Winemaking and the wines at Tarara Winery (Leesburg, VA)

I have covered the physical and viticultural environments of Tarara Winery in a previous post; herein I cover the winemaking and wines.

As is usual with any winemaker worth his/her salt, Jordan Harris seeks to pick Tarara's grapes at the "optimal" time. He determines readiness for harvest based on taste (balance on palate), feel, seed condition, and his knowledge of the individual blocks and their historical relative performances.

The only sorting activity is carried out prior to the harvest. A pass is made through the block and any obviously defective grapes are dropped. Grapes are hand-harvested into lugs and transported to the cellar.

Both white and red grapes are de-stemmed. White wines are pressed with the free-run juice separated out.

Whites are barrel-fermented and aged in mostly used barrels for 10 months. The Chardonnay is aged for 16 months in tighter-grained, light-toast barrels for a total of 16 months. Whites are aged on the gross lees and stirred every two weeks. There is no racking.

Reds and Rosés are fermented in stainless steel with some whole berries included. The reds are macerated for 35-50 days on the skins. Jordan gave an example of the Tannat which was cold-soaked for 7 - 10 days, underwent fermentation for 10 days and then remained on the skins for 15 - 30 days. Depending on the ripeness of the seeds, delestage may be undertaken.

At the conclusion of our dialogue, we turned to a tasting of the wines that Jordan had set out.

We began with the 2016 Viognier from the Hill Block of Neveah Vineyard. This wine is made from grapes grown on 16-year-old vines and has not been subjected to malolactic fermentation. Beautiful light golden color. White flower, spice, mahogony, and a nuttiness on the nose. Weighty, with lime-lemon and mineral notes on the palate.

The fruit for the 2015 Bethany Ridge Viognier was secured from a 3-acre vineyard of the same name. White flower and matchflint on the nose. Ripe fruit and round mouthfeel. Not as much acidity as the Neveah. Slate finish.

The 2016 Neveah White is a blend of 45% Chardonnay, 12% Petit Manseng, and 43% Viognier. A complex nose. Layered. Citrus and burnt orange. Tropical notes on the palate. Weighty, with restrained acidity. Character on nose does not transit to palate. Lengthy, nondescript finish.

The 2015 Chardonnay was sourced from both the Road and Hill Blocks. Spice, oak, smoke, and charcoal on the nose. Medium weight on the palate and not as much acidity as I would have liked.

The 2015 Cabernet Franc is sourced from the Hill Block. Bright red fruit and spice on the nose. Red fruit and tar on palate. Not enough concentration.

The 2015 Long Bomb is a blend of 56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Cabernet Franc, 10% Merlot, 9% Syrah, and 2% Tannat with 78% of the fruit sourced from Neveah Vineyard and the remainder from Tranquility. Red fruit and spice on the nose. Great on the attack. Lean, with good acidity. Mid-palate woes but great finish.

The 2015 Neveah Red is a blend of 33% each of Merlot and Syrah, 30% Cabernet Franc, and 4% Cabernet Sauvignon. Red fruit with a hint of tamarind on the palate. Opportunities in the areas of concentration, structure, and complexity.

The 2015 Bethany Ridge Red is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. Shows more concentration but linear.

The Tranquility 2015 is 25% Tannat and 75% Cabernet Sauvignon. Lifted red fruit, tobacco, bramble, and spice. Also linear.

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Overall the whites were much better than the reds and the Viognier was the best of the whites.

©Wine -- Mise en abyme

Visit to Tarara Winery (Leesburg, VA): Environment and vineyards

I have recently begun a long-horizon study of the wines of Virginia and to date have reported on Linden Vineyards (estate and wines), RdV Vineyards, and Barboursville Vineyards (estate, wines, and filtration practices). Continuing this effort, I visited Loudon County's Tarara Winery on December 8th, 2017.

Tarara Winery occupies 56 acres of a 475-acre estate running along the Potomac River.

