Ashton Creek Winemaker Alan Thibault On Sheep, Regenerative Farming & Virginia Wine | Sidetracked

Ashton Creek Vineyard Director of Wine Alan Thibault joins Jack Fitzpatrick for Episode 4 of Sidetracked. Alan is a first generation winemaker running a family vineyard and restaurant just 20 minutes south of Richmond in Chester, Virginia — and he is quietly making some of the best wine in the region.We get into all of it — how a Virginia Tech engineering student ended up becoming a winemaker, why his family planted vines on a Chesterfield property in 2006 when nobody believed Central Virginia could produce great wine, the sheep that changed everything, how one Paul Giamatti movie destroyed Merlot sales across the country, what it actually means to be Virginia's first Certified Regenified vineyard, and why he plants grape varieties that almost nobody has heard of.Plus Alan shares why a winemaker's drink of choice at the end of a long day is almost never wine. And we close with The Three Questions — his hill to die on might change how you think about Merlot forever.Ashton Creek Vineyard is located at 14501 Route 1, Chester, VA. Visit them at ashtoncreekvineyard.com.📻 Sidetracked airs every Friday during Fitz the Bill — 9 AM on 106.1 ESPN Richmond🎙️ Find Sidetracked on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and wherever you listen#Sidetracked #FitztheBill #AshtonCreek #VirginiaWine #RVA #Richmond #ESPNRichmond #Winemaker #RegenerativeFarming #VirginiaWinery #ChesterVirginia #RichmondFood #LocalRichmond #WinePodcast