Is Virginia Viognier “Authentic”?

Keswick Vineyards’ Viognier

By technical definition, authentic, or authenticity refers to something being “real” or “genuine”, the origin of which is supported by un-questionable evidence. One can easily apply this definition to a document, which has been authenticated or to as something as simple as a restaurant, where the food served could be deemed authentic. How does this apply to wine though, and more specifically to Virginia, and Viognier?

The reason for this conundrum, is that of late there has been much discussion of what Viognier’s produced in Virginia should taste and smell like, to be truly thought of as being authentic. This in truth is a notion that I have long struggled with, having made wine in this fine State for over 10 years now. Is it merely enough to say that wine made from that particular varietal in this State, satisfies the notion of authenticity, or do we delve deeper and develop a style of wine that speaks of authenticity. How do we define that style? How do we create this style year in and year out taking into account the vintage variation that we experience? More importantly what is the style of Virginia Viognier that may satisfy the customers notion of authenticity? But what of the climate, soils and age of vines that inherently affect the taste and smell of the wine, the much maligned concept of TERROIR.  The set of special characteristics that the geography, geology  and climate  of a certain place, interacting with the plant’s genetics to produce a product [in this case wine] of unique and UN-replicable characteristics. So what the heck do we compare our wines against?

To even begin to answer that question, one should probably have a benchmark of what Viognier should smell and taste like, a control if you like to compare our wines to.

Historically speaking, Viognier is an ancient grape possibly originating from Dalmatia [present day Croatia], brought to the Rhone by the Romans. Viognier is the single permitted grape variety in the appellations of Condrieu and Chateau Grillett, which are located on the west bank of the Rhone River, about 40 km south of Lyon. This could be an ideal benchmark for Virginia right?

Is there something specific about the grape that is consistent with other wine-producing regions? Could there be similarities in aromatics, texture, longevity that discount that above mentioned intangibles?

So let’s take a look at the chemistry of Viognier to further try to answer this question. The grape is generally very floral due to terpenes, similarly found in Muscat and Riesling. Terpenes and terpenoids are the primary constituents of the essential oils of many types of plants and flowers. An essential oil is a concentrated hydrophobic  liquid containing volatile aroma compounds from plants. So essentially speaking, there should be some aromatic characteristic that may link French, Californian and Virginian Viogniers.

Having tasted my fair share of wines from all the above mentioned regions, I did find some common threads. Many times my notes included descriptors of peach or apricot, honey suckle and stone fruit which speaks more of varietal correctness than of authenticity.  A wine made in California that is barrel fermented versus a wine that is tank fermented will inherently taste and feel different in the mouth, none less authentic than the other despite the variations in style.

So to come back to the notion of “Authenticity” and whether us Vigneron’s in Virginia can claim to be authentic. I say with the utmost confidence that we can, although we make stylistically different wines than many other wine-producing areas.

Our Viognier’s can be razor like with their acidity, with underlying mineral and stone fruit characteristics. A wine that may be a touch lighter, but arguably more food friendly and often times more drinkable in its youth. Our Viognier’s can also be rich and flamboyant, coating the mouth with their oily textures and subtle hints of oak. These are fatter wines that change with time in the bottle. We also make wonderfully sweet “stickies”; dessert wines with gorgeous aromas that satisfy the sweetest tooth when the occasion beckons.  Each style of wine has commonalities that make it distinctively grape specific, each authentic in their own right based on “terroir” or winemaking preference.

For those that are still not satisfied with this concept, or the inability to define it,  be at least assured that we as winemakers are also trying to answer that question, but that it will take some time and work to truly grasp this concept, if we ever will. For we have only been at it for 30 odd years, and we have many years to go before we can begin to understand and communicate this concept.  Enjoy, as I do, the characteristics of the vintage, the deft touch of the winemaker or the personal  preference of the consumer, all of which reflect the notion of “Authenticity”.

Perhaps we could change the definition to that of “If the wine reflects and portrays everything we hoped it would, and brings joy to those that consume it”, it could lay claim to the notion of Authenticity.

I would be happy to say that our wines have successfully fulfilled those criteria.

Cheers

Stephen Barnard

Winemaker and pursuer of authenticity at Keswick Vineyards

www.keswickvineyards.com

Prepping for Bottling

It is good to be back in the blogging saddle again after a frenetic harvest and a wonderful Thanksgiving. I trust all of you had a wonderful holiday weekend with wonderful food, family and of course wine.

Alas, all good things need to come to an end and it was with a sad heart and a few extra pounds that I am prepping our wines for our bottling, due to take place this coming Monday and Tuesday. We have decided to put some of our tank fermented wines in the bottle, feeling that they are market ready, even though they were grapes on the vine 10 weeks ago.

We are bottling a new wine called V2 [a blend of Verdejo and Viognier], our ever popular LVD Viognier and a Rose’ made entirely from Touriga Nacioanale. All these wines are showing beautifully and we at Keswick Vineyards are incredibly proud of them.

The cellar is chock-a-block full of corks, capsules and bottles, with final lab tests being run to ensure the integrity and stability of the wines before we put them in bottle.

Prior to bottling though, there is a lot of work that goes into preparing these wines for this process, for we have to ensure the wine is both protein and cold stable, and devoid of any harmful bacteria or yeast that can contaminate the wine while in the bottle. After which the wines are filtered to ensure that all yeast and bacteria are removed from the wine.

