Va. Is for Viniculturists
In an Unpredictable Place, a Passion for Wine-Making
By Stephanie M. Mangino
The Winchester Star
Passion — as precious and hard-to-define as the glory of a fine wine — is key to a career in Virginia viniculture.
Creating a good, if not world-beating wine is daunting task, especially in a state with a plethora of soils and climates.
“Virginia is very difficult to grow grapes in,” said Krista Jackson-Foster, co-owner of North Mountain Vineyard and Winery in Maurertown. “It’s not California,” where grapes take to the ground easily, she said.
Still, people have been trying and succeeding at the task since the 1970s. They’ve taken chances on grapes and found satisfaction as varied as the state’s growing conditions.
“It is a challenge,” Jackson-Foster said. “But we would like to meet that challenge.”
The “intellectual and almost spiritual” element of wine-making powers Linden Vineyards owner/winemaker Jim Law.
Law, who started Linden in 1987, takes his inspiration for growing in Virginia from Bordeaux, France, which experiences some of the same unpredictable Atlantic Ocean-inspired weather.
“We’re a relatively warm growing climate,” Law said, so he leans toward growing grapes that favor moderate to warm temperatures — Chardonnay, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Tannat, for example.
It’s also one of the few in the state to grow Sauvignon Blanc, which Law termed a heartbreak grape. From year to year, it can either be a giant pain (2003) or great (2005), he said. “When it’s good, it’s very good. When it’s bad, it’s very bad,” Law said.
But those fluctuations are all part of the business, as is continual education.
After 25 years as a winemaker, Law said he keeps realizing how much he still must learn about the process, which he always hopes will culminate in wines that truly reflect their vineyard — or even their patch of vineyard.
“Terroir is really important to us,” said Law, referring to the French concept that everything surrounding or feeding into the grape — from temperatures to soil types — ultimately affects the wine produced.
Law said he’s harvested a third of an acre at a time or even harvested pieces of rows at different times in an effort to cull choice fruit.
Imperfect grapes are picked out on sorting tables. So much work occurs ahead of time, because once the juice goes into barrels, “We simply don’t do anything,” he said.
“It just happens,” he said of the transformation into a top wine. “It’s scary — you learn to trust your wines,” he added.
Only the best fruit goes into their single-vineyard wines, marked by the Hardscrabble name, which at 20 acres on a steep incline, is Linden’s largest vineyard.
In some years, when Law isn’t satisfied with the first cut from the vineyards — grapes also come from two other 5-acre plots owned by close friends — many of the reds can end up blended into Claret, which is the traditional English name for Bordeaux red wine.
French tradition has also influenced his marketing. Linden wines are served in quality local restaurants from Washington D.C., to the world-renowned Inn at Little Washington.
As for the quality of his product, Law said he wants the wines to emerge with personality, structure, and finesse.
He used a music metaphor to describe Linden’s appeal. There’s Barry Manilow and Bob Dylan: Manilow may be more crowd-pleasing and Dylan more polarizing. Not everyone will like Dylan’s work, but some people will love it.
“We’re Bob Dylan,” he said.
To extend the music comparisons further, Virginia may just be the home of the slightly oddball, almost cult groups that generate passionate followings and turn into a movement.
Deer Meadow Vineyard in Frederick County grows the Marechal Foch grape, which produces a love-it or hate-it wine that has its own fan club, said co-owner Jennifer Sarle.
The vineyard also has a popular semi-dry, fruity, and spicy white blend called Afternoon of the Fawn, she added.
Deer Meadow, which grows its vines in shallow, shale soil, only sells its wines at the vineyard, and its soil has created wines unlike any other, Sarle said. Their Cabernet Sauvignon even has a peppery character, she added.
Sarle and her husband Charles decided to start a vineyard at their 46-acre farm just off Laurel Grove Road after they retired in the 1980s, with their first vintage appearing in 1987.
The couple — unlike Law, who was already a winemaker when he bought his mountainside vineyard — learned through attending classes, listening to state extension office personnel, and trial and error.
“We did a few practice vines in our backyard before we retired,” she said.
The two only wanted the wine business to supplement their retirement income, and they’ve done so while working in a business they love.
Right now, they produce about 600 cases of wine from their four acres in grapes, she added.
Jennifer Sarle said she adores being out among the vines, and even in the tasting room. “We’re very happy with what we’ve done,” she said.
But she can see some clouds on the horizon, especially if Deer Meadow wants to sell its wines off the vineyard.
The Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond will determine whether Virginia laws allowing farm wineries to distribute their own product without a middleman distributor are constitutional.
If small wineries have to go through a distributor, they may be damaged, because if the winery’s production is too small, distributors may just overlook them, Jennifer Sarle said.
Small wineries are the lifeblood of the state’s industry, according to figures from the Virginia Vineyards Association.
The group states on its Web site that 85 farm wineries produce 52 percent of the state’s wine, while only five wineries produce the remaining 48 percent of the the state’s wine.
“In 2004, Virginia’s wineries sold 231,000 cases of wine, with approximately $45 million in retail sales,” the site states.
The ability to self-distribute has been a “big, big boon,” to the state’s small producers, helping to keep their costs low, Jennifer Sarle said.
North Mountain Vineyard and Winery does self-distribute some of the 3,000 cases it makes a year from its 12 acres in Shenandoah County, said Brad Foster, who with his wife, bought the vineyard and winery in 1998. Their son, a trained chemist, is the winemaker.
Brad Foster said the need to go through distributors may make wine festivals harder to hold as well, because wines would need to be handled and delivered by a distributor.
The decision from the appeals court looms at a time when Virginia’s wine business is booming.
The state’s wines are starting to make inroads in the national and international wine communities, Jackson-Foster said.
While no one could say exactly if a grape would end up being associated with Virginia like Pinot Noir is with Oregon, the state is producing well-made wines from the Viognier (white) and Cabernet Franc (red) grapes, according to the wine-makers, even though neither Linden or North Mountain plant the flowery Vigonier, which often has honeysuckle notes.
North Mountain has had great luck with the medium-bodied, smoky red hybrid variety Chambourcin, which didn’t make it for Deer Meadow, which lies not to far to the north of the Foster’s vineyard.
The vineyard is everything, Jackson-Foster said. “The good wines begin out in the vineyard,” she said, reflecting a mind-set similar to Law, who has provided advice to them over the years.
“The entire [Virginia] wine community is very convivial and extremely helpful,” Foster said.
It’s also a community hoping to soon release a top vintage.
“The growing year was just right,” Foster said of 2005 — from April bud break to early fall harvest.
Area vineyards didn’t suffer late or early frosts and had just enough sun and rain to produce prime grapes, she said.
“We have very promising young wines in the cellar,” she said, reflecting the opinion the Sarles and Law have of the wines that will emerge from the 2005 harvest.
The established growers also don’t mind sharing space with the ever-growing number of new wineries and vineyards.
Law admitted that it’s very different than a decade ago, when he knew everyone in the industry, their families, and their aspirations.
But people have gotten a taste of some good Virginia wines and want to make some of their own, he said. “I think this is a good thing.”
The same situation appeared in California’s famed Napa Valley about 10 years ago, but land prices kept many out of the market.
Law said the competition is good for the state, and he wouldn’t want to be anywhere else than Virginia. “It’s more exciting than Napa, as far as I’m concerned,” he said.
To learn more about Virginia wines, visit the Virginia Vineyard Association on-line at www.virginiavineyardsassociation.com. |
