2019--What a Difference a Year Makes


Apologies for our tardy posts.  2018 was our first significant vineyard harvest and most of our 2018 wines are now estate wines made from our fruit.  But 2018 was a challenging year.  We had much less than average sunshine and much more than average rainfall during the growing season.  Harvest was reduced, disease pressure was up, and sprays to control disease were more frequent.  Total gross harvest for our young vineyard and our leased vineyards was about 8 tons. We lost about 4-5 tons of our Cabernet Sauvignon to grape berry split and rot (too much absorbed rainfall). Nevertheless, we made 5 varietal wines and 3 blended wines.  Several have won medals in local and state-wide competitions.  We were surprised and grateful.

What a difference a year makes.  2019 was sunny and dry, ideal growing conditions for our vineyard.  Total gross harvest for our vineyard and our leased vineyards was about 27 tons.  I was literally dancing in our vineyard at harvest, notwithstanding the additional work load.  Our fruit was beautiful, fragrant, with virtually no apparent disease.

bin of cabernet sauvignon grapes at harvestbunch of cabernet franc grapes at harvestbunch of sauvignon blanc grapes at harvestrow of cabernet franc grapes at harvest

And our wines, so far, are wonderful but still aging as I write this.  We grew from about 700 cases of wine in 2018 to about 1500+ cases of wine in 2019.  We will produce 8 varietal wines and at least 3 blended wines.  We believe that 2019 will be one of the great vintages in Virginia and competitions including this vintage will be fierce.  We are so happy to see things coming together (our farm, the weather, the harvest, and the wine).  And we couldn't do it without our growing friends and family who help us make wine, blend wine, harvest, manage the vineyard, and work our tasting room.  Thank you all.

tasting room with peopletasting room bar with peoplevineyard view at sunset

2018 saw our opening of our tasting room with good sales for a brand new retail operation.  2019 saw our tasting room staff expand, our hours expand, our outdoor seating expand, and our business grow.  We receive very kind reviews from our visitors and customers about our wine and our service for which we are very grateful.  At the end of 2019, we were featured in a local food and wine magazine (article released in January 2020), click here.

tasting room deck

In 2020, we hope to have another stellar vineyard growing season and bottling of what promises to be a superb 2019 vintage.  We're getting ready now for 2019 vintage wine blending trials and white wine bottling.  Stay tuned.  Cheers!