Location of Tarara Winery on the Virginia landscape

The estate was purchased by Whitie Hubert -- a retired commercial developer -- in 1985 and a block of Chardonnay was planted in 1987 in the section that is today called the Hill Block of the Nevaeh Vineyard.

It was cold and blustery on the day of our visit with the weather effects exacerbated by the lengthy walk from the lower-elevation parking lot up to the winery/tasting room. We were happy to close the door to the tasting room behind us as we were welcomed by Jordan Harris, the estate's Winemaker and General Manager.

Jordan had laid out a number of wines for us to taste but we began with a discussion of the viticultural and winemaking environments in order to establish the necessary context.

The sources for the Tarara wines are the Nevaeh and Tranquility Vineyards.

Tarara sits on the eastern side of the Catoctin foothills and its climate is modified by the range as well as by the Potomac and the nearby Shadow Lake. First, rainfall comes in from the west but the moisture-bearing winds lose their contents on the west side of the mountains, leaving the eastern foothills with lower levels of rainfall than areas not protected by this rain-shadow effect.

Second, the Potomac River Valley is somewhat of a wind tunnel and this serves to keep the vineyard cooler than its surrounds during the summer. The fast-flowing water does not freeze in the winter -- a similar situation for the lake, due to its depth -- and the wind coming off these waters warms the surrounding land.

The Neveah soils change quickly as one moves away from the river. The vineyard blocks and characteristics are shown on the map below.

Tranquility, shown below, a 7-acre estate located in Purcellville, is owned by Al and Mary Taylor and managed by Ben Renshaw. Beginning with the 2011 vintage, all of this vineyards fruit is sourced to Tarara.

Jordan arrived at Tarara 11 years ago, lured by the prospect of making Viognier wine and the owner's desire to convert the estate into a premium brand, The estate had been up and running for a full 20 years by that time but, according to Jordan, the wines were mediocre na d the winery was infected with cellar taint. He began the transformation by dumping many of the estate's top sellers, redoing the cellar, and changing the cultivar mix.

Tarara today is, according to Jordan, a focused winery. They attempt to showcase site by producing single-vineyard wines focused on Viognier, Chardonnay, and Cabernet Franc. The vineyard goals are to:

• Create an ecosystem
• Plant wildflowers to bring in ladybugs
• Build bat houses to bring in bats
• Ensure greater health of vines and people
• No herbicides or pesticides
• Spray with fungicides if needed.

Jordan does a lot of tilling and subsoiling -- every other row every other year -- in order to aerate the soil and encourage the roots to go deeper. The roots are not incentivized to go deep because of the easy accessibility of rain-deposited water.

In terms of the vines, Neveah's are cane-pruned VSP with 60% of the rows running east to west. Planting density of the older vines are 950 vines/acre while the newer plantings are done at 2200 vines/acre. Tranquility vines are also VSP but are spur-pruned. Six of its 7 acres are planted north to south. Vineyard yields range between 2.25 and 2.5 tons/acre.

I will cover the winemaking and wines in a subsequent post.


©Wine -- Mise en abyme

Tasting selected wines of Barboursville Vineyards (Barboursville, VA)

The white wines we tasted at during our visit to Barboursville Vineyards were brought to our table as a single flight, each wine identified by a marking on the base of the glass. Luca (Paschina, GM-Winemaker) arrived shortly after the wines did and we delved into an hour-long conversation. It was only at the end of that conversation that I had the chance to sample these wines briefly before we turned to the reds.

Luca and Frank and my (to this point untouched) white wines

The Pinot Grigio showed a nice brightness with no flab; the Sauvignon Blanc showed green bark, nice acidity, and great weight on the palate; the Chardonnay showed sweet fruit and tropical notes, and a disconnect between elements; the Vermentino was unfocused with salinity and salted sour cherry on the palate. But the star of the whites, I felt, was the Viognier.

