Oasis Vineyards

Oasis Vineyards
14141 Hume Road
Hume, Virginia
USA 22639
Phone: (540) 635-3103
http://www.oasiswines.net

Contact: Dirgham & Corinne Salahi
Email: [email protected]

Jhat a classic piece of nostalgia we have as part of Oasis Vineyards heritage. When Corinne and I made the decision to plant a vineyard on the rolling foothills of the Blue Ridge, there were only four wineries in the state of Virginia.

In March 1977, we planted 5 acres of French American hybrids to start Oasis Winery. Not too many people are familiar with some of those varietals. We had Aurora, Marechal Foch, Chelois (and what a great wine this was) and, of course, Seyval Blanc.

There was controvery as to whether vinifera vines could grow in Virginia or not! We were greatly influenced by Dr. Constantine Frank, a wine producer pioneer in New York who encouraged everyone in Virginia contemplating to plant a vineyard, to go with Vinifera grapes.

In November of 1977, we decided to plant 25 acres of Vinifera vines, and we prayed a lot! We had varietals that are no longer on the property. We tried Semillon, Pinot Noir (!), Sauvignon Blanc, along with Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot.

And, what an adventure that was. I can say, in all honesty, that we learned everything through trial and error. Virginia wine has certainly come a long way since those early days!!!

Several people were instrumental in helping Virginia get into the wine industry, in spite of the fact that we did not yet have any Virginia expertise in viticulture and eoneology. A few of the greats we think deserve recognition for pioneering the east coast wine industry include Luci Morton Garret, Philip Wagner and Hamilton Mowbray.

We took preliminary viticultural classes from Luci Morton Garret. She now has become one of the most sought after viticulturists in the world. In the late 70s, when we took our class, she realized she needed to acquire greater expertise and became the first american woman to graduate from Monpellier University in viticulture/Ampelography. Ampelography is the science of recognizing a vine based on the shape of its leaf.

Philip Wagner introduced the French American Hybrids to America. He was extremely generous in sharing everything he knew about growing those vines. His expertise went back a long time as he was an amateur wine maker during prohibition. He was brought up as a child drinking wine with his family during meals. He established Boordy vineyard in Maryland, and we purchased our first vines from him.

Another gentlemen who influenced us tremendously was Hamilton Mowbray. He too had a vineyard in Maryland. We met him the same year he received from France the award for “Merite Agricole” for the work he did promoting the creation of local wineries. Mowbray lent us a magnificent piece of equipment to help us get started. He called this mechanic contraption “the machine of the devil”. It is a 2 seater that one hooks behind the tractor. There is a box in between the 2 seats that holds all of the vine cuttings ready for planting. There is a system whereby a hole is made in front of it, the person on the seat places a vine in the hole and behind there is a system whereby the hole is closed. Corinne walked behind pressing the soil with her feet around each vine just in case! And why is it called the “Machine of the devil”? Well, this is how we planted 25 acres in one week-end and that was the beginning of a great new chapter in our lives.

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