Terroir Winemaking

“A great wine….will necessarily be uncommon and decidedly unique because it cannot be like any other.” —Andre Ostertag, Domaine Ostertag, Epfig, France (Alsace) 

The history of winemaking dates back many millennia. Today, most wine produced is a continuation of the work and discovery of previous generations. However, in Virginia we are in a unique position to unveil a virgin terroir. This has been an attraction to many of us in the industry. It’s what brought me here in 1981. And it is what keeps me going.

When I started, I knew what Chardonnay should taste like, but had no idea as to what to expect from Hardscrabble’s terroir. After 34 vintages, there are some clues. I’ll use the example of Hardscrabble Chardonnay to reflect how changes and adaptations in the vineyard and cellar can lead to wines that become more terroir expressive. Two things have to be present: balanced grapes and deferential winemaking.

In the vineyard all decisions revolve around delivering balanced grapes to the winery. The grapes need to be harvested fully ripe with fresh acidity so that there is no need to make additions or manipulations to the juice or wine.

Most of these decisions were made during the establishment phase. Even with a high elevation (1,300 feet), Hardscrabble is on the warm side for Chardonnay, so we do everything we can to push ripening into the equinox sweet spot (mid to late September) when the nights are cool. This is critical to retain acidity and freshness.

Soils with moderate water holding capacity and fertility work best. (Lower capacity soils are reserved for the red grapes.) A healthy canopy and avoidance of extreme hydric stress allows for slow, even, uninterrupted ripening. East slopes are the coolest and help delay ripening. We would plant on north slopes if we had them. The Wente clones (#4 and #72) comprise the majority of Hardscrabble’s Chardonnay plantings as they ripen later than the Dijon clones and retain more acidity.

As our climate warms, we are adapting by doing less leaf removal in the cluster zone and allowing for a larger canopy (less hedging). Less direct sun on the clusters gives more acidity and freshness to the wine.

Terroir winemakers have a long-term and intimate relationship to the vines. They are vignerons, or deferential winemakers. There is no separation of duties. There is no revolving door. There are no egos. Winemaking decisions center around balance and texture. Aromas and flavors are entirely vineyard driven and the winemaker gets out of the way.

When to pick is the most important winemaking decision. It is rarely an easy one. Ripe with acidity is the mantra. We monitor acidity by taste and analysis. Ripeness is determined by juice mouthfeel, aromatic profile and skin astringency (phenolics). Grape integrity and weather forecast can also have a significant influence.

Brix plays a very minor role. The sugar content will tell us what to expect as far as potential alcohol and that’s all. We’ve made balanced Chardonnay under 12 percent ABV and above 14 percent ABV.

Guiding the relationship of juice and skins is perhaps the second most critical winemaking decision. How one transforms the grape to juice has a significant bearing on the texture and finish of the wine. There are many influences: grape temperature, crush or whole cluster, pressing cycles, and most importantly when to make the press cuts.

At Linden, three of us are involved with the critical decision of press cuts. During a typical crush day, Shari Avenius runs the presses (we have two antique Willmes bladder presses). Jonathan Weber, Linden’s winemaker, can be found buried deep in the cellar surrounded by barrels, pumps and hoses, and I’m in the vineyard. But we are all involved at the critical stage of pressing.

At about the fourth or fifth cycle the juice starts to lose acidity and takes on more phenolic astringency from the skins. We taste at each squeeze and decide at which point to make the cut. In cool vintages where the grapes are harvested with high acidity, we might consider pressing longer to have more lower-acid juice. The same might be the case if the astringency is of high quality, but if bitterness creeps in early, then the cut is made early.

There are three decisions to be made during the juice stage. Sulfur additions, oxygen, and turbidity. Several years ago, we stopped adding any sulfur to chardonnay juice. We have found the resulting wines to show better textural harmony. We may oxygenate the juice if we find that the phenolic load is on the high side. We prefer to ferment fairly cloudy chardonnay juice depending on the quality of the juice lees. The wines will age on their gross lees for about 16 months, so consideration needs to be given to the balance between textural weight, reduction, and overt lees flavor influence. 

After over a decade of uninoculated fermentations, we have now reverted back to adding cultured yeast. Counterintuitively, we have found that adding cultured yeasts allow for a better terroir expression. With uninoculated fermentations, we ran into too many problems with stuck fermentations, stinky reduction, and volatile acidity (VA). These are cellar issues and certainly take away from any terroir expression.

We also found that trying to get those last few grams of sugar to ferment required perfect conditions for malolactic fermentation (MLF). Our wines often became flabby as Hardscrabble does not usually have enough natural acidity to support MLF. We could have decided to add tartaric acid and yeast nutrients to address these problems, but that would be detrimental to our goal of minimal intervention. The wines did not need any additions if we used a reliable cultured yeast (we use CY3079). Terroir winemaking shouldn’t be dogmatic, it needs to be pragmatic and flexible.

In 2013 Jonathan and I traveled to Burgundy. We took barrel samples of our 2012 Chardonnay. On many visits we asked the winemakers to taste our wine and comment. Just in smelling the wine, they would inquire as to our fermentation temperatures. They were quickly able to isolate the cause of our concern that our white wines were too fruity too estery and too varietal. Terroir expression was muted. Our fermentations were too cool. We needed to relax and let them warm naturally. Now our ferments typically peak in the 70s F (low-to-mid 20 degrees C).

Long élevage is the key to avoiding many additions and manipulations. Time and lees take care of most of wine’s stability problems. Twelve months in barrel and then four months in tank, all on lees also gives chardonnay more textural harmony. 

Hardscrabble Chardonnay is 100% Chardonnay from the same vineyard, but it is a blended wine. We have seven distinct blocks, each harvested, fermented and aged separately. They don’t all make it into Hardscrabble Chardonnay. Blending is our final tool to harmonize the wine.

The foundation of terroir winemaking is the long-term relationship of the decision-makers with the vineyard. We’ve learned through experience and mistakes how far we can push the envelope of non-interventionist winemaking in order to let the vineyard speak.

We still add sulfites and yeast as tools to make better wine, but we have eliminated all other additions. We have a deep understanding and expectation of the personality of our vines and how that is expressed in our wine. That gives us great satisfaction that we can pass on to the next generation.

Grape Press, Summer 2021

Jim LawGrape Press