An Enologist's perspective on the Virginia wine industry

Forty bloggers from across the US and Canada descended on Northern Virginia last weekend for Taste Camp, "a gathering of journalists and wine bloggers ... in an emerging wine region for an immersive wine weekend."  This truly was immersive and kudos to the organizers and the Loudon County Tourism organization for arranging the event in the first place and for ensuring that the experiences at every stop along the way was of the highest quality.  I would also like to thank all of the winemakers  for the patience and hospitality that was shown us.  You contributed in a positive manner towards, what was for most of us, a significant learning experience.

In that there were 40 accomplished writers in the group, I was positive that every element of our trip would receive comprehensive scrutiny.  In seeking to develop an overarching context of what we saw over the weekend, I turned to Dr. Bruce Zoecklein, Professor of Enology at Virginia Tech, who has worked with most of these wineries for a number of years and so has a unique inside-outside perspective on the issues that they face, the solutions they have implemented and their overall capabilities. In addition to his work as Professor of Enology, Dr. Zoecklein had previously been the State Enologist as well as the head of the Wine/Enology - Grape Chemistry Group (WEGCG).  A fuller description of the roles and responsibilities of Dr. Zoecklein and his organizations can be found here.

I engaged Dr Zoecklein on three broad themes: (i) the working relationship between the University and the winemakers; (ii) the state of the Virginia wine industry; and (iii) his perspective on Linden Vineyards.  I pursued the latter question because I had been signally impressed by the owner as well as by the wines that we tasted while there.

According to Dr. Zoecklein, his objective is to provide a range of technical services  -- on-demand or as a resource -- to the Virginia wine industry.  Within that context he: (i) brings in technical experts from the west coast and around the world; (ii) ensures that the industry is aware of technological and methodological advances around the world -- and assists wineries in implementing those advances if they so choose; (iii) provides a range of written technical material; and (iv) provides analytical lab services. 

As an example of the types of services that he provides to the wine industry, Dr. Zoecklein points to the mid-1990s when a couple of the red varieties with which they were working produced wines with hard seed tannins; a situation resulting from grape and seed maturity issues as well as processing issues. By applying délestage (a fermentation technique that utilizes oxygenation of the juice to produce a softer, fruitier wine) and micro-oxygenation (application of oxygen doses during maturation to soften tannins in a shorter period than in the case of wood and bottle aging) techniques, the WEGCG was able to resolve the problem.  That is only half the battle, however.  The winemakers have to accept this as a solution that is suitable for them.

Dr. Zoecklein refers to the Virginia wine industry as an "industry of Chiefs and Indians."  The approach in the previous example would have been for the Enology Group to make wines using the two techniques and then to gain the buy-in of the Chiefs (the industry leaders).  Once the rest of the industry sees the practice implemented at the leading wineries, it is likely that they will follow on and implement.

Dr. Zoecklein sees the Virginia wine industry as falling into three separate camps.  In the first camp you find wineries that are making wines that are as well crafted as wines anywhere in the world.  The second camp is comprised of wineries that are making good wine but they lack consistency either across vintages or across labels.  The final camp is comprised of the wineries that are "not nearly as noble as the previous two."  The progressive producers recognize that the market is not static and that they must continue to make progress from one season to the next.  That being said, the industry as a whole is beginning to reap the benefits of technology, estate fruit from older vines, and a better understanding of the impact of seasonal variation on grape and wine quality.  This is still a tourism-based industry but the finer producers understand that they have to get into a position where their wines can compete against the finest wines in the world.  Tourism sales will not provide the economies of scale, or drive the economies of quality, required to compete on the big stage.

The industry does have to confront challenges in the areas of (i) the environment and (ii) attitudes of the buying public.  First, in terms of the environment, winemakers have to deal with late frosts, drought, high humidity, and tropical storms in the fall.  They need to continue working to understand these phenomena and then to incorporate their learnings into their viticultural processes.  In terms of the buying public, Virginia is a new wine region and is being regarded with some skepticism.  The challenge for the VA wine community is to get the potential buyer to "taste the wine and not the label."

