Tag: vineyards

Categories
Culture

Pressing on: Virginia wineries adapt and hope in response to COVID-19

Veritas Vineyard and Winery is just one of the many local winemaking operations that had to pivot quickly to sell wines online and curbside due to the coronavirus’ effect. Courtesy subject

For many, COVID-19 has made it feel as if time is standing still. For local wineries, however, the early- April budbreak marks the start of the growing season and serves as a hopeful, but also stark, reminder that the cycle of winemaking continues forward. Planning, attention, and hard work is required now if wine is to be made in 2020.

In large part, Virginia’s wineries are small, family businesses and face significant financial challenges during this unprecedented time. Not only must they pay immediate expenses associated with taking care of vineyards, but revenue generated now is required to pay for the harvest and winemaking in the fall. 

The wine industry is inextricably intertwined with the restaurant, event, and tourism industries, and springtime in Virginia is usually a peak time for these businesses. With tourism down an estimated 78 percent versus last year, tasting rooms closed, and weddings canceled or postponed, wineries have been forced to move away from their reliable business models.

George Hodson, general manager of Veritas Vineyard and Winery and president/co-owner of Flying Fox Vineyard & Winery describes the Virginia wine industry as “foundationally built on the wine-tourism model.  We have set ourselves up to sell wine at full retail out of our tasting rooms.” He believes the industry must adapt, but that it’s nimble enough to do so. Like many wineries, Veritas and Flying Fox have pivoted from on-premises sales and consumption to online sales and delivering the product to consumers in their homes. “We have been forced to completely restructure our sales model.” 

Rather than seeing this as a temporary or undesirable response, Hodson believes changes wineries are making now will position them well for the future. “I actually believe that this will be a catalyst event that will change the way people purchase wine. People have been trending toward increased online purchasing, this is going to accelerate that curve exponentially.”

Elizabeth Smith, who owns Afton Mountain Vineyards with her husband, Tony, has also turned to online sales. Their winery had an e-commerce website in the works for several months, but COVID-19 served as an impetus to move forward quickly. In addition, they  added wines from Monticello Wine Company, a second label intended only for distribution, to the website. Smith describes online sales as a lifesaver for their business. Like many wineries, they are offering free shipping and curbside pickup. 

Afton Mountain usually has about 95 percent of sales go through its tasting room, but going forward Smith says “we will continue with online sales and increase the number of states with which we register to ship wine.” The rapid launch of their e-commerce platform has necessitated a lot of troubleshooting and revamping of operations, but has also allowed them to learn the new system quickly. 

In the vineyards, physical distancing is relatively easy because there is a lot of open space, but there are other factors that impact employees. Smith says that normally they would hire extra crews to help with the workload, but this year they are only using core workers for both financial and safety reasons. In addition, they’ve asked their employees to stop working other jobs and limit their social interactions when at home.

In the winery, distancing has delayed bottling in some places, as bottling lines often require workers to stand side-by-side for long periods. While most wineries have not yet addressed what things will look like during harvest, they stress that winery work can continue with proper protocols in place. 

Some, like Benoit Pineau, winemaker at Pollak Vineyards, do not anticipate many changes. He says they have a very small team that, through staff education and common sense, can continue to work without risk. However, similar to Afton Mountain, they are asking employees to be responsible with personal time. Pineau refers to the ideal scenario as “home-work-home” with limited or no social activity.

Amidst all of this, it’s obvious there is still great optimism for the 2020 vintage and for the future of Virginia wine. Hodson sees the response from the state government as an important measuring stick. He explains that the governor, secretary of agriculture, and Virginia ABC have worked hard to aid the industry. “Postponing tax payments, easing restrictions, allowing modified operations…we simply cannot ask for more support than we have received,” says Hodson. “This is a signal of the importance of our industry on a state level, which is also a signal of the maturation of our industry.” It’s estimated that the Virginia wine industry has an annual economic impact of over a billion dollars, and the state clearly recognizes that.