Protein Stabilization

The grape berry contains a large variety of nitrogen compounds, mainly amino acids, peptides (short amino acid chains) and proteins (long amino acid chains). They serve various biological functions within the grape such as enzymes, cell wall components, etc. Amino acids are soluble, and wine yeast can use them to grow and ferment the grape’s sugars into alcohol. Amino acids, together with ammonium ions, are referred to as yeast available nitrogen (YAN). Peptides and proteins are not considered (YAN) because they cannot be metabolized by yeast. Their solubility decreases with the wine’s alcohol content. This may lead to precipitation of proteins in the form of a visible haze. This effect is accelerated or triggered by exposure to elevated temperatures, e.g., when a customer buys a bottle of wine in the tasting room and leaves it in the car over the weekend. Protein haze cannot be tasted; they are a purely aesthetic, visual problem in wine. I would imagine most customers would expect the wine to be clear, unless drinking wine that has the look of dirty water seems like an appealing notion.

The way in which take care of this issue is by adding CLAY, no you did not hear incorrectly CLAY. Pretty cool right. The clay in question is Bentonite, calcium based that when added to wine adsorbs proteins and renders the wine protein stable. Before we add this we do plenty of bench trials since we do not want to add to much as they can strip some of the desirable aromatic components in the wine, and in the case of our Rose, could also lead to potential color loss. Mix the determined amount of clay in water and add to the tank and stir like crazy.

Cold Stabilization

Tartaric acid is the most prominent acid in wine with the majority of the concentration present as potassium bitartrate. During fermentation, these tartrates bind with the lees, pulp debris and precipitated tannins and pigments. Usually about half of the deposits are soluble in the wine, but on exposure to low temperature they may crystallize out unpredictably. In simple terms, prior to serving your white wine you decided to pop it into the freezer for a bit and when you pull it out, there are crystals or wine diamonds floating around in your wine UGH! These are all quite harmless but may seem quite unsightly and in some cases might be interpreted as a fault in the wine. To ensure this does not happen to any of our loyal customers, we freeze the tank of wine, precipitating the acid out and ensuring the wine is stable at a much lower temperature that you would cool the bottle down to. For our whites, we normally hold the wine at 28 degrees for 10 days or so.

cold stabilizing the wine at 28 degrees

Filtration

So while fining refers to binding to certain particles in the wine, filtration works by passing the wine through a specific media, essentially trapping the particles. This word seems to strike fear in the hearts of consumers, it sometimes borders on blasphemy, heaven forbid a wine is filtered. I think this stems from the notion that wine is really natural and any or all involvement by chemical or machine, really does the wine a heavy injustice.

If we were talking about red wines, then I could argue both ways on the pros and cons of filtration, but since we are dealing with whites and a Rose’ for this bottling, there is no question, filtration is necessary.

Let’s break it up into 2 parts.

Firstly there is no doubt that filtration adds to the aesthetic quality of a wine. A white wine that has gorgeous clarity is far more appealing than one that is grainy and cloudy. That’s not to say you cannot bottle a chemically stable wine without filtration but we live in an age where opinions on things are made firstly by sight, and then ultimately taste.

the difference between filtered and not, can you guess which is which?

The most important factor in filtering our whites though, is one of chemical stability, ensuring the integrity of the wine for the consumer across each and every bottle.

Since each of these wine contains small amounts of sugar and have not allowed to undergo secondary fermentation [malic acid turning into lactic acid], we need to remove any bacteria or yeast that could cause fermentation in the bottle. Since fermentation produces carbon dioxide, our still wines might all of a sudden become sparkling, surprise!

To that end we pass the wines though as series of filtrations, each time passing the wine through a tighter porosity, until we reach 0.45 micron, widely accepted as sterile filtration. There are many ways in which to filter the wines, plate and frame, diatomaceous earth and cross flow filtration. For a small to mid-sized winery such as ours, we use a plate and frame filter which is more than adequate for our needs. It very much works like a coffee filter, whereby the wine is pushed through a 40×40 sheet comprised of cellulose fibers, trapping anything that is bigger then the porosity of the sheet. This process is slow, and we have to be very mindful of not blocking the filters, hence the multiple passes over the course of a few days.

our plate and frame filter

A few tests and sulfur adjustments later and Bam, new wine on the market for the customer to enjoy.

Of course we are biased but we are excited about the 2012 wines and cannot wait to share them with you. So as we roll out the newest class, I just want to thank everyone for their continued support, all of us at Keswick Vineyards really do appreciate it.

Kindly

Stephen Barnard

Winemaker

You need to close your eyes To Really See!

Greetings again.

After 12 weeks of harvest, I have been given the friendly reminder that my blogging career has taken a turn for the worse and it has to be jump started. Welcome back I guess.

Instead of rambling on about harvest and the current crop of wines, I would like to discuss an important event that I think in time will be looked upon as maybe putting the Virginia wine industry into another gear.

The Virginia Wine Summit, which took place at the Marriott Hotel on October 2nd, brought together winemakers and industry professionals for a day long series of seminars and discussions. Discussions covered themes such as what Virginia’s next red wine will be to the art of blending and focusing on all things local.

The keynote speaker was Steven Spurrier, a name well known within wine circles for his role in the famous “Judgement of Paris”, the theme on which the movie Bottle Shock was based. Currently a consultant editor for Decanter Wine Magazine, Mr.Spurrier created the first independent wine school in France L’Academie du Vin, and is only the third recipient of the “Le Grand Prix de l’Academie Internationale du Vin” since 1982. To say this was a major coup for the summit would be a monumental understatement.

