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Philip Oglesby, Vineyard Manager, Biltmore Estate Wine Company will speak at our next club meeting.Philip has worked in the horticulture and viticulture fields for over 25 years and began his tenure at Biltmore in 1998 as a vineyard crew member, planting, tending, and harvesting the vines on the property’s west side. Managing the vineyards since 2013, he continues to care for Biltmore’s 40+ acres of European varietals (vitis vinifera), one of the first successful blocks of significant size in North Carolina. Philip and his dedicated fellow crew strive to produce high quality fruit in our Southern Appalachian environment which offers unique challenges and often surprising results in wine characteristics. Over the last two decades, he has witnessed and been party to numerous changes and adjustments in grape growing practices in the southeast as this relatively recent trend in farming continues to gain interest. Philip will be among the first of our WNC vineyard managers to admit that grape growing continues to be an especially experimental area of agriculture today, but that much of the knowledge and experience gained in vineyard science and practice can be beneficial to the home-scale viticulturist.

We will assemble for fellowship at 11:30 am, eat lunch at noon, and have the program following lunch. Club members will be contacted regarding luncheon reservations. Cost of the meal will be $12. Contact Walt Leginski at wleginski@yahoo.com for meal reservations if you have not been contacted. As usual, guests interested in the talk are welcome, and people not eating lunch can arrive at 12:30 for the free presentation.