April 14, 2008
Notaviva in the News
Been a great couple of weeks on the PR front. Shannon and I were featured in the recent issues of both the Washington Business Journal and the Loudoun Business Journal. They are not affiliated, just was a great coincidence that both stories hit at the same time. We were thrilled with both articles! The WBJ article really took a good look at the business side, while the LBJ article dove much deeper into the rationale behind the dream as well as some of the challenges that were overcome. Here's a link to the first few paragraphs of the WBJ article (you'd have to be a subscriber to see the whole thing...)
http://washington.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2008/04/07/focus1.html
Here's the link to the LBJ article:
http://www.leesburg2day.com/articles/2008/04/16/loudoun_business/biz112notavivav041408.txt
Posted by Stephen at 8:39 PM
April 8, 2008
Ralph J. "Whitie" Hubert
The Virginia wine industry lost a true pioneer yesterday, and we would like to pay our respects by saving a copy of his obituary here. As members of a new generation of winery owners we are indebted to the Hubert's vision and entrepreneurial spirit.
From the Leesburg Colonial Funeral Home Web site:
Ralph J. "Whitie" Hubert
(May 28, 1924 - April 7, 2008)
Ralph J. "Whitie" Hubert, 83, founder and chairman of the Gaithersburg, MD-based Hubert Construction, LLC and co-owner of Tarara Winery LLC, passed away at his home in Leesburg, VA on April 7, 2008. He had prostate cancer and Parkinson's disease.
Whitie was born in Avon Lake, Ohio in 1924 and was raised on a fruit farm that included a vineyard. He attended college at Bowling Green University before joining the Marines during War World II. Following his military service, during which he participated in several Pacific amphibious landings, he attended John Carroll University for a year before transferring to Catholic University, where he was a wrestling champion and the University football team quarterback. It was there that he received his nickname "Whitie" from a football coach who had trouble remembering his name and identified him by his light blond hair.
Between his junior and senior years of college, Whitie took a bicycle trip from Paris over the Alps to Rome. Returning to the U.S. in 1949, he met his future wife Margaret on the English Channel. He graduated Catholic University with an Architectural Engineering degree in 1950 and married Margaret in 1951 in Washington, D.C.
Whitie has been an icon in the Washington, D.C. area construction industry for over 40 years. With just $1,000 in start-up capital in 1959, following the birth of his fifth child, he founded Glen Construction Co. Inc. with then-partner Frank Darcey. In 1969, he bought out his partner and began building a reputation as one of the metropolitan area's largest contractors. For several years, Glen was included in Engineering News Record's list of the top 100 contractors in the nation.
By the 1980's, Glen was building over two million square feet of commercial space per year, including many of the area's landmark buildings such as the J.T.L. Tycon Towers office building in Tyson's Corner and the Radisson Mark Plaza in Alexandria. During this time, he served as President of the Metropolitan Washington Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) and was National President and Fellow of the American Institute of Constructors. In the late 1990's, Whitie reduced his involvement in Glen Construction and sold his interest to his son, Michael Hubert. In 1998, realizing that he missed working in the construction industry, Whitie founded Hubert Construction, LLC. In 2002, he won the DC Metropolitan Subcontractors' Association Pinnacle Award for lifetime achievement in the building and construction industry.
Whitie believed that working in the construction field was a "great sport." He was proud of the "Glen Graduates," many of whom who started their construction careers with him and went on to positions of industry leadership. They shared a camaraderie and set of ethics unique to the construction industry. Known for his energy, integrity, and intense "type A" personality, Whitie often would say after a heated exchange: "I'm not mad at you."
Like many World War II veterans, Whitie developed an interest in flying. He received his pilot's license and owned several airplanes, one of which met its' demise in a crash landing. Whitie managed to walk away from that crash and from multiple other moving vehicle incidents, some of which he left while the vehicles were on fire. Friends and family learned that it was better to be Whitie's driver than his passenger, even while riding in a golf cart.
