About Us
Over Two Decades of Excellence
Since 2004
We have been growing grapes for nearly two decades at our property, nestled at the eastern edge of the Shenandoah National Park in the shadow of Old Rag Mountain and White Oak Canyon. Our story is best described as a “hobby gone wild,” and you can read a fun and interesting set of articles from the Piedmont Virginian Magazine about how we got started and our journey over the years. These are available on the “In the News” page.
We initially sold our grapes to a winery up the road, and wines that included our grapes won a number of awards, including the Virginia Governor’s Cup as the best wine in the state and the Best Wine in the East (out of 1,400 entries) in another competition. So we decided to begin bottling a small amount of wine under our own label, exclusively for friends and neighbors and a small but growing email list of “fans and followers.” We are gratified that it was well received and in fact sold out completely in each of the three years we did it.
Which brings us to today: We expanded production and opened to the public in 2010, with a gorgeous new tasting room and boutique winery at our vineyard site at the edge of the Shenandoah National Park. We continue to do things our own way – selling our wine almost exclusively only on site (plus just an occasional wine shop or restaurant), in small batches of the highest possible quality (and still selling out each year), and with a fantastic, loyal base of customers who appreciate the uniqueness of our operation and help spread the word.
Welcome to your Wine-ological getaway. We’re glad you could join us.
Scott Elliff
Founder
Meet the Team
Julien
Julien is the award-winning winegrower and winemaker at DuCard Vineyards, bringing childhood experience from his family’s Bordeaux vineyard to us. His passion and meticulous approach in the vineyard and his diligence and creativity in the cellar show through clearly in the DuCard wine portfolio.
Julien, Scott and Beth – the Mount Rushmore of DuCard
Beth
Beth moved to the area in 1997 and began visiting Virginia wineries. Through those visits, she made Virginia wine her passion. On a visit to DuCard, she mentioned to Scott that she would love to join the staff and pour wine. In 2019, Scott took a leap of faith in hiring a high school math teacher and has subsequently named her the Director of Customer Experience based on her broad range of talents and mindset of Ease and Excellence for all things DuCard.
Staff Photo Gallery
Candid and personal photo collection of the DuCard Vineyards team doing what they do best. Click to view the full image!
Sustainability at DuCard Vineyards
Our business is based in nature, so we feel a responsibility to be good stewards of our land and our surrounding environment.
We are proud to have been recognized as the Greenest Winery In Virginia upon opening in 2010 and then again in 2015 and to have been awarded the Virginia Green Star Travel designation for most Innovative Green Program last year for our Sipping for Saplings initiative that enabled planting 2,000 trees.
You can even recharge your Tesla (or other EV) at our complimentary charging station.
Read more about our sustainability practices by clicking below:
Philanthropy at DuCard Vineyards
At DuCard we consider ourselves a part of the fabric of our local community, and support a wide range of local non-profits through donated auction items, private label wines for fundraising, use of our facilities, and other mechanisms.
We consider this an important part of our broader ‘sustainability’ responsibilities and are happy to play a role in helping these outstanding organizations fulfill their missions and provide important services to people in our community.