In my previous post on Barboursville, I related the fact that the winery had switched from the traditional Northern Rhone production for this variety to:

• Fermentation in stainless steel
• Avoidance/suppression of malolactic fermentation
• 9 - 12 months aging in stainless steel
• Lees stirring in the SS tanks.

This approach has paid off "bigly." The Viognier Reserve 2015 has perfect weight on the palate (as opposed to the weightiness associated with traditional Viognier), perfect balance, and a rich, creamy mouthfeel and finish (the result of the lees-stirring).

Switching to reds, we tasted the 2015 and 2010 vintages of the Cabernet Franc. The 2015 showed red fruit and some green bean. On the palate, ripe, bright fruit, salinity, and a lengthy finish. The 2010 showed smoke, tar, green bean, and red fruit. Sweet red fruit, salinity, savoriness on the palate.

Of the 2014, 2011, and 2009 Nebbiolo Reserves, I preferred the '09. It showed olives and a bit of tar on both the nose and palate and with a bright acidity on the latter. I felt that this vintage also showed the best concentration of the three.

We tasted the 2012 (50% Petit Verdot, 50% Merlot), 2010 (60+% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon, with the remainder Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot) and 2004 (70+% Merlot) Octagons.

The 2012 showed coffee, berries, cedar, and baking spices on the nose. Medium-bodied on the palate with a medium-length finish. The 2010 was elegant. Berries, cassis, mocha, and baking spices on the nose. Medium-bodied with a long, creamy finish. The 2004 was phenomenal. Red fruit, tar, chocolate, and baking spices on the nose. Balanced with a lengthy finish.

Barboursville Vineyards produces an extensive portfolio of wines, with both current year and library wines available for purchase to visitors as well as on its website. The signature wines for me, though, are the Viognier and Octagon.

©Wine -- Mise en abyme

Barboursville Vineyards (Barboursville, Virginia): The marriage of Italian expertise, international varieties, and the Monticello AVA terroir

Barboursville Vineyards sits in the Monticello AVA -- Virginia's oldest (1984) -- which is named after, and includes, the location where Thomas Jefferson first sought to make a domestic quality wine.

Monticello AVA shown bordering the Shenandoah Valley AVA
in the picture above

The current iteration of the estate was founded by Gianni Zonin -- of the 7-generation, Northern Italian winemaking family of the same name (The Zonin holdings are shown in the picture below.) -- who acquired the 18th-century Barbour Family estate and planted it to Cabernet Franc and Merlot in 1976. In 1990 Gianni brought Luca Paschina from his Piemonte home to be the General Manager-Winemaker at the estate with the mandate to "renew those vineyards and restore them to the path of producing the fine wines of great stature which Jefferson and he (ed.: Gianni) envisioned ..."

The Zonin portfolio (Source: http://www.zoninusa.com/)

Monticello AVA
The Monticello AVA extends over 1,250 sq. miles in the Upper Piedmont between the Blue Ridge Mountains to the west and the Southwest Mountains to the east and includes most of Greene, Albermarle, and Nelson counties. The climate is characterized as humid subtropical/maritime and its summer warmth is effective in ripening most of the major international cultivars. The soil is complex, medium- to well-drained, and is well-endowed with granite-based red Virginia clay. Vineyard exposures have great diversity.

Vineyards and Vines
Frank Morgan and I were scheduled to meet with Luca, the GM-Winemaker, during the course of our morning visit to the estate. We arrived earlier than scheduled so took a detour to visit the ruins of the old Barbour estate which sits on the winery grounds and can be visited free-of-charge during winery-open hours.

The Barboursville Vineyards property covers 900 acres, 185 of which are planted to vine. The humid subtropical climate, according to Luca, is associated with cold winters, warm summers, and wet springs. Luca sees severe dry conditions in two of ten vintages while another two of ten vintages are too wet. In general, he can make very high quality wines in eight of ten vintages. After all, not that different from his native Italian Piemonte, he claims.