Perhaps an even greater cause for hope is consumer support. With online sales and curbside pickups, many wineries across the state are reporting that sales are exceeding their expectations. Hodson describes the response as “overwhelmingly positive,” and is excited about what it indicates. The fact that customers are responding with dollars “tells me our community is supportive of our industry. Ultimately, we are seen as integral members of our community and people want to make sure we are around when this all ends.”

Drink local

A guide to getting central Virginia wine to your table

Afton Mountain Vineyards

Free shipping on three or more bottles.

Curbside pickup available on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

 

Ankida Ridge Vineyards

Free shipping on orders more than $75.00.

Curbside pickup available.

 

Barboursville Vineyards

Free shipping on 12 or more bottles.

Half-case and case discounts.

Local delivery and curbside pickup available. Virtual tastings.

 

Blenheim Vineyards

Free shipping on orders more than $50.00.

Local delivery available.

 

Cardinal Point Winery

Free shipping on three or more bottles.

Curbside pickup available.

 

Chestnut Oak Vineyard

Free shipping on three or more bottles.

Local delivery and curbside pickup available.

 

Chisholm Vineyards at Adventure Farm

$20 off shipping for six or more bottles.

Curbside pickup available.

 

Ducard Vineyards

Free shipping on six or more bottles.

Local delivery and curbside pickup available.

 

Early Mountain Vineyards

Free shipping on three or more bottles.

Discounts for half case or more.

Curbside pickup available.

Virtual tastings.

 

Flying Fox Vineyard and Winery

Free shipping on three or more bottles.

 

Gabrielle Rausse Winery

Free shipping on four or more bottles.

Volume discounts available.

 

Horton Vineyards

Curbside pickup available.

 

Jefferson Vineyards

Free shipping on three or more bottles.

 

Keswick Vineyards

Free shipping on three or more bottles.

Curbside pickup available.

 

King Family Vineyards

Free shipping on six or more bottles.

Free local delivery on three or more bottles.

 

Michael Shaps Wineworks

Free shipping on three or more bottles.

Local delivery and curbside pickup (at Wineworks Extended) available.

 

Pippin Hill Farm and Vineyards

Free shipping on three or more bottles.

Curbside pickup available.

 

Pollak Vineyards

Free shipping on six or more bottles.

 

Septenary Winery

Free shipping on six or more bottles.

Curbside pickup available.

 

Stinson Vineyards

Free shipping on four or more bottles.

 

Veritas Vineyards and Winery

Free shipping on three or more bottles.

Curbside pickup available. Virtual tastings.

 

Categories
Living

Take your pick: Facing early harvest, local vineyards seek harvest volunteers

Because of sustained hot weather in central Virginia this summer, the harvest at some wineries is running a week to two weeks earlier than usual. Vineyards are looking for volunteers now through the end of October. Photo: Paul W.

Ready to pick some grapes? Awesome. But before you tap the date into your iCalendar, there’s something those feisty, ripening clusters want you to know: Your schedule means nothing to them.

“One year we picked vidal with a 30-minute advance notice,” says Karl Hambsch, the winemaker at Loving Cup Winery in North Garden. “When I woke up, the forecast had suddenly changed to boatloads of rain, so I called the family and said, ‘We’re picking nowAs a volunteer, you probably won’t be rousted out of bed, but wineries will appreciate it if you keep your schedule flexible as they determine the window of opportunity to harvest, often just a few days in advance.

Pitching in to pick grapes loosely reflects the rural European tradition of villagers helping with—and then celebrating—the harvest. This is still common in many wine-producing areas, notably in Italy and France, and popular enough to support its own category of tourism.