The day was kicked off by what was called the “Breakfast of Champions”, whereby Virginia wines were pitted against wines from across the globe in a blind setting. This was my kind of breakfast, tasting wines at 9:30 in the morning.

The format was simple enough, eight flights of two wines each, one an offering from Virginia, the other a similar wine produced in another part of the world. The tasting was lead by a panel of four wine professionals; Steven Spurrier (Decanter Magazine), Bartholomew Broadbent (Broadbent Selections), Jay Youmans (Capital Wine School) & Anthony Giglio (Food & Wine Magazine, author). After each flight, the panel would discuss the wines and give their personal critique, after which the audience was asked which wine they favored, as well as trying to guess which one was the Virginia wine.

As a winemaker and avid supporter of this industry, I was extremely pleased to see how well our local wines fared against the competition and ultimately proves that we are indeed on the right path to being taken seriously as a quality wine producing state. It is fair to say that we can more than hold our own with varietals such as Viognier, Cabernet Franc and Bordeaux blends. The room was constantly buzzing as the wines were revealed, on more than one occasion showing the Virginia wine to be the preferred.

I have often been discouraged by the perception of Virginia wines, constantly hearing how inferior they are in quality and how over priced they are. I have also been involved in quite a few blind tastings where Virginia wines have more than held their own against wines three times more expensive. I think consumers have a visual bias, and a negative opinion has already been made before the wine has been tasted. To truly judge the wines fairly, I believe that a blind setting is the best way in which to comprehensively prove that our wines can not only compete, but in many cases surpass like styled wines from any other state or country.

I may be over optimistic, and yes I have a biasm for favoring Virginia wines since I am a winemaker in the Old Dominion. I blindly pursue the goal of making world class wines, and have no shame in marketing the heck out of them. Are we there yet, absolutely not but are we making great strides and heading in the right direction, without a doubt and this tasting only fueled those flames and I believe made a converter out of one or two tasters.

As for Keswick Vineyards, our 2009 Reserve Cabernet went up against the Chateau Montelena in flight number 4. As folks around me tasted, I sat back and listened to some of the comments. “Balanced” said one gentleman, “clearly the superior wine” said Steven Spurrier of wine A, “clearly the Virginia wine” one remarked of wine B, “inferior to wine A by a long shot”. Did I know what wine was ours? Without a doubt, similar to picking out your blond daughter in a room full of red heads. As the wines were revealed, a murmur of disbelief as wine A was indeed ours and showed very well against the Montelena. A pretty big deal and affirmation that we have some serious potential in this State, even with a varietal that historically is not known to do very well.

Congratulations to Barboursville, Foggy Ridge, Ducard and Potomac Point for showing extremely well as well, very proud of our Virginia wines.

Subsequent sessions were theme focused and I was fortunate enough to be asked to talk about Viognier, sitting on the panel with Matthieu Finot of King Family Vineyards and Jennifer Blosser of Breaux Vineyards. Our moderator was Jennifer Knowles [sommelier for Inn at Little Washington] who kept the discussion lively, focusing on a number of topics which included style, consumer preference and acidulation. Viognier is one of my favorite wines and as Mr.Spurrier pointed out, we had a talk for almost an hour on Viognier, when you cannot talk for more than ten minutes on Chardonnay. Touché.

Unfortunately, I could not stay much longer as cellar work and harvest was calling (which might explain the fact that I was the only person there in jeans, polo shirt and baseball cap- I argue that I was merely in business attire). I did eventually get to meet Mr. Spurrier, who kindly signed my bottle of Cabernet, certainly a highlight for me as I am huge fan (think that was the first thing I said to him).

Ladies and gentleman, Virginia wines are here, they are good and they are starting to make some noise in the wine world.
As the breakfast proved, all you have to do is close your eyes to truly see the potential of our wine industry.

I would be amiss if I did not point out some of the efforts of some key folks.

Firstly, a big thank you has to be given to the Virginia Wine Marketing Office; Annette, Amy and Mary Catherine have done an amazing job in promoting our industry. I am sure I speak for many folks when I say how much I appreciate their efforts.

In addition, to Governor and Mrs. McDonnell, who have been relentless in their promotion and support of our wine industry, I sincerely thank you and applaud you for all your efforts. I promise we will work harder and continue to make better wines in the future.

This is certainly a great time to be involved in the Virginia Wine industry!

Best,

Stephen Barnard

Winemaker

Keswick Vineyards

Our New Cabernet Sauvignon

Make no mistake, Virginia is a pretty tough climate in which to grow grapes, at least to grow grapes that allow you to make world class wines.

True, we can produce wines of that caliber in vintages such as 2007, 2009 and 2010, but in vintages such as 2003 and 2011, forget about it. Those years are more an endeavor of making cleaner wines than wines that can stand along side the very best of California and France.

So when great vintages come along and mother nature combines with all the other variables to produce fruit of that quality, the winemaker needs to take full advantage and convert that fruit potential into a fantastic wine.

This weekend marks the official release of our 2009 Keswick Vineyards Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, a wine that I think ranks in our top three ever produced here at the estate.

2009 for me was a fantastic growing season. It was long and temperate and we were able to pick fruit at the optimum ripeness, which meant good sugars, developed flavors in the grapes and, more importantly for Cabernet, ripe tannins.

The winemaking protocol was actually pretty simple. We cooled the fruit and sorted after de-stemming to remove any unwanted material including green grapes, jacks, stems and leaves that bypassed the destemmer. The fruit was then transferred to open top stainless steel tanks, warmed up, and allowed to undergo native fermentation without the addition of commercial yeast. BAM we had good wine.

