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system. “It takes five to seven years to see a profit,” he said, adding that vines live and produce for 30 to 40 years, older vines producing more refined grapes. “The sugar matures, the pH and acidity are stablized, the vines less susceptible to harsh weather and disease,” he said.
It takes a ton of grapes to produce 150 gallons of wine — about 13 pounds per gallon. The average acre contains 600 to 700 vines.
Mr. Achilles manages several thousand tons of grapes in Flint Hill Vineyards, grapes harvested and sold to Linden Vineyards in Warren County.
“I never thought I would be doing this,” he said, sitting in his Huntly home. Raised in the Middleburg area, Achilles is a newcomer to the county. His background in tree surgery prepared him for outdoor work. After working for several years at Naked Mountain Vineyards in Markham, he moved to Rappahannock County to begin work in Flint Hill.
Mr. Achilles manages the vineyards owned by Richard Johaneson, an absentee owner employed by the International Labor Organization and currently living in Switzerland.
The seven-acre vineyard is located behind Sunny Slope property off U.S. 522 outside Flint Hill. It is one of the oldest in the county.
Working a minimum of 35 hours a week, Mr. Achilles’s job as manager keeps him busy nearly every month of the year.
“If you really get ahead of the game, you can relax in August,” he said, adding that grapes just ripen during this time and need little attention.
“But then, some days you work 10- or 12-hour days,” he said of work
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