I am from Bordeaux, but my home is Charlottesville—I love it here. The industry is growing, so it’s fun to be a part of it; I hope to be around for many years to come!” Grace Estate Winery also opened a new tasting room and launched its wine club this year.

14

The Start of a New Year Life post-harvest is a time of rejuvenation. This season, the vines experienced a mild end of fall and beginning of winter, so they were able to store up ample amounts of nutrients, which they’ll need at the start of the next growing season. Vineyard workers also repaired trellis systems, made soil amendments and pruned in preparation for a new season.

There was some concern that unseasonably high temperatures in November and December would lead to premature bud break, but thankfully that did not occur in grapevines the same way it did with some flowering trees, like cherries. While temperatures became somewhat more seasonal in January, at the time of writing, there hadn’t been any extreme lows. So cold damage is unlikely to have occurred this year. Having a cool dormant season is important to the vines though, so the seasonably cold temperatures did keep some diseases at bay.

Probably the most dramatic weather event for the area was the 20+ inches of snow received in mid-January. We are often asked how snow affects the vines, and for the most part, snow is a good thing. While not an issue this year, it can help insulate the vines from below freezing temperatures and protect against damage. The snowfalls, coupled with the rain, also helped replenish ground water supplies for use during the spring season, and a whirlwind 2015 harvest also left a few extra weeks for winegrowers to relax and squeeze in any vacations before bud break happens in early spring. So far, fingers crossed, the 2016 growing season is off to a fine start.

Reported by The Monticello Wine Trail

New to the Scene BLUE MOUNTAIN BREWERY

is adding on a small outdoor performance stage.

BOLD ROCK HARD CIDER̕S

tasting room is now open at Carter Mountain Orchard.

COPPER FOX DISTILLERY will be

“Skull Crushing Ape” a schwartz, weisen, dopple bock.

GLASS HOUSE WINERY is building a movie screening building out of glass bottles.

JAMES RIVER BREWERY has hired

opening a new location with new spirits in Williamsburg.

consultants John Bryce, Starr Hill Brewery, and Jacque Landry, South Street Brewery, to train their team.

CUNNINGHAM CREEK WINERY (at

KING FAMILY VINEYARDS is doing

Middle Fork Farm, Scottsville) is opening a tasting room this summer.

DEVIL'S BACKBONE BREWING COMPANY has debuted their 2016

Trail Blazer series with “Risen” an American Brown Ale style beer and

a small batch signature-series line of wines, including an orange-style wine that is rare in Virginia.

LOVING CUP VINEYARD & WINERY will reopen in April after rebuilding from severe wind damage.

MICHAEL SHAPS WINEWORKS has

opened a tasting room at 5th Street Extended with daily hours, and in January, they introduced refillable growlers.

PIPPIN HILL FARM & VINEYARDS̕ new Reserve Room is open for booking private events.

ROSLYN FARM VINEYARD vines have just been newly planted.

STARR HILL BREWERY is opening a

branch in Norfolk.

VITAE SPIRITS̕ new “Platinum”

rum will hit Charlottesville stores soon.

W&CLiving.com | 15

tasting Creative Collaboration In true community spirit, Potter’s Craft Cider sources its apples from all over Charlottesville, and they not only work with their farmers but also with distillers to create new flavors. This past summer, Tim Edmond and Dan Potter at Potter’s Craft Cider were inspired to make Grapefruit Hibiscus, a light fresh infusion of apple brandy, grapefruit peels and hibiscus petals, that was distilled from their own hard apple cider by Woods Mill Distillery in Nelson. (Tasty though it may be, the brandy is not for sale in stores but is served at many local restaurants.) The other newest cider is their Raspberry & Brett, a lambic-style wild cider aged in oak apple brandy barrels with local raspberries and Brettanomyces. The Cidery has also established a barrel exchange with Copper Fox Distillery in nearby Sperryville, whereby freshly emptied Rye Whiskey barrels from Copper Fox Distillery are filled with Basquestyle cider by the folks at Potter’s Craft Cider. Empty cider barrels, in turn, are sent to Copper Fox Distillery. The back and forth builds new and exciting flavors with each batch. Their newest project is a Trappist inspired cider using a Belgian Abbey yeast strain, dark candy sugar, figs and coriander. A significant portion of the proceeds from every bottle of this cider goes directly to The Haven, a day shelter working to end homelessness. Forthcoming releases are Sorachi Ace, a single varietal hopped cider, and Strawberry Ginger, their draft-only collaboration with Kardinal Hall and Beer Run. Photo by Kristen Finn Photo Courtesy of Early Mountain Vineyards

A Weekend of Local Wines Twenty-five wineries were featured at this year’s 5th annual Taste of Monticello Wine Trail Festival. The April event was kicked off at the Jefferson Theater with the announcement of the Monticello Cup Awards.

The festival continued with a brunch paired with sparkling wines from five vineyards and extended hours for tastings at Keswick Vineyards.

Afternoons were open for winery tours, and a chocolate and wine demo pairing class at Glass House Winery offered a sweet sampling on Friday.

That evening, select local restaurants and venues hosted winemaker dinners with special menus that showcased the best of the Monticello Wine Trail. The event culminated on Saturday with an enormous tasting event at the nTelos Wireless Pavilion. This event, sponsored in part by Charlottesville Wine & Country Living, allowed people to sample wine flights, purchase wine offerings and also featured live entertainment.

Photo by Ashley Twiggs

16

Discover. Taste. Experience.

W W W. C R O S S K E Y S V I N E YA R D S . C O M

| (540)-234-0505

Photos by Andrea Hubbell

Guests come to early mountain for the wines, but stay for the experience.

EARLYMOUNTAIN.COM

WINEMAKING

A TASTE OF

HISTORY WORDS BY SUZANNE NASH

Jefferson Vineyards celebrates 35 years of family traditions and a commitment to continuing the legacy of Jefferson and his friend and Italian Viticulturist, Philip Mazzei, who planted America’s first vineyard.

Photograph this page Courtesy of Chris Lang

20

Philip Mazzei. Courtesy of © Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticello

W&CLiving.com | 21

As Attila says, their story is, “AS RICH and complex as the RED SOIL in their vineyards that help them produce some VERY DELIGHTFUL wines.”

22

S

itting before a warm stove in one of Jefferson Vineyards’ two tasting rooms, managing partner and coowner Attila Woodward and I shared a delicious bottle of their Estate Reserve 2010 as he regaled me with stories and history of his family and their boutique vineyard. He and his family feel a great deal of passion for this vineyard as well as a responsibility to preserve their heritage.

Fueled by their passion for the land, both he and his sister had careers in business and film, yet they felt compelled to return to the vineyard and carry on their family’s legacy. As Attila says, their story is, “as rich and complex as the red soil in their vineyards that help them produce some very delightful wines.”

Within eyesight of Monticello, the winery traces its roots back to Philip (or Filippo) Mazzei, an Italian viticulturist who became a friend of Thomas Jefferson and who was a strong defender of American ideals and interests. Mazzei built his home, which he named “Colle,” on land given to him by Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson also helped Mazzei research the terroir exhaustively prior to having thousands of vines planted there and at farms neighboring Monticello. Subsequently, Mazzei established the first “wine company” in America. When horses carelessly trampled his vineyard during the Revolutionary War, it was a blow to America’s fledgling wine industry.

Shirley and Stanley Woodward Sr. bought the property in 1939 and had “Colle” rebuilt by Franklin D. Roosevelt’s (FDR) cousin—William Adams Delano. Woodward was Chief of Protocol and Ambassador to Canada during the Truman Administration and a close friend to Truman in the years to follow. Woodward’s sister, Alexa, is currently completing renovation on the grand

Photography Courtesy of Attila Woodward

W&CLiving.com | 23

Everything you experience at Jefferson Vineyards is the collaboration of THREE GENERATIONS. home. From the brass plate at the doorway, commemorating visits by Harry S. Truman, to the stained glass above the stairway that filters light from the cupola, the home is simply elegant.

There is pride in Woodward’s voice as he speaks of how, in the late 1970s, his grandparents were the first in Albemarle County to protect their land with a conservation easement. In 1981, they hired Gabriele Rausse, who is now the director of gardens and grounds at Monticello as well as head of his own Rausse Winery, to plant grapevines and begin the road to creating Simeon Vineyards. The name was changed to Jefferson Vineyards in 1993 by the second generation of Woodwards to own and run the vineyard and winery, Stanley Woodward Jr. and wife Marie Jose. Stanley’s art can be seen gracing the labels of their Painter’s Palette series of wines as well as hanging throughout the tasting rooms. In 2013, the third generation of Woodwards, Attila and his sister Alexa, took the reins and continue creating

24

exceptional wines while preserving and protecting this unique property.

A lovely farmhouse that serves as the main offices greets you upon entering the gates. Beyond the gates are the tasting rooms and a Palladian winery building.

Everything you experience at Jefferson Vineyards is the collaboration of three generations of Woodwards and truly talented vintners, including Rausse, Michael Shaps and, of course, the current vintner, Christopher Ritzcovan.

Originally from New York, Ritzcovan’s appreciation of horticulture was instilled in him from his grandparents.

After graduating from the University of Virginia (UVA), he became the assistant winemaker to Rausse at Jefferson Vineyards but left briefly to pursue graduate studies with the intention to return to the vineyard. Three years ago, he became head vintner and proved himself up to the challenge, winning a double gold medal for Jefferson Vineyards’ 2013 Viognier at the 2014 San Francisco International Wine Competition.

With a yearly production of about 6,500–7,000 cases of wine, this is considered a small-medium vineyard, yet its 20 acres of vineyards are scattered across the 700-acre property in four different sites. The picking and pruning is all done by hand—very labor intensive—and ensures quality control. From the time the Pinot Gris grapes come

k c a J , d a o r e h t t i H u o y e r u s and make e l y t s n i do it

Begin your fashionable escape with a trip to Barracks Road Shopping Center.

Albemarle Angler, Fink’s Jewelers, The Happy Cook, J. McLaughlin, Oil & Vinegar, Richey & Co., The Virginia Shop and more than 80 other places to discover, shop and dine.

1117 Emmet Street • Charlot tesville, VA 22903 • barracksroad.com

Virginia Gold Cup Races Saturday, May 7, 2016 • Gates open at 10am • Pari-mutuel betting — Don’t forget your cash, it’s the only way to play!

• First race begins at 12:30pm • Races run rain or shine • Tickets can be purchased online or at harris TeeTer.

Great Meadow, The Plains

Questions, please call 540.347.2612 or vagoldcup.com

“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.”

– Thomas Jefferson

in (about mid-August) until the arrival of the reds, Ritzcovan has very little time to rest. Due to Virginia’s variant weather and a hurricane season that coincides with the picking season, vineyard management is tricky. These vineyards sit on the property’s best soil, and because of their scattered locations, they pose very different challenges, including the surrounding woodlands, which are home to animals who constantly help themselves to the delicious grapes.

All of these elements shape the harvest and quality of the grapes, and determine what types of grapes will do well.

Two grapes, Cabernet Franc and the Petit Verdot, do very well in Virginia’s climate, and this vineyard has a lovely 2014 Cabernet Franc, aged 9 months, which is delicate and more fruit forward with flavors of spicy cherry and fresh herbs.

Their 2013 Petit Verdot is also very popular with a wonderful dried fruit flavor. It has a beautiful color, high alcohol content and a tannin structure that requires aging.

Jefferson Vineyards encourages experimentation, allowing Ritzcovan the opportunity to hold back barrels.

He was gracious enough to take me back to sample some of the barrels and see his works in progress. In the back rooms are the steel fermentation tanks as well as the French and American Oak Barrels that can impart flavors to both the red and white wines. I tried Viogniers with flavors ranging from peach to buttery apple and Chardonnays that amazed me with intense pineapple, pear and vanilla notes. Ritzcovan will

combine these flavors to create exceptional wines.

This year is the 35th anniversary of Rausse planting the vines that exist today at Jefferson Vineyards. The past year has been such a good growing season that Ritzcovan says, “we can expect amazing Chardonnays and Viogniers just in time for summer. A special Viognier will be unveiled as part of the anniversary celebrations with peach and apricot flavors that exude southern style.” They will also introduce a Riesling, the first produced exclusively from the vines on their property. It will be an exciting addition to the current wines available in their tasting room.

Jefferson Vineyards offers more than just wines. Its rustic nature provides a beautiful backdrop for gorgeous gardens and layered outdoor seating areas. Woodward is excited about many improvements in progress, including more seating areas and a new growler station. Alexa is also continuing the Sunsets Become Eclectic concert series for 2016, offering a wonderful opportunity to enjoy great music at a magical time of day.

This land has beckoned people to it since Mazzei who, with Jefferson’s encouragement and support, first planted grapevines here. The rustic elegance of Jefferson Vineyards called generations of Woodwards back to care for it and summoned Ritzcovan to return and tend the vines. There is a magic here that transcends history. Merely steps away from Monticello, it is the birthplace of American wine.

W&CLiving.com | 27

SEASONAL PAIRINGS

Seasonal Pairings

RECOMMENDATIONS ON PAIRING THE PERFECT WINE TO GO WITH THOSE SUMMER TOMATOES AND PEACHES, WHETHER PICKED FRESH FROM YOUR GARDEN, A FARMERS MARKET OR A LOCAL ORCHARD.

Fresh

S I M P LY

Gardeners far and wide often have an overabundance of tomatoes in the summer months to either enjoy fresh from the vine or as part of a favorite dish. Whether you’re harvesting beautiful heirloom tomatoes right from your garden or enjoying the bounty at the local farmers market, you are probably on the lookout for new ideas on how to serve them.

Tomatoes, especially of the heirloom varieties, have beautiful, rich and varied flavors. Showcase the richness of these flavors with a traditional Italian Caprese Salad. This Italian classic “Insalata Caprese,” meaning “Salad of Capri,” is named after the famous white-cliffed resort island of Capri in the south of Italy.

Creating a Caprese Salad is easy, but it is the quality of its ingredients that make it successful. A simple and elegant appetizer, it is comprised of rich flavorful tomatoes, high-

WORDS BY MANDY REYNOLDS | PHOTOGRAPHY BY R. L. JOHNSON

28

quality mozzarella, a dribbling of the highest standard fruity olive oil, excellent sea salt, freshly ground pepper, then topped with the freshest basil. The flavors will truly shine, and you’ll begin to feel the fresh breeze of sea air from Capri with your very first bite.

An easy and wonderful way to showcase the summer’s tomato bounty with friends, this dish is a classic. However, because tomatoes are so acidic, finding the right wine pairing can be a challenge. Stay clear of wines that are too low in acid, like a heavy oak-aged Chardonnay, as the wine will lose any pronounced flavors and come across flat.

Tom Walters, who likes to be known more modestly as the wine “geek” rather then wine “expert” at Foods of All Nations, knows his stuff no matter what his preferred title. With the tomato and wine pairing challenge before us, we went to him for advice. His recommendation was Barboursville Vineyards’ 2014 Pinot Grigio for its crisp and balanced flavor. Pairing a Virginia wine made by Italians with this beautiful classic Italian dish, seemed to be a match made in heaven.

We contacted Barboursville Vineyards’ Sommelier Professionista, Alessandro Medici, to see what he thought. The vineyard’s Italian owners, Gianni and Silvana Zonin, invited Medici, an Italian native, to serve as the Sommelier at the vineyard’s fine-dining restaurant, Palladio. Sixteen years later, he still helps uphold the restaurant’s impeccable style and taste.

Of the 2014 Pinot Grigio, Alessandro responds, “It has delicate citrus and floral notes with balanced acidity and a refreshing finish. It pairs well with all Italian appetizers, from salty Prosciutto to fresh Caprese Salad.

I currently have Tomato and Burrata Salad on my menu at Palladio, and I am serving it with our Vintage Rosé, but either Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc would do as well.”

Whether you go with a more balanced Pinot Grigio

W&CLiving.com | 29

South African Inspired Cuisine. A Great Experience from Start to Finish.

Great Experience from Start to Finish.

Downtown Charlottesville | 434.296.3185 | shebeen.com

Celebrating 34 Years of Virginia Wine Making Excellence

Leon, Virginia | princemichel.com | Carter Mountain

or a beautiful summer Rosé, you can find just the right pairing for those gorgeous and flavorful tomatoes.

We also asked Walters what he would choose to pair with the summer peaches we picked fresh from Chiles Peach Orchard, and he again returned to another Italian classic–Mascarpone cheese.

The simple blending of fresh Mascarpone, whipped and plated with ripe local peaches, becomes a lovely dessert for those warm summer nights when fussy cooking isn’t appealing. For the pairing, Walters recommends the digestif, War & Rust Quinquina, a side project of local winemaker Ben Jordan of Early Mountain Vineyards. This special blend is created using different combinations of Cabernet Franc, Petit Manseng, Tannat and Petit Verdot from year to year. Known as a solera wine, War & Rust is an ongoing project, where each year’s vintage is made incorporating some of the previous year’s vintage.

We spoke to Jordan to see what he would pair with this dessert. He cited Early Mountain Vineyards’ cellar series, particularly the sweet Petit Manseng, explaining it has “both residual sugar and lots of acid. In general, it’s nice when pairing with desserts if the wine is sweeter than the dessert, so that the fruit character of the wine can still be expressed by some sweetness. The acidity of the wine would also serve to cut through the creaminess of the Mascarpone. If the dish is not very sweet, with no added sugar, then the Five Forks white blend might work.”

For an added flare to your dessert-pairing, try soaking a slice of pound cake in War & Rust, and top with the whipped Mascarpone and fresh peaches.

W&CLiving.com | 31

MEET THE

Winemaker

WORDS BY SARAH PASTOREK | PHOTOGRAPHY BY R. L. JOHNSON

32

Gabriele Rausse

Since working at Barboursville Vineyards, Gabriele Rausse's long, illustrious career includes working in some capacity with over 50 vineyards and wineries statewide. He is also commonly identified with Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, where he is the winemaker, enthusiast and Director of Gardens and Grounds.

When did you know winemaking was your calling?

I didn’t know. My father wanted me to become a lawyer. I disappointed him and chose to study Agricultural Sciences at the University of Milano. We had two small farms that to my father were just a hobby, but each offered a family living. I worked there occasionally, and sometimes I was working in the greenhouses we had in town … I just loved it. When I chose Agricultural Sciences, my father told me I would be poor my whole life, and my friends told me I would never find a wife. My first job after I graduated was at Tenuta Santa Margherita. After all, what I can tell you is that I love to work, and on a farm and vineyard, the job is never done so you can always work.

What bottle of local wine is open in your kitchen?

Right now is a Pollack Cabernet Franc 2013. Tomorrow, it will be something else…

What is your favorite wine you have made, and why?

Vin Gris de Pinot Noir. I made it for the first time in 1989. I was really desperate, because it was raining every day and the Pinot Noir started to rot. I brought it to the winery (Simeon Vineyards, now Jefferson Vineyards), and I pressed and separated it immediately from the skins. I didn’t know what I was going to do, but at the end of the fermentation, the wine was beautiful. It’s my favorite—I had made a wonderful wine out of trash.

What’s your personal interest with viticulture/horticulture?

