About Jake Busching

In 1997 Jake Busching began working as the assistant vineyard manager for Jefferson Vineyards in the Monticello AVA of Virginia. Jake grew up on a farm in Minnesota and was familiar with the physical aspects and seasonality of agriculture and so took readily to vineyard management at a time when the VA industry was just starting to find its legs.

Jake Busching has been working in the wine industry across the state of VA for 26 years planting, growing, and establishing industry leading wineries such as Keswick Vineyards, Pollak Vineyards, Grace Estate Vineyards, and Hark Vineyards. Jake learned winemaking techniques working alongside Michael Shaps and viticulture with Chris Hill as his guide. Eventually, Jake and Michael joined forces in 2015 at Michael Shaps Wineworks where Jake was hired on as head winemaker for the custom crush portion of the business. 

In 2015 Jake launched Jake Busching Wines, Jake's private brand of small batch artisanal wines. The fruit for his wines are carefully selected grapes grown in Virginia by growers he has worked with and identified as unique fruit sources. Small batches of high quality wines are produced by Jake each vintage with an eye towards reflecting terroir and hands on management. Jake’s first vintage included the 2015 varietals of Viognier, Cabernet Franc, and a red blend of Tannat and Petit Verdot called F8. Each vintage brings new varietals and continual development of Jake as a winemaker and his catalog of terroir driven wines.

Jake chairs the Research and Education Committee for the Virginia Wine Board, has taught Viticulture classes at Piedmont Virginia Community College in Charlottesville, VA for 10 years, and consults with wineries and vineyards across the region.