The philosophy here at Keswick is to produce wines that reflect the season, the area, and the soil in which it was grown. The French refer to this concept and notion as Terroir. For me it means that what you taste in a glass of wine is a product of nature and not of manipulation by me the winemaker, same thing really.

And so it was, after fermentation and pressing, the wine was barreled down to French oak barrels and allowed to mature for 22 months with very little manipulation (other than the occassional taste, purely for quality control purposes of course). Surely, there are a lot more decisions that go into making wine, but if you break it down- what made the 2009 Cabernet a stunner was, truthfully, the fruit quality which ultimately forged this quality wine. I just tried to stay out of the way and not mess it up.

So it is truly a joy to be able to release this wine to the public on Saturday. I hope you will like it as much as we do here.

It is 100% Cabernet grown right here on the estate. It is definitely New World in style, displaying the typical aromas of plum and cassis backed by ripe integrated tannins (which is a fancy way of saying that although there is oak, it is not too dominant to suppress the fruit). The wine also has a fair bit of acid which really keeps the wine fresh and focused. As far as drinkability, you are good to go- but if you would like to lay it down, I truly think this wine has the stuffing to age for another 8-10 years. It is dark and inky, brooding yet seductive, a wine that we are very proud of.

Okay, I have to brag a bit here in order to get some hype.

It was one of the wines that was selected to be in the Governors Case, following the Virginia Governors Cup Wine Competition. That meant it was rated amongst the top twelve Virginia wines for that year. It also received a double gold medal at the San Francisco International Wine Competition, the largest and arguably the most influential competition in the States [as taken from their website]. To put into perspective how well this wine did, there were only 5% of the total entries awarded the double gold, and in the Cabernet category (which was the most competitve category in the competition based on the number of entries), bested some Napa Valley wines that retail for $200 a bottle.

Okay, competitions are what they are, but this is like me beating Tiger Woods at match play in golf. For an itty bitty Virginia Cabernet to wine this award says something about the quality of the wine and also the quality that Virginia has in producing world class reds.

So ladies and gentleman, come by on Saturday to taste what we think is one the best reds we have ever produced in our short wine making history. We’re smack in the middle of the 2012 harvest (which I am hoping will produce more high calibur wines!), so I will be working away in the cellar racking the whites- feel free to come back and let me know what you think of the Cabernet!

Cheers

Stephen

Winemaker

Keswick Vineyards

Two “NEW” Virginia Wineries

The joke is that you have to have a large fortune to make a small fortune in the wine industry, well if that is true than Trump Winery and Early Mountain Vineyards will be just fine.

Owned by Donald Trump and Stephen and Jean Case, respectively, both these Virginia wineries are experiencing a re-birth of sorts and the future looks bright.

No more plastic cones!

Trump Winery, formerly known as Kluge Estate, was purchased by the Trump family and garnered some serious press, with everyone in the industry wondering what was going to happen with this estate. To find out, my wife and I visited their tasting room twice in the past couple of weeks to check it out. Truthfully, I was a bit let down in the past, not so much in the quality of the wines but more in the lack of personal service and the fact that plastic snow cones were just dropped off at your table with your wines.

As a winemaker, I believe that stemware really does play a role in your tasting experience and could not wrap my head around the notion of an expensive wine served in plastic.

On a gorgeous Sunday, we arrived at the tasting room and were greeted by none other than Billy Koenig, their new tasting room manager. I have had the pleasure of meeting Billy through his wife Tara, who was involved in distributing our wines while working at J.W.Sieg. Billy is a charming man, very enthusiastic and clearly very passionate about what he does, great way to be greeted at the door I must say.

After being shown to our seats, Kath decided to taste the sparkling wines and, true to form, I tried them all. I was pleasantly surprised right off the bat with their new Sauvignon Blanc, hands down my favorite white varietal in the world. I thought the wine to be well made displaying grapefruit and green apple flavors, a perfect wine for the summer months.  My favorite red wine was the New World Red, with it’s dark flavors offset by smoky oak and dusty tannins. I think this wine may not appeal to everyone, but I really loved it.

Delicious food at Trump Winery

While the still wines are good, I have always been a fan of their sparkling wines. Kath agreed, favoring the Blanc de Blanc [a gold medal recipient at the Virginia Governors Cup]. They also pour a Rose’ and Blanc de Noir, both are good and might be your favorite depending on your personal preference. Billy explained the wines as they were poured and answered all my annoying questions with aplomb.

We decided to stay for a while longer and we ordered some of the light fare they offered, Kath got the mushroom quiche and I the caprese salad. The food was fantastic and only served to enhance our experience.

The Trump brand is a juggernaut and they know how to do it, but the changes, although significant, were done in a very low-key elegant way, creating a tasting environment that is both relaxing and inviting. As for the plastic snow cones: GONE. Glasses ladies and gentleman, I mean real glasses! I cannot tell you how excited I am to have tasted Trump wines out of a glass, it adds so much more to the tasting experience.

We also bumped into Don Rhodes, who possesses a larger than life personality and is responsible for marketing. He let us in on some future developments and with this kind of passion and enthusiasm, I see nothing but a bright future for Trump Winery. There is definitely a new buzz in the air, something that was missing on previous visits and I can honestly say that we had a great time. Folks you need to get out there, I know you will not be disappointed.

A big thank you to Billy and Don, keep up the great work and best of luck for the future!