Not many people think that plants can talk to you, but they actually do in a very subtle way. Sometimes I think that I should talk only to plants…

What are your goals and aspirations for Virginia wine?

My aspiration is that the best wine in the world one day will be made in Virginia. What I find exciting is that the majority of the people involved in winemaking in Virginia have as a goal to make the best possible wine. There are a few who are interested only in making money and a few who are interested in both. But, most of them want to make something irresistible—the best wine made in the world.

Do you have a new wine coming out or is a new one on the horizon at either Monticello or at Gabriele Rausse Winery?

The first Vin Gris de Pinot Noir made at Monticello should be released soon. The Vin Gris is a wine made with Pinot Noir grapes harvested at what we call “Champagne maturity,” i.e. between 17- and 18-degree brix. The acidity is of course high, but the flavor is that of a Blanc de Noir Champagne, and it’s wonderful if you drink it with food.

Excuse me, with good food, because the acidity will help extract the flavor of the food. There is a touch of residual sugar that will stay put if you keep it cold, but if you don’t, you might find some bubbles and a little veil on the bottom.

How many vineyards have you worked with across the state?

From the well-aged Barboursville Vineyards to the soon to be planted Roslyn Farm Vineyard. I have worked at over 50.

What do you personally feel ties you to Jefferson?

I think we both agree that “It is neither wealth nor splendor but tranquility and occupation which gives happiness” [Thomas Jefferson to Anna Scott Jefferson July 12, 1788].

There are a lot of other things I love about Jefferson, but I don’t want to write you a book.

W&CLiving.com | 33

MONTICELLO

Workshops

Thomas Jefferson’s Revolutionary Monticello offers opportunities for the novice propagator to learn tips on handling local Virginia soil. Monticello’s winemaker and Director of Gardens and Grounds, Gabriele Rausse, among others, lead workshops on everything from planting fruits and vegetables that can be seen in Monticello’s garden to orchard pruning and apple grafting.

MARCH 26 STARTING A VINEYARD* APRIL 14 NATURAL LANDSCAPING WORKSHOP APRIL 23 SMARTPHONE PHOTOGRAPHY MAY 12 PAINTING & SKETCHING IN THE GARDEN JUNE 11 SEED SAVING WORKSHOP JUNE 11 BOTANICAL PAINTING & SKETCHING WITH LARA CALL GASTINGER JUNE 16 LET’S GO PAINT & SKETCH JULY 9 WINEMAKING WORKSHOP* AUGUST 6 FALL VEGETABLE PLANTING

*Workshop run by Gabriele Rausse For specific information on how to register for an event, visit monticello.org/site/visit/calendar

34

Photo by Sarah Cramer Photos by Andrea Hubbell

from our vineyards to your table Experience the heart of true Virginia winegrowing at Veritas v e r i t a s fa r m h o u s e . c o m

CRAFT BEVERAGES CRAFT BEVERAGES

Starr Hill brews anew

WORDS BY BRANTLEY USSERY | PHOTOGRAPHY BY WILLIAM WALKER

36

IN THE WAKE OF FOUNDER AND BREWMASTER, MARK THOMPSON, STARR HILL’S NEW BREWMASTER ROBBIE O’CAIN PREPARES TO DEBUT HIS NEW BREWS AND MAKE HIS MARK.

I

n early 2015, Founder and Brewmaster Mark Thompson handed the reins of Starr Hill Brewery over to Robbie O’Cain. O’Cain was eager to get started in his new role with the brewery and has been hard at work since. Under O’Cain’s leadership this year, the brewery will debut some exciting new changes.

Certainly no stranger to Starr Hill, O’Cain has been working at the brewery since 2011. Before his promotion to Brewmaster, he had most recently served as the manager of brewery operations. A native of the very beer-centric city of Asheville, North Carolina, O’Cain has had a life-long love affair with food and drink. After tinkering with brewing his own craft beers at home, putting his bachelor’s in chemistry to use, he began his path at Starr Hill Brewery. There was no looking back.

O’Cain attended the World Brewing Academy Master Brewer Program through Siebel Institute of Technology in Chicago and Doemens Academy in Munich, Germany, where he graduated at the top of his class and earned his master’s in Brewing Science. Eagerly accepting the Brewmaster position at Starr Hill, he immediately put his skills to work and started making changes. Not even the brewery’s most popular brews, including its flagship beer “Northern Lights India Pale Ale,” were immune to O’Cain’s transformation.

Since “Northern Lights” accounts for a healthy one-third of sales for the brewery, tinkering with the recipe may have seemed like a risky proposition. Results have been overwhelmingly positive though. The new recipe features more of a hop-forward, balanced flavor with a reduction of bitterness. “If we can make it better, we should,” says O’Cain when asked about the new recipe. And, making it all “that much better” is his priority.

W&CLiving.com | 37

Starr Hill Brewery, named after a historic neighborhood in the heart of Charlottesville, has been cranking out its bubbly, carbonated concoctions since 1999. Thompson, the founder and a graduate of James Madison University, envisioned a place where people could come together to experience local craft brews along with live music under one roof. This vision became a reality as beerbrewing operations began and musicians looking for their first “big break” started performing.

Many musicians who have now catapulted themselves into the ranks of superstardom once performed at the original venue located on West Main Street. Acts such as Keith Urban, John Mayer, Jack Johnson, Kenny Chesney, Chris Daughtry, Dinosaur Jr., Yo La Tengo and the North Mississippi Allstars (as seen at left) have all serenaded audiences in this location. In fact, the band They Might Be Giants even wrote a song named “Charlottesville (Starr Hill Music Hall)” based on their experience performing there. The combination of suds and songs quickly helped secure Starr Hill’s status as a popular venue. The beer cemented its place at other local concert venues as well, serving up local brews at the nTelos Wireless Pavilion every week during Charlottesville’s Fridays After Five summer concert series.

The combination of music and craft beer was indeed a match made in heaven, and this rather modest idea began to soar into the stratosphere in the years that followed. From its humble beginnings, it has quickly become one of Virginia’s premiere craft beer breweries. Coming onto the scene just as the craft beer movement was beginning to gather steam, Starr Hill Brewery has continuously led the way in an industry that has seen phenomenal growth since its inception. In the last five years, the craft beer industry has tripled, and there are now a staggering 142 craft beer breweries in the state of Virginia alone.

The original Starr Hill Brewery began to outgrow its space on West Main Street and was in need of a larger facility, where the progressively popular craft beer could be brewed in larger quantities. A spacious warehouse in Crozet, became the brewery’s new location in 2005. Sitting at the edge of the Blue Ridge Mountains, this sprawling

38

Starr Hill MUSIC AND CRAFT BEER WAS INDEED A MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN, AND THIS RATHER MODEST IDEA BEGAN TO SOAR ...

A COMBINATION OF

facility was in many ways a natural fit for the bustling brewery.

Now located near the Beaver Creek Reservoir, it uses the reservoir as its primary water source. It wasn’t just the local general public demanding more from this hometown brewery—Starr Hill has gained national attention and is now one of the most award-winning breweries on the East Coast. Between the Great American Beer Festival, World Cup Beer Festival and Great British Beer Festival, the brewery has taken home 21 medals.

It’s not just the beer bling that makes it a memorable experience; it’s the ambitious and resilient culture that

is evident throughout the building. The days at Starr Hill are now marked by change, novelty, risk-taking and rebirth.

“We feel like a new brewery,” says marketing manager Jack Goodall while sitting at a table in the sparkling, modern tasting room. It might feel like a new brewery, but it continues to stay true to its roots in many ways, especially with regards to music. Photographs of wellknown musicians adorn the back wall of the tasting room, adjacent to a stage area. Many beers still have musicinspired names, like the “Double Platinum India Pale Ale” and the “Grateful Pale Ale.” However, in many other

W&CLiving.com | 39 Photos by Rachel May

DIVERSIFY THE PRODUCTS OF THE BREWERY IN WAYS THAT STARR HILL HAS NEVER SEEN BEFORE.

O’CAIN CONTINUES TO

ways, the brewery is undergoing a complete overhaul— from the brew recipes, to the labels and packaging— everything is taking on a new look, taste and feel.

Another change to the beer lineup this year was the brewery’s goodbye to one of its original beers. The dry Irish stout known as “Dark Starr” is being phased out, but not without style. The beer, which has the accolade of the most award-winning dry Irish stout in America, was given an Irish wake on St. Patrick’s Day, complete with the playing of Irish pipes and drums. As one beer rides off into the sunset, others will take its place. “Our [craft beer] portfolio has basically doubled in the past year,” says O’Cain. In 2016 alone, the brewery will be churning out 10 new craft beers, including two new seasonal releases, the launch of a Heavy Rotation Series and a revamped Debut Series lineup. Ever committed to maintaining strong ties to music, each of the four releases in the Heavy Rotation Series will be paired with a handpicked “mix tape” that will be available through Starr Hill’s Spotify account.

40

The folks at Starr Hill are also collaborating with other breweries on local, national and global levels.

Locally, the brewery plays a major role in the Brew Ridge Trail—a collaborative effort between six local breweries.

Recently, Starr Hill has collaborated with a brewery in Breckenridge, Colorado, and O’Hara’s Brewery all the way across the pond in Ireland. The results of the IrelandCharlottesville collaboration—a beer named “Blackthorn Irish Export Stout”—was released at the brewery’s “St. Paddy’s Day” festival. This festival featured several beer releases, live music and a food throw-down highlighting chefs from Hamiltons’ First & Main, Kardinal Beer Hall and Ivy Provisions. The brewery can also be found serving up their latest creations at their new festival this spring, the "IPA Jambeeree," and the ever-popular “Top of the Hops” beer festival in late summer.

The brewery continues to have a promising future and plans to debut new and tasty combinations of beer and music down the road, because, ultimately, that’s what Starr Hill is all about.

The

Foxfield Races

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER

25th

Gates Open at 10:00 am • Gates Close at 5:00 pm

• Benefiting • Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Central Blue Ridge Events include Jack Russell Terrier Races, Stick Pony Races, Pony Rides, Children’s Tent and Tween Tent ALL ACTIVITIES INCLUDED WITH ADMISSION • CHILDREN 8 AND UNDER ARE FREE

foxfieldraces.com | Like us on Facebook | 434-293-9501

Farm-to-Table to table happenings JAMES BEARD FOUNDATION

IMMERSIVE DINNER SERIES

The James Beard House in New York City celebrated Chinese New Year in February with a dinner cooked by Charlottesville’s Peter Chang, accompanied by local wines from Afton Mountain Vineyards. Chang welcomed the year of the monkey alongside two D.C.-area chefs, Scott Drewno and K. N. Vinod, with each working to prepare 9 hors d’oeuvres served with Afton’s Bollicine Brut and 4 entrees paired to different wines. After easing dinners in with an elegant and cooling cucumber-shrimp canapé, Chang served a spicy, peppery roast duck. The legs and thighs were served with black beans, and Chinese mustard accompanied the breasts, paired with a classic Cabernet Franc. “Our winemaker Dan Damien enjoyed telling the story of Virginia wines to the audience. The pairings of the Bollicine Brut and Gewurstraminer were just terrific with the spicy foods,” says Afton Mountain Vineyards Owner Elizabeth Smith. “It was such an honor to be there, and to have the wines so well-received.” Photo top left by Megan Swann, Courtesy of the James Beard Foundation

Feast! Cafe manager Megan Kiernan and local foodie Justin Stone have always been foragers. Drawing on this practice, the two founded their immersive dinner series, aptly named “Forage.” Open to anyone interested, each series is an immersive dining experience, centered on a particular theme. Inspiration for themes are drawn from anything, anyone and anywhere, and vary widely in motif, with some past events being an outdoor Whimsical Picnic & Preserve series and a formal Black & White Masked Affair masquerade. This March, diners were whisked into fairy tales with an Arabian Nights-themed evening with inspired dishes such the Retreat Farm lamb with hummus and watercress, grown in Kiernan's own backyard, and cocktails mixed using shrubs grown and preserved from Stone's garden. Themes include borrowed, thrifty and, yes, foraged items to decorate each venue, while menus are completed with food additionally sourced from farm markets and local producers. From start to finish, it is a collective, creative communal experience that is simultaneously whimsical, sustainable and delicious.

Photo top right by Kristen Finn

FRESH & SEASONAL Downtown Charlottesville comes alive on the weekend during the warmer months of April through October.

Start each Saturday off early and enjoy a prepared breakfast while perusing booths of fresh produce, herbs, plants, grass-fed meats, crafts and baked goods at the popular City Market. Reserved for sole producers of wares, the market attracts over 100 vendors each weekend.

Thronged with people on an agenda for farm-to-table food or just browsing the local wares, the market has something for everyone. The welcoming scents of freshly baked breads, homemade pies, spice rubs and handmade candles entice visitors to different booths, where it’s common to sample homemade jams or cheeses made from local farms, or to admire handcrafted throw rugs, baskets or jewelry. In addition to bolstering the local agricultural and artisan community, the market is also available through a Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, called SNAP, which offers assistance to individuals and families as a healthy source of nutrition.

42

SPICE DIVA LAUNCHES CLASSES The Spice Diva, Phyllis Hunter, outgrew her 143-squarefoot, jewelbox of a store in the corner of the Main Street Market and has expanded 1,000-fold into the 14,000-square-foot Spice Diva Emporium in the space across from Feast Market. In addition to the eponymous spices, visitors can also find bulk grains and beans, olive oils, vinegars and carefully selected kitchen and bar items.

Or, try a batch of her homemade Hibiscus Iced Tea made from hibiscus flowers, granulated honey, ginger powder and French lavender. Hunter, a former opera singer, is excited to announce the start of the Spice Diva Cooking School with class offerings covering an array of topics, including knife skills, Bengali cooking and more. But, the greatest education may be in chatting with Hunter herself, who always enjoys offering a narrative of her own cooking efforts, like her recent homemade Vietnamese pho with star anise. Photo bottom right by Ron Rammelkamp

For more happenings: CHARLOT TESVILLEWINEANDCOUNTRYLIVING.COM |

B

W&CLiving.com | 43

Farm-to-Table to table happenings NEW EATS IN BELMONT

GARDEN & GUN’S SERIES

Melissa Close-Hart, a four-time James Beard semi-finalist, and her new Belmont restaurant, Junction, are easily the most talked-about opening of 2016. Close-Hart, the former chef at Palladio Restaurant at Barboursville Vineyards, is looking forward to preparing Tex-Mex inspired cuisine, with a tequila bar as a change of pace from grapes and Italian-themed entrees. Close-Hart and her husband, Matthew Hart of The Local, hosted a combination Top-Chef-Family-Feud hybrid evening on March 16, previewing the menu at Junction and pitting husband and wife against each other in a course-by-course taste-off, emceed by barbeque legend Craig Hartman.

The event, which sold out online in four minutes, benefited The Local Food Bank and The International School of Charlottesville. Not to be outdone, Hart is also looking forward to a new venture, with plans to reopen the old Belmont BBQ space on Hinton as The Local Smokehouse—serving a straightforward barbeque menu, and utilizing as many local ingredients as possible.

This June, the Women will be back in Virginian fields, holding a summer sporting retreat, which will include a ladies-only shoot, a field feast, wine tasting and more right here in town. In 2013, Garden & Gun introduced the first ever event in their Women in the Field Series at the historic Homestead in Hot Springs, followed by wine pairings from Pippin Hill Farm & Vineyards—a Charlottesville favorite. The series features women enjoying traditionally “male” outdoor sporting events, showcasing the increasingly popular world of female sporting and providing an opportunity to foster camaraderie. The series hosts fly-fishing and shooting events, both of which include socializing opportunities and showcase different historic and natural landscapes and locations in the South. Past locations include Brays Island Plantation and Duck Bottom Plantation in South Carolina, and Cashiers, North Carolina.

CONCRETE TANK TREND Stinson Vineyards has been fermenting its wares in concrete since their first vintage in 2010, using the Nomblot concrete “egg” tanks exclusively on their Sauvignon Blanc. Locally, King Family Vineyards is also using this unusual tank for their Viognier. The concrete is porous and introduces more oxygen to the wine than a stainless steel tank. Rachel Stinson says, “It results in a very aromatic style, which we blend with our stainless steel barrel-fermented Sauvignon Blanc for the full spectrum of this varietal. You’ll notice florals, white peach and grapefruit on the nose of our 2014 vintage; this is from using the concrete.” The egg shape allows for more contact with the wine’s lees, which are yeast deposits that fall to the bottom of the tank. By stirring the lees weekly, Stinson can increase the body and mouthfeel of the wine.

44

BREWING GREEN Chris Jack, the executive chef at Wild Wolf Brewing Company in Nellysford, is a self-taught chef whose skill set belies his humble manner. A former plumber who got his start in the food business decorating cakes, Jack works in a different direction than most chefs, looking to pair the food to the beers brewed up by Brewmaster Danny Wolf, rather than looking for Wolf to match the libations to his food. Jack loves working with local farms, but he prefers to see what his favorite farmers come up with and go from there, as opposed to asking them to grow specific crops. Wild Wolf Brewing Company recently won the Virginia Green Brewery of the Year Award. Among other innovations, the brewery uses the spent grain from brewing to make their own hamburger buns, to feed the Rose Isle cattle that they cook at the restaurant, and also to feed Wolf’s chickens and ducks.

For more happenings: CHARLOT TESVILLEWINEANDCOUNTRYLIVING.COM |

B

5pM Sunday, april 24 at blenheiM vineyardS

fL I B R A R Y

SERIES

GUEST CHEF

DINNER tristan wraight

kOakhart Social

p

Matt Greene

kJM Stock provisions

Join us for our Library Series Guest Chef Dinner with Chef/butcher Matt Greene of JM Stock Provisions anD Chef/owner tristan wraiGht of oakhart SoCial unDer the tented event Space of blenheiM farM for a five CourSe

faMiLy Style Dinner Paired with Library wineS froM blenheiM vineyardS. this is a rare opPortunity to See the hiStoric Property while enJoying LoCaLly SourCeD Cuisine alonGside vintage wineS.

ticket price: $85

RESERVE AT WWW.BLENHEIMVINEYARDS.COM

46

Portrait

ARTISAN

DANIEL PERRY Jam Maker

In his mother’s residential kitchen, with little more than a gas range, three large copper pots and an induction burner for his garden-variety canner, Daniel Perry transforms local fruit into one of his more than 100 varieties of jam. He has been making jam this way since 2008, creating over 50,000 jars in those eight years.

“It’s funny,” he says, “mom has actually had to kick me out of the kitchen so that she can make dinner!”

Perry spent much of his youth in Charlottesville and, after studying art at Hampshire College in Massachusetts, returned to the area. He answered a small newspaper ad to become an assistant jam maker for the Kluge Estate Winery, now the Trump Winery, just south of the city of Charlottesville. He has been making jam ever since.

At 23 years old, Perry took a chance to begin producing his own jams featuring local produce, less sugar and no pectin. This approach lets him showcase the area’s incredible bounty and forces his ingenuity when developing recipes. Combining

fruits that are seasonably available side-by-side, that balance sweetness, tanginess or texture (Perry loves to reduce the seediness of blackberries with plums), or that help to balance out pectin levels for that perfect consistency, are parts of the art he loves so much. “Mostly, though, I just really like to eat fresh fruit,” says Perry. “It’s the best part of the job!”

