By Jesse Ring

Fifty years ago, Jessee Ring met his future wife, Debby, while attending the University of Virginia. One of the things the young couple had in common was an interest in wines.

Wine intrigued them. Not only did they find it an enjoyable beverage, wine also presented them with never-ending opportunities for learning and variety. One could drink wine for a lifetime and never run out of new ones to try. The Rings also discovered that the world contains endless prospects for wine aficionados to dig as deep as they want into the characteristics of wine regions and the wines they produce.

Jessee jumped in with both feet. He read books and magazines about wine, popped corks, took tasting notes, started a wine collection, went to wine tastings, attended antique wine auctions, and is still going strong.
He became particularly interested in Bordeaux wines. He did extensive research on them, including referring frequently to an eighteen-hundred-page tome that lists and discusses every one of the approximately seven-thousand wine-growing estates in Bordeaux. In 2013, Jessee and Debby visited Bordeaux, and to this day, they maintain an extensive collection of Bordeaux wines. Proudly, the collection includes bottles from old vintages going back as far as 1945.

Though Bordeaux is a favorite, there were more wine varieties out there to learn about and enjoy.

But wine was not their business.

Jessee achieved a master’s degree in Electrical Engineering and quickly got into computer applications. His high-tech work then took him across the country and around the world. He even found himself in India during the out-sourcing movement. Eventually, Jessee finished his high-tech career after seven years in Silicon Valley, working as an independent consultant and contractor.

Debby got her degree in Nursing on a Navy scholarship, became a Navy Nurse during the Vietnam era, got a master’s degree, and moved into the U.S. Public Health Service. While in the PHS, she traveled extensively in Micronesia.

For years, Jessee and Debby talked about someday moving back East. They considered various possible locations like Charlottesville or Lexington in Virginia; Tryon in North Carolina, or even Myrtle Beach in South Carolina.

The Rings had lived the big city life in one form or another for most of their adult lives, including a short time in downtown San Francisco. A change of pace is what they wanted, and a country environment that wasn’t isolated is what drew them. Southwest Virginia seemed most appealing. After all, it was Jessee’s native home. In the end, while still in California, they bought a five-acre plot just outside of Radford.

During their last years in California, Jessee and Debby started hearing about Virginia wines. This intrigued them, as Jessee was from the area, and they had both graduated from UVA. Whenever making trips to Virginia, they would buy a couple of bottles to take home and try. Their interest was piqued.

In 2005, they finally took the plunge and made the move. It took a year to plan and build a house, but in May of 2006, they moved into their new Radford home.

Once moved into their new house, and with a little bit of land available, a thought occurred to them. Wouldn’t it be fun to plant a few grapevines and make wine from the produce? Wouldn’t it be fun to sit on the porch sipping a glass of wine made from grapes grown right over there?

In 2006, as an experiment, Jessee and Debby planted a few classic wine grapevines. It wasn’t long before the new endeavor took on a life of its own.

 

Based upon what they had learned, they replanted and expanded the vineyard three years later, in 2009. It takes three to five years after planting to get a wine grape vineyard into full production, so the first grapes ripened in 2012. The Rings still talk about that first harvest when they used a kitchen colander and a potato masher to process the grapes. After that day, they both vowed that they were never doing that again. It was time to buy some equipment.

Still, they did make some wine with those first grapes, and the results gave them encouragement.

During this time, Jessee visited vineyards and wineries throughout Virginia to learn as much as he could. He also joined the Virginia Vineyards Association (VVA) and the Virginia Wineries Association. At that time, the wine they were making was legally classified as ‘homemade wine’, which meant that it could not be sold.

As Jessee and Debby found themselves spending more and more time on the vineyard, a realization set in. The operation was too much for a hobby but too little for a commercial enterprise. They saw that they needed to either cut back to something suitable as a hobby, or expand again. It would mean, however, building a real wine processing facility and becoming licensed to sell the wine.

“When you come to a fork in the road,” says Jesse, “take it.”

Between 2013 and 2017, they started planning for another vineyard expansion, as well as the construction of a winery building on some land that they already owned in Giles County. There was not enough suitable land at their Radford location. They also applied to become a “Virginia Farm Winery”. Around that same time, Jessee realized he had gained sufficient viticulture knowledge through hands-on experience, attending VVA meetings, visiting other vineyards, and help from the Agricultural Extension. His wine making knowledge, however, was still lacking.

He enrolled in the University of California, Davis on-line certificate program in winemaking. UC Davis is the premier school of viticulture and oenology in the world. After two years of intense study, and loving every minute of it, Jessee scored straight A’s. In June of 2019, he finally received his Certificate in Winemaking, which he now proudly displays at the winery.

As farmers, Jessee and Debby have learned that there are no bumper crops and no meager crops. There are no good crops, poor crops, fat crops, or lean crops. They know that for each year, there is only that year’s crop, and every year it’s a darn site better than no crop.

After years of experience, they have also learned that they don’t control the weather, so, they don’t worry about it. They just try to contend with it.

In 2020, the weather did not cooperate. The vineyards saw two late spring frosts. The problem is when the vines bud out before the last frost date, and they become vulnerable. A hard frost on the buds can seriously reduce the year’s crop. The combination of these two hard frosts after the vines had budded out essentially eliminated the crop that year. By June, Jessee and Debby had written off that year’s crop and were already looking to the next year. “Welcome to the life of a farmer.”

JBR Vineyards & Winery specializes in only two grape varieties: Riesling and Pinot Noir, both of which are unusual in Virginia. They make the Riesling wine in the traditional German style with a little residual sugar that is balanced by the natural high acidity of the Riesling grape. The Pinot Noir wine is a dry, robust red wine.

JBR has two locations for tasting and sales: 8205 Little River Dam Road in Radford, and 1360 Springdale Road in Pearisburg. Rather than restricting the times that people can come, JBR can be open on almost any day at any time, with a little advance notice.

JBR takes pride in their tastings. In contrast to the routine tastings hosted by many other wineries, Jessee and Debby make the tasting a friendly discussion of their wines, as well as wines in general.

Looking forward, JBR Vineyards & Winery wants to train a Vineyard Master so Jessee can then focus more on the wine making aspect of the operation. JBR also wants to spend more time and attention on sales and marketing to increase its presence and visibility throughout the New River Valley.

 

JBR Vineyards & Winery • Jessee Ring and Debby Ring
(540) 250-7291 • jbrvineyards@gmail.com
8205 Little River Dam Road, Radford, VA
1360 Springdale Road, Pearisburg, VA
www.facebook.com/jbrwine