Ahh… They were very good years

Hilde G. Lee Daily Progress correspondent
Published: July 15, 2008

I was very sorry to hear that Felicia Rogan is closing her Oakencroft Winery after some 25 years in business. I understand that the property is for sale and hope that someone will carry on the excellent tradition that Felicia Rogan has established. Felicia has been a mover and shaker in the establishment of the Virginia wine industry since its inception.

I first met Felicia Rogan in February 1987. At that time Allan and I had just published a book about small family wineries in California.

Leon Adams, the guru of American wine writers at that time, suggested we should write a book about the Virginia wine industry.

“But Leon,” I said. “I grew up in Virginia and there are no wineries that I know of in Virginia. People drink bourbon and branch water there.”

“Oh, but there are,” Adams replied. “And you should go and talk to Felicia Rogan.”

So, Allan and I came to Virginia to spend a month researching Virginia wineries, and the first person we talked with was Felicia Rogan.

She kindly took us to lunch at the Boar’s Head and told us about Virginia wineries — all 28 of them at that time. She talked about some of the larger wineries and some of the smaller ones, giving us an appreciated background to the Virginia wine industry. She was never one to mince words and even suggested a few wineries she wanted us to exclude (we didn’t).

Rogan took us to her Oakencroft Winery and also gave us a tour of her vineyard. Allan and I soon discovered that Rogan was a prime mover and shaker of the Virginia wine industry, which at the time was struggling to establish itself.

In 1985 when the Virginia General Assembly created the Virginia Winegrowers Advisory Board, Rogan was appointed to it by then Gov. Charles S. Robb. Rogan was elected the board’s first chairman and served in that capacity for two years. She has since served two more terms on that board.

For more than 25 years Rogan has been a force in promoting and marketing Virginia wines. She was instrumental in establishing the Monticello viticultural appellation by the federal government.

Rogan also is the founder and first and only president of the Jeffersonian Wine Grape Growers Society, which promotes quality grape growing throughout the state. This organization annually sponsors the

Monticello Wine Festival in early October.

Another wine-related project of Rogan’s was the establishment of the Virginia Wine Museum, located on the second floor of the General Store at Historic Michie Tavern near Monticello. The museum gives a history of Jefferson’s interest in the growing and making of wine and also tells the story of the production of Virginia’s famed Claret in the late 1880s.

Rogan’s tireless efforts on behalf of Virginia wines have earned her the unofficial title of matriarch of the Virginia wine industry. She has been tireless in promoting Virginia wines all over the world.

She traveled to France to give an address in French at the bicentennial celebration of Jefferson’s trip through Burgundy. Oakencroft’s Seyval Blanc was served at the celebration dinner and was the first introduction of a Virginia-produced wine in Burgundy.

She also traveled with Gov. Gerald Baliles to Taiwan and with Gov. L. Douglas Wilder to Japan to promote Virginia products and Virginia wines.

“I have gained great satisfaction out of seeing the Virginia wine industry,” Rogan often said.

Nothing was too detailed or mundane for her if it helped promote her wines and Virginia wines, generally. I remember selling our book, “Virginia Wine Country,” at Giant one day. At the table next to me I found her selling her wines. It was a fun day for me. I helped her sell wine while she helped me sell books.

Rogan’s interest in wine stems from her long-held appreciation of fine wines as an integral part of dining. Her interest in grape growing stems from a hobby of horticulture. At the time she started her winery she was enjoying an active hobby of growing orchids and roses.

When she and her late husband, John Rogan, harvested their first crop of grapes from the vines they planted in 1978, the grapes proved to be of commercial winemaking quality. With the first harvest the Rogans tried their hands at home winemaking and found their wines to be of good quality, as they won awards in several wine competitions. This encouraged Rogan to establish a winery.

Over the years, her interest in Virginia wine and her Oakencroft winery never wavered. She, like many other Virginia vintners experimented with growing a variety of grapes and using various winemaking techniques. Oakencroft wines have won numerous awards and are regarded as some of the top Virginia wines.

Allan and I are sorry to see this end of an era in Virginia wineries. We wish Felicia lots of luck and good fortune in whatever she attempts in life. It has been a pleasure to know such a capable and energetic woman.