Some of his most recent inspiration comes from his new wife, Rachel Williamson, who creates herbal teas and spice blends for Fairweather Farm and whose herbs just might wind up in a few of Perry’s latest creations.

When not making jam, he can be found hunting down the freshest produce or helping design the house he and Rachel are building, but, mostly, he just loves jam! “The fruit is there,” he says, “and it just won’t wait!”

You can find Perry and his jams at the Charlottesville City Market from April to December.

His jams are also offered at a limited number of Charlottesville area stores.

WORDS BY BRIAN MELLOTT | PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANDREA HUBBELL

W&CLiving.com | 47

Chef

MEET THE

WORDS BY LYNN PRIBUS | PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEN FARIELLO 48

ChefSlawski Walter Theo Xavier Slawski, owner and founder of The Shebeen Pub & Braai, 2003, and The Catering Outfit, 1999, has recreated a magical South African childhood through his love of food in the heart of downtown Charlottesville.

How does the name Shebeen describe your place?

A shebeen is an unlicensed establishment or private house selling liquor, typically regarded as slightly disreputable.

For me, it’s a bit of a tongue-in-cheek name, juxtaposing true shebeens against the backdrop of an elevated wine making and culinary tradition.

What is your connection to Africa?

My mum was born and raised in South Africa. When I was 10, my family moved from California to Harare, Zimbabwe, and it was the most impactful event of my childhood. There is a certain freedom and haunting beauty to that part of the world and its people. It changes you.

Did you attend local schools?

A Richmond business associate introduced my father to Woodberry Forest School in Madison County, so I spent my high school years traveling between Woodberry and Zimbabwe. As Zimbabwe deteriorated economically in the mid to late ’90s, my family moved to Richmond. I accepted early admission at UVA. What sort of training have you had as a chef?

Zero! I worked in restaurants and catering companies while pursuing my degree in economics from UVA. I have an extremely varied personal culinary story, growing up with a mother of Greek and British heritage and a father of Polish descent, and from traveling extensively throughout the world.

In fact, my dad grew up in Brooklyn and cooked “strange” things using the whole animal from tripe to brains, so I’ve always had an open mind about food. He did a lot of outdoor grilling because we often had power blackouts in Africa.

Are certain African dishes always on the menu?

Shebeen’s menu is fairly static because we have a local following for our core dishes. South Africa was a major stopping point on trade routes; so these dishes typically feature vibrant flavors including annatto, tamarind, curry spices, toasted coriander and smoky peppers. The catering company is where I really play as a chef.

Do you incorporate local foods into your menu?

Absolutely, especially lamb and poultry.

What do you cook for your family at home?

Clean dishes like Chilean sea bass with Meyer lemon butter and fresh veggies. Also, Japanese and Tex-Mex dishes.

Do you have some favorite local spirits?

My top picks would be Virginia Distillery Co.’s Virginia Highland Malt Whisky, the King Family Vineyards’ line-up of wines and anything Three Notch’d Brewing Company or Bold Rock Hard Cider produce.

What do you like best about living here?

The restaurants. [Surprise? I think not] How do you “give back?”

We support local nonprofits too numerous to name, from the Silver Lining Blood Drive to Meals on Wheels. I will also be doing a 150-mile “Proper Walk” in the Great Rift Valley of Kenya this August. Each walker must raise at least $10,000 for the Makindu Children’s Program—an orphanage in Kenya. #WaltersWalk

W&CLiving.com | 49

King Family Vineyards is a family owned and operated vineyard and winery located at the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Crozet, just fifteen minutes from Charlottesville. The winery specializes in the production of ultra-premium wines that showcase the remarkable quality and terroir of the Monticello AVA. Beginning with carefully selected estate grapes, winemaker Matthieu Finot creates wines inspired by the Old World, but uniquely expressive of Virginia.

OUR PASSION IS THE CUSTOMER, OUR CRAFT IS THE WINE. KINGFAMILY VINEYARDS.COM

Stunning.

c a s t l e h i l l c i d e r. c o m

Kalette Salad COURTESY OF THE SHEBEEN PUB & BRAAI

INGREDIENTS Four 6-ounce packages kalettes (1½ lbs) 1 whole pomegranate, seeded for arils 4 clementines, peeled and sectioned 1 pound purple pear onions, peeled 1 pound French beans, snipped

FOR THE DRESSING 1 pound local hickory slab bacon ½ cup of shallots, diced ¼ cup of rendered bacon fat 1 cup grapeseed oil 1 cup local apple cider ¾ cup of apple cider vinegar ¼ cup of Dijon mustard 1 tbsp local honey

INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE SALAD 1. Preheat oven to 350°F. 2. Slice bacon into ¼-inch thick rashers, and place on elevated grate on flat-rimmed baking sheet.

3. Cook for 20 minutes or until the outside is crispy and deeply colored, then remove from oven.

4. Drain and reserve bacon fat. Cut rashers into ¼-inch lardons (perpendicular to the rasher length).

5. Trim the base of the kalettes stalk of any browning, and remove any outer leaves that are broken or brown, then place in large metal mixing bowl.

6. Blanche French beans and pearl onions. Cut beans length-wise and onions in half parallel to the root to display the rings. Add the pomegranate arils, clementines, French beans and pearl onions to the kalettes.

1 tbsp sea salt 1 tsp black pepper

INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE DRESSING 1. Combine apple cider, cider vinegar, Dijon, honey, sea salt and pepper in a metal mixing bowl. While whisking, drizzle in oil to emulsify.

2. In medium saucepan, heat ½ cup of reserved bacon fat. Add shallots and sauté for 2 minutes. Add lardons and sauté for an additional 2 minutes.

3. Pour dressing into pan and bring to a boil. Remove from heat. *Watch Charlottesville Wine & Country Living's blog for the full recipe.

W&CLiving.com | 51

COUNTRYSIDE FÊTES

IN TRUE FARM-TO-BLANKET FASHION, CHARLOTTESVILLE WINE & COUNTRY LIVING PACKS A BEAUTIFUL SPREAD FOR A DAY OF POLO AT KING FAMILY VINEYARDS.

Picnic

THE POLO

From Memorial Day to mid-October, spectators enjoy Roseland Polo on the field of the King Family Vineyards.

Families and friends gather each Sunday to enjoy the match and tailgate on the farthest side of the field or picnic near the boards closest to the tasting room.

Spectators enjoy delicious feasts of all kinds and, while ABC laws don’t permit outside alcohol on the premises, spectators can enjoy the refreshing wines of King Family Vineyards.

One of the most popular wines served at the polo matches is the Crosé named after the nearby village of Crozet, but with a French spelling in homage to the winemaker Matthieu Finot who was born in the famed Crozes Hermitage wine appellation in the Rhône Valley of France. This dry Merlot-based Rosé is fresh and crisp with notes of grapefruit, lime, watermelon and a light grassiness that is perfect for this kind of festive afternoon.

Preparing an elegant feast for dining al fresco is as simple as packing your favorite picnic basket full of chic Caspari paperware, pillows, a matching blanket and some

WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY R. L. JOHNSON

52

trays for balancing your glassware. We found that Germanmade glass Weck jars, available at The Happy Cook, are the perfect fit for storing and serving salads, mixed olives and even iced tea.

With plenty of gourmet markets dotting the way along Route 250, it should be no trouble to pick up food for an outing at King Family Vineyards. Our sandwiches made with freshly baked French bread came from the always-popular Bellair Market. From Greenwood Grocery, we chose locally grown heirloom cherry tomatoes and cheeses to snack on.

Our favorite cheese is the amazing Gouda made with love by the nuns of Our Lady of the Angels Monastery located only a few miles away. For dessert, we stopped in at Chiles Orchard just down the road from King Family Vineyards and picked up their to-die-for peach pie made of freshly picked peaches.

From sundresses and wide-rimmed hats to cute shorts or jeans, the dress code of Roseland Polo matches is always casual. Learn more about the game as well as the man behind Roseland Polo, vineyard owner David King, on page 68.

W&CLiving.com | 53

THE FOOD SCENE

LOCAL CHEFS SHARE THEIR PASSION FROM BEHIND THE WINDOW FOR THE NATION'S GROWING FARM-TO-TABLE FOOD TREND.

FoodTrucks

GOURMET

A vendor by the name of Walter Scott is credited as the original trendsetter of the mobile food movement, selling pies and coffee from a small covered wagon outside a newspaper office in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1872. Over 100 years later, Chef Roy Choi in Los Angeles began Kogi BBQ Food Truck, which jump-started the modern foodtruck scene across America. After a recent Hill & Holler event in November, featuring South Fork Food Truck, Blue Ridge Pizza Co. and Spiked Food Truck during a “Cider Week Food Truck Takeover,” we were inspired to find out more. We interviewed the participants and a few local leading chefs behind the belly of their beasts to gain an understanding of life inside the service window.

Phillip Gerringer, chef and proprietor of South Fork, describes his food truck as a “mobile kitchen specializing in inspired southern cuisines, including family recipes and new takes on old classics. Gerringer also notes, “While we WORDS BY TRACEY LOVE | PHOTOGRAPHY BY R. L. JOHNSON

54

may not have Mom’s dining room table, we look to bring people together in the fun, social environment that is fundamental to the southern eating experience.”

All of their food is made from scratch, and the quality and passion behind it is reflected from the first bite. Gerringer gets his inspiration from “a melting pot of different culinary traditions, techniques and ingredients, which are drawn from the native and migrant people who settled in the Southern U.S. over the past 400 years.”

Chris Bullard of Blue Ridge Pizza Co. began his culinary career working with “all sorts of local producers” at Relay Foods. He says he realized the importance of the small food producers , and it inspired him “to do something to showcase their products.” As an avid pizza lover, going into the pizza business seemed only natural. “I once challenged myself to eat pizza at least once a day until I got sick of it. I was in college and made it to around 45 days before I had to choose between beer and pizza and due to college economics, I chose the former.” Because his set-up involves a pickup truck with a wood-fired oven, he explains that they can’t do everything traditional window service trucks can. “We also don’t have any regular spots that aren’t festivals, because we do so much catering now. It limits (our ability to attend) street events quite a bit.”

William Conti owns and runs Spiked Food Truck, which specializes in “gourmet booze-infused food.”

Each menu item has local alcohol infused into it. He cut his culinary chops at the Tavern at Spring Creek Golf Course, and quickly realized he wanted to start his own enterprise before the scene really “blew up.”

Conti says he cooks “because I wanted to make food that was unique and not seen in Charlottesville; plus,

W&CLiving.com | 55

Parallel 38 offers a small plate dining experience inspired by iconic food and wine regions along the 38th parallel – The Mediterranean, Napa Valley and Charlottesville (to name a few). Their food, wine and cocktail programs have received abundant praise – “Best New Restaurant” (Cville Weekly), an invitation to cook at the prestigious James Beard House, recognition as an original member of Charlottesville’s 29 Best Restaurants in “Charlottesville 29,” etc.

All photos by Meredith Coe

“This style of cooking would be very much at home in a three-star restaurant in Washington, San Francisco or New York. “ –Tom Seitsema, Food Critic Washington Post

LOCALLY OWNED | LOCALLY SOURCED

434.923.3838

|

P38CVILLE.COM

www.bbvwine.com

1976 ~ 2016 NOW, CELEBRATING OUR 40TH ANNIVERSARY. AS ONE OF THE DEFINING VINEYARDS IN VIRGINIA WINE, WE ARE POURING HISTORIC OCTAGON VINTAGES IN OUR LIBRARY 1821 FOR TASTING AND COLLECTING, EVERY WEEKEND OF THE YEAR. COME DISCOVER WHY THIS ESTATE OF WINE IS THE OCTAGON OF A GREAT GROWING REGION.

Good Eats Scene

“It’s unpredictable and full of complications ... but there is a sense of FREEDOM AND ADVENTURE

that makes it all worthwhile.” with all of the local options to choose from, it seemed like the right fit. The vineyards, distilleries and breweries are really what inspire my menu.”

Peter and Merrill Robertson, the culinary geniuses behind Côte-Rôtie, which serves an array of cuisines ranging from Japanese to Italian to Mexican, met at the Culinary Institute of America in 2001. Originally owners of a restaurant in Long Island, they admit that food truck life can be “equally challenging and comes with its own mountain of issues.”

Charles Matheson of Charley’s Chili is no rookie when

it comes to making chili and has cooked and sold his chili at Little John’s Deli for the past five years. Matheson considers himself to be a “chili freak since adolescence and spent a lifetime concocting recipes using every ingredient imaginable.” He sums up the convivial yet arduous roving kitchen lifestyle as a “mobile pirate ship rolling along an asphalt sea and its many tributaries. It’s unpredictable and full of complications that you don’t have in a fixed restaurant, but there is a sense of freedom and adventure that makes it all worthwhile.”

W&CLiving.com | 57

CUISINE

some like it hot CELEBRATING THE HOTTER SIDE OF LOCAL CUISINE AND THE INTRIGUING GHOST PEPPER

WORDS BY PETER D. BETHKE | PHOTOGRAPHY BY R. L. JOHNSON

58

M

y first introduction to the chili pepper came to me as an 8-year-old, when every Thursday night was pizza night for our family. My sister and I looked forward with great anticipation to this singular night of indulgence. To “protect” his generous portion of pizza, the first thing my father would do upon arriving home was to douse his slices with a large helping of hot pepper flakes. Naturally, this annoyed me to no end. So, as not to be denied, I set about developing a tolerance for the stuff. After a few weeks, I was successful.

The smug satisfaction I felt more than made up for my burning mouth and watering eyes. My sister, meanwhile, could only look on with envy and amazement.

Since then, my father and I have shared a passion for all things spicy—books, recipes, hot sauces and even home grown hot peppers. You might say it runs in the family. I don’t know what it is about the desire to conquer spicy foods, but let’s just say I’ve received more than a couple of well-earned “I survived” t-shirts for my efforts in restaurants that reward those brave enough to take on the hottest dish they can create. I guess I haven’t changed much since I was an 8-year-old.

Not long ago, I was at the Barbeque (BBQ) Exchange in Gordonsville with my 15-year-old son, along with my wife and mother-in-law. It was father’s day. To celebrate, I spontaneously ordered a sandwich (seen above) called

W&CLiving.com | 59

GHOST PEPPER Pineapple Upside Down Cake COURTESY OF THE BARBEQUE EXCHANGE

Instructions Ingredients 6 eggs 2 cups sugar ¾ cup pineapple juice 2 cups all purpose flour ½ ghost pepper, seeded and minced* (maybe less, maybe more depending on your heat tolerance/enjoyment) 3 tsp baking powder ¾ tsp salt ¾ cup butter 2 cups brown sugar 12 half-inch slices of pineapple, core removed 12 cherries, pitted or Maraschino

1. In mixer, beat eggs, sugar and pineapple juice.

2. In a separate bowl, sift flour, salt and baking powder. Whisk together so all is incorporated.

3. Fold wet ingredients into dry, being careful not to over mix.

4. Fold in minced Ghost Pepper carefully.

5. M elt butter and whisk in brown sugar until heated through.

Maybe 1 minute.

6. S poon brown-sugar and butter mixture into bottom of the holes in a muffin tin. Utilize all mixture.

7. Lay pineapple in muffin tin on top of brown-sugar mixture.

8. Place cherry in hole of pineapple.

9. Spoon cake mixture into muffin tins on top of pineapple.

10. B ake at 250°F for approximately 20 minutes, or until done (toothpick should come out clean). Use cake tester.

11. Flip cakes onto wire rack while warm.

Makes approximately 12 cakes depending on the size of your muffin tin. *NOTE: Coming into contact with a Ghost Pepper seed, or even the fumes from washing dishes that served them, can be excruciatingly painful. The peppers should be handled with disposable gloves and protective goggles.

60

“Hell on a Bun.” As soon as I ordered it, my server began to warn me of the potency of the sandwich with a look of concern. My wife laughed as I assured the kind server that I was well-versed in the world of spicy. The “Hell” sandwich was a work of art, piled high with “Bang Bang” bacon, fried Habanero mac n’ cheese, Thai Dragon pepper salad, Ghost Pepper sauce and gorgeous fresh Ghost Pepper and Trinidad Scorpion Pepper slices—two of the hottest peppers on the planet! What an enticing challenge.

Halfway through eating it, my head was completely on fire, and sweat was pouring down my face. My mother-inlaw looked worried. Me, I was loving it! My son, who was also watching with a look of awe, quickly reached over and popped one of the fresh Ghost Pepper slices in his mouth. Just then, the cook who had made the sandwich came out to check in on me for the second time to make sure I was OK. My son asked him, “Hey, was that like a Habanero?” The cook replied, “No that’s a Ghost Pepper.

I picked them myself from my garden.” My son looked back to me—a mixture of triumph and macho pride on his face—took a quick photo of the sandwich, and began Facebooking it to his friends. “Cooooool!!” he said. Then suddenly, in the same breath, he looked up and said, “Dad. I…need…milk…NOW.” And so, the love of hot chili peppers is passed on to yet another generation. The three of us—my dad, myself and my son—have gathered twice now to create our own hot

sauces, made from our own home-grown peppers, and to share cherished stories that have evolved around the endlessly thrilling hot pepper. Our homemade hot sauce is called “3 Bubbas.” The bottle features the apt tagline: “Three generations…One hot mess,” and the description on the humorously designed label (created by my wife) reads, “It’s the kind of sauce that will have you sayin’, ‘Them boys ain’t right!’”

My wife and mother-in-law generally sit watching the spectacle of these hot pepper challenges that I take, not with the awe my son has, and certainly not with the envy my younger sister felt. Their looks are more along the lines of, “What on earth is wrong with you?” So just what is it that drives people to subject themselves to the excruciating kiss of the hot pepper? Is it really the taste?

Is it the burn, which some call the “chili pepper rush,” said to release endorphins in the brain? Or is it the “high five” and the story that just never gets old? To my wife and mother-in-law, who generally support, or tolerate, my perplexing fascination with hot sauce, as I put it on everything from my eggs at breakfast to my portion of dinner that night, it is certainly a mystery. How is it that the humble chili pepper, genus Capsicum, can inspire such foolish, and many might say masochistic, behavior in otherwise well-adjusted people?

We have to begin with the chili pepper itself. It’s a fruit, not a vegetable—a member of the nightshade family similar to the tomato. It grows the world over but is

W&CLiving.com | 61

particularly associated with hot climates like Mexico, India, Southeast Asia and the Caribbean. The chili pepper gets its “kick” from a compound called Capsaicin, a devilish substance that causes a burning sensation when it comes in contact with mucous membranes like the mouth and eyes.

Chili peppers originated in the Americas and spread via trade routes widely during and after the age of Columbus.

