Tom Child - Vineyard Manager
Tom brings decades of experience in all facets of the production of premium wine grapes, from development of new vineyards through post-harvest handling. Tom, amongst knowledgeable industry proponents, is arguably the best at his craft in the nation.
Tom's grape nursery operation resume runs deep, touching on resistant rootstock, fruiting varieties and clonal selection, bench grafting and growing out of vines in a nursery row. Add a specialization in crop production and the economics of agricultural land development/modification, and you quickly understand that Tom's agriculatural scope is wide. Tom has supervised from 15-300 people and managed budgets of $800,000 to $22.5 Million, having managed operations in California, Texas, New York and now, Virginia.
He carries a Bachelor of Science Degree in Agriculture Management with a minor in Viticulture; was a Board Member of the California Rootstock Improvement Commission, and is a Member of the American Society for Enology and Viticulture.
Our vineyard crew is a hardy bunch, putting-in many long and hard hours in all types of weather conditions. Growing grapes is very labor-intensive undertaking, and the quality of the grapes leans heavily on the experience of the vineyard crew. The Williamsburg Winery committed itself to replant 60 acres of grapes over the last few years as a result of some very harsh climatological issues that adversely affected the vineyard. New varieties were introduced, including a trial planting of Malbec this past Spring, and with careful planning will lead to better and more diverse wines.
The Williamsburg Winery is at the forefront of viticultural technology in the State of Virginia. Not only do we implement our continual learnings within our captive vineyards, but we share this knowledge with the vineyard partnerships we hold. The result to you, the consumer, is extraordinarily high-quality wines and recognition of Virginia, per Kevin Zraly, as one of the 2 hottest 'up and coming' wine producing regions in the world.
Tom in his element & aboard the Mule