The other winery high up on the list was Early Mountain Vineyards, formerly known as Sweely Estate.

Set on Wolftown-Hood Road off highway 29, this is a gorgeous looking estate with the tasting room on the right and winery set off in the distance.

Comfortable & cozy seating at Early Mountain

As we entered the tasting room, the changes were immediately evident. A new tasting bar on the left leads to ample seating areas, with a little wine market on the right. Since our 7 month old daughter Aria was with us, we decided to find a secluded corner in the back.

Early Mountain Vineyards offers three tasting flights, a white, a red and then a combination of the two. What is interesting of note, is that they are offering wines from other well known producers such as Barboursville Vineyards, King Family Vineyards, Linden Vineyards and Thibaut-Janisson Winery. Kath once again opted for the white flight and I decided to stick with red wines.

Kath loved the Thibaut-Janisson sparkling wine with its biscuit and yeast notes, while my favorite was the King Family Meritage. This Meritage is dominated by Merlot and is made by Matthieu Finot, a talented young winemaker who hails from France. The wine was dominated by berry notes with strong mocha and oak driven flavors. This is definitely a wine for the cellar and I believe it will be fantastic in 3-5 years, but definitely has the stuffing to age beyond.

Yes, that is a hammock you see- you’ll know where to find me!

Taking a walk around the back, I think the philosophy of this winery is easy to figure out. With ample deck chairs, hammocks and fire pits, I believe the emphasis is on the enjoyment of wine with loved ones. No need to rush, take your time and soak up the moment. With gorgeous views of the vineyards and comfortable chairs, you will need little persuasion to let the hours pass you by as you savor the fruit from the vine.

I also had the distinct pleasure of meeting Michelle Gueydan, a sommelier who hails from New Orleans. Clearly this lady knows her wines and is on hand to help customers with selections and general wine related questions.  Very passionate about wine, I have no doubt she is a wonderful asset to the Early Mountain team.

I guess the only negative comment [and it is far from negative] is that you will have to wait and come back to taste the full range of Early Mountain vineyards wine, as they only poured two while we were there. We were told that new vineyards were being planted and that well known consultant Jeanette Smith was advising. Early Mountain Vineyards also possesses one of the most state of the art wine cellars in the state of Virginia, and under the guidance of winemaker Franz Ventre, I am eager to see their new wines come on board in the coming months.

So lovers of Virginia Wine, I can highly recommend visiting both Trump Wineryand Early Mountain Vineyards.

Both wineries have a renewed energy and optimism for the future and, based on our experience, their futures are nothing but bright.

Welcome back

Cheers

Stephen

Winemaker

Keswick Vineyards

The New Addition to the Family

It is sometimes said that for a winemaker, wines are his or her kids. If that is true, I have accumulated quite a few over the 10 vintages that I have worked in the U.S. It is also true that I do not like all of them [the horror]. Some have matured beautifully and I am proud of those and some, well lets just say that I would deny knowing them if asked the question.

If the wines are the kids, then the vintages must be the wives. 2011 is my divorced ex-wife, one I never hope to see again. She left me, took everything I had and expected me to turn out some wonderful wines [for the sake of the analogy, lets just say kids]. I did the best I could and fingers crossed that they turn out half decently.

The first of the new additions is a wine that is well-known to lovers of Virginia wine and is one of the workhorses of the Keswick Vineyards portfolio, Viognier. With 16 acres of Viognier out of the 43 total acres planted, Keswick Vineyards makes up to six different styles of this varietal on any given year. For the 2011 vintage, we scaled that down to only three: Signature Series, Les Vent D Anges and regular Keswick bottling. We de-classified the Reserve this year as we felt that while the wine is good, it just did not quite meet and exceed the quality of the 2010 vintage.

What made the 2011 vintage so challenging was the amount of rain we received just prior to harvest. Since quality wines almost always start with the quality of the fruit, we were always behind the eight ball with this harvest.

To give you a sobering idea of the vintage variation, in 2010 we harvested our Viognier at 26.5 brix, in 2011 the most we got was 20.5. Brix is a sugar measurement of the two main sugars glucose and fructose, the fermentable sugars. The first issue was that at 20.5, the fruit is really under ripe, and with Viognier that means not making wine that has all those pretty floral aromas that consumers have come to love. Odorous compounds, found mainly in the skin and layers of cells underneath it, intensify as the fruit ripens, so under ripe fruit also reflects a lack of intensity for the resulting wine.

All is not lost however for there is still one major factor that can save the day, the winemaker. The winemaker get’s no respect [Dangerfield accent here for effect], a fantastic wine is definitely made in the vineyard and a bad wine, well that is all winemaking or the lack thereof. While 2010 was a dream vintage, 2011 was challenging and the winemaker’s craft played a major role. Time will tell if I did a good job or not.

On the 25th of June we bottled our Keswick Vineyards Viognier, a 100% varietal that admittedly is slightly different from the previous vintages. While the 2010 Viognier is aromatic and bold, the 11 is more understated and elegant. The major positive this year was the acidity of the juice, something that judges of Viogniers tend to complain about. Acidity keeps the wine fresh and focused, without which the wine can seem a bit heavy and oily, in the wine world FLABBY. Imagine calling one of your kids flabby, the nerve of it.

We tried to retain the acidity and build the wine around this core. This is 100% barrel fermented in neutral French oak. Neutral means that the barrel has been used many times previously and as such, does not impart many of the flavors derived from oak. We inoculated most of the wines this year, a practice that is not too common here anymore as we prefer to ferment the wines naturally without the addition of cultured yeast. We had no problems getting the wine dry [all the fermentable sugars have been converted to ethyl alcohol], and chose to prevent the onset of secondary fermentation.