They come in all sorts of beautiful colors, shapes, sizes and degrees of heat. Heat in a chili pepper is measured by a test known as the Scoville Scale. Measurements range from zero (the non-threatening Bell pepper) to over 2 million for the Carolina Reaper, currently known to have the hottest recorded. The Ghost Pepper, also called the Bhut Jolokia, is currently the seventh hottest in the world with a rating of 1,041,427 Scoville units. To put it into perspective, the Jalapeño pepper, which can vary in heat from plant to plant, measures something around 3- to 10-thousand Scoville units at its hottest. Yes, that’s right, the Ghost Pepper is well over 100 times as hot as the hottest Jalapeño.

What is wrong with us, indeed?

Not surprisingly, Thomas Jefferson, an avid horticulturist, was no stranger to the chili pepper. He planted his first pepper in 1767 at his birthplace in Shadwell. It was a Long Red Cayenne pepper, which also grows in the garden at Monticello. He was also fond of a

62

pepper variety called the Texas Bird, sent to him by his friend Captain Samuel Brown. In fact, documents from the archives of Monticello have brought to light a number of spicy recipes that were enjoyed in Jefferson's time.

These days, chili peppers, including the Ghost Pepper, are grown the world over by amateur gardeners and commercial farms alike. For those who do grow them commercially, it’s a tricky business. Mike Clark, of Planet Earth Diversified, is an experienced and successful local grower who supplies chili peppers to many local restaurants, including the BBQ Exchange. Most Saturday mornings, he can be found at the City Market in downtown Charlottesville with many varieties of peppers, including the Ghost Pepper. According to Clark, it takes about five years to set up a decent system for growing reliable Ghost Peppers. There are a lot of challenges—cross-pollination, weather, bugs and, of course, the harvest itself. You do not want this stuff to get on your skin or on delicate membranes, like the inside of your nose or eye. When you’re handling ghost peppers, wear gloves to protect your hands, and be careful not to touch your face or eyes.

Wash your hands frequently and thoroughly, and clean your cooking equipment carefully. If you’re grinding the peppers in a food processor or blender, be careful to avoid inhaling any dust that may arise; it may be a good idea to

wear goggles. Finally, there’s a matter of proportion—one Ghost Pepper can go a long way. Clark says often a large harvest can go unused because one can only use so much at a time. As a result, “I sell a lot more Jalapeños,” he says.

Despite all this, whether as a novelty or entrée, the Ghost Pepper does find its way onto the plate. So, in search of the chef’s side of the story, I returned to the BBQ Exchange where I had earlier ordered, and yes eaten, the entire “Hell on a Bun” sandwich (and was awarded a t-shirt for my efforts). Founded by celebrated and award-winning local Chef Craig Hartman, the BBQ Exchange is also managed by Chef Brooks Tanner. Chefs Hartman and Tanner have known each other for many years. When Hartman opened the BBQ Exchange, he made it his goal to woo Tanner to Gordonsville to share in his vision and love of “oldschool, slow-cooked BBQ.” They've been collaborating ever since. The “Ghost Pepper” project, as Tanner describes it, was just such a collaboration. It started with an incendiary array of Hartman’s BBQ sauces featuring the Ghost Pepper, called “Caution HOT,” “Poltergeist” and “Hell Fire.” With names like that, who wouldn’t be tempted by the challenge to try them? Following the success of the sauces, Hartman encouraged Tanner to take it a step further. Tanner pushed the boundaries of cuisine to include Ghost Peppers in sambals, relishes, deviled eggs and even desserts. All this, in addition to the “Hell on a Bun” sandwich, exemplifies BBQ Exchange as a Chili-head’s dream.

Tanner is always striving to do something “cool” with food. The key to

Not surprisingly, THOMAS JEFFERSON, an avid horticulturalist,

was no stranger to the CHILI PEPPER.

W&CLiving.com | 63

Brooks believes that eating BBQ and HOT PEPPERS “brings PEOPLE TOGETHER … it creates a bond of SHARED EXPERIENCE.” his success is not being afraid to fail. “Ghost Peppers are an untapped resource,” Tanner says. “A lot of chefs are afraid to use them. But they have this really unique, distinctive flavor that most people never get to enjoy, because they can't get past the heat. So the trick is to capture that flavor and not blow people out of their seats. I want to use the Ghost Pepper in a way that could be on a fine dining menu—not just a novelty.” He’s certainly achieved that. When I visited him, Tanner served me a beautiful variety of hot sauces (seen on the opening spread), deviled eggs (seen above) and a delectable Ghost Pepper pineapple upside-down cake, drizzled with a syrup made of Ghost Pepper and honey (seen on page 60), that even my wife loved. The slow, subtle burn of the cake was definitely not what you’d expect—combined with the sweetness of the pineapple, the Ghost Peppers yielded a flavor that was complex and truly unforgettable. Brooks believes that eating BBQ and hot peppers “brings people together…it creates a bond of shared experience.” Of his obsession with the Ghost Pepper, he laughs, “people are like…‘It’s crazy; who

64

would do that?’ That’s the kind of food I like to make—food that pushes the envelope. The BBQ Exchange is the only place I can get a 50-pound bag of peppers in front of me and say, what cool thing can I do with these this time.”

So, after all that, I’m left with the same question. What is it about chili peppers like the Ghost Pepper that makes otherwise sane people like myself take the plunge into fiery madness? Is it the rush? Is it the shared suffering of seeing your fellow chili-eater sweat along with you and the stories that you keep telling years later about “that sandwich?” Maybe a secret part of you actually enjoys seeing that incredulous, “What is wrong with you?” look worn by those who don’t share your bravery (or stupidity depending on who you ask).

Maybe, like most things, it’s a combination of all these things.

The one thing I do know is that thanks to local growers and the daring chefs at BBQ Exchange who are willing to use them, the chili pepper is alive and kicking in Jefferson’s Virginia, leaving hot chili pepper lovers like me saying, “Wow, that’s so cool!!”

thehappycook.com

FOR OVER 35 YEARS, THE HAPPY COOK HAS BEEN CHARLOTTESVILLE’S SOURCE OF CULINARY INSPIRATION and has brought lasting memories to life in the home. Our reason for being is our customers and we are always excited to be included in the fabric of your life that is knit around the kitchen.

FARM-TO-TABLE CUISINE

THE UNDERGROUND KITCHEN, A NEW VENTURE OF THEMED POP-UP DINNERS CREATED BY INTERNATIONAL DESIGNER MICHEAL SPARKS, IS GAINING MOMENTUM.

Kitchen

UNDERGROUND

Beginning its events only three years ago in Richmond, the Underground Kitchen (UGK) is a relatively new venture that has gained a tremendous amount of momentum and shows no signs of slowing down. Utilizing the talent of local chefs, the UGK holds themed pop-up dinners in different cities that are open to anyone lucky enough to grab a ticket from their website, where events are announced spontaneously.

The brainchild behind this food-centric experience is Micheal Sparks, an international design and branding expert originally from New York City, who has worked with the likes of Louis Vuitton, FashionistaTea, the International Council of Fine Arts Deans, Virginia Commonwealth University and the Institute for Contemporary Art, to name a few. Before turning his attention to the foodie scene, he founded Micheal Sparks Design, a luxury branding and

WORDS BY MANDY REYNOLDS PHOTOGRAPHY BY SARAH CRAMER SHIELDS 66

design business in Richmond, which aspires to create products by merging concept and design seamlessly and persuasively—a practice that has carried over favorably to his pop-up dining enterprise.

Each UGK event is an experience in and of itself.

Every dinner is crafted around a different theme that is woven into the menu, décor and location. The multicourse menu is designed to include only unique and exploratory dishes, requiring chefs to push themselves in order to provide a learning experience for everyone involved. Chefs are also encouraged to use produce from within a 100-mile radius, making the meal a truly local farm-to-table experience.

With the booming success of the UGK, Sparks has already begun broadening his foodie horizons to philanthropic and educational causes. As of 2015, the UGK is a nonprofit foundation committed to the elimination of food deserts, which are geographic areas where affordable and nutritious food is hard to obtain. Through hosting pop-up farmers markets in underdeveloped city neighborhoods, the foundation strives to provide customers with fresh, local nutritious produce for half the price—benefitting local producers and communities alike.

“Silk Road,” the newest initiative of the UGK nonprofit, maps out the geographic area from Maryland to South Carolina pinpointing the source of produce used by the foundation in order to give guests a tangible representation of their commitment to supporting local communities. This ties in with the appreciation and practice of sustainable dining and locally sourced ingredients. The UGK is also working on an educational initiative with Virginia State University that is designed to teach healthy eating and food preparation, and provide students with practical experience.

Spanning to 15 cities and selling out of tickets on a regular basis—all in such a short existence—the future of this foodie movement looks extremely bright.

W&CLiving.com | 67

SPORTING LIFE

Roseland

POLO David King shares his love of polo at King Family Vineyards

WORDS BY SARAH PASTOREK | PHOTOGRAPHY BY R. L. JOHNSON 68

P

olo, an ancient sport for man and horse, traces its origin back to ancient Persia (now Iran) sometime between 600 BC and 100 AD. Currently, the sport is played worldwide with the majority of clubs being found in the United States, Argentina, India and Western Europe. It is often associated as the sport of royalty the world over, but most famously played by the men of the British royal family. In the U.S., however, polo has been iconisized by the highend designer, Ralph Lauren. Here in Charlottesville, polo matches can be found just west of town under the leadership of our own brand of local royalty, vineyard owners David and Ellen King.

The Roseland Polo club, located at King Family Vineyards near Crozet, holds matches each Sunday from

June through mid-October. Each weekly match draws several hundred spectators, some who dress up in highsociety fashion and some who enjoy the matches in jeans and shorts (no dress code is required). But all who come, encircle the field in festive tailgating fashion to watch this ancient sport, enjoy their picnics, the good company of friends and family, and the excellent King Family Vineyards wines.

As I sat beside the polo field for my first experience with the sport, I was engrossed with the coming together of past traditions and today’s spectators. All around me, visitors from near and far joined spirits under the beautiful Virginia sky with clouds casting shadows over the mountains for miles. I enjoyed the pleasant summer scents of the vineyard’s vines while the scene unfolded

W&CLiving.com | 69

before me, a charming combination. Not competitive in any league, these matches are held out of King’s love for the sport, and are purely for the enjoyment of the players, the ponies and the spectators.

Property owner and fellow polo player, David King, a retired lawyer, dressed for the day’s match in his usual spot under a small tree near the stables. Used to this routine, he zipped up his boots, pulled on his red polo jersey, sporting the King Family Vineyards logo, and his white helmet and gloves, all the while conversing with folks passing by on their way around the field. A curious spectator asked him a question or two, wished him luck and went on her way.

I asked him what the two most frequently asked questions were, and he relayed with a hint of a smile, “What should I wear to the match?” and “What side of the mallet do you hit the ball with?” chuckling that most Americans associate polo with scenes from movies like “Pretty Woman” and are curious about the mallet, which they sometimes associate with a croquet mallet.

70

Since King’s first polo match in Houston, Texas, in 1980, he has played with a spirit, passion and competitive nature of which his family is clearly proud. His first pony, “Mother Dumper,” was aptly named, dumping King on the ground the first two times he rode him. Whether talking about his first polo pony or one of his current favorites, Chispa, an American thoroughbred from Houston, King has a deep respect for the sport and strives to make sure its 18th-century traditions are upheld. And, for the horse enthusiasts who know their breeds, it should be clarified that polo players ride horses, but they still use the traditional term “ponies.”

It might be surprising to learn that when the Kings arrived in Virginia from Houston, Texas in 1996, it was important to them to find a property that would suit a polo field. With the number of rolling hills in our region, it was not an easy task. But, find it they did in the farm property we all know as Roseland Farm. It wasn’t until later when they were approached by a viticulturist who pointed out

W&CLiving.com | 71

More and more couples are choosing to design their wedding receptions with a “food first” approach, seeking out what is fresh, locally available and in season on their wedding day.

For the more devoted “foodie” brides and grooms, their wedding menus even serve as inspiration for the aesthetic of their wedding by creating tablescapes that have expanded beyond the traditional floral elements. Think stunning

spreads

of

in-season

produce,

delicately arranged among garlands of green, providing beautiful color—and conversation starters—for guests. Incorporating tiny pots of local honey, small crystal bowls of dried fruits and vintage canning jars with bright, locally made jams provides not only delicious accoutrements for a wedding feast, but also incredibly beautiful décor.

The use of dinner service is also reflecting a unique and telling trend in the area. More and more couples are opting for a stationed dinner as opposed to serving plated entrees or asking guests to proceed through a traditional buffet. The benefit of a stationed dinner is not only the atmosphere and vibe it creates for the reception (less formal with more opportunities for guest interaction and movement), but also the freedom and creativity it allows for the menu. Instead of having to select just a few entrees to offer guests, couples have the opportunity to create a wholly unique meal at each station—and most weddings feature four or five. Each station becomes its own “story.”

While the growing station trend certainly centers around Virginia favorites, such as a “biscuit bar,” more unique stations featuring Thai food or sushi are also cropping up at local receptions.

But the tastiest dish of all is the crowning glory of the wedding feast—the cake. With its unstructured style, the timeless English sponge cake, or Victoria cake, only has icing between its layers, rather than on its top and sides. This beautifully simple style has recently been gracing many dessert buffets. Easily prepared with farm-fresh ingredients and

72

“It is one of our GREATEST JOYS to share it all with our visitors,” Ellen King says, “the view, the SPORT, the EXPERIENCE and the WINE.” that the property would grow excellent grapes for making wine, that the family considered getting into the vineyard business. With King’s vision and commitment to excellence, Roseland Farm’s polo field is now surrounded by 31 acres of stunning vineyards that produce just over 10,000 cases per year of some of the area’s finest wines.

The game of polo is a magnificent sight, one filled with finesse, strategy and athleticism. Looking at the crowd was nothing less, with people lined around the field, preparing for the match before us. Trunks popped open, tents went up, and blankets were spread with picnic foods for the kids and adults alike. They talked about everything from the rules of the sport to the picnic spreads they were sampling and which King Family wine they would select. A golf cart driven by friendly staff circled the field filling wine and water orders.

As I sat on my own blanket, I overheard stories of

someone’s own family members playing the sport along with plans being made for the next week’s matchup. I quickly learned that neither the length of the match nor the weather hinder the weekly outing for regular attendees.

“Last Sunday, we had blankets draped over our legs to lessen the brunt of the wind,” a girl said to me as I commented on the sun. Well over an hour before the opening whistle, chairs and blankets were already set up for the afternoon of picnicking.

In the background, you could see ponies being prepped at the stables and the trailers that brought in the guest teams and their ponies. Horse trainers and stable hands were busy taping up the pony’s legs to protect them from swinging mallets during the match. Riders were putting on their protective gear and checking in with their ponies to make saddle adjustments and prepare to mount. It was clear that players must first be advanced and seasoned

W&CLiving.com | 73

Given ALL THE COMPONENTS of ponies, players, SWINGING MALLETS, and one tiny white ball roughly 5 feet BELOW THE RIDERS, one can imagine the IMMENSE CHALLENGE and skill involved. riders before learning the sport, and you’ll learn the ponies are no exception. Training a polo pony, as King explains, begins around age 3, and actual play could begin as early as age 5. However, it relies heavily on the pony’s skill level and abilities in knowing when each is ready to join the team. “We’re training the ponies to do things that don’t come naturally to them,” explains King. “A polo pony needs to learn to rush at or bump against other ponies and to manage the short and quick maneuvers involved in the sport. Some ponies take to it enough to tolerate it, some love it and others just aren’t cut out for it.”

And it’s more than just having the capabilities to ride the pony across the field; it’s about having the ability to anticipate. “Every player and referee must be prepared to anticipate what could happen next,” King notes. Having

74

played the sport for over 30 years, he himself is so focused on the plays happening on the field that he rarely notices the surrounding crowd. The most challenging part of the game is, according to King, having “to ride the horse well enough to get you to where you need to be, adjusting to the movement of the ball, and to be able to take a shot or make a pass with the ball.” Given all the components of ponies, players, swinging mallets, and one tiny white ball roughly 5 feet below the riders, one can imagine the immense challenge and skill involved.

The safety of not only the riders but also the ponies has always been one of the most important goals of the referees. Of course like any other sport, injuries cannot always be avoided. King can testify to the truth in this statement after having suffered a broken right shoulder

during his time playing at the Houston Polo Club. Further, “contact” rules were established for the player advancing in the line of the ball and an opponent trying to reverse the ball’s direction. Specifically, an opponent can initiate shoulder-to-shoulder contact to push the offender off the line, hook the offender’s mallet, bump the other with their pony or steal the ball.

Watching from the sidelines, the 300 x 160-yard polo field appeared to leave the players and their ponies with plenty of space to play the sport, but King will often mount his pony and circle past the crowd of onlookers just before the game to warn spectators of getting too close to the railing and to watch out for the possible stray ball coming their way. While I saw the players exercising caution as to where they directed the ball, the risks were evident. As they raced across the field, players sent the plastic ball sailing ahead of the pack.

Up close, you can see the marks left on the ball from the mallets. A polo ball is filled with air; so when hit, air pockets are released, which leave the marks and indents in the ball—something I found intriguing when holding one. When hitting the ball, a player usually uses both flat sides of their mallet (unlike croquet which uses the mallet’s end), and the shaft is made with an especially strong variety of bamboo.

Every game of polo is called a match and is broken up into six time periods called chukkers. Each chukker is seven minutes long and is designed to give both ponies and riders ample rest in between. At the end of every chukker, riders switch ponies to lessen the pony’s chance of heat exhaustion.

Thus, every player uses multiple ponies throughout the match. If the score is a tie at the end of the six chukkers, a seventh is played to establish a winner (fans of King’s lovely fortified red wine named “7” will now understand the reference). An extra pony for each player is also an important detail in

W&CLiving.com | 75

case one cannot play that day.

Interestingly, the age range of participating ponies varies widely. “They can play into their 20s depending on the care,” King explains. “In terms of breeding ponies for the sport, the mare determines the sex and skills, and nearly 90 percent of all polo ponies are mares.” Argentina native Naza Acosta is an important part of the King Family’s team. Acosta stays at the farm from mid-April until mid-October to help care for and train the ponies.

Along with the care of the ponies, the field of Riviera Bermuda grass, which is dormant in the winter, must be well maintained and groomed, or it will spread well beyond the field’s parameters like a weed.

At half-time and at the end of each game, fans and the King family alike can be seen out on the field for the traditional “divot stomping.” Throughout the course of the game, the continuous stopping and turning of the ponies kick up small patches of grass and dirt. So, upholding the tradition, all spectators help stomp the divots back into place, helping keep the field safe for ponies and players.

Roseland Polo works closely with the UVA’s polo club, whose ponies have been donated from all over the country, and at each match, you can find a pony or two loaned for the game at Roseland Farm. For practice, the teams head to the UVA Polo Center on Wednesdays and Fridays. The “cooperative” relationship between King Family and UVA’s intercollegiate program, a student-run program, has been consistent over the years. During the summer months if UVA students are around, they can join in the Sunday matches at Roseland Farm. With enough players, they can often host two matches.

For David and wife of nearly 40 years, Ellen, Roseland Farm and King Family Vineyards is truly a family business. All three of the King’s sons and their families live on the property and work within the vineyard business. The seven grandchildren can often be seen cheering on their grandfather during the polo matches or manning the scoreboard. “We never take for granted the opportunity to wake up to the beautiful views we enjoy here every morning and to have all that we do,” Ellen shares. “It is one of our greatest joys to share it all with our visitors—the view, the sport, the experience and the wine.”