Dr. Zoecklein sees the industry moving to a consensus on what varieties will do best in Virginia both in the ground and in the market.  He sees Viognier as gaining a reputation and as a variety that can help to provide regional distinctiveness.  He sees Petit Manseng as being a good second choice because it is soil-suitable, it is not planted extensively in the US, and it can be vinified for both a sweet and a dry wine.  Every winemaker is producing Cabernet Franc and they have learned to tone down the herbaceousness which had plagued their efforts to date.  He thinks Cabernet Franc will do best in Virginia as part of a blend.  Dr. Zoecklein sees both Tannat and Petit Verdot as gaining traction in the marketplace.

As regards my question about Linden Vineyards, Dr. Zoecklein sees Jim Law, the owner, as having a quite unique situation vis a vis the other wineries in Virginia.  Jim has dealt with estate fruit for over 25 years and has gained an empirical understanding of what works and what does not.  Jim, according to Dr. Zoecklein, is great at making observations and banking them.  Finally, wine quality factors are in the vineyard and Jim is a great student of viticulture.

In closing, Dr. Zoecklein expressed a strong sense of optimism in that he sees a number of things lining up to increase the pace of the industry's progress.  First, there is a lot of excitement both within and outside the industry because some wineries are crafting fine wines -- and people are noticing it.   Second, there is strong support of the wine industry by the Governor.  According to USAToday.com (2/26/12), "Promoting the bouquet of Virginia's wine industry has been an important part of (Governor) McDonnell's economic development initiatives ... Virginia wine has been at the center of events at the Virginia Executive Mansion, at business meetings and on international trade and marketing missions to India, Israel, and countries in Europe and Asia."  The Governor, according to Dr. Zoecklein, "... understands the inter-relationships between agriculture, production, marketing, tourism, and tax revenues that the Virginia wine industry brings to the Commonwealth.  It is the understanding of the value-added potential that is the genesis of his support."  Finally, Dr. Zoecklein sees Virginia Tech increasing its already extensive support of the industry.

According to Dr. Zoecklein, "The future is bright as this regional industry grows."  More vines are needed in the ground to help fuel this growth but that will be a challenge given the costs associated with agriculture in the state.

© Wine -- Mise en abyme

Interview with Dr. Tony Wolf, Virginia Tech Viticulturist, on $3.8 million USDA wine quality improvement grant

Virginia Tech (www.vt.edu) was recently awarded a $3.8 million, 5-year grant by the US Department of Agriculture's (USDAs) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) to lead a multi-state project designed to improve grape and wine quality in the eastern United States (US).  Within Virginia Tech the project will be led by Dr. Tony Wolf, Professor of Viticulture in the University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and Director of the school's Alson H. Smith Jr. Agricultural Research and Extension Center.  I interviewed Dr. Wolf recently in order to gain a better understanding of the project's origins, objectives, deliverables, and measures of success.  This blog post summarizes that conversation.

Dr. Wolf has been with Virginia Tech for over 25 years, having been hired initially in the late 1970s as a Viticulture Extension Specialist when the University saw an opportunity to become involved in wine-grape education and research.  Dr. Wolf has continued with his statewide viticulture responsibility but added a significant administrative responsibility with his appointment as Director of the Alson H. Jr. Agricultural Research and Extension Center in 2003.

The grant to improve grape and wine quality in the eastern US was awarded by NIFA at the conclusion of a rigorous peer-review process.  NIFA is the successor organization to Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Services (CSREES).  CSREES had relationships with state Departments of Agriculture and funneled research funds to those organizations based on the number of farms in the state.  The state organizations would subsequently allocate funds to in-state research entities.  This process is still followed to some extent through block grants to state agricultural organizations but, for the most part, USDA research funds are funneled directly to research organizations through peer-reviewed grants.  NIFA, according to Dr. Wolf, provides a transparent process for allocation of USDA funds.  A key NIFA funding vehicle is the Speciality Crop Research Initiative (SCRI) which was "established to solve critical industry issues through research and extension activities" and gives priority to "projects that are multistate, multi-institutional, or trans-disciplinary; and include explicit mechanisms to communicate results to producers and the public."  SCRI has a current-year funding budget of $47 million.

