Red, White & Rosé – Taste on the Lake with Virginia Women in Wine

Emily Hodson graduated from Emory University with a B.S. in Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology with a focus in Infectious Diseases. She moved to Virginia in 1999 to work alongside her parents in the development of Veritas while studying to obtain her Masters degree in Fermentation Science at Virginia Tech. Emily is a founding board member of the Winemaker’s Research Exchange and was nationally recognized with the Rich Smith Award of Excellence.  Having made wine solely in Virginia, her philosophy involves striving to achieve a natural, balanced expression of fruit by focusing on attention to detail and viticultural practices.

Françoise, a Belgian mathematician, and Julian, an Irish dentist, first met in bustling London just as Françoise was about to move to California. Julian followed her over, and together in the Bay Area they fell in love with the world of fine wine. Meeting scientists who had started their own vineyards led them to realize that they could one day turn their shared passion into a labor of love. Time marched on, and numerous wine tastings and viticulture classes helped to support their passion with a deeper breadth of knowledge.

Together, they moved to Washington D.C. and came to discover the beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains and the hidden bounty of Virginia wines. In 2006, after a four-year search, they bought a horse farm and began the work of turning it into vineyard during their weekends. In 2012, Françoise transitioned from her academic career to become a full-time vineyard manager. While Julian continues his endodontic practice, he spends his weekends at the vineyard and in the tasting room.

For the original vineyard, in true experimental fashion (they are both scientists by training: Françoise a statistician and Julian a developmental biologist), they chose grape varieties that produce wines they like to drink and planted a small sample of each to see what would grow. Although some of their favorite varietals did not appreciate the Virginia humidity, many outpaced their expectations. Once their small vineyard was filled, it became clear that their land did not have adequate sun exposure. However, their neighbors had a perfect hill, with a perfect North-South alignment and gentle slope. Françoise had hill envy! One afternoon while Julian was out clearing brush at the fence line he got chatting to their neighbor and mentioned that they coveted his hill. Three months later the hill was theirs, and five years later, the hill was completely covered with grapevines.

Having established their vineyard, they set their sights on expanding to a winery and tasting room. As the vineyard in Reva is somewhat off the beaten path, they looked for a location that would be both easily accessible to the public and have room to expand the vineyard. The perfect property came on the market in Hebron Valley, their favorite place in all the Virginia foothills. In April 2016 they broke ground on the tasting room. They relocated a log cabin that was built in 1830 in Java, Virginia. Soon, however, the cabin could not hold the number of guests who came to enjoy Revalation’s wines and spectacular view. In 2020 they started turning the hay barn into a tasting room, which was finally opened to the public late 2024 after many pandemic-related delays.  The production facility was started in 2023 and will be in full working order for the 2025 vintage.

Since 2016 they have been bottling verjus, a tart and sweet grape juice that is used for cocktails, mocktails, salad dressings and sauces. Revalation is the sole vineyard in Virginia to make this product commercially. It won a 2021 Made in Virginia award from the Virginia Living magazine. At the tasting room a verjus flight is on offer where the base juice is mixed with a variety of simple syrups.

In 2014, Matthieu Finot produced Revalation’s first vintage from the experimental vineyard. Françoise and Julian aim to produce fruity, well-structured wines with enjoyable mouth feel and complexity. The current offerings include 6 white and 4 red wines as well as a rosé. They are particularly proud of their signature wines: Zeus (a méthode Champenoise sparkling), Hera (a carbonated sparkling), Novum (a white port-style wine) and Haywood (an orange wine).

Jocelyn Kuzelka is a winemaker, cidermaker, and technical consultant. Since 2003, Jocelyn has followed her love of fermentation and enology all around the world with experience working wine grape harvests in the U.S., Italy, Australia, and New Zealand. Her education includes a B.S. in Biochemistry from Virginia Tech and a M.S. in Oenology from the University of Adelaide in South Australia.

Jocelyn has been serving as a consultant to winemakers and cidermakers across the country, as well as creating small batch wines and ciders for producers in Virginia since 2008. Jocelyn’s company Panacea Wine Consulting has helped producers build successful, thriving wine and cider companies; working with many different producers over the years has given her a high level of mastery and proficiency in the field.

Jocelyn also serves as the Cider Specialist for the Virginia Winemakers Research Exchange, a non-profit organization of Virginia producers pursuing quality improvement through practical experimentation in vineyards, orchards, wineries, and cideries. The organization supports wine and cider makers to refine ideas or questions through experimental design, protocol design, funding laboratory analysis, and finally conducting sensory and statistical evaluation. It is super science geeky and super fun!

In 2021, Jocelyn and longtime friend Megan Hereford started Daring Wine Company, a vision that grew from grapes without a home, a winery with space, and a lot of courage. Producing only small batch, high quality wines and ciders from southwestern and central Virginia and honoring the brave and bold people that have inspired us along the way. Saluté!

Established in 2000 by owner Dave Matthews, Blenheim Vineyards is a family-owned and operated winery located 20 minutes southeast of Charlottesville. With two vineyard sites growing Chardonnay, Viognier, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Sauvignon, the goal at Blenheim is to make high quality wines that reflect the climate, soil and beauty of the surrounding landscape.

WINEMAKER Kirsty Harmon

Born in the Netherlands, Kirsty has spent a majority of her life in Charlottesville. After graduating from the University of Virginia in 1998 with a degree in biology, Kirsty developed an appreciation for wine through a job that allowed her to apprentice for famed Virginia winemaker Gabriele Rausse.

After making wine for several years in Virginia, Kirsty moved west to pursue formal training at the University of California at Davis, where she graduated with an M.S. in Viticulture and Enology in 2007. After graduation, Kirsty spent six months at Domaine Faiveley in Nuits St. Georges, France as a recipient of the 2007 Confrerie des Chevaliers du Tastevin Scholarship. In Spring 2008, she worked as a harvest intern at Craggy Range Winery in New Zealand as recipient of the Doug Wisor Memorial Scholarship.

Kirsty officially joined Blenheim Vineyards as winemaker in June of 2008. She was promoted to General Manager in April of 2009 and in addition to making the wine, she now oversees the entire operation from the vineyard through sales.