We aged the wine sur lie [on the dead yeast] and stirred the barrels vigorously over the course of 8 months. Batonage [the actual stirring of the barrels] is a stylistic tool we employ that enables us to build palate weight and texture to the wine. What we tried to do is create a balance between the acidity or freshness of the wine and the weight and overall complexity. To that end I feel we were pretty successful.

I tasted the wine last night and my overall impression was that it is still in bottle shock and pretty tight. It started opening up after an hour or two and I got some really pretty floral tones, with melon and pear aromas. Although the wine did not show too much, the acidity is definitely the hallmark of this wine with bright granny smith apple flavors on the front, but it definitely has some palate weight and complexity. I am hoping that with some time in the bottle, the new Viognier will flesh out a touch more and show some more of the tropical and stone fruit characters that are a hallmark of our Viognier vineyard.

Considering how challenging the 2011 vintage was, this new Viognier I would say shows some promise, but it is still too early to really judge it. We hope to age it a few months in the bottle before releasing it to you, the public. I look forward to hearing what you have to say about it.

Remember though, you are talking about my kids, and I am very protective of them.

Cheers

Stephen Barnard

Winemaker

Keswick Vineyards

www.keswickvineyards.com

Keswick Vineyards, and the year thus far.

I have been reminded by my wife that my blogging career has taken a serious turn for the worse of late, and that I have shirked my duties. My apologies.

It is hard to believe that 2012 is almost half over and that we are around 60 days from starting the new harvest. Where has the time gone?

After the challenging 2011 harvest, we set about pruning the vineyard after Christmas with the intention of building the vineyard back slowly. This was done by reducing the number of buds on the vine and by using a new pruning method called cane pruning. In the past we have spur pruned, whereby 3-4 spurs [each having 2-3 buds] are left on each of the cordons. Cane pruning involves laying down a one year old shoot, leaving 6-8 nodes, thereby establishing a new cordon each and every year. The primary reason for cane pruning was to allow us to remove cordons and shoots that showed incidences of phomopsis.

Phomopsis Viticola overwinters as Pycnidia on infected wood between one and three years old. When the Pycnidia are wet, they exude spores that are splashed onto developing shoots. These spores then germinate in warm temperatures and, under conditions of high humidity, infection can take place within a few hours. This is one of the challenges facing growers as fruit and the rachis [main axis of the inflorescence of Vitis vinifera] can become infected during the course of the growing season. When fruit starts to ripen in the latter stages of the growing season the pathogen becomes active, leading to fruit rot. Symptoms include browning and shriveling, almost resembling black rot.

Pruning is done during the winter while the vineyard is in a dormancy phase. This year, however, mother nature thought that 70 degree days were called for; great for pruning in shorts but not so great when it leads to an early bud break. We started noticing some cuts starting to bleed [due to osmotic forces pushing liquid from the roots], which is one of the early signs that vines are starting to break dormancy. Our vineyard duly had bud break March 22nd, while we were still frantically trying to complete the pruning of the vineyard.

One of the issues of an early bud break is the susceptibility of the vines to spring frosts and, true to form, Mother Nature obliged and threw seven days at us where temperatures were below freezing.

Chardonnay shoot

We experienced a radiation freeze, marked by beautifully clear skies and no wind. Under these conditions, air stratifies near the ground and radiant heat loss occurs from the ground and vine tissues. One of the most unappreciated times of the morning has to be 4am, or so we tell ourselves when we are forced to get up. Wind machines were run, frost dragons were making their way through the vineyards and raging fires were tended to, all trying to raise the ambient temperature to protect our vineyard. We did lose some fruit, estimated at about 5% in the Chardonnay, but for us that is a minor miracle. Thankfully we had anticipated such an issue and had purposely left more buds, the frost basically just thinned the crop.

Flowering and fruit set occurred with no major issues, and I am happy to report that we have a full crop thus far.

Uniform growth throughout the block, a very good sign

I touched on the fact that we have been experimenting with slightly different training techniques and since last year gave us no good indication of how effective our new systems are, we are once again trying to grow in the fruit in a slightly different way.

Conventionally, vines are trained vertically in a series of catch wires, aptly named the Vertical Shoot Position [V.S.P]. We, however, are experimenting with a split system or divided canopy, whereby only 50% of the shoots are trained vertically while the rest of the canopy is allowed to hang down. There are a couple of thought processes with regards to this system. Our primary soil is clay which leads to pretty serious vegetative growth. In our climate marked by warm temperatures and high humidity, we have to be mindful of diseases. By splitting the canopy we feel we can create and an environment that allows greater air movement through the canopy and better sunlight exposure, which ultimately suppresses the disease pressure and, more importantly, better ripens the fruit to produce grapes with more intense flavors.

The traditional Vertical Shoot Position

Our best fruit, which grows on some of our poorest soils, are still trained vertically because vigor and retention of water does not pose any serious threat to the quality of the vines and thus the fruit in these areas.

At this point in the vineyard we are trying to ensure the vines and vineyard are in balance, ensuring that we leave the optimum amount of fruit that will be harvested at ideal picking parameters. We are currently pulling some leaves on the East side of the vines, exposing the fruit on the cooler side as sunburn is a serious threat with temperatures forecasted to reach the 100 degree mark in the next few days.

