Wine Startup: An Interview with Artemisia Farm & Vineyard (Part 1)
Kelly Allen of Artemisia Farm & Vineyard
Virginia wine is on the move, and when we found out that an innovative new maker joined the Farmers Market in our neighborhood, we asked if we could chat with them. Artemisia Farm & Vineyard grows grapes and much more, makes botanical wines, and works on their farm every single day. We are especially curious about what wine makers are doing in our backyard here in Virginia to anticipate how weather could change in the future and what they might need to do to keep making the juice they love. Artemisia had thoughts about all this and more, and below is part one of our conversation:
Miki from GoodWine: Tell us a bit about yourself and how wine became the thing you love to do.
Kelly from Artemisia: Andrew [my co-owner] and I come to wine from different yet complementary directions. I developed an interest in wine while pursuing my undergraduate degree in Sustainability. A large part of my studies focused on the relationship between foodways and cultural identity. It seemed to me that wine was especially powerful in this light. It had a way of maintaining a communal sense of self that other foods simply couldn’t match.
Shortly after graduating, I worked as a viticulture intern at a local winery, Fabbioli Cellars. There, I learned just how truly wine reflects the essence of a place, as well as the gravity of the effort to express that essence. From there, I worked in a variety of agricultural projects, from serving as an AmeriCorps TCU/VISTA (Tribal Colleges and Universities/Volunteer in Service to America) in tribal foodway preservation, to interning on a series of small permaculture farms.
During this time, I found myself endlessly drifting back to wine, eventually reentering the industry through a position at The Crystal City Wine Shop. I continued on to a sales position with a natural wine distributor, Free Run Wine Merchants. My work in sales afforded me the incredible opportunity to explore a vast array of regional styles and grape varieties.
Andrew has been a part of food and wine in northwestern Virginia since his first job in a wineshop at 15. He has journeyed through restaurants, retail venues, event catering, and winery tasting rooms. He discovered his passion for viticulture when he worked in the vineyard at Linden Vineyards, seeing how intentionality when applied to working with nature can not only yield creative beauty but also build a culture of sustainability and reverence around it.
From there, Andrew went to The Whole Ox in Marshall, VA serving as both the wine buyer and general manager, deepening his skills and knowledge of operating a small business anchored in food and wine, while still championing the farmers and makers.
Andrew and I met when our professional paths crossed. In our respective journeys in wine, we both came to two conclusions: that we wanted to return to a slower life in viticulture, and that we both love aromatized wine. We began our journey together managing a local vineyard and growing vegetables for local restaurants. Shortly thereafter, we expanded to a larger growing site, where we started our delivery CSA program. We planted our own vineyard in 2022 and released our first vintage of botanical wine the same year. We’ve been Artemisia as you know us ever since.
GoodWine: What made Virginia seem like a good place to create the wine you want to create?
Artemisia: The Virginia wine industry is at a unique place in its development. Our climatic pressures are pushing producers to adopt novel varieties and production techniques, and that attitude of curiosity has led to a number of modern, innovative makers. Our wines push the envelope in more ways than one.
From our dedication to hybrid grapes and/or sustainable non-grape fermentables to the sheer nature of our botanical wine brand, everything we do exists at the margins of conventional winemaking. We could never do what we’re doing in a more established region. Our work calls for a culture primed by exploration, and that’s exactly what Virginia has.
GoodWine: I know we've chatted about your botanical wine already and what it means to you, but what niche do you think it fills for a newcomer to wine? Or for wine lovers?
Artemisia: Drinking botanical (or aromatized) wine is really a practice in restraint. Their intensity makes overindulgence problematic, while their complexity asks us to slow down and pay attention. When someone new to wine stumbles upon a well-made vermouth, for example, they stop in their tracks. Aromatized wine, by its nature, helps people to understand how to appreciate a wine. By learning how to take their time and really explore what they’re experiencing, people graduate from “drinking” to “enjoying.”
I think the same can be said for wine lovers. Wine folks tend to get stuck in well-worn ruts. They know what they like and they keep coming back to it, like a ship to harbor. Aromatized wine shakes things up. It reminds us of the infinite possibilities inherent to wine, and how our own curiosity is the key to a more enriched wine experience.
Stay tuned for part 2, where we talk all about hybrid grape varieties and the ways Artemisia works to care for the land. And, like what you’ve read here? Become a member of our first wine club in collaboration with our dear friends at UnWined Alexandria! We’re creating a wine community for those that care about people and planet, and if you’re in the Northern VA area (or DC or MD), join us!