Season

2008 can be classified as classic for the white wines and troublesome for the red wines. After a cool and wet early spring resulting in sluggish growth, we experienced a very hot and dry spell coinciding with flowering around the first of June. From mid June through mid July the cool wet weather was once again prevalent. Then starting in mid July the rains ceased for about a month and a half until the remnants of Hurricane Fay passed over us on August 28. A week later on September 6, Tropical Storm Hanna also passed over us. Luckily both of these systems tracked east of our location and left us with only moderate amounts of water. Once again we were very dry until September 26 when a nor’easter passed over leaving behind 3 inches of water. Thankfully this was the last rain we would see until after our last harvest day, October 24. During this time we had ideal red grape ripening conditions, with warm sunny days and cool crisp nights.

Winemaking

We drained 10-15% of the juice immediately after filling the fermentation bins with destemmed whole berries. Fermentation occurred in older, (neutral) barrels and stainless steel drums and lasted about 30 days. Malolactic fermentation was avoided. Bottled on February 5, 2009.

Varietals

58% Cabernet Franc, 29% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot

Production

55 cases

Season

2011 was definitely a rosé kind of year. Bud break occurred normally, around mid-April and flowering too was normal, around the first of June. Summer temperatures were normal, with some hot days and some cool ones. Rainfall was normal for most of the summer, turning very dry in August just before harvest. On August 26, 1.5 inches of rain fell from the remnants of hurricane Irene. Then, on September 4, the onslaught of Tropical storm Lee began, bringing 5 inches of rain, which did not stop for another 30 days (at least it felt that way). All of our red grapes required bleeding off juice soon after crushing to reduce the dilution effect from these rains.

Winemaking

Immediately following destemming and filling the fermenters with each of our harvested red grape varieties, 15-20% of the juice was pumped into barrel. This juice was allowed to settle for 24 for hours then racked again into barrel and yeast was introduced. Fermentation lasted about 10-15 days. All of the lots were blended together in stainless steel tank and then bottled in March 2012.

Varietals

33% Cabernet Franc, 33% Petit Verdot, 17% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot

Production

135 cases

Season

2012 was an excellent year for growing our Rosé wine. Bud break occurred very early, around the last couple days of March. Flowering was also early, at the end of May. Summer temperatures were normal, with some hot days and some cool ones. Rainfall was rather low for most of the summer, turning very dry in August just before harvest. A couple of rain events occurred in late August and early September but after these, the rest of harvest was beautifully dry, sunny and warm.

Winemaking

Immediately following destemming and filling the fermenters with each of our harvested red grape varieties, 15-20% of the juice was pumped into barrel. This juice was allowed to settle for 24 for hours then racked again into barrel and yeast was introduced. Fermentation lasted about 10-15 days. All of the lots were blended together in stainless steel tank and then bottled in February 2013.

Varietals

Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot

Production

105 cases

Season

In 2013, we experienced a rather troublesome, wet spring and summer and thankfully, during the critical ripening months of August, September, and October, the weather turned very dry, warm and sunny. Bud break occurred around mid-April, flowering, the first week of June and veraison, the first week in August. We began harvesting on September 6 with Merlot and later in October with Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and additional Merlot.

Winemaking

Half of this wine comes from Merlot grapes harvested early, specifically for this wine. Juice from these grapes provides crisp acidic structure along with mineral touches. The remaining half comes from retaining for this wine, 10-15% of the juice from our Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes as they were harvested later for our red wine production. Juice from these grapes provides soft velvety tannin structure, along with ripe red berry flavors. All of these juice lots were settled for 24 for hours and racked into older neutral barrels where yeast was introduced. Fermentation lasted about 15-25 days. All of the lots were blended together to harmonize and bottled in February 2014.

Varietals

Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon

Production

326 cases

Season

Following an extremely cold winter, spring was wet and cool and the first half of summer was wet and hot. In August, the rains stopped and we enjoyed a relatively dry warm harvest with no tropical storms moving through our area. Cold autumn rains arrived in late October just as we were finishing with our Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot harvest. We began our rosé harvest on September 10 with Merlot and later in October with Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and additional Merlot.

Winemaking

Approximately half of this wine comes from Merlot grapes grown specifically for this wine. Juice from these grapes provides crisp acidic structure along with mineral touches. The remaining half comes from retaining for this wine, 10 to 15 percent of the juice from our Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes as they were harvested later for our red wine production. Juice from these grapes provides soft velvety tannin structure, along with ripe red berry flavors. All of these juice lots were settled for 24 for hours and then racked into older neutral barrels where yeast was introduced. Fermentation lasted about 15-25 days. The lots were blended together in November 2014 and bottled in February 2015.

Varietals

65% Merlot, 28% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Cabernet Franc

Production

266 cases

Season

The weather of 2015 in Virginia was quite normal or predictably quite unpredictable. A cold winter, hitting zero a few nights, followed by a cool dry spring with normal bud break around April 15. Early summer had increased frequency of rains but by the end of July the rains stopped and late summer into early autumn once again became very dry with beautiful fall ripening and harvest weather. Then during the last week of September, we were hit with a week of rain. All of our grapes were in with the exception of Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot, (and our late harvest Petit Manseng). These grapes were not ripe and were in sound condition going into the rains. Beautiful fall harvest weather returned and after a week of drying out, we continued to harvest. Between our porous rocky soils and extremely steep slopes, the still hanging grapes continued to ripen beautifully and were not negatively impacted by the late rains.

Winemaking

Three blocks of Merlot grapes were grown specifically for this rosé. These grapes provide crisp acidic structure along with mineral nuances. The balance comes from bleeding off (saignée) for rosé, 10-15% of the juice from Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot grapes as harvested later for red wine production. These grapes provide soft velvety tannin structure along with ripe red berry flavors. Fermented in neutral French oak barrels with lees stirring both of which provide hints of savory and earthy aromas and flavors. The lots were blended together in November 2015 and bottled in February 2016.

Varietals

41% Merlot, 26% Cabernet Franc, 22% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Petit Verdot

Production

350 cases

Season

In late March, temperatures went from 18ºF to 72ºF in less than 12 hours. Some buds were lost in this event, but overall yields were not impacted. A ten-day rainy period in April was welcomed for newly planted vineyards but caused excessive growth and high disease pressure in the older more established plantings. August into September was very warm and dry resulting in the most compressed harvest here in 22 years.

Winemaking

Three blocks of Merlot grapes and one block of Cabernet Franc grapes were grown specifically for this rosé. These grapes provide crisp acidic structure along with mineral nuances. The balance comes from bleeding off (saignée) for rosé, 10-15% of the juice from Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes as harvested later for red wine production. These grapes provide soft velvety tannin structure along with ripe red berry flavors. Fermented in neutral French oak barrels with lees stirring both of which provide hints of savory and earthy aromas and flavors. The lots were blended together in November 2016 and bottled in February 2017.

Varietals

49% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Cabernet Franc, 21% Merlot

Production

250 cases

Winemaking

Coming from three blocks of Cabernet Franc, three blocks of Merlot, and one block of Petit Verdot, these grapes were used specifically for this rosé. Fermenting in very old French oak barrels that formerly housed past vintages of our red wines along with lees stirring provides savory and earthy aromas. The grapes provide crisp acidic structure along with mineral nuances, soft velvety tannins, and delicate red berry flavors and aromas.

Varietals

40% Cabernet Franc, 31% Merlot, 29% Petit Verdot