Ep 601: Pollak Vineyards –  A Leader in the Monticello AVA of Virginia

Ep 601: Pollak Vineyards – A Leader in the Monticello AVA of Virginia

Author: Elizabeth Schneider April 1, 2026 Duration: 42:06

Pollak Vineyards is a small family-owned winery founded in 2003 when Margo and David Pollak bought a farm west of Charlottesville, Virginia. David's experience in wine was pretty extensive – he worked in the 1970s in Sonoma's Russian River Valley and was a founding partner and investor in one of Napa Valley's first Carneros wineries, Bouchaine Vineyards. Years later, when he thought about retirement from the corporate world, he saw huge potential in Virginia and he and Margo took the chance to help shape this emerging region.


Photo: Pollak Vineyards. Credit: https://www.pollakvineyards.com

 

In this show, I host Ryan Pollak Gardner, Dave and Margo's daughter and their successor, and Benoit Pineau, the long time winemaker. We discuss the story of Pollak, the terroir of their site, and what makes their wine so much better than so many others in Virginia.

 

For me, Pollak is among the Grand Cru of Virginia – the top of the top. Their wines are stunning, their property is beautiful, and they are doing all the right things to showcase how incredible the wines of VA can be.  And I'm not alone: in 2025, Pollak won five gold medals in the VA Governor's Cup Competition, more than any other winery.

 

A great show on what it takes to run a winery of this caliber in a challenging climate and terroir, and how far Virginia has come, due to places like Pollak. 

 

Full show notes and all back episodes are on Patreon. Join the community today!

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This show is brought to you by my exclusive sponsor, Wine Access – THE place to discover your next favorite bottle. Wine Access has highly allocated wines and incredible values, plus free shipping on orders of $150 or more. Go to wineaccess.com/wfnp to sign up! 

 


Elizabeth Schneider hosts Wine for Normal People, a podcast built on the idea that you can enjoy wine deeply without the pretension. It’s for anyone who finds the world of wine intriguing but is put off by the jargon and gatekeeping. Here, conversations about wine are just that-conversations. Elizabeth approaches topics with a fun and straightforward perspective, aiming to spark genuine excitement and help you discover more interesting bottles to enjoy. Roughly half of the episodes feature guests, but these aren’t formal interviews. Instead, they’re relaxed, educational discussions with passionate friends from the wine world, all people Elizabeth knows personally or through close connections. This creates a uniquely authentic and comfortable atmosphere, as if you’re listening in on a chat between friends who happen to know a lot about what’s in your glass. The focus is always on practical knowledge and shared enthusiasm, stripping away the snobbery to make wine feel accessible and endlessly fascinating. Tune into this podcast to hear honest talk about regions, grapes, and tasting, all designed to make your own journey with wine more rewarding and a lot more fun.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 93

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