Barbara Kolb

Priscilla Richardson is columnist The Botetourt View. You can contact her at 981-3430 or via e-mail.

Priscilla Richardson

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Botetourt parents for years have been exchanging Barbara Kolb's name to make sure their kids got into her advanced level biology class at James River High School.

Yes, the class where she led students to a Virgin Islands reef each year to study the fish population. But parents can't help any student get into her class now because it doesn't exist any more.

Kolb has retired from one job she loved and gone into another she loves, that of winemaker.

Kolb had been working "two and three jobs" these past years to make sure she could pay off the Eagle Rock area farm she bought in 1972 and moved into in 1984. Now, "finally, we don't owe the bank anything," so she can leave off growing grapes for other wine makers and start making her own wine.

Kolb's scientific bent came to her through her father, a corporate pharmacist, and mother, a nurse.

She spent the first five years of her life traveling with her parents.

"This was back when there were no Pampers, so I have no clue how they did it. I remember having a lot of fun." Her family lived in Houston, then Dallas, so she went to Southern Methodist University for an undergraduate degree in biology and chemistry, and then a master's in biology.

As a single mother with three children, she even did the course work toward a Ph.D.

"I taught real science at River, because of my background. I am a scientist who taught, not an education major who teaches biology. I took just enough courses to get a teaching certificate. I did not want to get into medicine, become a medical doctor. People would ask me, what are you going to do? Do my science."

So she taught, after a bit in Trinidad and Venezuela, first at the Governor's School, then long years at River. "I loved the kids, loved the staff, loved the parents."

The good news about her retirement? The data collected remains.

"We used the same spot on St. John's Island, chosen to be out of the way. We would do a fish identification and count at this same reef every year to see if there is a change in diversity and numbers. We documented them each year." And someone wanting to continue the work can find that exact spot with satellite locators.

Kolb proves, however, you can have more than one great love in your life. It takes a year for the grape juice to turn into wine, so five years ago she started making wine, four years ago she started selling it. "We had wine and we opened [Blue Ridge Vineyard.] It has grown ever since, by leaps and bounds."

Awards from the Wine Lovers' Magazine Competition include a platinum for her Cabernet Franc 07 vintage, and golds for her Riesling, Traminette, Gewurztraminer and Big Bear Red. Kolb praises the antioxidants in red wine but also reminds everyone that she has been a leader against alcohol abuse. She makes natural wine, without additives. "We promote it as an adult food, as it has been since Biblical times."

Kolb and her husband Jim Holaday have put a conservation easement on the farm "since we want to keep it for agricultural purposes."

Does this mean Kolb's totally given up on teaching?

Not quite. She has a new career teaching viticulture at Virginia Western Community College, about how to grow and maintain grape vines. But in the meantime, she and Holaday welcome visitors to picnic, hike and taste wine on their spacious acres. So go there and enjoy the vineyard and Botetourt's beauty.

For more information, go to Blueridgevineyard.com.

Botetourt parents for years have been exchanging Barbara Kolb's name to make sure their kids got into her advanced level biology class at James River High School. Yes, the class where she led students to a Virgin Islands reef each year to study the fish populaion. But parents can't help any student get into her class now because it doesn't exist any more. Kolb has retired from one job she loved and gone into another she loves, that of winemaker.

Kolb had been working "two and three jobs" these past years to make sure she could pay off the Eagle Rock area farm she bought in 1972 and moved into in 1984. Now, "finally, we don't owe the bank anything," so she can leave off growing grapes for other wine makers and start making her own wine.

Kolb's scientific bent came to her through her father, a corporate pharmacist, and mother, a nurse. She spent the first five years of her life traveling with her parents. "This was back when there were no Pampers, so I have no clue how they did it. I remember having a lot of fun." Her family lived in Houston, then Dallas, so she went to Southern Methodist University for an undergraduate degree in biology and chemistry, and then a master's in biology. As a single mother with three children, she even did the course work toward a Ph.D.

"I taught real science at River, because of my background. I am a scientist who taught, not an education major who teaches biology. I took just enough courses to get a teaching certificate. I did not want to get into medicine, become a medical doctor. People would ask me, what are you going to do? Do my science."

So she taught, after a bit in Trinidad and Venezuela, first at the Governor's School, then long years at River. "I loved the kids, loved the staff, loved the parents." The good news about her retirement? The data collected remains. "We used the same spot on St. John's Island, chosen to be out of the way. We would do a fish identification and count at this same reef every year to see if there is a change in diversity and numbers. We documented them each year." And someone wanting to continue the work can find that exact spot with satellite locators.

Kolb proves, however, you can have more than one great love in your life. It takes a year for the grape juice to turn into wine, so five years ago she started making wine, four years ago she started selling it. "We had wine and we opened [Blue Ridge Vineyard.] It has grown ever since, by leaps and bounds."

Awards from the Wine Lovers' Magazine Competition include a platinum for her Cabernet Franc 07 vintage, and golds for her Riesling, Traminette, Gewurztraminer and Big Bear Red. Kolb praises the antioxidants in red wine but also reminds everyone that she has been a leader against alcohol abuse. She makes natural wine, without additives. "We promote it as an adult food, as it has been since Biblical times."

Kolb and her husband Jim Holaday have put a conservation easement on the farm "since we want to keep it for agricultural purposes." Doe this mean Kolb's totally given up on teaching? Not quite. She has a new career teaching viticulture at Virginia Western Community College, about how to grow and maintain grape vines. But in the meantime, she and Holaday welcome visitors to picnic, hike and taste wine on their spacious acres. So go there and enjoy the vineyard and Botetourt's beauty.

For more information, go to Blueridgevineyard.com.