ABOUT DEMOCRACY
The founders of Democracy Vineyards, Susan Prokop and Jim Turpin, started with just an idea, a notion of a Virginia farm winery where they could start their encore career as Virginia winegrowers.
Early in the search, with help from Virginia Tech’s Tony Wolf, they targeted Nelson County with its rich agricultural lands, location near population centers and its growing number of viticultural enterprises. In Nelson, they found a welcoming farm community and a link to Jim’s family. A somewhat distant relative was the largest apple broker in the region during the depression. Legend has it that one of the early “Waltons” episodes, featuring the family being hired to pick apples, was based on Jim’s relation.
In determining the best property for the vineyards, Democracy turned to a valuable resource for any rural community, their county extension agent – in this case, one of Virginia's best, Michael LaChance. Michael and Jim spent countless hours visiting sites, evaluating vineyard aspect and soil conditions. They were assisted in their search by Jim and Joan Mummery, two Nelson County realtors who became so excited by the project that they took classes in vineyard site selection.
The parcel eventually chosen was home to one of the many apple orchards in the region. Most interestingly, the two orchards were separated by a small residence known as Ruby’s Cabin. For forty years, this cabin was the home of Jim’s cousin Ruby Turpin. When preparing the vineyards, a shoe from one of Ruby’s horses was found on the property. A harbinger of good fortune, this shoe will have a place of honor in the Democracy tasting room.
Once the site was selected, Susan and Jim turned to longtime Virginia vineyard consultant Chris Hill to alter the apple operation to a productive winegrowing farm. Chris focused the vineyards on the front portion of the parcel to take advantage of the natural drainage contours and the favorable elevation of the site. Understanding the usual wind conditions (east/west dominant), he arrange the rows to run vertically to maximize air flow between panels.
All wine starts in the vineyard. Democracy Vineyards took great pains to select their winemaker prior to the first planting of fruit. As luck would have it, Virginia Wine Veteran Michael Shaps was embarking on a custom crush enterprise, Virginia Wineworks, just as Democracy was getting off the ground. Michael’s wines have won awards around the globe; this coupled with his philosophical agreement with the founders’ vision for Democracy Vineyards led their partnership.
Currently using a limited quantity of its own fruit (as the vineyards are coming online) the balance of the fruit is sourced from select Monticello appellation growers.
Founded: 2007
Estate: 45 acres (12 to be under vine, 15 in apple orchard)
Vineyards Established: April 2009
Tasting Room Constructed: 2012 (scheduled)
Winemaker: Michael Shaps
Vineyard Consultant: Chris Hill
Architect: J. Paul Lewis
Site Superintendent: Ed Martin