EPISODE #16 SHEP ROUSE/ROCKBRIDGE VINEYARD

Fine Wine Confidential Podcast

I always enjoy sitting down with Shep Rouse and getting his viewpoint on winegrowing in Virginia and wine in general. He has been making wine for close to 45 years. First in California in the early '80s and then in Virginia first in 1986 at the old Montdomaine winery and then founding his own winery Rockbridge in 1992.
Although Shep doesn't produce a Norton every vintage, mostly because he doesn't grow it in his vineyard the Norton wine, I have had from him in the past is a great expression of the grape and what it can be once in the bottle and aged properly. In fact, the 2002 Rockbridge Norton, his first vintage, that I had several years ago was one of the highlights for me since I moved to Virginia in 2019. Tasted in the fall of 2020 it had transformed into a wine that reminded me of some of the BV Private Reserve wines from the early '70s that I used to enjoy from California. It was a remarkable bottle of wine. The memory of which has stuck with me since and has inspired me to begin to collect Norton and lay it down in my cellar for the future.
You will learn from this conversation with Shep. Take a listen or read the transcript attached below.

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