In 1985, Whitie and his wife Margaret bought a 475-acre farm on the Potomac River in Loudoun County, Virginia and named it Tarara. There they built a home and winery, planting 50 acres of grapes, fruit trees, and nursery stock. They opened Tarara's tasting room in 1989. Whitie was actively involved with the Virginia Wineries Association, encouraging state support of Virginia's nascent wine industry, which is now the nation's fifth largest.
Tarara Winery today is one of Virginia's most recognized destination wineries. It became Whitie's "sandbox" for an unending series of projects that precluded a slow-paced retirement. With Tarara, Whitie returned to his Ohio roots, living a life focused on family, farming, and growing grapes for wine.
Whitie is survived by his wife of 56 years, Margaret, five children: Karen Harvell of Atlanta, GA; Martha Hubert of San Francisco, CA; Steven Hubert of Bethesda, MD; Janet DuBois of Minneapolis, MN; and Michael Hubert of Gaithersburg, MD; and nine grandchildren: Andrea, Daniella, Casey, Jaime, Andrew, Melanie, Peter, Richard, and Erica. He was predeceased by his grandson Neil.
Family and friends may call on Thursday, April 10, 2008 from 2 to 4 PM and from 6 to 8 PM at Colonial Funeral Home. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10 AM on Friday, April 11, 2008, at St. John the Apostle Catholic Church (King & Union Streets), Leesburg, VA. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made in his memory to the building fund of St. John the Apostle Catholic Church, 101 Oakcrest Manor Drive, Leesburg, VA 20176.
Posted by Stephen at 8:27 PM
March 27, 2008
Mesh Multimedia LLC
Shannon and I are proud to announce we've formed a new multimedia production company! Mesh Multimedia LLC was formed to provide businesses and government agencies a one-stop multimedia solution for live event production, Web 2.0 integration, presentation support, Web design and graphic design.
So what is the mesh ...?
The mesh is the experiential network that enables integrated media delivery through multiple channels. This experiential network can be comprised of any combination of live events, collaborative Web applications, Internet communications, audiovisual mediums, and print. "Meshing" can be used to describe both the intentions and activities of an information provider, as well as the activities and motivations of an information receiver. For example, if you are at a corporate sales event and are engaged in collaborative Web activities with your colleagues you are "meshing". If you are watching a product marketing video and surfing the Web at the same time you are "meshing".
Learn more about our new initiative by visiting our Web site: www.meshmultimedia.com.
Posted by Stephen at 8:13 PM
Blog Catchup
Got caught up on a few more entries from last July, scroll down to check 'em out!
Posted by Stephen at 8:12 PM
March 26, 2008
LWGA Party Time
Tonight we hosted the Loudoun Winegrower's Association meeting at our place. It was so awesome to finally have everyone over who have been so supportive of our efforts over the past few years. We had a turnout of about 38 including Shannon and I. Well, 39 including Tristan who hung out for most of the meeting growling at people in his fierce Tyrannosaurus Rex way.
We were able to fit all the chairs upstairs in the loft, and it worked out great because we took care of business upstairs, then came down into the tasting room for the reception. Plenty of people donated wine, and the event was sponsored by Marlene Straughn of the Independent Insurance Center as they write winery and vineyard insurance policies and had a lot of good information for the association members.
All in all it was a great time, and Shannon and I would like to thank everyone who took the time to come out - we enjoyed visiting with all of you!
Posted by Stephen at 8:05 PM
March 24, 2008
Hardscaping
Hardscaping is the design and installation of non-plant elements such as stone and woodwork. It also includes earth moving and other miserable chores. I call it hardscaping because it's, well, HARD. Seems like everything associated with this is heavy!
