Mary and David planted the first grapevines in 2008. The red grape varietal they chose,cabernet sauvignon, requires a very long season in order to become fully ripe so they planted it on a south-facing slope at 1330 feet of elevation. In succeeding years, they added additional red grape varieties, some of which are quite unusual in Virginia: Tannat, Lagrein, Refosco and Sagrantino. These small lot plantings are experimental in nature to see what red grapes would be suited to this Shenandoah Valley site. Unfortunately, the double polar vortexes of 2014 proved that certain of these varieties are not sufficiently cold tolerant to thrive in the Valley, and they will gradually be replaced with hardier varieties. The Cabernet has thrived and still forms the backbone of Jump Mountain’s red wine production.