76

marcobicego.com

1149 Millmont Street, Charlottesville 434-293-5011 • www.kellerandgeorge.com

HOME & GARDEN

Vine

HOME &

One of only a handful of female winery owners in the world, Kristin Swanson Holzman welcomes us into her Ivy Creek Farm estate to share one of the oldest vineyards in the state and to reveal her interior design talents.

WORDS BY JENNIFER BRYERTON | PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROBERT RADIFERA

78

E

ntering Ivy Creek Farm, the tree-lined drive winds past some of the oldest and highest quality viniferous vines in Virginia before the stunning Georgian-style home comes into view. The estate boasts a rich and diverse history, beginning as a family home with a large-scale apple and peach operation at the turn of the 20th century. It served as a grass farm before being bought in 1980 by the Seagram Corporation; Seagram went on to develop the property as an artisan vineyard. It was Dick Button, vineyard manager, who planted the vines for Seagram and who tends to them on the original trellis system today. Just four years after Barboursville Vineyards began, Ivy Creek Farm was under vine, and the two continue to be leaders in what is now a wellestablished Virginia industry.

The beautiful Chardonnay, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon varieties grown here have won numerous medals, and they quickly became the unexpected passion of Kristin Swanson Holzman when she purchased the property in 2002.

A successful interior designer specializing in yacht design, she now began working with local wineries to harvest her vineyard. The initial relationships she built led to the eventual purchase of Prince Michel Vineyard & Winery in 2005, when her passion for grape growing grew to winemaking. Today, she runs both Prince Michel and the Ivy Creek Farm estate with grace, talent and vision.

W&CLiving.com | 79

80

Guests are welcomed into a gracious front hall FEATURING A STUNNING staircase that leads to the REMARKABLE circular upstairs hall.

Holzman has taken on two separate renovations of the 150-year-old home since her 2002 purchase. When she took on the renovation of the home with designer/builder Jeff Easter, she had a family home in mind— one filled with natural light and beautiful views of the surrounding countryside. She has achieved that perfectly.

What once was the boardroom for Seagram during the years they used the home as a corporate retreat is now a collection of comfortable family spaces. On one side of the room is a beautiful dining set. An antique roulette game table sits at the center of the room, and a cozy seating area with leather couches on the other side of the room invites casual television viewing and conversation.

A model schooner signifies a lifelong love of sailing. Beyond, a wall of windows and French doors spill out to the pool area just outside.

W&CLiving.com | 81

With views of the VINEYARD BEAUTIFULLY FRAMED in the arched window, the library is a space where you can strongly feel

JEFFERSON’S INFLUENCE.

The traditional library, with heart of pine wooden floors and shelving, evokes a Jeffersonian flair in the new wing of the home. This space, formerly a screened breezeway, serves as a peaceful transition from the public to the private space beyond. A new master suite blends seamlessly with the older part of the home. When Holzman remodeled, she left much intact. What she did add was a wet bar, convenient for entertaining in the adjacent family room, as well as a few personal touches such as treasured antique leather-bound volumes inherited from her grandfather.

82

W&CLiving.com | 83

“I IMAGINE that it [the original bar] COULD TELL

some great stories!”

“In the cellar, I wanted to honor the historic beauty of the home’s structure, so we left as much as possible intact.

I also love that this bar, built by Seagram, is still here. I imagine that it could tell some great stories!” Holzman quips. During the years that the estate was a getaway for Seagram’s executives, it was a full-fledged bar.

Nearby, there is a large wine cellar that, of course, sees lots of use by the family and guests when entertaining. In addition to Holzman’s Prince Michel collections, they also enjoy a fine array of Tuscan and French wines. Jean and Sylviane LeDucq, who fell in love with the natural beauty of Madison, and its close resemblance to their beloved France, originally founded Prince Michel 34 years ago. For the past 11 years, Holzman has successfully led the winery into a new era where our state now boasts a staggering 200 plus wineries, thousands of acres of grape vines and a vast amount of internationally award-winning wines.

84

M I TC H E L L

M AT T H E W S

ARCHITECTS & PLANNERS

C H A R L O T T E S V I L L E , VA

( 4 3 4 ) 9 7 9 . 7 5 5 0 E X T. 2 0 1

86

Playing host to many FRIENDS AND FAMILY, the Tuscan-style kitchen welcomes INTIMATE GATHERINGS as easily as large parties—the double French doors can be opened to the ENTERTAINING PATIO and pool beyond.

Light-filled and welcoming, the spacious kitchen is Holzman’s favorite room, and it is easy to see why the family spends so much time here. The simple lines and ample cabinetry hide the gourmet appliances and keep the focus on the stunning custom-made copper-range hood. All of the finishes are natural, the flooring is Jerusalem limestone, and the countertops are granite with an etched finish, which softens the look of the stone. Lovely vineyard views are seen from the arched window at the kitchen sink.

The large harvest table and French blue chairs lend a warmth and coziness, and in true Tuscan fashion, Holzman adds, “the kitchen has seen many gatherings of my now-grown children and all of our extended family and many friends, everyone laughing and telling stories.” A spirited and generous hostess, she has designed Ivy Creek Farm and Prince Michel Winery to focus on hospitality and the pleasure of a good wine experience, and this certainly comes through from both her welcoming personality and home.

W&CLiving.com | 87

HOME & GARDEN

FOR NEARLY 90 YEARS, THE GARDEN CLUB OF VIRGINIA HAS HOSTED THE LARGEST OPEN HOUSE IN THE COUNTRY, GIVING TOUR GUESTS EXCLUSIVE ACCESS TO SEE SOME OF THE MOST STUNNING PRIVATE HOMES AND GARDENS IN THE REGION.

Tours

GARDEN

Historic Garden Week began in 1927 when the local garden club raised $7,000 to rescue several trees that Thomas Jefferson planted at Monticello. Since this significant event, 47 garden clubs have formed throughout Virginia. Each spring, they raise 17 million dollars for public grounds and affirm Jefferson’s sentiment that “no occupation is so delightful as the culture of the earth.” Featuring over 250 of the state’s most beautiful gardens, homes and historic landmarks, the Week has come to be known as “America’s largest open house.” This year, Charlottesville’s Garden Week featured Morven Estate and Gardens (ca. 1820), the University of Virginia’s Pavilion Gardens, and five unique properties in the Ivy neighborhood of Flordon.

Flordon, with its lovely winding roads and mature hardwoods, is home to Steve and Mary Burns, who welcomed

WORDS BY BETH WHITEHEAD RAWLING PHOTOGRAPHY BY SUE GOULDMAN 88

guests to explore their picturesque property. Beyond the terrace is a peaceful reflecting pool with a whimsical bronze heron set against a green backdrop. Charlottesville artist and family friend, Caroline Hanson, created the special sculpture. “The bird appears as though it just stepped out of the reflecting pool,” Mary says “lending a note of whimsy to this placid setting.”

Lighted stepping-stones lead from the home down to the pool house and pool area where textures of bluestone paving and brick define the pathways. Surrounding the lovely pool area are stone retaining walls with a green edge of low growing ‘Justin Brouwers’ boxwood and conicalshaped ‘Fastigiata’ boxwood on each end. Beautiful urns on piers feature a variety of succulents, lending additional elegance to the space. Beyond the lawn, native magnolias,

maples and oak trees create a park-like setting.

The Burns’ vision for their landscape was for it to be primarily green, favoring the straight lines of boxwood in mass plantings, for example, and a simple palette for flowers and trees. They have designed a serene, outdoor life that is welcoming to family and friends, by incorporating various garden rooms. These rooms allow for cooking and dining, while the pool and pool house encourage relaxing, and a putting green and horseshoe pit provide recreation. Mary related that an integral component in the layout of these areas was that each be framed by the stunning views of the mountains and sunsets.

A large, blue flagstone terrace transitions the home to the many entertaining spaces beyond and features a chef’s kitchen, dining area and a beautiful fireplace.

W&CLiving.com | 89

“I have worked in interior design for over 20 years. While I still have many clients in New York City, I love living and working in Charlottesville. This was an amazing renovation project downtown at the Gleason, creating a chic elegant space – just perfect for its young owners.”

interior design by

CEO & FOundEr OF LEFtOvEr LuxuriEs

Wendi Smith

434.989.3543

Located at Townside Shopping Center 2214 Ivy Road, Charlottesville, Va Mon-Fri 10-6pm & Sat 10-5pm 434.284.8706

pourlamaisoncville.com

wendi@leftoverluxuries.com

Great attention was paid to every detail—even the fireplace’s bluestone cap has a chiseled edge to appear “hewn.” Adding to the atmosphere are the refined, delicate leaves of Japanese-cut leaf maples that accent each corner of the terrace and lights that have been strung to softly illuminate evening dinner parties and dessert by the fire.

While the Burns family is delighted with all of their garden spaces, they especially favor the pool and pool house. Mary fondly recalls a recent occasion when her oldest daughter Kate and several of her UVA medical school classmates gathered for a swim party. Sharing this enchanting setting with others brings Steve and Mary great joy, and the journey taken to watch their property transform from “possibility” to reality has been especially gratifying.

Traditionally, Garden Tours are around the third week of April. This year’s statewide tours ran from April 23-30. Charlottesville-area tours were open Monday, April 25. For more information visit vagardenweek.org.

Homeowners: Steve & Mary Burns | Landscape Design: Rachel Lilly | Landscape Maintenance: Grelen Nursery | Fieldstone: Brick and Luck’s | Bird Sculpture: Caroline Hanson

W&CLiving.com | 91

92

Portrait

ARTISAN

M A R I A PA C E Watercolor Artist

Entering Maria Pace’s boutique shop in downtown Orange is like discovering a secret garden.

Flowers, branches, leaves and feathers combine and interchange on patterned fabric draped over chairs and hanging from the walls. Owls, foxes and porcupines dot the space on pillows and stationary, peering at you from an ethereal forest.

With a bachelor’s degree in creative writing from the University of Virginia followed by a master’s degree in the subject from Trinity College, Dublin in Ireland.

Pace always knew she wanted to work in a creative field and has spent time studying and painting in the Czech Republic, Ireland, Italy and France.

Growing up on a farm in Virginia, it is no surprise that nature is the prominent theme in Pace’s work.

Taught to paint with watercolors at age 9, her love of textiles combined with her creative passions to produce something entirely special. “I wanted to make something people could use in everyday life— not just a painting on the wall that can become stale or overlooked.”

To Maria, the appeal of painting comes from the

endless possibilities with the artistic process. “You can sit down one afternoon, or one day, and you have a feeling about it. But you can also have space from it. You can come back to it the next morning and decide whether it’s really going to become something or not. That is such a relief and such a joy to have it be so immediate and tangible. I have a huge crate of paintings archived, and every now and then, I’ll pull them out, flip through them and go ‘Oh! I forgot about this painting!’”

The creative process from conception to completion is important to Pace. Her being an advocate for American-made materials and locallysourced work stems from a belief in the importance of community. “I believe the act of creating brings people a sense of purpose and joy and identity, and I want to support and magnify those feelings in our communities as much as I can.”

Looking to the future, Pace hopes to expand her work in fashion, creating comfortable practical pieces that continue to maintain that special feeling you can only find in hand-crafted work.

WORDS BY MANDY REYNOLDS | PHOTOGRAPHY BY RACHEL MAY

W&CLiving.com | 93

Bring home products and designs inspired by Jefferson’s vast intellectual and artistic pursuits, his eye for design and innovation, and his passion for the classics and architecture.

931 Thomas Jefferson Parkway, Charlottesville, VA

The Shop at Monticello offers a wide selection of unique gifts found only at Monticello.

Monticello’s online store at www.monticelloshop.org features more than 1,000 Jefferson-inspired products including gourmet Virginia foods, gardening tools, a wide selection of engraved gifts and one-of-a-kind bowls made from Monticello’s historic trees. Find hundreds of exclusive items available only at Monticello, exclusive Monticello reproductions, popular historic plants and seeds, harvested from plants grown at Monticello, educational games and toys, home décor, Virginia wines, gourmet foods and an extraordinary collection of Jefferson-inspired products.

No admission required. Free parking. Phone: 800-243-1743

ENTERTAINING

96

al Fresco SUMMER DINING

DINING UNDER STAR-FILLED SKIES WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY.

‘Tis the season of entertaining outdoors and enjoying all the luxuries of open-air spaces while dining al fresco.

From table settings and floral arrangements to picking the perfect dishes and drinks for your guests, your space can reflect elegance and set the tone for an enjoyable celebration for all.

No matter the location of your dinner party or the occasion, your personal touches will bring any space together in a cohesive manner. Augusta and Brandon held their own farm-to-table celebration under the stunning

veranda at Pippin Hill Farm & Vineyards. Just as the couple decorated the space, you, too, can create a simplistic yet stylish dĂŠcor, exuding grace and sophistication. They wanted the feel of a summer garden party with old-world style, mixing the rustic charm from a Jane Austen novel with the elegance and sophistication of the late Grace Kelly.

On the outdoor patio, a long table dressed in a whitewashed linen tablecloth filled the length of the space. Bamboo folding chairs added a unique touch to

WORDS BY SARAH PASTOREK | PHOTOGRAPHY BY ERIC KELLEY W&CLiving.com | 97

With FRESH FLOWERS and greenery everywhere, the guests enjoy the SWEET AROMAS of the summer evening. the overall style that blended beautifully with the feel of the veranda. The roof provided just enough shelter to its guests, bringing together the best of the indoor and outdoor experience. Local venues such as Pippin Hill are quintessentially located in the heart of Virginia wine country. Breathtaking panoramic views create a relaxed setting perfect for spending time with friends and family.

With a hot and humid summer climate, outdoor gatherings wouldn’t be enjoyable without cool, refreshing beverages. Augusta and Brandon made sure their guests stayed comfortable with Belvoir fruit farm drinks. These seasonal drinks, nestled in ice in concrete patio buckets, offered tastes of elderflower and rose. For another seasonal touch, little baskets of local treats were prepared for the guests to take home, filled with samplings of Caromont cheese, honeycomb and apricots.

Throughout the course of the celebration,

98

guests were spoiled with signature cocktails and wine. Grilled summer asparagus, complete with a sunny-side-up quail egg and Virginia country ham, along with delicious tempura green beans with a horasa aioli dip were favorites of the evening meal.

The ingredients used by Chef Amalia Scatena were locally sourced and also grown in the chef’s garden on the property.

Spring and summer offer ample opportunities to create an atmosphere making use of rustic elements. The floral décor included an array of pretty pastels and apricot-colored roses, mint, herbs and summer wildflowers, while the dainty pale-blue accents in the plates and votive candleholders added a subtle masculine flare. For other small touches that created a comfortable seating area, throw pillows, fans for the heat, and cashminas for shoulder wraps when the night became chillier made guests feel right at home.

W&CLiving.com | 99

When choosing a pastel color palette, you can balance it with eclectic summer greenery to create a fresh welcoming appeal. Add blackberries, donut peaches and scabious to the bar, mix some in with the delectable dish being served, or scatter it around the exterior of the dining space with other plants. For tabletop bouquets, stick with hues that are more natural, as the space flows seamlessly from indoors out.

To set a spectacular table, begin with a selected color scheme and incorporate it into the dining ware. Providing guests with a menu of what will be served is a creative way to add character to your setting. Augusta’s aunt created lovely watercolor menus with handwritten calligraphy

for the place settings, which gave a light and airy feel to this party. Tapered candles and delicate votives cast a glow on guests’ place settings when the sun sets on the horizon. Arranging the candles and desired floral elements throughout the space will be key in tying in seasonal aspects to the outdoor mood. It will also make it easier to choose just the right lighting pieces for your theme.

In addition to the votive candles on the table, Augusta and Brandon used lanterns and torchieres around the veranda for some natural candlelight, and hanging lanterns and mini fogs to set the ambience. Most importantly, once the décor is in place, you will have plenty of time to relax and enjoy the company of your guests.

Venue & Catering: Pippin Hill Farm & Vineyards | Florist Design: Beehive Events | Stationaire: Valorie Cole (Augusta’s aunt) | Hosts: Augusta & Brandon Davis | Event Planner: Easton Events | Beauty & Hair Stylist: Lora Kelley | Rentals: Beehive Events and Festive Fare

100

Y O U R H O M E S AY S A L O T A B O U T Y O U .

W E ’ R E H E R E TO L I S T E N .

Your home is a reflection of you. Ferguson’s product experts are here to listen to every detail of your vision, and we’ll work alongside you and your designer, builder or remodeler to bring it to life. Our product experts will help you find the perfect products from the finest bath, kitchen and lighting brands in the world. Request an appointment with your own personal Ferguson product expert and let us discover the possibilities for your next project.

Visit Ferguson.com/showrooms to get started.

CHARLOTTESVILLE SEMINOLE LANE (434) 817–1775

©2016 Ferguson Enterprises, Inc. 0216 120613

HARRISONBURG FORBES CROSSING (540) 438–6400

FERGUSON.COM/SHOWROOMS

CHO•ho Style Like legendary SoHo, jet-setters discover CHO and find it has a unique and creative style of its own. W&C Living shouts out some of our favorite finds that exude our uniquely chic country style.

1

2 3

5 102

4

8 7 1

6

Love

THINGS WE

HANDCRAFTED STERLING SILVER AND GRAY

PEARL NECKLACE, FROM NEPALI ARTISANS IN THE KATHMANDU VALLEY, $125 FROM TEN THOUSAND VILLAGES

| 2 JACK ROGERS NAPA

VALLEY FLAT SANDALS, CORK WITH GOLD LEATHER STITCHING, $118, FROM PINK PALM

| 3 ST YLISH

YET SOPHISTICATED PAT TERN WRAP DRESS, $248, FROM VERDIGRIS

| 4 MANGROVE LEATHER

CLUTCH IN RESORT WHITE, $198, FROM PINK PALM | 5 LADIES RAYMOND WEIL TIMEPIECE FROM THE “NOEMIA” COLLECTION FEATURING A 24MM STAINLESS STEEL CASE AND BRACELET, MOTHEROF-PEARL DIAL WITH ROMAN NUMERALS SET WITH DIAMONDS, STAINLESS STEEL BRACELET, SAPPHIRE

10

CRYSTAL AND QUARTZ MOVEMENT, $1,895, FROM KELLER & GEORGE

| 6 PAIR OF PORCELAIN

FOO DOGS, $195 EACH,

FROM LEFTOVER

| 7 INTERIOR DESIGN & ANTIQUES, FROM KENNY BALL DESIGNS | 8 FEATHER

LUXURIES

STUDY BY PHOTOGRAPHER ROY BARLOGA PRINTED ON HANDMADE NEPALESE PAPER,

$325, FROM

| 9 ANTIQUE VASE LAMP, $250, FROM THE SHADE SHOP | 10 COBALT & OBJECTS ON MAIN

9

WHITE SERVICE FOR 12, $325, FROM CIRCA

W&CLiving.com | 103

The inspiration for ACFJ’s designs arises from Ana’s cultural background and traveling experiences. The pieces are modern interpretations of details found in centuries old monuments and buildings that are transposed to smaller objects of wearable art. For ACFJ, the process of jewelry making is a meticulous one, where special details are embedded in the piece to tell the wearer their personal, intimate story.

anacavalheiro.com

CHO•ho Style

1 4

3

For Her

FOXFIELD

1

14K GOLD-PLATED KENDRA SCOT T EARRINGS

| 2 EDIN A-LINE SHIFT DRESS IN POOLSIDE BLUE BEACHWALK, $178 | 3 HARLOW BIB NECKLACE MAGENTA, $195 | 4 REVERSIBLE CHALCEDONY, $60

SHOPPER TOTE BAG IN LOVE BIRDS, $138, ALL FROM PINK PALM

2 W&CLiving.com | 105

Verdigris is committed to bringing you the finest hand selected clothing and accessories from across the globe, with an eye towards the modern and without forgetting the traditions of excellence from the past.