Anyhow, I spent 10 hours today working on a new terraced lawn design I'm creating by the pond. After the big brush fire a few weeks ago, I decided to cut in a terrace, and using the remaining boulders from the construction installed a retaining wall to hold the upper terrace. I left a gap in the middle for a stairway, which I created out of several large stones from the old fireplace that stood in the log home we tore down in May 2006. It really came together, and I was able to do the rough grading with the tractor, but will be relying on Ron Hawes to do the final grade with the Bobcat as 1) it is a more adept machine and 2) he is a more adept operator!
Will post some pics soon, once the final grade is done.
Posted by Stephen at 6:36 PM
March 15, 2008
Tree Removal
Spent the better part of the day removing a tree by the pond that fell down during the last ice storm. Took several hours to chainsaw the branches and trunk in pieces, stack the small stuff into a burn pile, and stack the larger pieces to dry out for the eventual fire pit that we'll have at the pondside seating area. Then the really fun part was trying to get the giant roots out of the ground. Using the front end loader of the tractor, I took a couple tries at rolling it out but some of the larger roots just wouldn't break free. So after almost rolling the tractor a few times, I had to prop up the stump with the loader and cut the roots free with the chain saw. After that the stump tore loose from the ground and I dragged it out into the woods, leaving a gaping hole in the hillside to fill in tomorrow.
All in all it was a brutal day, and I'm feeling pretty wiped out at the moment. But after removing the tree and seeing how much it opens up the pondside seating area I'm kind of glad it's gone, now we'll have a much nicer area for customers to hang out so in the end it turned out for the better.
Posted by Stephen at 7:57 PM
March 1, 2008
Open For Business
Today was the first official day Notaviva Vineyards opened for business! It actually came about quite suddenly, as we weren't planning on opening for another few months. But we recently left our positions at Viva so we figured let's just do it. This past Monday we were driving the back roads having our coffee, and I turned to Shannon and said, "you know, our greatest opportunity is sitting empty on weekends. Let's open this Sunday." To which she replied "Let's just do it Saturday!" And that was that.
So we jumped on the phone with Doug Fabbioli and asked how to make this work, ended up driving over to his place to discuss the details. In short we are operating under a remote license through Fabbioli Cellars until our TTB and ABC licenses come through, should be any time now given they tell people 60 days and our paperwork was submitted last October...
We feel like we've crossed the finish line, all the years of hard work and dedication really feel like they're starting to pay off. It was an amazing feeling, chatting with customers and seeing their faces looking around the tasting room. We sold almost a case of our Vivace Viognier on futures, even though people can't take the bottles away until we're official. Awesome.
So come on by and check out the tasting room, and enjoy a tasting of the Fabbioli wines. Saturdays and Sundays 12pm - 6pm.
Dreams do come true.
Posted by Stephen at 8:48 PM
January 23, 2008
Baby Swag
Just in case you wanted to see how cute the Notaviva swag looked on a yummy baby, check out our nephew James Beckford Mackey! This item is available in the Swag Shop.
(Click photo to enlarge)
Posted by Stephen at 9:46 AM
January 4, 2008
Blog Catchup
Made some progress on blog catchup - finished up the first part of May!
Posted by Stephen at 11:22 PM
November 28, 2007
Blog Catchup
Just finished uploading a bunch of new pictures from May, June, and July. Will continue uploading pictures until I'm current, then will go back and fill in the text.
Scroll down and enjoy!
Posted by Stephen at 11:35 AM
November 2, 2007
Blog Catchup
Still working on backfilling blog entries - just finished up April!
Posted by Stephen at 5:01 PM
October 18, 2007
Where Have We Been???
I'm sure by now many of you regular readers must think we have fallen off the planet, as our blog entries are so far behind. But fear not! We have been hard at work on many different initiatives, and trying to get some rest after the (semi) completion of our home and tasting room. Here's a quick look at what we've been up to:
- Designed and printed our business cards (have a look!) -> 
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- Designed and printed our letterhead and envelopes
- Harvested both the Viognier and Cabernet Franc (will post those pics and entries very soon!) Both wines are well underway under the watchful eye of Doug Fabbioli and Ben Renshaw. I kid you not - the Viognier is out of this world!
