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Al Weed spent his childhood in public housing projects on and off welfare. At that early age, Al understood there would be no handouts in life, but if he worked hard, the American Dream would be open to him.

Al was twelve when his father died. That year he left the city when his mother enrolled him in Church Farm School. In 1959 Al began his 42 years of military service when he joined the Naval reserves. He entered college on a Naval ROTC scholarship in 1960. And in 1962 he left school and volunteered for active service in the Army Special Forces. Three years later he was sent to Viet Nam as a Green Beret Medical Sergeant.

When Al returned home he married Emily Chan, a nurse he met while stationed in Panama, and returned to college. His son, Albert C. Weed III, or Tres, was soon born. By the end of that decade Al had graduated from Yale and Princeton.

During the beginning of the 1970s Al worked for the World Bank and the Arthur Lipper Corporation while he continued to serve in the US Army Reserves. Al and Emily wanted to raise their family on a farm in Virginia. They decided growing grapes and producing wine was ideal for a small farm because they would control their crops’ end product.

Al and Emily’s second child, Julia, was born in 1973. They invested their savings, moved to Nelson County, and started Mountain Cove Vineyards. For the first seven years they each worked two jobs, while dedicating themselves to the farm.

Although Al and his contemporaries knew the Piedmont area was good for growing grapes, Al had the foresight to know this would not be enough. Without support from the General Assembly, the industry would fail. Al organized farmers and helped found the Virginia Wineries Association which led to Virginia’s first Farm Winery Law. Al then authored legislation that created the Virginia Winegrowers Advisory Board. This organization laid the groundwork for massive investment in the industry near the end of the 1980s. Due to his leadership and vision, Virginia wine is internationally respected, has over 100 farm wineries, is annually a $100 million dollar industry, and is growing every year.

A smart businessman, Al saw even greater success in tourism. To encourage this, Al has worked to preserve the rural community of Nelson County. He has formed and directed many organizations, including the Nelson County Historical Society, the Nelson County Tourism Council, and Rural Nelson. These organizations have helped build a strong community, protect the natural environment, and attract visitors to his winery and businesses across the region. Due to all of Al’s efforts in 2002 he was named by Governor Mark Warner as the 5th District Trustee for the Virginia Land Conservation Trust Fund.

Through these years Al has continued to serve his country, training reservists as a Command Sergeant Major. In 1995 he was again called to active duty for Special Operations Command, Europe to support the Bosnia operation. In 2002 Al retired from the service after 42 years. Among his many decorations are a Legion of Merit, a Bronze Star, an Air Medal, and a Combat Medical Badge.

Today, Al still farms Mountain Cove, Virginia’s oldest, continuously-running farm winery.

In his life, Al Weed has come to believe two things: there are no hand outs in life, and good government can support hard working Americans. Al is ready to continue his life of service in Congress.