A lot of people ask us about the attitude towards diseases and what we do to combat it. The honest answer is that we have a detailed spray schedule worked out, whereby we spray what is needed, when is needed and most importantly how little is needed. It would be fantastic to talk about organic grape growing, probably even more marketable would be the term “biodynamically farmed”. The truth of the matter s that Virginia’s climate [in my opinion] does not allow the wine grower to farm organically. We would lose our crop to everything ranging from Downy and Powdery Mildew, to Black Rot, Japanese Beetles and Aphids. We rotate sprays so that the vineyard does not build up any resistance and we ensure that our sprays are stopped well in advance of harvest, so that no residual spray materials come in on the fruit.

The vineyard looks to be in great shape right now, we have plenty of fruit, no diseases and, more importantly, I think we have the balance right. Unfortunately a lot can change between now and harvest, as the weather has the final say and pretty much determines if we can one day look back on 2012 and say that it was one heck of a vintage. All we can do is chug along and look after what we can.

I am cautiously optimistic about this years harvest, what will be the 11th harvest at Keswick Vineyards.

I will chat with you soon about some of the exciting wines to be released in the upcoming months.

Cheers

Stephen

Winemaker

Keswick Vineyards

The little grape that could

Since it’s debut vintage in 2006, our Verdejo has turned out to be one of our most popular wines.  Initially planted as a blender, little did we know this Spanish varietal would flourish here in Virginia as a stand-alone varietal.  In 2006 we had a severe Easter weekend frost that decimated the majority of our Viognier and all of our Chardonnay buds, leaving Verdejo to pull the weight of the 2006 white wine program at Keswick Vineyards.  And boy did it!

Our Verdejo quickly became a favorite of our staff, our guests, our wine club members, and our family (in fact, Stephen even served it at his own wedding in 2009, going through over 11 cases of it!).  It’s vibrant acidity and fresh clean flavors of green apples and gooseberries make it the perfect choice for summertime sipping out on the patio.

Megan J. Headley of C-Ville: The Working Pour recently wrote a great article on the history and styles of Verdejo, with a mention of ours at the end.  Read the full article here A Spanish white, Verdejo captures the summer sun, I’m sure you will enjoy it!

If that article gets you thirsting for a relaxing day sitting outside with a bottle of Verdejo- you’re in luck!  We are currently pouring the 2011 Verdejo in our tasting room and we have added a number of new shaded tables outside, as well as outdoor pouring stations, to make your visit as pleasurable as possible.

So grab your friends, a picnic basket and some lawn games and enjoy the summer with us!  Don’t forget to bring your dog too, or if you’re looking for a dog we have Yappy Hours every Sunday where local animal rescue groups bring dogs available for adoption.  If you need more reasons to sip some wine outside while enjoying views of the vineyards and mountains, a portion of the purchase price of every open bottle of wine sold during Yappy Hours will be donated to the visiting rescue group!

See you soon!

The Vineyard is ALIVE!

After what has been an interesting last 12 months [probably the understatement of the year], was it really that unexpected that bud break would occur 3 weeks earlier than it normally does? Do not get me wrong, I love 80 degree days in March, but from a vineyard managers point of view, that was just putting the foot on the accelerator.

Bud break at Keswick Vineyards normally occurs around the 10th of April, but this year we had Chardonnay break on March 23rd. WOW!
The growth cycle of a vine and vineyard begins with bud break in the spring and finishes with harvest in Autumn, leaf fall and then winter dormancy. It is during these winter months that we prune and regulate the buds, and therefore the crop levels, for the following growing season. The time the vine spends in these phases depends on a number of factors, but most importantly on the climate and the prevailing temperature.

The start of the cycle begins when the vine starts to bleed, when we see water being expelled from pruning cuts we make on the vine. An interesting fact is that a vine can bleed over 5 Liters of water!
Buds that have been protected during the winter start swelling and eventually open up, giving birth to new growth and shoots that will bear the fruit of the coming vintage.
The energy for the plant to do this is taken from carbohydrates that are stored in the roots and wood of the vine from the previous year.

Once shoots start to develop and the temperatures really start warming up, these shoots can grow 3cm in length per day!

Not all varieties bud at the same time though, so while our Chardonnay and Viognier are way advanced, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petite Verdot are taking their sweet time and are in no rush.

Admittedly, there is renewed optimism for the growing season following the challenging 2011, but with premature bud break comes the increased risk for spring time frost damage. This past Monday morning saw us touch temperatures of 31 degrees, which meant a very early start to the day turning on wind machines, running frost dragons and monitoring temperatures throughout our 43 acres. In Virginia, we can get a spring frost right up the second week of May, so we need to be on our toes and use all means necessary to prevent that from happening should it occur.

40-80 days post bud break, we will start seeing flowering, whereby pollination and fertilization of the grapevine takes place, followed immediately by fruit set. At that point we will be able to determine the crop size we can expect for 2012.
This is one of the most beautiful times of the year in the vineyard bus sometimes also the most stressful, protecting your vineyard against everything that mother nature can throw your way. To be honest, she kicked my backside last year - but I am determined not to let that happen again!

