Season

2012 was an excellent year for growing grapes in Virginia. It was reminiscent of the stellar 2009 vintage. 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 minor rain events occurred in late August and early September but after these rains past, the rest of harvest was beautifully dry, sunny and warm during the days and very cool and crisp during the night time hours. Harvest began in late September and lasted through the middle of October.

Winemaking

The grapes were hand harvested and chilled overnight. A triple sorting, (at picking in the vineyard, and on the crush pad, pre and post destemming) was performed and the berries were destemmed without crushing. The whole berries filled small one-ton fermenters and then cold soaked for 4 days. Moved into the fermentation room, the bins were warmed to 60ºF and inoculated with yeast. Fermentation temperatures reached into the mid-80s and lasted about 7 to 10 days with 2 cap punch downs each day. ML fermentation began in the bins after primary fermentation was complete. After additional maceration time of from two to three weeks, the wine was pressed off, allowed to settle overnight and then racked into new and older French oak barrels where ML fermentation completed. The wines rested for five months before this blend was assembled during the summer of 2013. This wine was bottled unfiltered and unfined in February 2014.

Varietals

57% Merlot, 29% Cabernet Franc, 14% Cabernet Sauvignon

Production

350 cases

Aging Potential

2014-2020

Season

2013 consisted of a troublesome growing season and a beautiful ripening and harvest season. The spring and early summer months were warm and wet resulting in the vines growing wildly and rapid. This, in turn, caused us to work long and rapidly just to keep up. But by mid-August and through October the rains ceased and the vines stopped growing and put their energies into ripening their fruit. There were no tropical systems in our area and we enjoyed many sunny and warm days and very cool crisp nights. Harvest began in late September and lasted through the middle of October.

Winemaking

The grapes were hand harvested and chilled overnight. A triple sorting, (at picking in the vineyard, and on the crush pad, pre and post destemming) was performed and the berries were destemmed without crushing. The whole berries filled small one-ton fermenters and then cold soaked for 4 days. Moved into the fermentation room, the bins were warmed to 60ºF and inoculated with yeast. Fermentation temperatures reached into the mid-80s and lasted about 7 to 10 days with two cap punch downs each day. ML fermentation began in the bins after primary fermentation was complete. After additional maceration time of from two to three weeks, the wine was pressed off, allowed to settle overnight and then racked into new and older French oak barrels where ML fermentation completed. The wines rested for five months before this blend was assembled during the summer of 2014. This wine was bottled unfiltered and unfined in July 2015.

Varietals

46% Merlot, 46% Cabernet Franc, 8% Petit Verdot

Production

350 cases

Aging Potential

2015-2030

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 and warm harvest with no tropical storms moving through our area. Harvest began in late September and lasted through the middle of October.

Winemaking

The grapes were hand-harvested and chilled overnight. A triple sorting, (at picking in the vineyard, and on the crush pad, pre- and post-destemming) was performed and the berries were destemmed without crushing. The whole berries filled small one-ton fermenters and then cold soaked 4 days. Moved into the fermentation room, the bins were warmed to 60ºF and inoculated with yeast. Fermentation temperatures reached into the mid-80ºs and lasted about 7-10 days with 2 cap punch downs each day. ML fermentation began in the bins after primary fermentation was complete. After additional maceration time of from 2-3 weeks, the wine was pressed off, allowed to settle overnight and then racked into new and older French oak barrels where ML fermentation completed. The wines rested for five months before this blend was assembled during the summer of 2015. This wine was bottled unfiltered and unfined in July 2016.

Varietals

56% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Franc, 9% Petit Verdot

Production

280 cases

Aging Potential

2016-2030

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.

Winemaking

Fermented in small one-ton bins, 14 days of post fermentation maceration, gently pressed, then aged for 20 months in French oak barrels. Bottled unfiltered and unfined.

Varietals

72% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc, 14% Petit Verdot

Aging Potential

2019-2030