Dry, Warm, and Sunny
Pinch me. When was the last time we heard this mantra.
Bright, dark green vine leaves. Firm soil. Dry socks. These are a few of my favorite things. After the wettest vintage on record we are especially grateful.
Read MoreGrowth Spurt
May’s weather is predictably unpredictable. While this can inconvenience our morning wardrobe selection, the vines don’t seem to be much bothered by it. Everything looks pretty good at this stage.
Read MoreLike Clockwork
Hardscrabble’s Chardonnay vines budded out on April 19. This is wonderfully normal (the thirty year average date is April 20). With farming and weather, average is as good as it gets.
Read MoreGrafting Project | Linden’s Climate Change Trial Vineyard
Vine pruning is finished. Now the waiting game starts, although the vines are progressing quickly with higher than average temperatures. Young Chardonnay vines will begin bud break any day now. We’ll have a few weeks before the vines are at a stage were they need handwork attention, so now is a good time to graft our first vines for Linden’s Climate Change Trial Vineyard.
Read MoreRocky Knob
We just finished a very successful planting of 1,400 Cabernet Sauvignon vines. The last day was grueling as the best slope was saved for last. This particular slope consists of a very large pile of rocks. And not much else.
Read MorePlanting
Planting a new vineyard block gives great satisfaction and optimism. It will be years before there is something tangible produced, but the process itself is rewarding.
Read MoreSpring Transition
Spring is slow this year. That is fine with us. It gives us more time to finish pruning, tying and trellis repair. The vines are only just starting to bleed. This is the winegrower term for when the sap flows after making a pruning cut. It is a good sign: the vines are coming to life.
Read MoreBottling
Preservation of the wine’s fresh aromas and flavors depends on getting the wine from barrel into bottle with military-like precision.
Read MorePruning
Winegrowers don’t agree on much, but we all unhesitatingly profess our love for pruning.
Read MoreLibrary Wines
Rather than totally sell out each vintage, serious wineries hold back a portion of their bottlings. Some of these wine libraries are very extravagant and public. Most are simply a designated corner of the working cellar.
Read MoreTasting Vintage 2018
The vineyard floor is ice coated as partially thawed snow was rained on then re-frozen. This makes pruning hazardous, especially on steep slopes.
Read MoreBorn Under a Bad Sign
Pruning season is upon us. We got an early start this year, which does carry some risks.
Read MoreClimate
On Saturday, December 15, 2018 officially became the wettest year in recorded history for our region. This gave us winegrowers a sort of perverted sense of satisfaction, knowing that it is possible to produce serviceable wines under the most extreme conditions. We do hope the record stands.
Read MoreGoing Dormant
This cold, but not too cold, weather pattern is just what the vines need. They had a most confusing growing season, so a long, restful winter will bode well. A normal, typical, average, uneventful winter would be ideal.
Read MoreVintage 2019 begins (a bit early)
I could not resist. After so many dreary, bone chilling days, yesterday was the perfect day to be outside. Well aware that it is recommended to delay pruning until later in the winter, I started anyway. Pruning is every winegrower’s favorite task. It is creative, it is quiet, and it rewards immediately. It is what we signed up for.
Read MoreBetter With Age
How and why a given wine ages is one of the most frequent questions asked by both novices and professionals. Most winegrowers can readily answer the “how” part, but the “why” part is usually vague and elusive. Best that it remains that way. Science can often ruin a good story.
Read MoreBottle Shock
In some ways bottling is the worst thing that can happen to a wine. A youthful, delicate, expressive wine in barrel or tank will retreat into a shell of itself after bottling. This widely recognized phenomenon is known as bottle shock.
Read MoreWhy No 2018 Reds?
There’s been some puzzlement and confusion coming from Virginia wine enthusiasts who have been following the 2018 vintage.
Read MoreWinter Worries (already)
The consequences of the wet 2018 growing season linger. Most noticeable are the leaves, still hanging on, but not exactly vibrant. The mountains lack their usual luster of fall and are slow to change color. Vine leaves are similar, with the top leaves now all gone exposing still green shoot tips that should be brown. This is the problem.
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