107 East Main Street | 434-293-GRIS | verdigrisclothing.com

We Have Traveled Around The World To Grace Your Life.

Eclectic Home Furnishings

•

Original and Decorative Artwork

•

Collectible and Decor Items

107 E Main Street in Historic Downtown Orange, VA | www.objectsonmain.com | 540.360.4917

CHO•ho Style

3

1

2

For Him

FOXFIELD

1 WIDE GROSGRAIN BRACES WITH CLIPS, $99, FROM

| 2 SOPRO SUNGLASSES IN TORTOISE, $89, FROM NATTY BEAU | 3 WEEKEND

BARRONS-HUNTER

SHIRT BLUE/WHITE STRIPE, $85, BEAU

FROM NATTY

| 4 ROUND WATCH WITH CALFSKIN BAND,

$650, FROM BROOKS BROTHERS

4 W&CLiving.com | 107

THE ARTS

en

Air Plein

Artist, Meg West, CELEBRATES painting every day IMMERSED in the courntryside.

WORDS BY CATHERINE MALONE | PHOTOGRAPHY BY R. L. JOHNSON 108

M

eg West is coming off of an intensive 30-day painting project. For the second year in a row, the Crozet-based pleinair painter has participated in the Internet phenomenon “Thirty Paintings in Thirty Days.” Artists worldwide paint a complete work each day of the year, and post their work to their websites as well as to a central blog with a map showing participation. Since January began, West has finished a work each day, calling it an exercise in “trying new things.” “I kind of feel like the challenge itself just pushes you—the good, the bad and the ugly,” she says, “It’s the thrill of the chase.”

Now, West is taking a brief rest, and serving afternoon tea in her dining room, before returning to her normal working mode.

While she paints every day, challenge or not, as someone who prefers to work outdoors and on larger canvases, it’s unusual for her to complete something in a single 24-hour period. “I paint every day, but to finish a painting every day is a different thing.”

Although there’s a spacious studio in the charming, art-filled and wood-stoveheated house where West and her husband, David, have lived for over 30 years, West’s

W&CLiving.com | 109

“To me, PLEIN-AIR PAINTING is such a difference. You are BREATHING, you are in the senses…To me, THEY’RE BETTER paintings.”

110

artistic interest lies outdoors. A plein-air painter, she is part of an important tradition, in both Europe and America, of artists who engage with the landscape outside the studio, marking the flow of the day and of the seasons. “To me, plein-air painting is such a difference. You are breathing, you are in the senses … you have to deal with the elements. But the difference as the art goes is enormous. To me, they’re better paintings.” So, West’s studio at the end of the hall serves mostly for preparing canvasses and working on smaller elements of their creation. Normally, she loads up her specially-rigged minivan and sets herself up outdoors, painting with the custom easel her husband made for her. And when the weather’s very cold … she can be seen painting in her grown son’s old snow pants—not wanting to miss an opportunity for a perfect setting. Her home is ideally situated, so she doesn’t often have to roam far for an auspicious view; and, West can always find a place to go on her five-acre property. If she does begin a painting in her studio, she takes it outside to finish in natural light.

West is familiar with too many local spots to choose a favorite, but Chiles Orchard is right across the street from her house. She paints there in every season—so often that the orchard workers know her and recognize her van. She also tries to paint at

W&CLiving.com | 111

West’s STUDIO serves mostly for PREPARING CANVASSES and working on SMALLER ELEMENTS of her creations.

Monticello at least once a year, where her preferred views include the vegetable garden. West does like vast views, which are a logical match for her larger canvasses. “I am a sucker for the long distant views that are available from any of the mountaintop areas ... the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive, but even up on the hillside of Chiles Peach Orchard or Buck’s Elbow behind my house off the top of Jarmans Gap. Painting the distant views down a river also gives that same feel that speaks of peacefulness and nature.

The interesting thing about plein-air painting is, even if you have painted at the same location before, a different season and time of day can produce an entirely different feel and emotion on the landscape.”

West’s path to professional painting is an empowering tale. At what many would consider to be a busy stage of life, with a part-time career as a graphic designer, and raising two teenage boys, West took stock on her 45th birthday. “I asked myself what it was I wanted to do for the rest of my life, and the answer was like a lightning bolt.” She took classes at Piedmont Virginia Community College (PVCC)

112

and UVA and decided to give herself a year to get back into painting, which had been her minor at Philadelphia College of Art. Almost immediately, her work began to sell, and West has made a living as a painter ever since.

While she loves the local landscape and has made a name for herself as a localist painter, West and her husband travel extensively. They do one big trip a year; 2016 will take them to Colorado and Wyoming. Last year, they went to the San Juan Islands and took the kind of camping trips that most people only fantasize about. They load up the van with materials to hold and protect Meg’s oil paintings and, literally, head off to the hills. They often travel close to home but have ventured to Mohegan Island and Acadia National Park in Maine, the Smoky Mountains and, this coming April, Florida. David West is an avid birder and naturalist, and he picks his hiking trails around his wife’s location.

West seems to strike the perfect balance between participating in the area’s artistic community and giving herself the solitude and focused attention of painting

At Gayle Harvey Real Estate, our high level of commitment stems from a genuine passion for Central Virginia and a firm belief in our core principle of uncompromising service to our clients. Our agents possess an unparalleled familiarity with the area and their focused markets, from the rugged skyline and scenic byways of the Blue Ridge Mountains to the verdant hills and wooded trails of the Piedmont. We work closely with you to develop an understanding of your personal vision for a home, and then draw upon years of experience to make that vision a reality.

(434) 220-0256 | GAYLEHARVEYREALESTATE.COM

retreats. She’s active with a group that connects through Facebook for plein-air meetups in different locations. There’s a core group of six artists, and West is one of two full-time painters. She also heads to Camp Mont Shenandoah for a few days each spring before the camp summer season begins and when the facilities are open as an artists’ retreat. Going forward, West plans on applying to be an artist in residence at the National Parks, and she is looking at other opportunities to immerse herself even more in her work. “I love the idea of concentrated time and energy—to do and think of nothing else but painting.”

She has some more local projects in mind, too. “I’d love to go to every local vineyard—as a concept—and do a whole show.” West may have already produced more than 30 paintings so far this year, but it looks like there are plenty more still to come.

“I LOVE THE IDEA of concentrated time and energy —to do and think of NOTHING ELSE but painting.”

114

escape. unwind. indulge.

i n n at w i l l o w g r o v e . c o m

116

Portrait

ARTISAN

TRICIA HUMPHREYS Jewelry Maker

GotRocks Jewelry Design had its inauspicious beginnings on a rainy day at the beach. Looking for something to do, young mother Tricia Humphreys and her sister Cha Roberts discovered a bead shop and began crafting necklaces. Along the way, Humphreys was inspired to repurpose the antique jewelry pieces she’d been collecting for years, tying in her beading hobby. While antiquing with her grandparents as a girl, she had been drawn to vintage pieces and the stories behind them.

She first shared the results at a trunk show at a friend’s house, and since the birth of GotRocks, she has been blending old with the new. She learned that jewelry, particularly from the Victorian era, had a great deal of symbolism behind the motifs and gemstones. For example, the colored stones were used to spell out words utilizing the first letter. (A) methyst, (D)iamond, (O)pal, (R)uby and (E)merald in a piece reminds the wearer they are ADOREd. Trinkets were given to signify love, memory or longing, with symbols like flowers, animals and insects to send a message to the wearer.

Fashions of a different era also required different

accessories, some with very specific functions. Men sported pocket watches, requiring a chain as well as fobs and keys to wind them. And, the lady of the house wore Chatelianes—a decorative belt or clasp worn at the waist with a series of chains suspended from it and each chain mounted with household appendages, including watches, scissors, thimbles, keys, household seals and other small items.

By disassembling the outdated accessories and repurposing the parts in new applications, “older pieces get new life,” says Humphreys. Pairing her “orphans” with semi-precious beads and pearls, or even rescued pocket-watch chains, Humphreys creates elegant yet incredibly wearable jewelry.

Under her hands, detailed pocket-watch cases house gemstones combined with retired watch gears.

Old belt buckles become breathtaking bridal pendants while brooches become statement necklaces and stickpins become sweet little charms. Thanks to her creativity and vision, the sweet gestures of yesterday can be given new homes with today’s woman, who will no doubt attach new heartfelt memories to yesterday’s embellishments.

WORDS BY BECKY CALVERT | PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEN FARIELLO

W&CLiving.com | 117

ON STAGE

BOYD

TINSLEY

AS THE DAVE MATTHEWS BAND CELEBRATES 25 YEARS OF SUCCESS AS A LOCAL BAND WHO MADE IT BIG, WE TALKED WITH BOYD TINSLEY TO FIND OUT WHAT IT MEANS TO HIM TO STILL BE A LOCAL.

WORDS BY ERIC J. WALLACE | PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF DAVE MATTHEWS BAND

118

Photos this spread by Rene Huemer

On May 11, Charlottesville’s much-celebrated violinist, Boyd Tinsley, will once again hit the road with the Dave Matthews Band (DMB) as they kick off a summer tour celebrating their 25th anniversary. Back in 1991, Tinsley was the last member to officially join the band. A childhood friend and long-term musical conspirator of founding drummer Carter Beauford and late DMB saxophonist Leroi Moore, Tinsley was asked to contribute to a demo version of “Tripping Billies.” From there, things escalated. It was his sound that served as the final puzzle piece to the group’s soon-to-be explosive rise to stardom. With the DMB selling enough tickets to land a spot on Billboard’s list of the top

100 best-selling bands of all time, and six albums debuting as chart-toppers, Tinsley has been propelled to a degree of musical notoriety so great that he, along with legendary jazz-fusion violinist Jean Luc Ponty, shares the exclusive distinction of having had a signature model Zeta violin created in his honor.

Interestingly enough, Tinsley’s introduction to the instrument that would eventually make him famous was kind of, well, accidental.

Stricken with an intense desire to pursue guitar, young Tinsley enlisted himself in Charlottesville’s Buford Middle School’s ‘Strings Class.’ Of course, upon showing up, he

W&CLiving.com | 119

Photo by Rene Huemer

120 Photo by Aaron Farrington

Photo by Rene Huemer

“THE FANS ARE MY MUSE; I really enjoy all the love

I feel. We couldn’t have done it WITHOUT YOU ALL.”

discovered that, due to the program’s classical orientation, his instrument of choice was missing in action. Tinsley then decided to take up the violin.

Initially, it was tough going. “My dog and my family hated me for a good couple of years,” Tinsley jokes, recalling his early development. “But I stuck with it, and I progressed.”

Indeed, as a result of his ever-increasing devotion, the era of grating annoyance didn’t last very long.

“When I was in 10th grade, a concert pianist came to [Charlottesville High School], and they actually selected me to play with her,” says Tinsley. “Her husband, Isador Saslov, was the concertmaster of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra … [and she wound up] asking if I wanted to take lessons with him in Baltimore. I said yes and went up there, and instantly, I was like part of the family.”

After a string of private lessons, compelled by what he deemed the drive and natural talent of a prodigy, Saslov asked the 16-year-old Tinsley to move to Baltimore and enroll to study with him full-time. Tinsley, however, did not accept the offer. After much soul searching, inspired by the experimental forays of Jean Luc Ponty, Stephane Grappelli and other jazz/rock luminaries, Tinsley decided against a classical career. Instead, he matriculated to UVA, and, by a dazzling ensnarement of fate, landed a spot in the DMB. Still, the beneficence of Saslov’s offer made a lasting impression.

“It meant so much [to] know that a concertmaster of a symphony is encouraging you to go on with your music and that you have something—some kind of gift,” says Tinsley.

Thus, when the violinist found himself occupying a

W&CLiving.com | 121

position of musical success, he began to consider Saslov and the many others who’d facilitated the development and realization of his talent, which included introducing him to scholarships that would pay for private lessons and help him pursue music in college.

“When I was a kid here in Charlottesville, I entered a competition with the Wednesday Evening Music Club,” says Tinsley. “I won, and I received a scholarship for private violin lessons. That was huge for me. It was a gift from the community … I just got to this point like: ‘It’s my turn to give back.’”

With a firsthand understanding of the importance of mentorship and encouragement for not only young and developing artists, but children in general, Tinsley took bold philanthropic steps to pay it forward.

“I started a program in Charlottesville schools to give scholarships for academic tutoring, music lessons and tennis,” says Tinsley.

Enlisting the assistance of the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation, Tinsley established the eponymous Boyd T. Tinsley Foundation in 2002.

Since that date, his foundation, via a $75,000 per-year grant, provides Walker Upper Elementary, Buford Middle and Charlottesville High School orchestra students with funds for private music lessons, musical supplies, camp tuitions and the purchase of instruments for seniors entering collegiate music programs. The funds also assist with the salaries of instructors for tennis camps and provides student attendees with racquets and equipment.

“A lot of the problems that keep kids behind or not allowing them to realize their potential is they just don’t have the opportunity,” says Tinsley. “Basically, I wanted a way for kids to realize their dreams … of

Photos by Rodrigo Simas

122

APRIL 7-9 Charlottesville

Three Days of Celebrating the Best of Central Virginia Wines

MontiCello Cup awards Thursday, april 7Th the Jefferson theater Business casual attire wine tasting & awards ceremony for every wine enthusiast. Limited tickets available.

speCial winery tours Friday, april 8Th Winemaker dinners.

Wine TasTing evenT

saTurday, april 9Th

nTelos Wireless Pavilion Over 25 Wineries.

VIP tickets available.

ON SALE NOW For ticket and event info

Follow on Facebook and Twitter

@TasteMonticello

monticellowinetrailfestival.com

Photo Courtesy of Eyepatch Prod

“WE ARE BORN of Charlottesville.

It’s just a great community that is KNOWN FOR CREATIVITY

especially in schools … This is how we were raised.

Of course we’re GONNA GIVE BACK.”

going to college, of playing in a band, of whatever.”

And the thing is, it’s working. Since the inception of Tinsley’s programs, an astounding 100 percent of participants have gone on to attend college.

“There are hundreds of kids that are involved in these programs,” says Tinsley. “They get self-confidence in that they [are] able to take on something challenging and to excel at it. To me, that’s the thing—having the opportunity to realize a potential. And I’m really pleased to see that in so many kids.”

Meanwhile, with DMB’s upcoming 25th anniversary tour soon setting underway, Tinsley has been doing a bit of reflecting.

124

“I can still remember playing at Trax in Charlottesville in the early ‘90s, the rehearsals we did in garages and Dave’s mom’s basement and the attic above Trax,” says Tinsley.

“There was nothing but dreams and the willingness to just follow this music and to believe in what we were doing.”

What’s on the horizon for the future? Tinsley says that while he’s focusing all his energy on bringing his A-game to stages all across America this upcoming summer, there is one particular future project that comes to mind: “Tim [Reynolds] [two-time Grammy nominee] just looms large in my life and is a true inspiration. So I really look forward to doing some stuff with Tim. I’d just love to explore more, particularly in an acoustic way.”

THE ARTS SCENE

A HIDDEN GEM IN THE CHARLOTTESVILLE ARTS SCENE, THE GARAGE IS ONE OF THE MOST ECLECTIC VENUES AROUND TOWN.

Live

THE GARAGE

With no sign or marker by its space, passers-by can be forgiven for not knowing The Garage is more than just your typical car garage. Located between the Christ Church property and the parking lot of Hill & Wood funeral home on First Street, this local art-and-music space blends in when the door is pulled down. But when raised, those unfamiliar with the venue would be enticed to stop by for a number of different performances and events.

The literally named venue hosts free music performances 70 times a year between March and November, as well as art exhibitions in a space smaller than some vehicles. “It’s crazy!” a friend of mine tells me when I ask her if she’s heard of The Garage, which began in 2008. “What happens is, they open the door to this tiny garage, and an awesome band starts playing. You sit on the wall in Lee Park and listen WORDS BY CATHERINE MALONE PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF THE GARAGE 126

to some music with your drink or some food.

Everyone walks by, and then it’s over and you go home.” The Garage is that ultimate Charlottesville paradox: discreet but famous.

Sam Bush, the music minister at Christ Church, has been involved with the space since its inception and organizes the venue’s events and performances. A former artist-in-residence at Christ Church, which owns the building, he wanted to create a community gathering space outside the church. The garage behind the church offices offered potential, so the brick walls and floor were power-washed, and, what Bush describes as a “hodge-podge” debut, featured the band Ben and Bruno from Michigan. Now, Bush fields around 15 inquiries a week from all over the world about playing in the space. Touring bands like the (pre-famous) Lumineers to local favorites have graced the stage where between 40 and 50 people show up for each event. “People pass by and hear what’s playing, and stop in,” Bush comments. “It feels personal, but it’s accessible.”

Bush recalls a car accident in 2012 as a catalyst for The Garage’s current incarnation.

W&CLiving.com | 127

From funky vintage to collectibles and antiques– everyone has something from Circa!

Charlottesville’s most popular treasure hunting experience for all ages, stages and styles.

1700 Allied Street | 434-295-5760 | www.circainc.com

PA U L

PA I G E

LIGHT BRINGS EVERYTHING TO LIFE. W W W. PA U L PA I G E . C O

Somehow, a vehicle managed to crash through the brick wall facing the parking lot, cross the floor of the building, and also damage the opposing wall. The Garage loyalists took the opportunity to create a kick-starter fund for building repairs as well as a tracking system for hanging art and new lights. They also established a website, garagevideosessions.com, which features video sessions with performers in Charlottesville locations. It’s as if oldschool MTV videos were recorded locally by musicians like Sons of Bill and Christopher Paul Stelling.

While performances at The Garage are subject to the whims of performers’ schedules, the visual arts

component operates more rhythmically, with an opening each month as part of First Fridays. The Garage doesn’t take commission, so artists keep 100 percent of any sale. They’re also able to use the space for their own events during the month they’re on exhibit, whether for receptions, discussions or private viewings. The artists, like the music, are of professional caliber, which Bush enjoys.

Indeed, he delights in the contradictions of The Garage: a private space offered to the public, the tiniest of venues with an outsized presence. “I love being able to provide the community with a unique experience each time, something unexpected and beautiful.”

