Frost-Free in 2023
The nailbiter that is April in an eastern US vineyard is in the rearview mirror and we are pleased to report that we had no frosts after bud break! This is such monumentally good news after the carnage of the last few years. I think we all feel waves of relief crashing over our heads when we look down the full, uniformly developing rows. We've always tried to put on a brave face when things don't go our way, but it's nice to catch an occasional break. Sometimes, the hardest parts of farming are the things that hard work cannot overcome. Last year, the cabernet sauvignon took a huge hit with frost damage, but yielded a gorgeous wine, albeit a small amount. The year before, both petit verdot (PV) and cabernet suffered mid-level losses, and in 2019 we lost more than 75% of a new planting of PV. It takes time, but we finally resolved to replant the lost petit verdot in 2024 -- 4 years after swearing off the variety on our site. We haven't figured out a formula to guarantee safe passage thru the frost with the early budding PV, but we have learned a few tricks to delay bud-break, and just maybe this gentle spring has restored our bravado.
Cool and Dry
The largess of this spring has known no bounds: we have had modest temperatures and almost no rain or even dew to speak of. The lack of dew is especially unusual, as the canopy is generally like a wet sponge at daybreak, only drying out by mid-morning. Dew-less nights and rain-less days mean less disease pressure, and a relaxed growing pace. As always, May and June feature an endless cycle of vine tending. We touch every vine multiple times per week: plucking, bending, and tucking the vines into shape. This activity is enhanced by the cool dry weather, our bodies work better, our moods are lighter, and the work goes faster. The downside to dry is that some of our youngest vines are already showing drought stress, so we may have to drop their fruit for the long term health of the vine. Economically speaking, this will not be a huge hit since young vines have low yields, but it tests our discipline and ability to delay gratification. Each new planting has been done with a specific objective, be it a new root-stock, a new clone, or a new patch of soil that intrigues us. When we have to drop the fruit, it means we need to wait another year to satisfy our curiosity, another year to literally taste what our partnership with the earth has wrought. But the farmer's priority must always be to place appropriate demands on the vines (young and old), balancing the crop load with the strain of the season and the available water.
The Wines!
Once again we are very excited to grace the shelves of a handful of select retail partners in the Richmond area -- Belmont Butchery and the the Barrel Thief have our 2020 release, Manteo-Nason. Our 2020 is also on the wine-list at Hopkins Ordinary, a B&B and microbrewery in Sperryville VA, and as always available via mail order from our online store. We feel like our retail partners are friends with superb taste, and we pinch ourselves knowing that they want to work with us. As always thanks for your support!