Winemaker
Mike Heny
- Discipline
- Winemaker
- Based in
- Gordonsville, Virginia, United States
i. Biography
From 1997 to 2017, he was the winemaker there, shaping bottles that connected Virginia fruit with technique gathered far beyond one cellar. Over those two decades, Mike Heny worked in the steady, exacting space where ripeness meets restraint, helping define wines that spoke clearly of place while carrying the discipline of a seasoned hand.
The Path
Mike Heny trained at University of Virginia before stepping into the role of winemaker at Horton Vineyards. That path set the tone for a career grounded in both study and practice: an education first, then the long apprenticeship of the cellar, where judgment is built vintage by vintage. At Horton Vineyards, that background became visible in the wines themselves, which were shaped with a focus on Virginia fruit and on the delicate decisions that preserve character rather than overwhelm it.
The Work Today
The role follows a career already defined by Virginia fruit, cellar discipline, and attention to varietal identity. In Heny’s hands, wine is not simply made; it is guided, with each step calibrated to keep the personality of the grape intact. There is a quiet rigor to that approach, a respect for what the fruit can give and for the technique required to translate it faithfully into the bottle. His signature work includes Horton Vineyards Sparkling Viognier, made in the Methode Champenoise style. That detail matters at the level of process: sparkling wine in that mode depends on patience, secondary fermentation in bottle, and a close reading of structure rather than simple aroma alone. The result is a wine that reflects not just a grape but a method, one that asks for time, attention, and an almost craftsmanlike precision. It is in this intersection of varietal identity and traditional technique that Heny’s work finds its most recognizable voice.
Career - Winemaker — Horton Vineyards Education: University of Virginia
Signature
Mike's signature wines include 2016 Horton Petit Manseng and Horton Vineyards Sparkling Viognier. Together, they suggest the range of his cellar sensibility: one wine anchored in a specific vintage, the other in a distinctive sparkling expression, both tied to the same broader commitment to Virginia fruit and careful winemaking.
In Their Words “The first vintage [of Viognier] was 1992 but it was the 1993 that created the buzz.”
FAQ Where did Mike Heny train or study? Mike Heny trained at University of Virginia. What is Mike Heny known for? Viognier.
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