- Created our online store, which although in it's early stages is ready for customers. Check back often as products will be added frequently over the weeks and months ahead.
http://www.CafePress.com/notavivaswag/
- Began development of the new Web site (probably 50% complete at this writing - anticipate a December launch) This is definitely a planes/trains/automobiles project as I have been squeezing this in amongst my travels all summer and fall. Several pages were created at Dulles airport boarding gates, others on the Acela express train, still others in the passenger seat while Shannon is driving. It will get done! Wanna sneak a peak...?
So thank you for your continued interest in our venture, and your continued patience in the tardiness of our blog entries. Rest assured however, that we are doing everything possible to make it all happen given our limited bandwidth with professional careers and two young boys. Check back often as I backfill blog entries and try hard to get caught up!
Posted by Stephen at 5:00 PM
May 15, 2007
Loudoun Business Journal
Notaviva Vineyards got some local ink in the Loudoun Business Journal article "Building a Wine Country".
Thanks to Therese Howe and her support of the Loudoun Winery industry - check out the article here.
Posted by Stephen at 12:54 PM
March 9, 2007
Notaviva Vineyards In The News
Copied from the Loudoun County Web site:
Travel the Loudoun Wine Trail: 2007 Brochure is Available
The 2007 Loudoun Wine Trail brochure is now available at wineries, the Loudoun Convention and Visitors Association office, Leesburg Corner Outlets, and many other locations.
The brochure lists the 12 local wineries in last year’s brochure and adds Loudoun’s newest winery, Fabbioli Cellars in Lucketts. By the end of this year, Notaviva Vineyards in Purcellville and Bluemont Vineyard will also be open, boosting the number of Loudoun wineries to fifteen.
Posted by Stephen at 4:56 PM
February 7, 2007
Snowfall
Thought I'd share some pics of the vineyard and house under a blanket of snow:
Posted by Stephen at 3:44 PM
January 9, 2007
WashingtonPost.com Blogging Summit
I was invited to the inaugural WashingtonPost.com blogging summit, held at the Washington Post auditorium in DC. Tammy Marcoullier, a former colleague of Shannon's from AOL is now a consultant for the Post and has been following our blog. It was her idea to have me attend, and I'm glad to have had the experience.
Essentially the summit was for DC-area non-political bloggers to come together to discuss blog-specific issues. The three-hour summit was divided into three segments. First was a panel comprised of top Washington Post executives, with we bloggers asking questions and offering suggestions. Second was a libel attorney discussing libel and defamation issues particular to bloggers. This was a very interesting and enlightening session. I didn't stick around for the third hour, as Shannon was home with the boys and feeling pretty tired.
I'd guess about 100 people attended, and it was very cool to see the diversity of the topic represented. As we walked in they were scrolling through all the bloggers' home pages and putting them up on the screens. It felt great to see our blog up there!
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Posted by Stephen at 10:31 PM
November 17, 2006
NTVVA3
Finally broke down and bought ourselves a pickup truck. Should have done it a while ago but figured we'd wait until the time was right. Surfed the net for a few weeks, and actually looked a few last Saturday down in Winchester but they all had too much mileage on them. Then as I was sitting in the Boston airport last night I came across a 1997 Ford F150 extended cab 4X4 for $8,995. Best part is that it only had 49,000 miles on it under one owner. So we took off from work a little early and went to see Hazem the Palestinian down in Manassas. What a great time, he and his team were so friendly and made the experience quite entertaining. In and out in two hours. Pics are at the end of this gallery.
Posted by Stephen at 10:00 PM
February 3, 2006
Magnus Magnusson
Magnus, son of Magnus arrived today!!! OK, for those of you who don't know about Magnus, that is the name of our old tractor. Named in honor of Shannon's great-grandfather who emigrated to the US from Sweden. Thus when we decided to purchase a new tractor, there was only one name to be considered - Magnus Magnusson - "Son of Magnus"
Have a look:
Magnus Magnusson and I
Six foot wide tractor in a nine foot wide row!
