The Spirit of Italy Comes to Stay in 维吉尼亚州 at Ecco Adesso Vineyards
年轻，开始，小 & 老农民
Walking the rolling hills and watching workers in distant vineyards, visitors to Ecco Adesso Vineyards private villa rentals could be forgiven for thinking they were in Tuscany. Owners Michael and Cierra Weatherly would be quite pleased, as their pandemic-born enterprise was modeled on the couple’s “agritourismo” experiences in Italy.
“We loved our agritoursimo experience so much we wanted to bring it back home and help reconnect our community with the agriculture that sustains it,塞拉说。. “Believe it or not, this seemed like the perfect time.”
去年, 韦瑟利一家逃回了他们的乡间小屋, using remote technology for their children’s schooling and to run Michael and Cierra’s tech consulting company. 他们开始寻找一个5英亩的农场
With financing from 弗吉尼亚农业信贷 in hand, the couple closed on their purchase in late August of 2020 and got started turning their new property into their dream, beginning with establishing and expanding their vineyard from the one acre they’d inherited. 作为各自领域的专家, they knew to do their homework – especially with no experience in farming.
“We had the soil tested by a local geologist with HydroGeo, 常用电导率测量, and worked with an experienced wine consultant to identify the best varietals for our location and conditions,迈克尔说。.
从20个潜在的葡萄品种列表中, the Weatherlys then undertook the arduous task of tasting wines produced from each variety. 让朋友和家人参与其中, the blind-tasting process revealed an unexpected front-runner: the Saperavi grape, 相对不为人知
初植5株,445 grape vines – two varietals of red and two of white – finished this past spring, Ecco Adesso should see its first harvest next two years. They’ll be expanding with four more varieties next year with the goal of producing a full range of wines, potentially including fruit wines from their two-acre, 混合果园. While they’re waiting for their new wines to be ready, the Weatherlys are selling wine harvested from their old vines and showcasing wines from other
With the great strides made in the vineyards in just a year, it could be easy to forget that Ecco Adesso isn’t only about wine.
旅游胜地, Ecco Adesso怎么样, one-bedroom cabin and one-bedroom barn loft currently available for rent via AirBnB. 单独购买一套四居室, 1819年的农舍及其土地, 也由FCV资助, re-combined a historic farm and added another large rental facility.
“We hope to provide a place people can visit to hike or relax, have authentic experiences and make memories with loved ones,塞拉说。. “Parents can sit on the porch and drink wine and the kids can run free and interact with the farm safely.”
Ecco Adesso translates from Italian to Here and Now, and signifies an attitude of living in the moment. Michael and Cierra try to do that as much as possible while nurturing multiple businesses along with their young family, but they also live the spirit of philanthropy and consider daily what they can do here and now to make other people’s lives better.
“Our consulting company tithes one-tenth of our income to non-profit organizations that our employees choose on a monthly basis,迈克尔说。. “Our intent is to tithe here at Ecco Adesso as well, and look for other ways we can give from our farm to others’ lives. We also started our own non-profit this past year that operates on the farm, 叫做兽医第一, 哪些职位的招聘
首先, 两名退伍军人被雇到农场工作, tending an extensive vegetable garden raised following organic practices. All the farm’s produce is donated – in 2021, more than 1,000 pounds of food went to local food banks. The Weatherlys plan to add a pumpkin patch and beehives next year, 所有收益都捐给他们的非营利组织.
在一个更宏大的项目中, the Weatherlys are pulling dead wood out of their sizeable timber land and milling it onsite to build a series of cabins that will be made available free to Veterans looking for a place to decompress. They also just received approval for a special exemption permit to hold weddings and events on the property.
“We’ve been so blessed and we promised each other we’d always give back,迈克尔说。. “We’re working to get to full profitability at Ecco Adesso, 当然, but the core success of our business has always been what we’re able to give to others.”
For more information about Ecco Adesso Vineyards, visit their website at www.eccoadesso.com.