Frank Morgan, one of the most stylish vineyard visitors I have
ever encountered

The soil is comprised of Davidson red clay, loam, and ideal levels of organic matter. Estate vineyards are planted at elevations ranging between 550 and 800 feet.

Vineyard operations are a mix of manual labor and automation: pruning and cluster-thinning are done by hand while leaf-pulling, hedging, and harvesting are done by machine. The company has invested heavily in improving its pruning operation in order to combat Esca in the vineyards.

The table below shows the cultivars currently planted at Barboursville.

White	Red
Sauvignon Blanc	Cabernet Franc
Ottonell	Merlot
Moscato	Petit Verdot
Falanghina	Nebbiolo
Fiano	Sangiovese
Viognier	Barbera
Chardonnay*

*Some purchased fruit

The Merlot and Cabernet Franc were the first vines planted back in 1976-77 and Cabernet Franc remains the estate's most important variety. The number of whites planted reflects the estate's search for a white Italian variety to stand alongside its Viognier and Sauvignon Blanc wines. The future focus will be on Vermentino, Fiano, and Falanghina, to the detriment of Chardonnay.

Five acres of Sauvignon Blanc were planted in 1984 but, over time, it became apparent that the clones employed were not well suited to the Virginia environment. In 2009 the viticulturist Fernando Franco was dispatched to Marlborough (NZ), a climatically similar environment, to seek out clones that performed well there. Three distinct specimens were identified and secured and a total of 7.5 acres of these new vines were planted between 2009 and 2010.

Winemaking
In assessing his winemaking practices, Luca notes that he is not very concerned about keeping first- and second-press juice apart; he is not afraid of some astringency. With the exception of the passito wine, all wines are fermented using selected yeasts.

Luca Paschina, GM-Winemaker

White wines are made in a reductive style with malolactic fermentation suppressed in order to preserve acidity. In the case of the Viognier, they had started out making it in the traditional N. Rhone manner with barrel-fermentation and aging. This style, however, did not seem to fit the fruit that was being produced on the estate. This observation caused Luca to shift to a style for this wine which includes: fermentation in stainless steel; no malolactic fermentation; aging in stainless steel for 9 to 12 months; and stirring on the lees. This style has yielded a wine much more in tune with the fruit.

Red wines are driven by the location of each vineyard block and the wine style. Early-drinking wines do not undergo extended maceration, are fermented with high-vigor yeast, and are aged in used barrels. Wines intended for extended aging are treated as follows:

• Lower vineyard yields
• Traditional/extended fermentation
• Automated pumpovers
• Two-week post-fermentation macerations
• The use of some press wine
• Racked twice before being placed into barrels and then again 6 months later.

Gamba French oak barrels are used for all red wines. Extended-aging wines spend 1 year in oak and then 6 months back in stainless steel tanks before bottling. Wines are never cold-stabilized or fined. I have covered the estate's use of cross-flow filtration in an earlier post.

The flagship red wine is Octagon, first produced in 1991. The wine is a blend of Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Petit Verdot. The composition of the components is determined after repeated blind barrel tastings conducted between December and March and the final blend is barrel-aged until the following December. The wines that do not make it into the final blend are declassified and bottled as varietals.

I will cover the wines we tasted in a follow-up post.

©Wine -- Mise en abyme

RdV Vineyards: The crafting of a Virginia cult wine?

At a comparative tasting of 2006 Chateau Mouton, RdV Vineyards 2008, and Dominus 2007, Rutger de Vink, owner of RdV, stated "I hate to use the word 'cult' wine, but we are trying to take the wine to the next level." And this was the estate that Frank Morgan (drinkwhatyoulike.com) and I would be visiting this afternoon on our abbreviated tour of Virginia vineyards. The location of the estate is shown on the map following the picture below.

RdV location indicated on map by red marker

RdV is the brainchild of Rutger de Vink who set out to create a Virginia wine that could compete with the best wines of the world, built on the characteristics illustrated in the figure below. I will discuss each of the characteristics in turn.

