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Opening a bottle of wine is a trip to another place and climate for your tastebuds. Photo by Corey Miller.
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It’s always wine time. Act XII’s wine selection emphasizes bottles under $25, but you’ll also find special occasion wines worthy of celebrating with. Photo by Corey Miller.
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When you need your adult beverages pre-chilled, Act XII has you covered, along with cheese and charcuterie to accompany your choice. Photo by Corey Miller.
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Culley and his staff offer guidance by labeling some of their favorites for customers. Photo by Corey Miller.
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To learn more, just ask and they’re happy to explain the wine’s appeal. Photo by Corey Miller.
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Stop by to peruse Act XII’s gourmet food and drink selection for culinary inspiration, ingredients to take cocktail making to the next level, and locally made specialty goods. Photo by Corey Miller.
On the way to becoming an emergency physician, Bob Culley got distracted by wine.
While an undergraduate at Randolph-Macon, he learned about a two-week class in the “Chemistry of Winemaking” offered by the chemistry department during the month-long January semester. Because the class was being held in Australia, the $3,000 cost was out of reach for a college student. “But it was a chance to travel abroad, so my parents gave it to me as a graduation gift,” Culley recalls. “That’s where I fell in love with wine.”
When he graduated in 2008, jobs were scarce in a recession economy. Culley applied to Cooper Vineyards in Louisa County, working in the tasting room and doing whatever else was needed. He saw it as a hobby, and the owners encouraged him to return to his first love, medicine.
Culley met his wife Corrie, a wine devotee thanks to her parents and grandparents, during his time at Cooper Vineyards and married her during his first year of med school in West Virginia. Trips to wine country ensued. He completed his residency in Ohio, where the craft beer movement was strong, and added to his adult beverage knowledge there.
While at a conference in San Francisco, he met a recruiter for Riverside Hospital in Tappahannock. Because he was originally from Mechanicsville and Corrie from Richmond—she’d grown up coming to the river—they knew they wanted to end up here. “We’d liked living in small towns in West Virginia and Ohio, so we wanted to settle in a small town,” he says. “We were attracted by the Southern hospitality and river allure.”
In 2017, he was offered an Emergency Medicine physician position, and in June 2019, they moved to Tappahannock. When VCU purchased Riverside, the Chief Medical Officer left, and Culley was appointed Interim CMO. In addition to being an emergency medicine physician, he’s also the chief medical officer of VCU Health Tappahannock Hospital. “During the application process, we started trying to have a child,” says the now father of two. “We had a lot going on.”
As Tappahannock residents, they eventually met Greg and Jennifer Huff, owners of the Essex Inn, and attended some of their patio wine tastings. It was there that they experienced Tappahannock’s passion for wine. “I’d always wanted to own a small wine shop,” Culley says, “Once we had our daughter in January 2022, we decided that it was a good time to do it, that it was now or never.”
So they began the process of renting a space on Church Street in historic downtown Tappahannock, applying for the permits and required ABC licenses, and renovating the space, a former gas and service station. “Greg and Jennifer continued to offer us advice,” Culley says. “We opened on September 1, 2023, the same day they opened their restaurant, the 1710 Tavern.”
Tappahannock’s new wine and craft beer shop is called Act XII Wine and Provisions. The name is a tribute to Virginia’s House of Burgesses Acte 12, which stipulated that every landowner was required to plant 10 grapevines in the name of King James. England’s climate was too wet and cold for vineyards, and the King’s ongoing wars with winemaking neighbors France and Spain caused him to think of the New World as one big potential vineyard.
And while that wasn’t the case for several centuries, Virginia wine has come a long way. Culley carries a limited number of Virginia wines, not because there aren’t scores of excellent options, but because he feels that people should taste the wines at the wineries. “To help support them, I don’t carry any wine from wineries within an hour of here,” he explains. “But I love being able to serve Virginia wines. We’ve done Virginia wine tastings here.”
Speaking of free wine tastings, Act XII does them every Friday evening from 4:30 to 6:30 pm, and the theme changes weekly. Sometimes it’s a selection of the same grape—Pinot Noirs, Rosés—and other times it’s a region or style, such as bubbly.
Some wine tastings feature new wines, while others aim to teach wine drinkers what’s available. “My premise is that wine is for everybody and anybody, and wine tastings are for education,” Culley says. “Wine allows you to travel places through your taste buds. That’s what I love about tastings. You pour, and customers get to taste things they’ve never tasted before.”
The Culleys have traveled extensively tasting wines and adding to their 1000+ bottle home collection. The wines in the shop reflect that, with bottles from Australia, Oregon, Napa, Central Coast, France, Spain and South Africa, among others. “Our goal is keeping wine priced so everyone can enjoy it, with 80% of our wines under $25,” he says. “Come in, and I promise we’ll find you a wine you can enjoy and afford.”
The craft beer selection is carefully chosen to reflect what local customers want. These tend to be easy-drinking lagers, pilsners, stouts and porters, the kind of beers best enjoyed waterside or on the deck or porch. “I choose beers you can’t get locally within 45 minutes of here,” he says. And the majority of our beers are from Virginia.”
Provision-wise, the shop carries gourmet items not found in grocery stores, like Momofuku ramen noodles, charcuterie, artisanal cocktail mixers, and Bugle Call Coffee, a veteran-owned company out of New Kent County. “This is a business, but it’s a business of passion,” Culley says. “It’s fun to have new customers every day.”
So far, the biggest challenge has been getting people traveling through downtown Tappahannock in the door. But with the completion of Central Park and Hoskins Creek Park, Culley sees Act XII and the entire downtown area as poised for its close-up.
“I think Tappahannock is about to rise like a phoenix from the flames that were the fire downtown,” he says. “The local community continues to support me and the other businesses, which means a great future for Tappahannock.”
Act XII Wine and Provisions I Thursday – Saturday, Noon – 7 pm; Sunday, Noon – 5 pm I 221 Church Lane, Tappahannock I 804-925-6045 I actxiiwineandprovisions.com