In Virginia, sustained heat this summer has led to early ripening, so picking will commence at some wineries one to two weeks earlier than usual. Many producers rushed to rent refrigerated trailers—to store the fruit before the crush—as early as August 19, according to Steve LeSueur of Worldwide Trailer Rental, which supplies Horton, Jefferson, and Barboursville vineyards, among others. “Last year, they wanted them just before Labor Day,” he says.

Regardless of the weather, picking schedules vary. Debby Deal, owner of Palmyra’s Cunningham Creek Winery, says she’s looking for volunteers now through the end of September, while David Foster, owner of Mountain Run Winery, in Culpeper, needs help September 1 through early October.

The tangible rewards vary—a meal with wine is often served—but the real payoff is bonding with others who pitch in their time for a unique agricultural experience.

Five Oaks Vineyard, Barboursville

The winery is a relative newcomer to the area, but owner Robert Shepard’s vines date back to 2011. Volunteers will be picking medal-winning chambourcin, as well as traminette, vidal blanc and cayuga. Breakfast is provided, and pickers take home a bottle or two of wine. Contact: info@five oaksvineyard.com.

Glass House Winery, Free Union

Owner Jeff Sanders jokingly calls his volunteer opportunity a “hard-labor fantasy camp.” But there’s always plenty of interest, so while all are welcome to apply, Glass House Wine Club members get first dibs. Picking starts between 6:30 and 7am, and shifts run three to five hours. The winery provides snacks, cold drinks, and usually lunch and wine. Bottling volunteers are also needed during the year. Contact: jeff@glass housewinery.com.    

Loving Cup Winery, North Garden

Plan ahead if you want to pick grapes at Loving Cup Winery, the sole organic vineyard and winery in the state. “Only our Wine Club members get to work harvest, and you can’t buy your way in—you have to work your way in,” Karl Hambsch says. Eight hours in the vineyard, usually completed in two four-hour shifts, get you into the club. Volunteers can pitch in year-round with everything from shoot thinning to picking. Shifts often end with a cold glass of sangria on the veranda, shooting the breeze with Hambsch. Sign up at lovingcupwine.com/wineclub.html. Contact: info@lovingcupwine.com.

Mountain Run Winery, Culpeper

At Mountain Run’s three vineyards—in Aldie, Hume, and Fredericksburg—grape gathering starts just after dawn, and shifts last as long (or as short) as you’d like, followed by a light breakfast. Ever wanted to foot-stomp grapes? You’ll get your chance here, and home winemakers can even purchase fruit to bring home (BYO buckets!). Contact: mountainrunwinery@gmail.com.

Cunningham Creek Winery, Palmyra

Owner Debby Deal has two jobs for harvest volunteers: picking and sorting. Picking generally starts soon after dawn, depending on the weather. Sorters work inside, assembly-line fashion, separating the good grapes from the detritus. Plan to spend two to three hours as a sorter, or about four hours as a picker. Volunteers get a special harvest T-shirt and a bottle of wine after six volunteer hours. Contact: debby@middleforkfarm.net.

Volunteer tips

Picking: Wear comfortable closed-toe shoes or boots, dress in layers, and bring a hat, gloves, and a water bottle (it gets hot among the vines).

Sorting and bottling: Mostly done under cover or indoors; wear comfortable shoes and clothes you won’t mind getting stained, and carry a water bottle.

Categories
Living

The sweet spot: Zeroing in on special vineyard sites

A 30-some-acre spot on the top of Veritas Vineyards’ “saddleback” contains viognier and cabernet franc. It’s the first site, says winemaker Emily Pelton, with “considerable elevation and gorgeous aspect.” Photo courtesy of Stephen Barling.

Several decades into Virginia’s booming post-Prohibition wine economy, we are starting to home in on some special vineyard sites throughout the state. In France, you’ll find heavily protected and coveted grand cru and premier cru sites; in other wine-centric countries you’ll find similar infrastructures protecting the best vineyards. What sites are emerging as Virginia’s equivalent to grand cru vineyards?

