Rutger de Vink

The Climb

Early in his career, Rutger De Vink founded and worked as winemaker at RdV Vineyards in Delaplane, Virginia (2006–2024), and from the outset he approached the estate as a hands-on project. The role was tied to the slow labor of building a vineyard with intention and of giving it a voice that remained linked to its Virginia setting. Over time, RdV Vineyards came to stand for that kind of work: consistent, clear, and disciplined in its attention to what the land could express.

Today

By 2024, founder and winemaker remained the defining title for De Vink at the Delaplane estate. The work centered on Bordeaux-style blends and on the conviction that American wine could carry its own architecture and accent. That idea is distilled in another of his lines: “The French have their turrets, we have our American silo.” The phrase captures both his wit and his larger position: winegrowing rooted in place, without imitation. At RdV Vineyards, that sensibility gave the estate a recognizable character, joining old-world influence to a Virginia setting.

Signature

Rutger's signature wines include Lost Mountain and Rendezvous. These names sit at the center of his work at RdV Vineyards, standing as polished expressions of the estate’s Bordeaux-style blend focus and of the steady hand behind them. Together, they reflect a winemaker interested in balance, definition, and the layered possibilities of a single place rendered through blending.

In Their Words “The French have their turrets, we have our American silo.” “A great wine has to speak of a place.”

Recognition

The main recognition in this dossier is his work as founder and winemaker at RdV Vineyards: a long authorship of a Virginia vineyard project built around Bordeaux-style blends. In a field often crowded with noise, Rutger De Vink’s legacy rests on an estate shaped by conviction, and on a body of work that kept returning to place.