As a native of Williamsburg, VA, Rockbridge Vineyards is the realization of Shep’s dream to make fine wine in his native state. He had decided to learn how to produce fine wine in Virginia while on a Fulbright scholarship in Germany. In 1978 he moved to California and earned a Master’s Degree in Enology at the University of California at Davis and worked at Schramsberg, Chateau St. Jean, and Carneros Creek Wineries. He returned to Virginia in 1986 and began to learn the ropes as winemaker at Montdomaine Cellars (his 1990 cabernet sauvignon won the l993 Virginia Governor’s Cup), before starting his own winery. In 1988 Shep purchased a farm in northern Rockbridge County in the Shenandoah Valley at a higher elevation than most Virginia vineyards, and planted five acres of grapes. By processing each wine minimally and employing traditional small batch methods, the full intensity and terroir of each wine is captured in Shep’s winemaking.