Tag: Jake Busching

Solstice Paired With Virginia Wines

/ Warren / 1 Comment

Paul and I made our annual summer trek to the Charlottesville area, and this year it coincided with summer solstice, the official start of the summer season. These longer days allowed us to enjoy late dinners and wine on the porch at our favorite Stay cottage located on the Afton Mountain Vineyards property. In this post, I offer a review of favored wine varieties, blends, and sparkling wines that we sampled from various wineries in the Charlottesville area. Notice a special focus on summer wines since stocking up on these was our mission; however, any wine can be enjoyed in all seasons, and we do note some wines that some may find to be more appropriate for cooler weather.

White Wines/Rose/ White Blends/Sparkling:
Albarino: Pay attention to this grape in Virginia because it shows promise. Afton Mountain’s 2021 release features classic citrus notes and a leaner palate. A different twist will be offered by Jake Bushing’s 2021 Albarino that saw some time in oak barrels and thus presents a fuller-bodied palate.

Chardonnay: Always my favorite. Full-bodied treatments of this grape can be enjoyed at Septenary (2019), King Family Vineyards (2020) and Hazy Mountain (2019). Sippers who prefer a medium to lighter-bodied style may want to consider the releases from Pollak (2019) and Keswick (LVA 2021).

Sauvignon Blanc: This is another grape that has potential in Virginia. The 2021 offering from Septenary captures classic notes of boxwood and citrus with a refreshing acidity. Similar characteristics were noted in the current 2021 release from Jake Busching Wines. Sauvignon Blanc is also the key component in two white blends from Blenheim Vineyards. 2020 On The Line also includes Rkatsiteli, Chardonnay, and Petit Manseng while the 2018 Painted White incorporates Chardonnay and Petit Manseng. I will add that these two blends convinced me that Petit Manseng with its tropical fruit notes, acidity and texture brings much more to the table (or the bottle) as a blender than a stand alone.

Rose: Dry rose for us, please. Thankfully, Virginia wineries can deliver here too. We can recommend current releases now offered at Blenheim Vineyards (2020) King Family Vineyards (2021), Hark Vineyards (2021) and Septenary (2020). While rose conjures images of beaches or picnics, be sure to have Rose on hand for all seasons—-rose is versatile and can pair with almost anything.

Sparkling Wine: Any occasion or no occasion at all calls for sparkling wine. Try the 2018 Brut from King Family Vineyards produced from 100% Chardonnay, the Sparkling Amelie Blanc de Noir from Keswick Vineyards and/or the Sparkling Rose from Septenary.

Vidal Blanc: Once a driver at most Virginia wineries, Vidal Blanc seems be less common these days. Fortunately, the 2020 Virginia Verde from Hark Vineyards keeps Vidal Blanc alive, and it screams summer.

Red Wines: Cabernet Franc: This is probably the one red wine that is another all season gift. Enjoy it with light grilled fare in summer or with Thanksgiving turkey in the fall. I tend to prefer lighter style Cabernet Franc that presents juicy red berries with little interference from extensive use of oak or blends with other varieties. Blenheim’s 2020 release fits that bill. Pollak Vineyards’ 2019 bottling sees a bit more time on oak with a noted presence of black pepper; however, it too can be served on its own or with food. Septenary’s Cloverplains 2017 is a blend that leads with Cabernet France but includes Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Petit Verdot. Bright seed berries, sweet tobacco and subtle black pepper nuances offers a complex wine that can be enjoyed now or later.

Petit Verdot: This is another winning grape for Virginia. However, there are those who prefer this one on its own, while others would rather enjoy it as part of a blend. (Review my Petit Manseng comment). The 2018 vintage from Pollak Vineyards was surprisingly juicy and rich given the rather wet 2018 growing season. Hark Vineyards’ 2017 release is dark and brooding—-decant now or hold for a bit longer. Don’t ignore the 2019 vintage from DuCard Vineyards, especially if you are tracking down the gold medal winners from 2022 Virginia Governor’s Cup. Looking for a Petit Verdot-dominant blend? Give 2018 Blended Red from Blenheim Vineyards a try. It includes an equal part of Merlot followed by Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Others: We always grab a bottle (or two, three) of Bacco from Afton Mountain Vineyards. This one always includes Sangiovese, and the 2017 is delicious. If your library includes the 2016 Meritage from Pollak Vineyards, it is still showing quite well. Drink or hold. I bought a bottle to join its sibling on our wine rack. One will be enjoyed soon and the other will be poured in another year or so. Our 2013 Merlot from King Family Vineyards has definitely gathered dust, so it was a treat to try a sample of this one at the winery. I would put this one in the drink now category but made sure to purchase another one. Can it hold on for another year or two? We’ll find out.