Vision and Leadership
The foundational element in this "drive to cult" is Rutger de Vink. Much ink has been spilled on his history, movie-caliber good looks, etc., but I stay away from Hollywood-type themes on this blog. The things that I find fascinating are:

1. His apprenticeship with Jim Law (Linden Vineyards) which gave him a solid grounding in the site and viticultural requirements for the production of high-quality wines;
2. His travel to, and work in, Napa and Bordeaux to further expand his horizon;
3. His search for, and selection of a very attractive grape-growing site in Delaplane, VA;
4. His focus on a limited number of varieties;
5. His focus on the type of wine that he wanted to make and the market niche that he wanted his wine to occupy;
6. His pursuit and construction of a high-impact team that would contribute to both the realization and sale of the vision.

Location Characteristics
Based on his time at Linden Vineyards, Rutger came to understand the importance of soil composition, texture, and drainage capability in final wine quality and set out to find a plot that optimized those characteristics. He eventually settled on a 100-acre site on a steep, stony hillside in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The site, located within the borders of Delaplane, has a mix of gravel and rich, red clay soil in the topmost layer and granite in the subsoil.

The first figure below shows a core that has been drilled on the RdV property. The topmost soil layer is at the top of the leftmost tube while the extent of the core is at the bottom of the rightmost cylinder. The granite subsurface is more clearly illustrated in one section of the underground cellar (second picture following) which has been left exposed for observational purposes.

RdV soil core

Sixteen acres of the property were cleared for planting of the vineyards and were further segmented into the 11 plots shown in the figure below.

Viticulture
The built environment, human resources, and cultural practices are three critical legs of the the RdV viticultural stool. In terms of the built environment, RdV opted to plant Cabernet Sauvignon (40%) Cabernet Franc (40%), Merlot (12%), and Petit Verdot (8%) in its vineyard plots. The 30,000 vines planted were secured from a nursery in California and already had 2 years of growth under their belts at the time of planting in 2006. These vines were planted in a high-density format with grass between the rows to aid in moisture capture and retention.

RdV has assembled a formidable viticultural team to ensure the growth of the highest possible quality grapes in the vineyard. The Consulting Viticulturist is Jean-Philippe Roby, a Professor at Bordeaux Agro Sciences and ISVV Bordeaux University, a leading proponent of the concept of terroir, and an internationally renowned consultant in the field. Day-to-day management of the vineyard is the responsibility of of the estate's first employee, Gabriel Flores.

The estate vineyard management practices is based on sustainable viticulture.

World-Class Blending
If you are making Bordeaux-style wines, it makes sense to utilize the services of a Bordeaux-based consulting enologist to direct the blending. If, however, you want to make one of the best Bordeaux-style wines in the world, then it absolutely makes sense to utilize the services of one of the top Bordeaux enologists. And that is what RdV has done in securing the services of Eric Boissenet, blender of wines for four of the five Bordeaux First Growths. RdV is the only US-based client in the Boissenet portfolio.

The Wines
The estate's signature wine is called Lost Mountain and its 2014 blend was 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Cabernet Franc, and 12% Merlot. The second label is called Rendezvous and its 2014 blend was 42% Merlot, 23% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Cabernet Franc, and 15% Petit Verdot. For those steeped in the wines of Bordeaux, one can see a Left Bank - Right Bank divergence of these two wines.

Both of these wines are fermented in stainless steel and aged for 2 years in 100% New French oak (Troncais and Allier, medium toast). The wines are racked every 6 months during barrel aging. Wines are fined with egg whites before bottling and spend another year aging in bottle.

We tasted the 2012 and 2013 Rendezvous and the 2013 Lost Mountain. The 2013 Rendezvous showed smoke, red fruit, and baking spices on the nose. Red fruit and dark chocolate and elegance on the palate. The 2012 Rendezvous had the 2012 characteristics plus cigar, leather, licorice, and tar. Sweeter fruit and concentrated but not as focused. Great acid levels. Great finish.