W&CLiving.com | 129

ACADEMIA

Mr. Jefferson’s

UNIVERSITY

‘Hoo graduates reminisce on times past as they take their final walk as students across the Lawn.

WORDS BY ABBY MEREDITH | PHOTOGRAPHY BY DANIEL ADDISON

130

ALMOST 200 YEARS AFTER THE FIRST GRADUATION WAS HELD AT THE ROTUNDA IN 1829, students gather on the same front steps of the building for their own ceremony.

I

t begins on the Lawn, and it ends on the Lawn.

Amidst all of the graduation festivities, memories of snowy treks to class, pickup football games during tailgates, and late-night fireside discussions in lawn rooms come flooding back.

Four years ago, these same students gathered together for the first time at the Convocation ceremony, equally nervous and excited, and not knowing what Mr. Jefferson’s University held for them. In May, they return to take their final steps down the Rotunda stairs in celebration of all they have achieved in the place that became their home.

W&CLiving.com | 131

“By having one last tired and excited morning together, we really embraced it.”

THE NOSTALGIA MIXES WITH AN AIR OF ENDLESS POSSIBILITY.

132

The weekend begins with the Valediction ceremony, where students head to the Lawn to listen to speakers like Super Bowl Champion Peyton Manning and University alumna Katie Couric. Celebratory graduation parties ensue throughout Charlottesville with wine tasting at vineyards like Veritas Vineyard & Winery or home-cooked meals in houses that have been traditionally passed down between students each year.

Black-robed students stream onto the Corner early Saturday morning. Students crowd into the overflowing White Spot for a “Gus Burger” or onto the outdoor deck of Boylan Heights to drink mimosas and sing the “The Good ‘Ole Song” with friends.

“I think we all recognized that UVA provides the framework for incredible friendships,” 2012 graduate Anna Armistead says when describing her 7 a.m. graduation morning on the Corner. “By having one last tired and excited morning together, we really embraced it.”

The nostalgia mixes with an air of endless possibility.

“I made my way over to the front of the Rotunda where we all were gathering for the signal to proceed in,” Double ‘Hoo Ned Olson (‘90, ‘93) says while reminiscing about the enormous Magnolia trees towering on the sides of the Rotunda and the regalia of the professors’ adorned robes. “It was all a process of hurrying and waiting.”

No matter the weather, students and family swarm the Lawn for the ceremony. Leslie Slaughter (’83), remembers her parents hiding out under the protection of the Pavilion to watch the procession, braving a storm to watch her receive her diploma. “It literally downpoured. I remember my father patting me on the back, and it was like I had been in the shower,” says Suzan Malloch (’83).

Parents cheer and snap pictures from the sidelines while students pop champagne bottles. Balloons float high overhead so parents can spot their graduate amidst the masses of black robes and multicolored tassels. “That

W&CLiving.com | 133

• Complimentary

Deluxe Hot Breakfast Center • Seasonal Outdoor Pool • Café Patio • Self-Serve Business Center • Fitness

In the heart of Charlottesville directly on UVA Grounds.

Minutes from Monticello, Michie Tavern, Ashlawn Highlands, and a short drive to James Madison’s Montpelier.

Convenient & Comfortable www.cavalierinn.com

Since 1927 In 1927, Charlottesville was introduced to a new way of doing Real Estate.

Roy Wheeler Realty was founded with the philosophy that “service is our most important product.” That philosophy stands true today as it was over 88 years ago. With an overall 99% customer satisfaction rate we’re confident in our knowledge and abilities to help you buy or sell the place you call home.

Ednam Hall | 1100 Dryden Lane | Charlottesville, VA | 434-951-5155 | www.roywheeler.com

But the University of Virginia is a place that you can never truly leave, because it roots inside you and carries you out into the world; EACH STUDENT IS FOREVER A PART OF MR. JEFFERSON’S UNIVERSITY.

moment was the best part,” says Alex Preve (‘14). “It didn’t set in that we were graduating until we were walking down the Rotunda steps for the last time.”

Almost 200 years after the first graduation was held at the Rotunda in 1829, students gather on the same front steps of the building for their own ceremony. Amidst the joyous celebrations and lively procession on the Lawn, the construction process fades into the background. Although the Rotunda’s ongoing renovation blemishes the idyllic “academical village,” the $42.5 million second phase of the restoration project seeks to return the building to Jefferson’s original vision for his University.

While the building and the Lawn make the University special to the students, the community and shared love of learning, valued above all else by Mr. Jefferson, is what truly unites us. When it comes time for the individual major ceremonies where students receive their diplomas, they walk across the stage, moving their cap’s tassel from one side to the next, signifying the end of their time at the University.

But the University of Virginia is a place that you can never truly leave, because it roots inside you and carries you out into the world; each student is forever a part of Mr. Jefferson’s University.

W&CLiving.com | 135

Literature Food Creates Community Food creates community. Storytelling team Our Local Commons has published a brand new volume of stories from the local food community surrounding Charlottesville: Our Local Commons, Vol. III. To be released in May 2016, it includes 16 feature-length stories, eight cooking tutorials, and more than 30 tested recipes from the area’s chefs, bakers, farmers and food artisans.

In the pages of Our Local Commons, Vol. III, readers learn about the connections between those that grow and make food in the Charlottesville area. Stories include: barley farming and malting in Nelson County; foraging in the Shenandoah Valley; a craft distillery that uses only Virginia-grown ingredients; a neighborhood’s embrace of locally-grown produce; the rise of craft beer in Charlottesville; and personal profiles of bakers, winemakers, farmers and families. Each story is filled with vibrant imagery and captivating prose, giving readers a clear understanding of the energy—and ingenuity—driving this city’s nationally heralded culinary scene.

Our Local Commons—cofounders and photographers Andrea Hubbell and Sarah Cramer Shields and writer Jenny Paurys—have captured the rise of the artisan food movement in Virginia in four books: Our Local Commons Vol. I, Vol. II and Vol. III, focused on the Charlottesville local food community, and The Virginia Table, which shares stories of food artisans across the Commonwealth. Virginia is leading an American food revolution, and these books, which are also designed and printed in Virginia, illuminate the lives at the center of this shifting paradigm.

136

Michael Signer, mayor of Charlottesville, practicing attorney and modern Renaissance man, has written his second book, Becoming Madison, on the origins of our fourth president James Madison.

While the book spans the entirety of Madison’s life, Signer focuses on Madison’s early years, looking at the education, influences and passions of the reluctant statesman. Signer seeks to identify what he labels as Madison’s “peculiar legacy,” which contrasts so sharply with that of our area’s well-known president, Thomas Jefferson. Signer works hard to identify the personal differences that led Madison to his position as the least memorialized and least well-understood Founding Father. Signer’s analysis of Madison’s “Method,” a nine-step internal structure, provides a psychologically compelling analysis of the young man who took his responsibilities to state and nation so very seriously. Signer currently teaches in the Woodrow Wilson Department of Politics and the Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia.

Photo by Cat Thrasher

Mayor Michael Signer, Modern Renaissance Man

New Inspiring Poetry Volume UVA alumna and instructor Charlotte Matthews has released her third full-length collection of poems, Whistle What Can’t Be Said.

The poems grew out of her experience with Stage III breast cancer, diagnosed in 2005. Matthews, who lives in Crozet, says she wrote the collection throughout the treatment, citing it as “a way to keep me tethered. If I made notes of what was happening to me, I felt I had some control and understanding of it.” But Matthew’s poems move beyond documenting and journaling into a world described by fellow poet Marianne Boruch as full of “the ordinary strange, the ordinary dark.” With the book’s publication, Matthews plans to go to cancer treatment centers and inspire/teach patients to journal as a healing technique. She’d like to begin by reading a few of her poems and then inviting thoughts and the sharing of feelings. Matthews shares, “During cancer treatment so much is done to you—surgeries, procedures, infusions, radiation—and keeping a journal is a way to do something to have some control during this very out-of-control time.”

W&CLiving.com | 137

Tranquil & Private COUNTRY ESTATE LIVING 10 MINUTES FROM UVA!

Offering 16 home sites to choose from, varying in sizes from 3 to 29 acres. Mountain Valley Farm is perfect for a rural, tranquil and private lifestyle. Prices starting at $225,000.

GINGER SLAVIC | www.GingerKnowsRealEstate.com | gaslavic@cs.com | 434-981-0118

Partnership Our focus is to forge a client partnership that includes the highest quality investment management, trust administration, and estate services, guided by our one-on-one client centered approach.

Investment Management • Active Asset Management • Tax Managed Investing • Multiple Strategies

Having a trust account is not required to utilize our investment expertise.

Creating Value Through Trust

For a private consultation, contact: Douglas A. Nunn, CEO

RICHMOND

|

WILLIAMSBURG

Trust Administration • Corporate Trustee • Estate Administration • IRA Rollovers

|

ROANOKE

|

|

804.272.9044

McLEAN

|

|

TCVA.com

LY N C H B U R G

Literature TJ’s Philosophy Uncovered A groundbreaking new volume of history debuted this spring with a talk at Monticello. Striving to understand and explain the enigmatic Thomas Jefferson, Pulitzer prize-winning author and historian Annette Gordon-Reed and Peter S. Onuf, the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation Professor of History (Emeritus) at the University of Virginia, have created an important work. In Most Blessed of the Patriarchs, the authors explore what they call the “empire” of Jefferson’s imagination—his expansive state of mind born of the intellectual influences and life experiences that led him into public life as a modern symbol of the enlightenment. He often likened himself to an ancient figure—“the most blessed of the patriarchs.” Jefferson, a famous leader for freedom yet a slave owner, is variably described as a hypocrite, an atheist and a simple-minded proponent of limited government. Now, these scholars present an absorbing and revealing character study that aims to finally clarify the philosophy of Jefferson.

Tony Vanderwarker on Writing with John Grisham Admirers of John Grisham will find much to envy about Tony Vanderwarker. As Grisham’s neighbor, Vanderwarker was given an opportunity to work with the best-selling author, and wrote about the amazing, often-brutal, but always insightful, experience in Writing with the Master, describing how it completely transformed his life. “Working with John was an incredible experience. From writing 30+ novels, he knows all the ins and outs, all the pitfalls, all the tricks—it was an invaluable two years,” he says. The novel Vanderwarker produced under Grisham’s tutelage, Sleeping Dogs, is a thriller based on actual missing Cold War-era nuclear weapons, pulling the mystery into a modern-day kidnapping that involves the Pentagon, Al-Qaeda and government whistle-blowers. With three published books under his belt, Vanderwarker continues to write at his unique, 25-foot-tall writing studio in Keswick.

SLEEPING DOGS

X X X

? ?X

X X X X X X

TONY VANDERWARKER

W&CLiving.com | 139

140

Portrait

ARTISAN

CHARLOTTE MATTHEWS Writer, Poet & Teacher

On a sunny Saturday afternoon, Charlotte Matthews can be found fulfilling poetry requests at City Market, where passersby can watch as she types up an original poem on her 1914 Smith Corona.

When she’s not out entertaining customers with personalized poems, she prefers rising early to work, “when my mind is still quiet and uncluttered.”

Working from the comfort of her studio, she describes it artistically as “a sweet, sun-filled yellow room separate from the house. I can see my husband Albert’s garden and the fruit trees out the window. I am part of the house, but not in it.”

When she is not writing in her studio or the open air of Downtown, Matthews is a poetry instructor at her alma mater, UVA, as well as other schools.

Matthews has most recently released her collection of poems, Whistle What Can’t be Said, which she describes as a “notebook for the heart.” The collection portrays the tumult of sensations, emotions and memories, counterbalancing the thick medical notebook she was given to manage the practical aspects of Stage III breast cancer.

Whether drawing on a personal experience or finding inspiration in the world around her, Matthews’ works carry a sense of intimacy. Speaking about what influences her work, she says, “The word ‘inspiring,’ meaning ‘breathe life into,’ makes me realize so much breathes life into me: my children and the startlingly wise things they say; reading, being alone; acts of human kindness; wildflowers growing between cracks in the sidewalk; miniature things; memory and how it unmoors us. I really could go on and on.”

Along with her most recent publication, Matthews is the author of two full-length poetry collections as well as two books. She is a recipient of a fellowship from Brown University, a 2007 Prize Winner from the Fellowship of Southern Poets and a graduate of The MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College.

Never idle, she is already working on her next projects—a novel delving into the life of a 12-yearold boy with autism called Lost and Found, as well as a memoir about her personal experiences growing up in D.C. as the childhood friend of President Jimmy Carter’s daughter, Amy.

WORDS BY MANDY REYNOLDS | PHOTOGRAPHY BY R. L. JOHNSON

W&CLiving.com | 141

TRAVEL

Just as Jefferson shopped fine wines and wares in the south of France for his beloved Monticello, so shops local boutique owner Winifred Wegmann for her French boutique in Charlottesville.

e c n e v o Pr

WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY WINIFRED WEGMANN 142

L

ike Thomas Jefferson, I am a Francophile, and I thought of him often on my trip to France last fall. I was there to attend Maison et Objet, the Paris home trade show, to buy for my boutique back in Charlottesville, Pour la Maison.

He would have loved it! Rows and rows of stupendous, unique and creative products were beautifully and imaginatively displayed.

Jefferson also set out from Paris for the south of France, learning about winemaking as he traveled. He purchased fine wines for our newly formed American country that would be enjoyed at diplomatic dinners he hosted for European dignitaries at the White House and Monticello. He was the sommelier to George Washington and quite fond of French wines.

My love of Provence, one of the most well-known regions in the south of France, goes back many years.

I have a photo of my daughter at age 5 taken in the same spot I’m standing here—the ruins of the castle of Châteauneuf-du-Pape—and she’s now almost 24 years old. The bold, stone textures and warm ochre hues of Provence inspire a peaceful, almost ethereal, feeling, beckoning one to saunter slowly through the narrow, hilled streets that date back thousands of years.

W&CLiving.com | 143

Marseilles is a far more DELIGHTFUL CITY to visit than it was EVEN JUST 20 YEARS ago.

My dear friend and traveling companion, Wendy, and I began our trip in Marseilles, where I had an appointment at the atelier of Santon maker Marcel Carbonel. There, I cemented the privilege of being only one of four U.S. shops to carry these very special handmade figures. The proprietors welcome visitors to quietly observe the artisans as they begin with a block of red clay and end with a lovely painted figure, either of a holy family figure or a Provençal

144

villager bringing their wares to the baby Jesus. The tradition dates back to the French Revolution when nativity scenes were banned. French people love to share their stories of collecting and displaying their precious Santons, or “little saints,� which are passed down from one generation to the next.

Marseilles is a far more delightful city to visit than it was even just 20 years ago. We enjoyed stunning views of

W&CLiving.com | 145

the harbor and the basilica of Notre Dame de la Garde rising in the distance from our room at the five-star InterContinental Marseille Hotel Dieu. In the morning, we caught the weekly fish market on our ambitious walk to catch the views from the basilica on the hill.

We then set out to explore the hilltop villages of Provence dating back to Roman times and caught the open-air markets, which vary by day of the week.

Time allowed for us to explore Bonnieux, Menerbes, Lacoste, Gordes, Uzès and Châteauneuf-du-Pape—one more enchanting than the next. We were delighted to discover numerous arts and sculpture installations that were subtlety incorporated in nooks and crannies of the hilltop town of Lacoste, home to Savannah College of Art and Design’s (SCAD) France campus. As we ascended the stone pathways to the top of these ancient towns with breathtaking views, we savored the thought of local ripe cheeses, cured meats, olive varieties and loaves of crusty bread that would be our sumptuous reward. The markets are also a great source for Provençal tablecloths, woven Moroccan baskets and the ubiquitous olive oil and shea butter soaps and lotions scented with the world-famous lavender of Provence.

Every town has a medieval or ancient cathedral, church or castle to visit that provides a historical context through which one can appreciate how regimes, conflicts and time have shaped the surroundings. I couldn’t help but think of Jefferson touring the region hundreds of years earlier seeing the same structures we had, all dating back so many years. We raised a glass to him as we dined amongst the beautiful vineyards and enjoyed the varied, refreshing rosé wines for which Provence is so well known.

Provence provides a feast for all of the senses and the mind as well. Enjoying the local cuisine and soaking in the casual, yet elegant style of the region, I found inspiration for Pour la Maison at every turn. As spring leads to summer, I can’t help but think of and desire to be surrounded by all the beautiful wares of Provence. Et vous?

146

Photographer Andrea Hubbell creates timeless, evocative lifestyle images. She specializes in interior and culinary photography, drawing on her background and education in architectural design to focus on form, space, composition, and color in each image she creates.

WWW.ANDREAHUBBELL.COM

TRAVEL LOCALLY

KESWICK HALL OFFERS SOMETHING LUXURIOUS FOR EVERYONE, FROM THOSE SEEKING A ROMANTIC GETAWAY TO THOSE LOOKING FOR AN ACTIVE BUT ELEGANT VACATION IN VIRGINIA’S WINE COUNTRY.

Hall

KESWICK

Nestled among the rolling hills of Albemarle County, Keswick Hall and Golf Club is a sight to behold with deep roots in Virginia’s historic Piedmont Region. From its yellow stucco Italianate façade to its sprawling, luscious grounds and meticulously designed Pete Dye golf course, Keswick Hall offers something for everyone in Virginia’s wine country.

Resident historian Patricia Castelli began her career with Keswick Hall as the food and beverage manager. Though she was always intrigued by the property, she didn’t begin delving deeper until she noticed many of the guests were also deeply interested in the property. “Guests often asked me questions about the house … I discovered that people love stories and many people in this area have a connection

WORDS BY JISEL PERILLA | PHOTOGRAPHY BY KESWICK HALL

148

to the property. One thing lead to the next, and soon I realized that there was more to the house than had ever been documented.”

The original mansion was built by the Crawford family in 1912 and passed through five owners during its 35-year tenure as a private residence, before being converted into a country club in the late 1940s. In 1990, Sir Bernard Ashley, widower of designer Laura Ashley, bought the property, restored it to its elegant past and reincarnated it as a hotel.

Although it has undergone several more ownership changes, renovations and additions since Sir Bernard restored the property, Keswick Hall still very much embraces a “classic Virginia” feel.

As one of the foremost experts on Keswick Hall today,

Castelli wrote the book The Story of Keswick Hall. For her, it’s the history that keeps the life in the villa. “I think there are so many things the walls would tell us if they could speak,” Castelli says. “When I’m in that space, I get a sense of who’s been there before and the ongoing story of the place.”

And it’s easy to understand how even guests can create lifelong memories at Keswick Hall. In the 48 guestrooms, elegance and comfort are appointed to capture a classic and luxurious atmosphere. Many rooms feature antique furniture from the Ashley era, and are decorated in warm, light colors, exuding tranquility. Superior rooms are Keswick Hall’s “entry-level” accommodations—quite spacious with golf course and garden views. The deluxe

W&CLiving.com | 149

rooms and junior suites both offer a separate sitting area and views of either the beautiful countryside or award-winning golf course.

Deluxe Balcony rooms are noted for their large, private balconies, and the one-bedroom suites pair a large sitting area and private terrace with soaking tubs and romantic touches.

