David and Ellen King
Ellen, from Houston, Texas and David, from Abilene, Texas, met at Trinity University,
San Antonio, Texas and were married in 1977. Law school and law practice in Houston
and a three boy family kept the Kings busy until they moved to Charlottesville. Ellen
loves animals, the outdoors and gardening; for the first three years after the vineyard
was planted she was in the vineyard virtually every day. Now equally at home in the
vineyard or the winery, Ellen's natural graciousness and organizational ability are
tremendous assets in the tasting room. David oversees the fruit production, handles
most of the regulatory matters for the winery and is "Head Problem Solver." David's
only obvious positive addictions are horses, flying and watching his boys play lacrosse.
Carrington and Corie King
The King's oldest son Carrington graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park, where he played lacrosse for the Terps and obtained a degree in Horticulture Production. Now working full time at King Family Vineyards, Carrington is learning every aspect of the operation both in the vineyard and the winery. Carrington is married to the former Corie Shanks of Danville, Virginia, who graduated from the University of Virginia with a degree in Biology. Carrington loves to hunt and his German Shorthaired Pointer, Pancho, is a fixture here on the farm. Corie is an avid runner and is certainly the family best in this department. Corie and Carrington welcomed their first child, daughter Lellie Grace, in May 2006.
Stuart King
Stuart,
graduated in 2006 from Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland, with a
degree in Economics. He loves to wakeboard, hunt and fish and his boat, the
"Shady Lady", is a threat to hook any fish in the upper Chesapeake Bay. Stu
is currently employed by Faulconer Construction in the railroad division.
James and Kelly King
James is a graduate of the University of Virginia with a degree in history and played lacrosse for the Cavaliers. James is currently a second lieutenant in the United Sates Marine Corps and is married to the former Kelly Truax of Minnesota. Kelly is a University of Virginia nursing student and is planning a career with the United Sates Navy.
Amanda
Gee-Taylor
Born
in Feilding, New Zealand, Amanda first came to the United States in 1986 as
a nanny. In the intervening years she has worked as a horse trainer in both
the United States and Australia and graduated from Marcus Oldham College, Geelong,
Australia with a degree in Horse Business Management. Amanda returned to the
U.S. in 1997 to work for the Kings as a horse trainer and in 1998, she and
Ray Wyant were the mainstays of the crew that put in the first eight acres
of vineyard. Knowledgeable in all areas of the operation, Amanda anchors the
Tasting Room on Saturdays and can often be found in both the winery and vineyard.
Completely at home out of doors, Amanda is a pilot, has skydived, still rides
polo ponies daily and is never far from her dogs, Mack and Houdini.
Matthieu Finot
Matthieu
Finot was born in Crozes Hermitage in the Rhone Valley. From a family of viticulturists
and wine lovers, Matthieu was predisposed to continue his family's pursuit
of winemaking and enjoying. He first studied viticulture and oenology at Beaune,
in the heart of Burgundy. After successfully receiving his advanced BTS degree,
Matthieu worked in many different wine regions around France including Rhone
Valley, Bordeaux, Burgundy, Provence, and Jura. Matthieu then wanted to gain
world-wide experience. He worked in Italy and South Africa before settling
in Virginia. Since arriving in 2003, Matthieu has worked with wineries throughout
the state. He enjoys working in the Monticello Appellation most because he
likes being close to Charlottesville, and the excitement of the regions
growth. He also teaches classes on winemaking and taste analysis at
Piedmont Valley Community College. When not at the winery, Matthieu likes
to play rugby, rock climb, cook, snowboard and drink wine with his friends
Christopher Hill
With a bachelor's degree from Duke University and a B.S. and M.S. in Horticulture
from Virginia Tech, Chris started his grape growing career at Glendower Vineyard, Scottsville,
Virginia in 1981. A consultant to a wide range of clients since 1993, Chris' easygoing
manner masks an encyclopedic knowledge of the vagaries of viticulture in Virginia. A
champion of the Smart- Dyson trellis system, Chris has seen it all and was instrumental
in the site selection and varieties chosen for the King Family Vineyards. Chris continues
to accept the Kings' late night pleas for help with the spray program in good humor.
Chris is married to Kathy Jaquette. Chris has a son Ryan and four busy grandchildren.
When he has a rare day off, he can sometimes be found fishing in the Roseland Farm lake!
Ray Wyant
Raised only a few miles north of the winery, Ray has worked on the property that now includes the King Family Vineyards for almost 35 years. His complete knowledge of farming in general, and this property in particular, has allowed the Kings to put all of the spraying, mowing, soil maintenance, equipment maintenance, trellis construction and general problem solving into his capable hands. Ray is also an avid hunter and fisherman.
Kerry Hannon
Kerry joined the family in January 2007. As a William and Mary graduate in Economics
and Chemistry, the blend of business and science works well for the industry. One can
often see her in the Tasting Room, meeting with guests, planning events, giving seminars,
and attending wine industry and commerce related meetings. Kerry loves to ski, collect
wine and travel. She always makes a point to discover a local winery no matter where
she goes; even when traveling through Idaho!