The 2013 Lost Mountain showed mahogany and baking spices with a hint of castor oil. Concentrated but not as focused as I would have liked. Creamy, fudge, chocolate on the palate. A little bit of a hole in the mid palate.

Of the two labels that I tasted that day, my preference was for the Lost Mountain.

©Wine -- Mise en abyme

Linden Vineyards (Linden, VA): Winemaking and wines

After treating the viticultural aspects of Linden Vineyards, I now turn to the estate's winemaking and wines. The Jim Law overarching winemaking philosophy, as I see it, is "do no harm." Jim feels strongly that wine is made in the vineyard and his minimalist winemaking approach is designed to reveal the qualities which have been bestowed to the fruit by the terroir.

The Linden Vineyard style for its white wines "center around a refreshing minerality" with the weight of the wine coming from "the vineyard (sap) rather than the winemaking (alcohol, oak, lees)." Red wines are blends of Bordeaux varieties, reflecting Jim's view that "blending produces the most balanced and interesting wines." The table below captures the architecture of the Linden Vineyard product offerings.

Table 1. Linden Vineyards Wines Architecture

Wine Type	Single-Vineyard Varietal	Single-Vineyard Bordeaux Blend	Multi-Vineyard Varietal	Multi-Vineyard Bordeaux Blend
White	Hardscrabble Chardonnay
	Avenius Chardonnay
	Sauvignon Blanc
	Boisseau Viognier
	Riesling
Rosé				Rosé
Red		Boisseau Red	Petit Verdot	Claret
		Hardscrabble Red
Late Harvest	Petit Manseng
	Vidal

The holy grail in the provision of single-vineyard wines is to best display the characteristics of the terroir in which the fruit was grown. But it is Jim's view that only the highest quality fruit is capable of being terroir-expressive. Any fruit that is incapable of representing its terroir is declassified into the Claret.

The Linden Vineyard white and red winemaking processes are detailed in the charts below.

Working the sorting table

After our discussion with Jim, Frank and I returned to the Tasting Room to taste some of the winery's current releases.

The 2016 Riesling showed sweet fruit but a lack of concentration. The 2016 Sauvignon Blanc is 85% Sauvignon Blanc, 15% Semillon, all from the Hardscrabble Vineyard. This wine showed lime, lime rind, and tropical fruits on the nose. Bright, with some bitterness, salinity, and spiciness on the palate. Drying minerality.

The 2016 Rosé is a blend of Bordeaux varietals (35% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Cabernet Franc, 25% Merlot, and 5% Petit Verdot) from the Hardscrabble (55%), Boisseau (40%), and Avenius (5%) Vineyards. A nice mineral nose with a note of spiciness and citrus. Bright and persistent.

The 2014 Claret is a blend of Bordeaux varietals (44% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Cabernet Franc, 34% Merlot, and 3% Petit Verdot) from the Hardscrabble (70%), Boisseau (15%), and Avenius (15%) Vineyards. Red fruit with some VA and green bean. Nice, light, easy drinking wine with bright red fruit.

The 2013 Petit Verdot had a smoky plum note and bright acidity but was somewhat disaggregated. The 2015 exhibited spice, darker fruit, a rich, smooth mouthfeel with good acid levels. Rich, mineral finish. Delicious.

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During the course of our earlier conversation with Jim, Frank had asked which of the Linden Vineyard vintages were his favorites. For the whites, he said, 2009, 2013, and 2015 had been the best vintages. For the reds, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2015, and 2016. I look forward to going back to Linden Vineyards at sometime in the future to taste some of the older vintages in order to determine how these wines handle the passage of time.