Front view
Ready for action
Happily, our old tractor gets to stay in the family. My cousin Julie's husband Randy is a closet hayseed who loves farming. They are actually getting a horse, cow, and other things that can get out of a fence and eat the neighbors bushes... Have fun with that - we'll stick to grapes! So they came and picked up Magnus and took him to his new home. Here's some pics of Shannon saying goodbye (you know how attached women get to their tractors...) :-)
Shannon, Tamra, and Magnus
Total silliness
And more silliness!
Posted by Stephen at 9:08 PM
December 31, 2005
Closed For Winter
Notaviva Vineyards is officially closed for the winter! What an insane year - it still hasn't really sunk in that we actually accomplished everything we set out to do. Thanks again to everyone who pitched in and donated their time and muscles to our efforts - we will never forget it.
As for us, it's time to hibernate and spend the next six weeks playing with Tristan every weekend until it's time to start pruning and running trellis wire. But until then it will feel glorious to have nothing to do on weekends but relax. Now where did I put that guitar...?
Happy New Year from Stephen, Shannon, & Tristan!
Posted by Stephen at 7:38 PM
October 21, 2005
RSS Feeds
In an effort to expand our blog content offering, I've decided to begin syndicating other interesting vineyard and wine-related blogs. For you non-techy readers, syndication is essentially an automated process whereby our blog can display links to the articles on other blogs. I've found an interesting blog maintained by Tom Wark who is a public relations professional working in the wine industry and owner of Wark Communications, based in Sonoma Valley, CA. There are a lot of interesting articles related to the industry, from vineyards to wineries to legal issues to marketing, and everything in between. There are dozens of other wine-related blogs, soon to be hundreds I'm sure, so I'll be trying out different feeds from time to time as new blogs emerge.
So check out Tom's blog via the "Fermentations Feeds" links to the right. Enjoy!
Posted by Stephen at 2:00 PM
August 31, 2005
Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund
It could happen to any of us...
Posted by Stephen at 5:50 PM
May 16, 2005
Supreme Court Ruling
Court rejects ban on out-of-state wine sales
Ruling could extend to other alcoholic drinks, e-commerce
NBC, MSNBC and news services
Updated: 6:35 p.m. ET May 16, 2005
WASHINGTON - Raising the bar on states wanting to restrict online commerce, the Supreme Court ruled Monday that wine lovers may buy directly from out-of-state wineries, striking down laws banning a practice that has flourished because of the Internet and growing popularity of winery tours.
While the ruling only involves wine sales, industry groups expect that it will soon apply to beer and other alcoholic beverages currently regulated through state-licensed wholesalers and retailers.
Lawyers involved in the case say the ruling will also make it harder for states to restrict Internet commerce on other regulated items — from contact lenses to car insurance.
The 5-4 decision strikes down laws in New York and Michigan that make it a crime to buy wine directly from vineyards in another state. In all, 24 states have laws that bar interstate shipments.
The state bans are discriminatory and anti-competitive, the court said.
"States have broad power to regulate liquor," Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote for the majority. "This power, however, does not allow states to ban, or severely limit, the direct shipment of out-of-state wine while simultaneously authorizing direct shipment by in-state producers."
'Evenhanded' policy required
"If a state chooses to allow direct shipments of wine, it must do so on evenhanded terms," he wrote.
Kennedy was joined in his opinion by Justices Antonin Scalia, David Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer.
At issue was the 21st Amendment, which ended Prohibition in 1933 and granted states authority to regulate alcohol sales. Nearly half the states subsequently passed laws requiring outside wineries to sell their products through licensed wholesalers within the state.
But the Constitution also prohibits states from passing laws that discriminate against out-of-state businesses. That led to a challenge to laws in Michigan and New York, which allow direct shipments for in-state wineries but not out-of-state ones.
Kennedy wrote that states do not have the authority to regulate liquor simply to protect their economic interests.