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this wonderful weather and I look forward to seeing you at the winery. Back to the vineyard to finish my favorite varietal NORTON! BLAH

Stephen
Winemaker
Keswick Vineyards
www.keswickvineyards.com

If you would like to learn more about viticulture, and our vineyard in particular, join me for our Earth Day Vineyard Tour April 22nd!
I will take you on a 1 1/2 mile educational walk through the vineyard to explain how soil types and elevations affect the flavor development of the vines, the different types of trellis systems and why we chose ours, frost dangers and how we handle that, pruning, diseases, discussion on varietals like Viognier and Norton and much more, all while you enjoy a taste of the wines made from blocks on the vineyard that you are standing in!
Lunch will be provided under our beautiful event tent where you will have a chance to meet the owners, Al & Cindy Schornberg, and learn about the history of Edgewood Estate.
Space is limited so reservations are required. From 11am – 1pm. The cost is $40 for Wine Club members, $50 for non-members. Rain date is scheduled for May 12th.

The 2012 Governors Cup Wine Competition, “The winemakers perspective”

In December of 2011, Governor Bob McDonnell announced that the 2012 Virginia Governors Cup Wine Competition was to receive [in my opinion] a much-needed facelift. These changes were necessary to ensure the integrity of the competition, where wines were to be held to the highest standards, making it one of the most rigorous competitions in the nation.

The first significant change was that the competition has now become a single event, open to all wines produced from 100% Virginia fruit,unlike the last few years where white and red wines were judged separately. Wines also had to pass through a preliminary phase, ensuring that only technically sound wines were deemed worthy enough to move onto the final judging round. Coupled with the fact that us winemakers are also receiving the feedback of the judges, I think this is one of the boldest moves  that could have been made as no-one wants to tell someone else that their wine is flawed. Personally, I would rather know so that I can go back to the drawing board and fix it. Without proper and honest critique, how are our wines and industry to grow positively?

The lead judge this year was Mr. Jay Youmans, one of only 31 Masters of Wine in the U.S, as well as being a Certified Wine Educator and owner of the Capitol Wine School in Washington D.C. Alongside 40 other judges, all of which have a wealth of experience in the wine industry, their task was a difficult one, find the best single wine out of 430 entries that reflects the best Virginia has to offer.

At the end of the competition, only 13 gold medals were awarded, 12 of which were selected for the Governor’s Case. The Governor’s case wines are to be used in the upcoming months to promote the wine industry, and as such each winery had to agree to give 10 cases of their winning wine to the Virginia Marketing office. I think this is a fantastic step in promoting what we all believe, that Virginia can produce world-class wines that can compete with the best wines that America has to offer. This is certainly a bold statement considering the caliber of West Coast wines, but I truly believe that our Viognier, Bordeaux Blends and Cabernet Franc can hold their own with anything out there.

As the preliminary results were revealed, the following wineries were in the running for the coveted Governors Cup

• Glen Manor, 2009 Hodder Hill
• Jefferson Vineyards, 2010 Cabernet Franc
• Bluestone Vineyards, 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon
• Delfosse Vineyards & Winery, 2007 Meritage Blend
• King Family Vineyards, 2008 Meritage Blend
• Veritas Vineyard & Winery, 2010 Vintner’s Reserve
• Tarara Winery, 2010 Honah Lee
• Potomac Point, 2009 Heritage Reserve
• Trump Winery, 2008 Kluge SP Blanc de Blanc
• Keswick Vineyards, 2009 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon
• Keswick Vineyards, 2010 Merlot
• White hall Vineyards, 2010 Gewürztraminer

A fantastic mix of wines, 75% of which were red. We were lucky enough to be awarded 2 gold medals for our as of yet un-released Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. I think this speaks volumes for the quality of the competition as both Al [my boss and owner of Keswick] and I agree that these are our 2 best wines we entered. Although young, I am very chuffed that the judges saw their potential, as I believe these wines will reach their peak in 3-5 years.

The Governor’s Gala was held at the Richmond Marriott hotel Ballroom on February 23rd, attended by Governor McDonnell and his lovely wife; who was awarded the industry person of the year for her tireless efforts in promoting our state’s wine.

And the winner is…

Glen Manor Hodder Hill 2008, a Meritage blend of  63% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc and 6% Petite Verdot. On hand to receive the cup was winemaker Jeff White, who humbly accepted the award on behalf of his family. The big question, did us winemakers think it was a worthy winner? Without a doubt. It is a beautiful wine that has wonderful purity to it, dark flavors complimented by supple tannins, with amazing depth and complexity. My heartfelt congratulations are extended to Glen Manor Vineyards on a wonderful wine.

As for our wines, I am extremely proud of my team and my personal thanks need to be extended to everyone here for their influence on our wines. Being the only winery with 2 gold medals is a testament to our wonderful staff who work tirelessly to produce the best wines we possibly can. My job is certainly a lot easier with everyone supporting me, so all credit should really go to them. Congratulations to the other gold medals too, having tried each of their wines, they are all deserving of that award. Virginia has a wealth of winemaking talent and diversity to really start opening the eyes of consumers out there. I see our industry going from strength to strength in the next few years.

As a side note, I have to mention a wine we made using somewhat unorthodox techniques. Our responsibility as winemakers is also to educate the public and bridge the gap between the cellar and tasting room. With this in mind we made a wine using Facebook, whereby we posted videos during the winemaking process with different scenarios we were faced with. Our friends would then decide on what to do, some of their decisions included natural fermentation, not filtering or fining, using french oak and even deciding when to bottle. The Cabernet Franc [aptly named Friended Franc] was awarded a bronze medal and is due to be released in the next few months, so a job well done by our Facebook friends.

A resounding success is how I would summarize this years competition, but now to get back to work and hopefully build on a wonderful foundation. I am so lucky to be making wine in Virginia

Cheers

Stephen

Winemaker

Keswick Vineyards