©Wine -- Mise en abyme

Linden Vineyards (Linden, Virginia): Rebalancing for A-Class wines

I first visited Linden Vineyards about 5 or so years ago with the Lenn Thompson Taste Camp group and came away impressed with what I saw and heard. The size of the group did not allow the capture of detailed enough information so I did not report on the visit at that time.

Shortly after that visit, I had the good fortune to interview Dr. Bruce Zoecklein (at that time Professor of Enology at Virginia Tech and head of the Wine/Enology - Grape Chemistry Group; formerly Virginia State Enologist) and sought his impression of Jim Law and Linden Vineyards. Dr. Zoecklein saw Jim as having quite a unique situation vis a vis other Virginia winemakers:

• Jim had dealt with estate fruit for over 25 years and had gained an empirical understanding of what works and what does not
• Jim is great at making observations and banking them
• Wine quality factors are in the vineyard and Jim is a great student of viticulture.

Coming from Dr. Zoecklein, this was very high praise indeed and further added to my resolve to revisit Linden for a more detailed data collection effort. I got my chance to do so when Frank Morgan (drinkwhatyoulike.com) arranged for us to visit to the estate on September 22nd of this year.

Linden Vineyards is situated on the outskirts of the town of Linden in Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains. The red dot on the map below positions the estate within the context of the state and the broader region.

Red tag indicates location of Linden Vineyards

We went directly to the tasting room upon arrival and alerted staff as to our presence. The Tasting Room Attendant said that Jim was on the crush pad but had left word that he should be alerted when Frank arrived. Jim came upstairs soon after and welcomed us to the estate. After an exchange of pleasantries, Jim invited us to join him downstairs. He was in the middle of pressing some Chardonnay but could converse with us while monitoring the process.

Once on the crush pad we saw two presses being operated jointly by Shari Avenius, Linden Vineyards General Manager, and Jonathan Weber, the winemaker. We had the opportunity to observe the collegial manner in which the trio worked but there was no mistaking who had the final word.

Before addressing the Linden environment, Jim discussed making wine in the Virginia -- the wettest viticultural region in the world, as he sees it. Because of the rainfall volumes, landscape form and soil composition are major determinants of wine quality. In comparing the California and Virginia wine regions, he saw the former as having a focus on irrigation while the latter is focused on water evacuation.

Jim Law of Linden Vineyards and Frank Morgan
of Drink What You Like in an intense discussion
during our visit

Jim's guiding principles are as follows:

• A wine's first job is to complement a meal and, as such, it should have good acidity and structure and moderate alcohol
• Soil, site, and microclimate are more important than grape variety
• Work hard in the vineyard to derive as much concentration as possible from the fruit
• Non-interventionist in the cellar.

As it relates to the Linden environment, Linden Vineyards Ltd is the winery operation while Hardscrabble, Avenius, and Boisseau are the vineyard sites serving as fruit sources. Hardscrabble is the vineyard surrounding the farmstead and was the founding vineyard planted by Jim in 1985. Avenius is located 0.5 miles north of Hardscrabble and is owned by the aforementioned Shari Avenius, while Boisseau, owned by Richard Boisseau, is located 5 miles to the west in the town of Front Royal. The characteristics of these vineyards are presented in the figure below.

Looking out over one of the Hardscrabble plots from the
Farmhouse

Six acres of Hardscrabble was initially planted in 1985 but, according to Jim, he had not planted the right grapes in the right places. As he described it, he had planted C vines on A sites and gotten B wines. He is now in the final phase of a rebalancing program aimed at addressing this initial flaw. For example, some soils are too water-retentive for Cabernet Sauvignon so they are switching to Chardonnay at those sites. The application of this rebalancing philosophy -- in relation to Bordeaux cultivars -- is shown in the chart below.

Linden Vineyards has a comprehensive set of vineyard practices which are designed to ensure that the highest quality grapes make it to the harvest. The practice architecture, and associated activities, are shown in the chart below.

I will continue this discourse in a follow-up post on winemaking and the wines of Linden Vineyards.

©Wine -- Mise en abyme