winery,
COUPLE OPENS
supports military Between them, they’ve put in more than 50 years in the military
By Celeste Edenloff
W
ith more than 50 years of military service between the two of them, it seems only fitting that when Ron and Rebecca Joyce opened a winery, the word “veterans” would be a part of the name. The couple opened the winery – 68 & Vine Veterans Winery – in August 2020. It is located near Miltona on County Road 68 (hence the name). Several of their wines are in honor of the military, including the Coastie (Coast Guard), which has a picture of Rebecca’s dad, Paul Drew, and her grandpa, Harold Drew, on it. Her grandpa was a chief in the Coast Guard.
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Swabbie is a wine representing the Navy. It has a picture of Rebecca on it with her other grandpa, Lloyd VanRiper, who was a chief in the Navy. In 1994, her grandpa put on her bars when she was commissioned in the Navy. Jarhead is for the Marines and includes a picture of Rick Mohawk from Alexandria. He is pictured with his children when he was coming home from deployment. G.I. Joe represents the Army and Ron served in the Army National Guard so the bottle has his picture on it. Flyboys honors those who served in the Air Force. The photo is of Valerie and Roy Harmon, friends of Rebecca’s. Both were in the Air Force. One more wine they have – Guardians – represents the Space Force. Because they do not know anyone in the Space Force, there is just a generic photo that represents the Space Force.
Ron and Rebecca Joyce, both veterans, own and operate 68 & Vine Veterans Winery near Miltona. Celeste Edenloff / Alexandria Echo Press Besides wine made from the grapes grown at their winery, Ron and Rebecca also produce fruit wines, which are all named after family members. Appella, an apple wine, is named after their granddaughter, Ella; Keeley Lime, a lime wine, is named after their granddaughter, Keeley; Norabell, a blueberry wine, is named after their granddaughter, Nora; and Munchkinberry, a raspberry, blackberry, blueberry wine is named after their daughter, Jessica. Their winery includes eight acres of grapes that grow 16 different varieties. They also
have an orchard and use the apples for winemaking. Besides winemaking and tending to their vineyard and winery, Ron and Rebecca enjoy traveling and spending time with their family, which includes six children between them – Elijah, Jonah, Jeremiah, Arianah, Emmah and Jessica. They also have 15 grandchildren, whom they absolutely adore, they said. Both Ron and Rebecca talked about their careers in the military, which included overseas deployments for both of them. HE WAS IN THE ARMY NATIONAL GUARD Ron, a 1977 Alexandria graduate, joined the Army National Guard in 1985 as enlisted, then accepted his commission and became an officer five years later in 1990. His father, his grandfather and grandfather’s brother were also in the military. They were all members of the U.S. Army. As the Army was part-time for Ron, he worked full-time. He