Active guests have multiple options from which to choose among. Play a round of golf on the recently renovated course by designer Pete Dye, enjoy a hike on the resort’s extensive trail system or take a dip in the temperaturecontrolled saltwater infinity pool. Guests can head to the spa for a relaxing facial or massage, to the “Pavilion” to play tennis, or to the clubhouse of Keswick Golf Club which houses the Club Grill, pro shop and indoor pool.

Of course, no bona fide Charlottesville area historic property would be complete without a nod to founding father Thomas Jefferson.

Keswick’s most famous dining option, Fossett’s Restaurant, was named after Edith Fossett, Jefferson’s lead cook during his retirement, who served up “half French-half Virginian dishes.” With its floor-to-ceiling windows and panoramic views of the golf course and Blue Ridge Mountains, Fossett’s is the perfect spot to enjoy a special meal, much of which is grown right on the property on Keswick’s sustainable vegetable gardens.

A recipient of the Forbes Travel Guide Five Star Award in 2015 and 2016, Keswick Hall oozes with both southern hospitality and upscale European luxury. Here, Virginian culture and history is alive and well. In fact, just three weeks ago, in the woods surrounding Keswick Hall, the head gardener discovered the base of one of the many columns that stood around the house a hundred years ago. The missing columns had long been a mystery. As Castelli says, “this is just another way that history continues to reveal itself at Keswick Hall.”

150

History lives at our house.

Visit Montpelier this Spring.

History’s doors are open to you seven days a week at Montpelier, the lifelong home of President James Madison. Just 30 minutes from Charlottesville, access to the estate — which includes 2,600 acres of rolling hills, over 8 miles of trails, and formal gardens — is free to the public.

Plan your visit at www.VisitMontpelier.org/ExperienceSpring

Boutique

SHOWCASE

A mother and daughter duo boutique offering classic personalized gifts, timeless and thoughtful for every occasion.

Exclusively home of the Monogrammed Mason Pearson Hairbrushes.

Jefferson Cups and St. Christopher Charms are local favorites.

2125 Ivy Road #8 • (434) 295-6108 • ElainesEngraving.com

Kenny Ball Antiques has been a purveyor of 18th and 19th Century antiques since 1985 and has built a nationwide reputation, selling to most of the top designers across the country.

2125 Ivy Road • (434) 293-1361 • KennyBallAntiques.com

The Shade Shop, in Charlottesville, is the area’s leading source for lamp shades, chandeliers, sconces, lamps and home furnishings. We offer expert lamp repair, custom lamp making and in-home lighting design.

2125 Ivy Road #8 • (434) 270-8585 • TheShadeShop.com

The philosophy of Kenny Ball Design is simple: make design fun, help you envision and articulate your personal space, thus creating a home that represents you.

152

2125 Ivy Road • (434) 293-1361 • KennyBallDesign.com

Boutique

SHOWCASE

Home of nutrition for dogs and cats. We aim to offer a warm, friendly approach to treating your pet and offer some of the finest in all types of food from dry to raw. Our goal is your satisfaction and the health and happiness of your 230 Bond Street, Suite 180 • (434) 293-2275 • CrateAndMarrow.com companion.

Scott Smith

Foods Of All Nations has provided Charlottesville and surrounding areas with imported, local and exceptional domestic foods for more than 50 years. Tourterelle’s gift and flower shop at Foods Of All Nations offers an elegant and eclectic selection for every occasion.

2121 Ivy Road • (434) 296-6131 • FoodsOfAllNations.com 2261 Ivy Road • (434) 973-1211 • TourterelleFloral.com

Blending the old with the new, re-imagining and adapting, creating something modern, sophisticated and wearable, that’s what GotRocks Jewelry Design is all about. Beautiful and timeless, and truly one-ofa-kind adornments.

Available online & by appointment tricia@gotrocksjewelrydesign.com • GotRocksJewelryDesign.com

Established in 1995 by an art history Ph.D., Les Yeux du Monde is a destination for the best of modern and contemporary art.

Located in a stunning W.G. Clark designed structure, the views outside parallel those of the art within.

841 Wolf Trap Road • (434) 973-5566 • LesYeuxduMonde.com

W&CLiving.com | 153

Boutique

SHOWCASE

Leftover Luxuries blurs the distinction between retail and re-sale. All items are pre-approved in order to ensure that the quality and variety matches our customers high expectations. Interior Design services and consultations are available.

450 Pantops Center • (434) 989-3543 • LeftoverLuxuries.com

The combination of a casual cafe, garden shop, event venue & pick-yourown farm makes Grelen a very special destination.

Beautiful views, free walking trails and Virginia beer, cider & wine just add to the mystique.

15091 Yager Road, Somerset • (540) 672-7268 • TheMarketAtGrelen.com

The

PIE CHEST Est. 2014

Where simple, delicious, humble food is served and received with the warmth in which it is made. Sweet pies, savory pot pies and breakfast hand pies are fresh and seasonal and made from scratch.

119 4th Street NE • (434) 977-0443 • ThePieChestCville.com

Version 6.3

Fair trade shop Ten Thousand Villages features authentic, handcrafted jewelry, home accents and gifts from around the world. Your purchase of global treasures supports jobs and sustainable incomes for makers in over 30 developing countries.

105 West Main Street • (434) 979-9470 • TenThousandVillages.com/Charlottesville

154

Dream

PROPERTIES

Holly Hill 6.7 acres

The Preserve at Glenmore

Holly Hill is a private domain of gardens, pond, pool, pool house on the Farmington Golf Course. The understated elegance of a Milton Grigg design on the exterior is enhanced further by a remarkable interior of grandness with graciously sized rooms, exceptional woodwork, 5 bedrooms, 7 fireplaces and beautiful public rooms. Private guest house.

Perched on a 3.5 acre lot is a gorgeous antebellum style home with a double front porch that captures the most beautiful views in Glenmore. Watch the morning sunrise from your upper porch and relax in the evenings on your private rear patio. Come create a “truly custom” estate home with Lambert & Lane Fine Building and Custom Design.

Anne McIntyre | Specializing in Luxury Estate Properties Long and Foster Real Estate | Anne.McIntyre@LNF.com (804) 240-7208 $1,100,000

Jane Porter Fogleman | Luxury Portfolio International jane@foglemangroup.com (434) 981-1274 MLS#521055 Price Upon Request

®

Country Retreat in Staunton

Stoneledge

Custom-built home on 46.3 acres with 5-bedrooms, 3.5 baths and amazing mountain views just minutes from city amenities. Hardwood floors, custom kitchen with granite and stainless, elevated walk-out basement and 3-car garage.

Perfectly suited for growing grapes with a 3-bedroom home on the property as well.

Stunning mountain views, rambling stone walls and terraced gardens surround this Tuscan-style home perched at the gateway to the Blue Ridge Mountains and built for entertaining. Four bedrooms, gourmet kitchen, rear terrace with outdoor fireplace, 2-car detached garage and art studio on 27 acres, which includes an additional building site.

Kathleen Kellett’s Team Kathleen Kellett-Ward (540) 241-0065 MLS#538518 $995,000

Beth Powell (434) 981-9433 bpowell@frankhardy.com John Powell (434) 284-1232 john.powell@sothebysrealty.com $1,135,000 or on 8 acres for $895,000 Each office is independently owned and operated.

W&CLiving.com | 155

Dream

156

PROPERTIES

RiverView RiverView Farm Farm

Rapidan Rapidan River River Farm Farm

A A sylvan sylvan dreamland dreamland on on 182+/182+/- acres-acres-- aa lush, lush, verdant verdant property property in a beautifully wooded and private landscape. in a beautifully wooded and private landscape. Enjoy Enjoy miles miles of beautiful beautiful water water frontage, frontage, including including aa meandering meandering stretch stretch of along along the the North North Anna Anna River, River, manicured manicured trails trails through through the the forests and over the various streams.

The spacious forests and over the various streams. The spacious and and beautiful, beautiful, window-filled, window-filled, cypress cypress log log home home overlooks overlooks the the river, feeling feeling as as ifif you you are are living living as as one one with with nature. nature. river,

Located Located just just north north of of Charlottesville Charlottesville with with everything everything on on your wishlist!

Beautiful home.

Blue Ridge Mountain your wishlist! Beautiful home. Blue Ridge Mountain views. views.

River frontage. frontage. Ten River Ten minutes minutes to to shopping shopping and and airport. airport.

Guest Guest cottages. cottages. Barns.

Barns. Fenced Fenced paddocks. paddocks. Chicken Chicken coop. coop.

Greenhouse.

Greenhouse. Garage.

Garage. Stream Stream with with waterfalls. waterfalls. Producing Producing orchard. orchard. Be Be aa part part of of the the “farm “farm to to table” table” movement movement or or enjoy enjoy having aa sustainable sustainable farm. farm. having

Gayle Gayle Harvey Harvey Real Real Estate Estate VaRiverRetreat.com (434) VaRiverRetreat.com (434) 220-0256 220-0256 MLS#541610 MLS#541610 $1,550,000 $1,550,000

Gayle Gayle Harvey Harvey Real Real Estate Estate RapidanRiverFarm.com RapidanRiverFarm.com (434) (434) 220-0256 220-0256 78+/acre at at $1,575,000 $1,575,000 or or on on 125+/125+/- acres acres at 78+/- acre at $2,175,000 $2,175,000

HeadQuarters HeadQuarters

Pleasant Pleasant View View Farm Farm

The The best best value value in in central central Virginia Virginia can can be be found found at at this this beautiful beautiful estate estate in in Nelson Nelson County.

County. A A gentleman’s gentleman’s farm farm of of 327+/327+/- acres acres with with grand grand seven seven br br home, home, three three br br manager’s manager’s home, home, six six stall stall stable, stable, frontage frontage on on the the James James River River and and trails trails throughout throughout the the majestic hardwood hardwood forest. forest. Perfect Perfect for for aa corporate corporate retreat, retreat, bed bed majestic & & breakfast breakfast or or compound compound for for friends friends looking looking to to escape escape from from the city life. the city life.

Nestled Nestled in in the the midst midst of of formal formal and and country country gardens gardens is is this this luxurious luxurious home home on on 91+/91+/- acres. acres. Wonderful Wonderful one-floor one-floor living living with with light-filled light-filled rooms, rooms, many many overlooking overlooking the the large large sparkling sparkling pond.

Chef’s kitchen.

Two tax map parcels.

Large pond. Chef’s kitchen. Two tax map parcels. Large workshop. workshop.

Fenced for for livestock. livestock.

Fenced

Gayle Gayle Harvey Harvey Real Real Estate Estate VirginiaPlantationHomes.com (434) VirginiaPlantationHomes.com (434) 220-0256 220-0256 MLS#493713 MLS#493713 $1,490,000 $1,490,000

Gayle Gayle Harvey Harvey Real Real Estate Estate ScottsvilleFarms.com ScottsvilleFarms.com (434) (434) 220-0256 220-0256 $1,500,000 $1,500,000

Dream

PROPERTIES

Merrie Merrie Mill Mill Farm Farm

Frays Frays Ridge Ridge Estate Estate

c.c. 1860, 1860, Virginia Virginia manor manor home home of of classic classic antiquity antiquity and and prominent prominent historic historic significance. significance. Consisting Consisting of of 6,114+ 6,114+ sq. sq. ft., ft., with timeless architectural details, magnificent grounds, with timeless architectural details, magnificent grounds, aa charming guest guest cottage, cottage, additional additional dependencies, dependencies, barns barns charming and stone-walled stone-walled gardens gardens on on 400+ 400+ gently gently rolling rolling acres. acres. and

Stately Stately Albemarle Albemarle residence residence of of 10,000+ 10,000+ sq. sq. ft. ft. Smart-house Smart-house wiring wiring and and superior superior construction, construction, with with 99 bedroom bedroom suites, suites, industrial kitchen, elevator, home theater, elegant poolscape, industrial kitchen, elevator, home theater, elegant poolscape, pool house house with with full full kitchen, kitchen, separate separate guest guest quarters, quarters, and and 66 pool car garages. garages. Overlooks Overlooks aa lake lake with with fountain, fountain, on on 21 21 acres. acres. car

Luxury Luxury Portfolio Portfolio International International with with Roy RoyWheeler Wheeler Realty Realty Co. Co. JimBonner.com LuxuryCharlottesville.com LuxuryCharlottesville.com (434) (434) 951-5102 951-5102 JimBonner.com MLS#509871 MLS#509871 $3,950,000 $3,950,000

Luxury Luxury Portfolio Portfolio International International with with Roy RoyWheeler Wheeler Realty Realty Co. Co. JimBonner.com JimBonner.com LuxuryCharlottesville.com LuxuryCharlottesville.com (434) (434) 951-5102 951-5102 MLS#513246 MLS#513246 $2,950,000 $2,950,000

Normandy Normandy Chateau Chateau for for Lease Lease

Rocky Rocky Glen Glen

Available Available for for business, business, family family and and weddings. weddings. Luxury Luxury Charlottesville International International presents presents the the finest finest homes homes and and Charlottesville most most beautiful beautiful estates estates for for sale sale around around the the world, world, including including the the treasures treasures of of Albemarle Albemarle County County and and surrounding surrounding countryside. countryside.

Western Western Albemarle Albemarle school school district. district. Artfully Artfully crafted crafted 55bedroom home home embraces embraces aa well well preserved preserved c.c. 1821 1821 chestnut chestnut bedroom log log cabin cabin at at its its heart. heart. Natural Natural materials materials enhance enhance the the eclectic eclectic yet sophisticated interior.

Beautiful open spaces, with yet sophisticated interior. Beautiful open spaces, with toptopquality appointments. appointments. 63 63 acres acres with with dramatic dramatic mountain mountain quality views, pond pond and and nice nice stables. stables. views,

Luxury Luxury Portfolio Portfolio International International with with Roy RoyWheeler Wheeler Realty Realty Co. Co. JimBonner.com JimBonner.com LuxuryCharlottesville.com LuxuryCharlottesville.com (434) (434) 951-5102 951-5102 Price PriceUpon UponRequest Request

Luxury Portfolio Portfolio International International with with Roy RoyWheeler Wheeler Realty Realty Co. Co. Luxury JimBonner.com LuxuryCharlottesville.com LuxuryCharlottesville.com (434) (434) 951-5102 951-5102 JimBonner.com MLS#530112 MLS#530112 $1,100,000 $1,100,000

W&CLiving.com | 157

Dream

PROPERTIES

WWW.MCLEANFAULCONER.COM

Arcourt

Greystone

Spacious 5,800+ finished sq.ft., French-inspired custom residence on 22 private acres in Keswick Hunt Country, completely fenced for horses, 3-stall stable, guest quarters with shop/garage underneath. Residence features an open floor plan, large rooms, high ceilings, tall windows and heated stone floors. Beautiful mountain and pastoral views.

A remarkable 312-acre country estate, 12 minutes east of Charlottesville. Property includes a 5-acre lake stocked with year-round trout, competition sporting clay and 3D archery courses, two cottages and equestrian facilities. This unique offering is ideal for horses, recreation, a weekend retreat, a wedding destination, or agricultural and viticultural endeavors.

McLean Faulconer, Inc. Steve McLean (434) 981-1863 MLS#538352 $2,850,000

McLean Faulconer, Inc. Jim Faulconer (434) 981-0076 MLS#543296 $2,595,000

WWW.MCLEANFAULCONER.COM

158

WWW.MCLEANFAULCONER.COM

WWW.MCLEANFAULCONER.COM

Tranquil Rural Setting

The Chimneys

Extraordinary 73+/- acre estate parcel set among other notable large farm and estate properties in southern Albemarle. Magnificent Blue Ridge Mountain and pastoral views, excellent building sites, a pond and creek. Mostly open, the land is pristine, productive and ideal for vineyards or other agricultural opportunities.

Spectacular 300-acre country estate next to Blue Ridge Mountains, most magnificent views, 9000 sq. ft. residence with amazing rooms, completely renovated and enlarged.

Farm in excellent condition. Two guest homes, 2 barns, 2 lakes. Visit: thechimneysfarm.com.

McLean Faulconer, Inc. Steve McLean (434) 981-1863 MLS#536922 $1,200,000

McLean Faulconer, Inc. Jim Faulconer (434) 981-0076 MLS#543295 $6,950,000

Dream

PROPERTIES

Quality & Craftsmanship

Gorgeous Home in Keswick

Exquisite custom-built brick home. Front & rear staircases, 5/6 bedrooms, 3 fireplaces, 3+ car garage & in-ground pool on 21 beautiful acres. Ideal equestrian property, yet still enjoy the convenience of shopping & restaurants.

Gracious brick home in gated Glenmore Golf & Country Club.

Stunning 2-story foyer, 6 bedrooms with main level Master Suite. Radiant heated floors, gourmet kitchen, 3 fireplaces, 3 car garage & fenced park-like rear yard.

Byrd Abbott / Roy Wheeler Realty Co. ByrdAbbott.com 795fraysridgeroad.info (434) 424-9600 $1,425,000

Byrd Abbott / Roy Wheeler Realty Co. ByrdAbbott.com 3092darbyroad.info (434) 424-9600 Price Upon Request

WWW.MCLEANFAULCONER.COM

WWW.MCLEANFAULCONER.COM

Oakstone

Secretarys Sand Road

Dramatic, superbly built 4BR post & beam contemporarystyle home, privately situated on 21 acres near Earlysville.

Elevated homesite with magnificent panoramic view of Blue Ridge Mts. and surrounding countryside. Spacious, efficient beautiful kitchen; huge windows and vaulted ceilings to capture natural light.

Private 354+ acres of attractive of gently rolling land in an area of estate properties located just 25 minutes south of Charlottesville. 100+ acres are open with year-round streams, pond and log home of log construction that is in fair condition.

This property is ideal for farming, recreation, weekend retreat, or residential estate property.

McLean Faulconer, Inc. Jim Faulconer (434) 981-0076 MLS#543410 $1,795,000

McLean Faulconer, Inc. Steve McLean (434) 981-1863 MLS#534895 $1,770,000

W&CLiving.com | 159

Lifestyle. Convenience. Affordability.

Whether you’re considering a move-in ready home or prefer to buy your dream lot now and build when the time is right for you, Spring Creek has it all.

Located minutes from Charlottesville, Spring Creek is a meticulously-planned, amenity-filled, 24-hour gated residential golf community with single family homes, townhomes, and villa homes priced from the upper $200s. Spring Creek is the gem of Louisa County, offering the best in amenities, convenience, security, and privacy for the homebuyer that is just starting out, starting their family or enjoying their retirement years—there’s something for everyone.

With beautiful golf & conservation lots priced from the low $80s, enjoy all the benefits of lot ownership now and build when the time is right for you.

GOLF CLUB | TAVERN | POOL | COMMUNITY | CLUBHOUSE | SPORTS CLUB | WALKING TRAILS

TO SCHEDULE YOUR PRIVATE TOUR OF SPRING CREEK, CALL (804) 539-6734 | ZION CROSSROADS, VA | | LIVESPRINGCREEK.COM

Porsche of Charlottesville

THE RIDE OF YOUR LIFE. FLOWPORSCHECHARLOT TESVILLE.COM