University's had "seen the writing on the wall," both in terms of the shift in the research-funding-allocation mechanism as well as the SCRI mission, and a number of land-grant Universities banded together to pursue a multi-state, multi-disciplinary project.  The first concrete step in this initiative was a planning proposal submitted to the USDA by Cornell University.  This planning proposal was funded by the USDA with Cornell University as the Principal Investigator (PI).

Grape growers on the eastern seaboard face a number of fundamental issues, to include unpredictable precipitation during the growing season and inconsistent quality definitions.  The project seeks to improve the quality of grape and wine production in the eastern US by attacking these problems as part of a standard research and extension project.  The planning process for development of the grant proposal was a dynamic one which began in mid-2009 and continued through November.  The final proposal included seven institutions -- North Carolina State University, University of Maryland, Ohio State University, Pennsylvania State University, Cornell University, Virginia Tech, and the Connecticut Agricultural Expansion Station -- and 22 PIs.

The project, as awarded, has four objectives: (i) promotion of grape quality; (ii) matching varietals to sites; (iii) development of a GIS-based approach to vine location; and (iv) dissemination of study findings to users.  Teams have been formed around each objective.

A specific example of one of the study areas is the exploration of cover crops in the vineyard.  Precipitation during the growing season in the eastern US aggravates canopy management as it results in too much canopy which, in turn, can lead to poor fruit quality and rot.   Cover crops can increase soil health but can also cause drought stress in dry years.  Cover crop research is ongoing in North Carolina, Virginia, and the Finger Lakes region of NY to test the use and optimality of cover crops in northeast US vineyards and its potential contribution to an increase in the quality of grapes produced.

A federally and state-funded project named NE-1020 is currently underway in the US.  This multi-state project seeks to understand the performance of wine grapes under different climatic conditions.  The GIS component of the Virginia Tech study will bring the NE-1020 project under its umbrella and incorporate its data and findings into the portion which is tasked with using GIS technology to match varietals with vineyard sites.

Dr. Wolf sees the primary project deliverables as being comprised of decisionmaking tools.   The first tool envisioned is a GIS system that would assist a prospective wine maker in determining whether or not a particular plot would be appropriate for planting grape vines and growing quality grapes.  This tool will be the extrapolation of a platform that is currently in place at Virginia Tech's Center for Geospatial Information Technology.  The second tool will be used to aid the grower in varietal selection based on elements such as soil drainage, etc.  This tool will be developed as a result of incorporating the NE-1020 project into the VA-Tech project.  The third deliverable will be an assessment/evaluation tool.  A 1000-person survey will be conducted by the Virginia Tech Center for Survey Research in order to baseline the current practices and state of knowledge of regional grape growers.  That survey will be repeated in four years in order to assess the impact of the project on the practices and knowledge of the growers.

In addition to the decisionmaking tools, Dr. Wolf foresees some deliverables that are more in the educational realm.  For example, there will be a research summit at the end of Year 2 to report on progress-to-date as well as preliminary findings.  In addition, there will be state-wide workshops with team members and end users for information dissemination and feedback-capture.  Finally, all research findings will be provided on the web and be accessible to end users.  The USDA has an electronic vehicle called E-extension which presents research information to users based on communities of practice by region.  The Virginia Tech research results will be available to users on that vehicle.

This project will be successful, according to Dr. Wolf, if (i) there is improvement in the perception of eastern US wines in the market; (ii) if they can see trends that growers are siting vineyards scientifically; and (iii) if there is an improvement in the sales and profitability of eastern US wines.  Historically there has been a stigma associated with the quality of eastern US fruit, varieties, and winemakers.  Improving the grape and wine quality in the region will go a long way towards dispelling that stigma.