About Virtual Viticulture Academy
Virtual Viticulture Academy is a revolutionary way to become a better, more productive, and more profitable grape grower. Virtual Viticulture Academy provides a single, interactive platform to access practical, timely, expert viticulture advice and information that is easy to understand and apply for grape growers of all experience levels.
Click here to learn more about the benefits of Virtual Viticulture Academy Membership including:
- Live Webinars
- Hands-On Field Courses
- Live Vineyard Advising (your questions answered live)
- Exclusive Content
- Vineyard Product Discounts
- Employee Training
Meet the Team!
Fritz Westover
After working hands-on in the viticulture industry since 1999, Fritz Westover founded Westover Vineyard Advising in 2015 to provide consulting services and education to wine growers across the southeastern US. Fritz currently provides consulting services to growers across 6 states encompassing more than 1500 acres of vines.
In 2018 Fritz launched Virtual Viticulture Academy, a new learning service from Westover Vineyard Advising, to meet the biggest need grape growers have… access to practical, timely, expert viticulture information on a single, easy-to-use, interactive platform.
Fritz is a leading resource for growers of all classes of wine grapes and speaks on a variety of viticulture topics across the country. He also contributes industry articles to publications such as Wines & Vines and chairs the graduate student scholarship committee each year for the American Society for Enology and Viticulture-Eastern Section – ASEV-ES.
Fritz holds a BS in horticulture from Penn State University as well as an MS from the Penn State Department of Plant Pathology. Prior to founding Westover Vineyard Advising, Fritz worked both internationally and across the US in a variety of viticulture-related roles including positions with the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, Virginia Tech, and the Vineyard Team in California focusing extensively on developing viticulture education and research programs.
Rachael White
Rachael became interested in grape production right out of high school. She worked at her local research and extension center with the viticulture team where viticulture became her passion! She’s worked with industry leaders like Dr. Tony Wolf and Dr. Cain Hickey and interacted with growers that were more than happy to share their joys and dismays about farming grapes.
Rachael studied abroad in Cortona, Italy, where she learned old-world wine tradition and refined her palate. As an undergraduate at Virginia Tech, she focused on wine grape production, and after obtaining her Bachelor’s degree, she worked in producing red wines in the Marlborough region of New Zealand.
In 2017, Dr. Cain Hickey invited her to earn her Master’s degree in viticulture at the University of Georgia where she focused on environmental horticulture and viticulture. After obtaining her Master’s degree, Rachael managed a small, 7-acre vineyard in north Georgia producing Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Petit Manseng, and Traminette. For the past year, she’s managed a large vineyard with multiple cultivars in the Amwell Valley at Unionville Vineyards in New Jersey.