A straightforward answer is much more elusive than you might think, because the question is being asked, perhaps, a bit too early. Learning the land takes time because agriculture takes time. The search for quality in the wine business is an especially drawn-out process because, though grapes are an annual product, a grape vine plant has a similar lifespan to a human, and grape vine roots can take decades to reach the depth and maturity they need to truly express their place. Only when the vines are echoing their environment can the influence of special sites shine their truest. This clarity of site quality can take decades and generations to discover. You just can’t rush it.

“I’d say for the most part that we are so young as an industry that most of our best sites are unplanted and yet to be discovered,” says Early Mountain Vineyards’ Ben Jordan. “I’m not the first to say so, but I think the best is yet to come.”

As the industry grows into its next phase, it’s helpful to revisit some vineyards that seem to have that “special something” in the hopes that we can glean a bit of experiential knowledge.

Ankida Ridge

“There are a few characteristics that make Ankida Ridge a great site for growing quality wine grapes,” says winemaker Nathan Vrooman. “The elevation and relative altitude of the vineyard allow for excellent drainage of cold air, which helps to mitigate our risk for spring frost.” Additionally, the slope of the vineyard, combined with the loose rocky soil, allows for water drainage, so the plants are forced to send their roots deeper into the ground. Being on a mountainside, there’s almost constant air movement, so the plants and the fruit tend to dry very quickly, which results in lighter fungal pressures.

Barboursville Vineyards

Barboursville winemaker Luca Paschina is always reevaluating his vineyard blocks for the highest quality material to make his Octagon blend. Among the vineyard’s 900 acres, there is a particular area that the wine team has designated “santa,” as if holy. For the past 18 years, it has been producing, with almost impeccable consistency, its prized merlot, which is the starting block of the winery’s Octagon blend.

“Many elements make the block special,” Paschina says, “starting from the medium vigor red clay soil to the gradually steep slope facing to the east, which allows for a nice early morning dew-drying sun and for a cooling during the late summer afternoons.”

Michael Shaps Wineworks

For Michael Shaps, who produces wine from grapes grown on various properties, three special vineyards stick out in his mind: Carter Mountain for its cabernet franc, the Gordonsville’s Honah Lee Vineyard for its petit manseng and Loudoun County’s Wild Meadow vineyard for its chardonnay.

“What makes Wild Meadow so special is not one particular variable, but how all the elements come together,” Shaps says. “The soil is lighter, loamier with less clay and with good drainage. But that in conjunction with the slope, exposure and its northern Virginia location, which provides cooler nighttime temps during the critical last two weeks of ripening, help to produce very balanced chemistry, which in wine vocab means fresh fruit.”

Veritas Vineyards

Emily Pelton, winemaker at Veritas, loves the new vineyards her family has planted. She works mainly with the vineyards from Veritas’ first plantings in 1999, but says the newer ones—planted in the last four years—are quickly gaining her favor.

“We cleared 30-odd acres on the top of our ‘saddleback’ and we have planted it to viognier and cabernet franc,” she says. “I think it may be the promise of the future that makes my heart skip a beat every time I visit these vineyards, or it may be the view, I’m not sure. This vineyard would be my first site that has considerable elevation and gorgeous aspect. Fingers crossed!”

Jake Busching Wines

Winemaker Jake Busching is currently focusing on 800- to 1,000-foot elevation sites with clay-based soil: Honah Lee, Carter Mountain, Wild Meadow and similar vineyards that are slowly being tuned in vintage after vintage.

“Monticello reds and Northern Virginia whites stand out to me, just as the Shenandoah Valley has so much to offer,” Busching says. “But like all of the sites, we need more time to suss it all out. We are headed into greatness. Patience seems like our best ally.”

Erin Scala is the sommelier at Fleurie and Petit Pois. She holds the Diploma of Wines & Spirits, is a Certified Sake Specialist and writes about beverages on her blog, thinking-drinking.com.m.