The decision puts in doubt laws in 24 states that ban out-of-state shipments, although the opinion suggests the laws will be upheld so long as in-state and out-of-state wineries are treated equally.
As a result, states could choose all wineries to sell to consumers directly, but could also bar all wineries from doing so.
Legislators in Michigan and New York, where local wine industries are rapidly expanding, will likely face pressure to upend their current shipping laws and allow out-of-state shipments. But in states like Connecticut and Florida, where few wineries are located, influential liquor wholesalers may have more success in shutting down all direct shipments.
Thomas writes dissent
In a dissent, Justice Clarence Thomas argued that the ruling needlessly overturns long-established regulations aimed partly at protecting minors. State regulators under the 21st Amendment have clear authority to regulate alcohol as they see fit, he wrote.
"The court does this nation no service by ignoring the textual commands of the Constitution and acts of Congress," Thomas wrote.
He was joined in his opinion by Chief Justice William Rehnquist, as well as Justices Sandra Day O’Connor and John Paul Stevens.
Win for small wineries
The economic stakes are high in the $21.6 billion wine industry. Owners of small wineries, which have proliferated in recent years, say they can’t compete with huge companies unless they can sell directly to customers over the Internet or by allowing visitors to their wineries to ship bottles home.
"This does not by any means get us out of the woods entirely, but it does give us the full authority of the United States Supreme Court to say what you're doing is wrong," said David Sloane, executive director of WineAmerica, the wineries' national trade group. "It puts us on the moral high ground."
But states collect millions of dollars in alcohol taxes and say the established system helps stem fraud and underage drinking.
Nida Samona, chairwoman of the Michigan Liquor Control Commission, said she will recommend that legislators ban all shipments of wine, a position certain to draw fire from Michigan wineries who currently ship to in-state customers. "Face to face purchase of alcohol is the safest way for the safety and health of everyone," Samona told MSNBC.com. "I understand that they're going to be not to happy with my position."
The Washington-based Institute for Justice says the 24 states that ban direct shipments from out-of-state wineries are: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah and Vermont.
The cases are Granholm v. Heald, 03-1116; Michigan Beer & Wine Wholesalers Association v. Heald, 03-1120; and Swedenburg v. Kelly, 03-1274.
Posted by Stephen at 9:47 AM
September 21, 2004
First Blog Entry!
Welcome to Notaviva Vineyards! So this is the first-ever blog entry - I'm pretty excited actually. Thanks to Korte-san my blog sensei!
So where did the word 'Notaviva' come from? Check out the story here.
Think I'll go back in time now and create some old entries so we can give the whole story ...
Posted by Stephen at 8:55 PM | Comments ( 4 )
August 6, 2003
LLC
Today the Commonwealth of Virginia approves the Certificate of Organization of Notaviva Vineyards, LLC!
Posted by Stephen at 5:31 PM
January 31, 2003
Closing Day
It's closing day! A balmy 24 degrees greets us this fine morning. A little known fact - today is the first day that Shannon has seen the place. Now that is trust my friends. Here is a picture of the castle I picked out for my princess. She loved it!
So closing was almost great except for some money that had to go into an escrow account. If we could have only known what a disaster that would turn into...
Posted by Stephen at 5:35 PM
October 9, 2002
Real Estate Contract
Today we submitted a contract for the purchase of 42.25 acres, located at 13295 Sagle Road in Purcellville, VA. Well actually the address is 13274 Sagle Road but the wrong address has been on the house and mailbox for so long nobody really knew WHAT the real address is. Hey that's life in the country...
Posted by Stephen at 4:43 PM
September 28, 2002
Let's found a vineyard...?
The notion of founding a vineyard is conceived while visiting neighboring Breaux Vineyards Harvest Festival. As we were walking away from the outside tasting tent, Shannon turned to me and asked "Do people really get to do this for a living?" and I replied "You wanna?"
And that was that...
Posted by Stephen at 4:40 PM
