In a roundabout way, a family’s summers on the English coast launched the Virginia Sparkling Company.
Elliott Watkins has a distinctive beard—a tapered, regal thatch you’d expect him to absently stroke during quiet moments, while pondering what the future holds. That is, if he had any quiet moments.
But when the 31-year-old winemaker gets to talking about the new Virginia Sparkling Company, his family’s wine business in the mountains outside Charlottesville, there’s really not much to ponder anyway—it’s clear he’s found his place in the universe.
This article first appeared in Virginia Living Magazine, October 2020