Our front porch dinners paired with a perfect Virginia wine were lit with late sunsets followed by starry skies and dancing fireflies. Another treat was the cooler than usual night temperatures that allowed us to open the windows to enjoy cool nighttime breezes. If Mother Nature was treating us to a solstice concert, then she put on a stellar performance.

Plan to visit the wineries mentioned in this post to sample these well-crafted wines for yourself this summer. Let us know if you find others that you enjoyed but not described here. Of course, please mention that Virginia Wine Time sent you!

1 Winemaker, 3(+) Questions Continued:

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So we continue to ask winemakers their assessment of the long-lasting winter and its possible impacts on the 2014 growing season. In this installment, winemaker Jake Busching of Grace Estate offers opinions.

Jake1. This has been a winter of long-lasting, record-breaking cold weather. This week’s temperatures plunged to below zero in much of Virginia. Are you concerned about stress to the vines? Have you changed vineyard management (i.e. pruning) as a result?

Winter cold has to reach serious extremes (well, by Virginia standards, said the Minnesotan…) to damage grapevines. Most vinifera isn’t damaged until you get down to temperatures close to -4F. Buds go first then damage to the vascular system can occur. Luckily here at my site our low was only -1F. I’ve checked buds in the vines by slicing into them with a knife to see if they are still green following the coldest days we’ve had and so far we are in good shape. Areas of NOVA and all states north of us are going to see bud and cane damage this spring. February 5th, 1996 saw temperatures as low as -22F in areas around Monticello AVA many vineyards were killed down to the snowline that night. A fellow winemaker in NY state reports losses in excess of 80% this spring as they had temperatures around -12F. In that situation you hope the snow was deep enough to shield buds in the trunks so you can start new growth without having to replant an entire vineyard!

The beauty of a cold snowy winter for growers, besides fireside evenings and sledding, is a plentitude of ground water coming into spring and a natural extermination of some vineyard pests. We have bugs like Spotted Wing Drosophila fruit flies and vine diseases like Pierces Disease which are both killed off at repeated temperatures below 7F which means we are going into a vintage where bugs will have to reinvade from the south. Perhaps this will allow vines to recover and put less pressure on us in the fall for protecting our fruit from damage.

We had a very good grapevine growing summer last year. 2013 had lots of moisture and thus, vigor, which allows the vines to uptake and translocate food into storage for use this spring. I am expecting good vine growth and a heavy crop this year, frost willin and the creeks don’t rise…

2. Early bud break is always a concern when it occurs; however, are there worries about a later bud break? What is the optimal time for bud break? (The cherry blossoms are scheduled to bloom much later this year due to the long-lingering winter.)

Bud break has been early for many years now. Back when I started taking care of vines in the mid-nineties budbreak in Chardonnay was expected around April 9th. It is my opinion that bud break doesn’t really happen ‘late’ as the sun always runs on time… I would love to see bud break begin on April 5th every year. However, we’ve lately become accustomed to buds waking up as early as march 19th on some sites which creates weeks of fear of frost damage or even cold damage. The only down side to a normal bud break period is if we have a cool, cloudy summer and our ripening energy is slowed or shadowed in our red wine vineyards. This delaying action can push harvest dates into late October when the vines are naturally shutting down and stopping work on ripening fruit. Then all we have to increase quality is hang time which is mostly dehydration to concentrate fruit flavor.

3. Now that the 2013 harvest is history, how is the 2013 vintage shaping up, and what are the comparisons to past vintages?

Now that my red wines have been racked and my early wines are in bottle, I am happy to say that 2013 was, for the most part, an excellent vintage. The summer long supply of rain had us on the ropes all year until, against all Virginia weather logic, we had a drought through harvest. The result of that weather pattern was early season varieties having slightly less concentration, mid-season varieties being good to very good and late season varieties being excellent. We are looking at red wines with early season elegance and late season structure for 2013. I am looking forward to blending this year and playing mixologist with varieties like Tannat and Petit Verdot. The bottled wines are showing very well with nice acid to mouthfeel balance and beautiful floral qualities. I finally made a rose that I respect in 2013 as well from some early pick Merlot with a bled lot of Tannat added for depth and complexity.

Plan a visit to Grace Estate to taste Jake’s excellent wines; in fact, we did just that this past weekend. What were our favorites? Check in next time to find out. If you get to Grace Estate before our next post, mention to Jake that Virginia Wine Time sent you!