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Recently our ace reporter Andrea Bennett pinned down Chrysalis Vineyards
owner Jennifer McCloud long enough for a detailed interview on the status of the 2000 Harvest. Here are the results:
AB: Jennifer, this year was unusual from the standpoint of the weather. Could you tell us how this affected the Fall 2000 harvest?
JM: We're very pleased with our fruit this year. The spring and summer were relatively quite cool - in fact, it was one of the coolest summers
on record in Virginia. We were hoping for and expecting a hot, sunny August, but after nine solid days of rain a good bit of rot began to set
in in the vineyards. Fortunately, the rain stopped and was followed by a lengthy dry spell toward the end of the month, which dried up the rot.
AB: Well, how do you cope with these variations in the climate?
JM: This is where good vineyard practices become critical. We were diligent with our canopy management - clearing the leaves around the
fruit to allow the grapes to dry out, and rigorously sticking to our spray program. These actions paid off. Although vineyard yields were
down all across the state, we weren't significantly harmed. In fact, almost all of our fruit came in very ripe with high brix and good
chemistry, and the coolness actually allowed the varietal flavors to develop well.
AB: Could you talk a little about how this worked with some of the specific varieties?
JM: Yes, our clone 76 Chardonnay is showing a very nice peachy quality. With the Viognier, we took the risk of allowing the fruit to
hang on the vines longer than other growers and we were blessed with hot, sunny weather. The nature of Viognier is such that it can
skyrocket under these circumstances and we picked the fruit at 23.5 Brix. So we're anticipating another vintage that will express the
varietal characteristics of the grape.
The demand for Northern Virginia Viognier was very high this year, as it has become evident that the vine does particularly well in this part of
the world. Our consulting winemaker, Alan Kinne, has worked extensively with this grape, and has noted that Viognier moves quickly in the latter
stages of ripening from a relatively innocuous grape, lacking character, through a honeydew melon type flavor to that of ripe cantaloupe. So we
gauged our harvest date to take advantage of this process. The fruit shows lots of peachy, pear and ripe cantaloupe flavors.
Once the grapes were harvested, we elected not to go with native yeast for fermentation this year (which we feel helps enhance the tropical
character of the wine) because of the risk of an "off" fermentation this year, and also because the fruit already had intense, ripe tropical
flavors.
AB: How were quantities this year?
JM: The Viognier is a low yielding vine. This year we brought in approximately 5.6 tons of Viognier which, considering the circumstances,
we thought was exceptionally good. We picked more Chardonnay than we expected, and with our good canopy management, we lost very little
fruit. We have nearly 11,000 liters of Chardonnay, which will wind up producing somewhere between eleven and twelve hundred cases.
The Norton and Cabernet Sauvignon have not been picked yet, and we may hold them until late October or perhaps even early November. But the
vines are in excellent shape and should give us an abundant crop. Also, the Petit Manseng and Fer Servadou
are still hanging on the vines.
AB: How did we fare with some of the other varietals?
JM: We have of course established a number of experimental plantings of Spanish varietals and the verdict is not yet in. Fruit from a planting
in the Northern Neck of Virginia did not fare well this year, due to the weather, and were picked at 17 to 18
brix. This suggests some potential problems for our 2000 Rubiana, but on the other hand, Spanish fruit from
Locksley (our estate vineyard) was wonderful, and a number of the other components are doing extremely well and we should be able to shore up
any problems. The Fer Servadou, for example, is very distinctive and as I mentioned earlier, the Cab is coming along wonderfully.
Now the Fer Servadou is interesting. It's a black grape traditionally found mainly in Southwest France but it thrives here. Both our state
viticulturalist, Dr. Tony Wolfe and our state oenologist, Dr. Bruce Zoecklein, have both recommended Fer for Virginia vineyards and we
believe it can produce some of the finest red wines in this region. The Fer can be produced either as a varietal or blended with our Norton.
We have a little over 1000 liters of Riesling which will yield about 120 cases this year. Among other
varietals, the Albariņo has been superb and for the first time we'll be able to bottle a varietal Albariņo
wine. We're very excited about what this holds for the future. The grape has a thick skin and grows in loose clusters, and is thus
resistant to rot.
Additionally, we'll be doing a Verdejo again this year, which will include some quantities of Godejo, Loureira and Treixadura.
Our Petit Manseng is very exciting as well. This grape is a bit unusual but is well suited to Virginia's climate. The thick-skinned berries
like our warm nights and it can linger on the vine until late autumn. Petit Manseng can ripen to very high sugar levels but still maintain its
acidity. This is a grape that's following the Viognier in terms of its rising popularity. It looks like we'll bring in around one and a half
tons per acre this year, and that will give us about 100 cases in splits. We'll likely do a dessert wine with the
Manseng.
AB: Last year, I know, you held back a portion of the Chardonnay in stainless steel and then blended it back into the barrel fermented
Chard. Are you following that strategy again this year?
JM: Yes, in fact we held about 20% of the juice in tank this year. We believe this significantly helps to bring forward the classic fruity
character of the grape, and gives it the crispness we like to achieve in our Chardonnays. And we're very pleased with our barrels for this
year's winemaking.
AB: Talk a little about the importance of the barrels in the process.
JM: Well, they're extremely important. With the expertise of Phil Burton of Barrel Builders, who personally oversaw the selection process,
we were able to make a large purchase of used white wine barrels. In addition, we acquired 28 new French oak barrels, along with 8 Virginia
oak barrels, which we'll use for our Norton. The Virginia oak barrels are all coopered in France, and are quickly gaining popularity. Oak
from our own state is the least resinous and woody oak found in America.
In general, barrel life for fine wines is considered to be about five to six year. After three years of use, they are considered neutral. One
of the features we like most about our new winery is that we have much improved facilities for barrel cleaning and maintenance.
AB: The new winery looks great, Jennifer. Are you pleased with its functionality?
JM: Absolutely. The layout is working extremely well and we've got great access to our press and
crusher-destemmer, as well as the tanks and barrel rooms. The contractors are still putting a few finishing
touches on the office and lab space, but all the essentials were ready
just in time for harvest. All the necessary equipment arrived in time and we were able to get it installed and tested before the grapes came
in. It was a lot of work and our many suppliers and consultants were superb. Our water supply and hot water systems are fantastic, and the
cooling system from GD Chillers in Oregon is state of the art. We've been looking forward to our tank heater, which arrived just today, and
we'll have it available for the reds when they come in, if we need it.
AB: We reported in our last newsletter that winemaker Susannah Harris had joined the CV team. How's that working out?
JM: Susannah is incredibly dynamic. In addition to her broad experience in winemaking all around the world, she is the kind of person
who accepts no excuses for mistakes. She sets a tone of excellence in the winery and is very high energy. No matter how long the job takes,
she stays with it until it's done and done right. Susannah is a living example of our motto - particularized attention to detail in each aspect
of the winemaking process.
We're also happy to have added George Bragg as our new cellar master and vineyard manager. George is really a multi-talented individual, and
his contributions to the day-to-day work in the fields and in the winery have been terrific.
AB: Jennifer, thanks for the update. Any closing comments?
JM: This has been a big year for Chrysalis Vineyards. We've seen more of our vineyards reaching maturity, and are excited about the increase
in the number of varieties we now have available as stand alone wines and for the blending that we consider so important. We've adhered closely to good viticultural practices and the result has paid off by
giving us superb fruit in spite of the complex weather we had this summer. The new winery is fully on line and we're now turning attention
to finishing up our new office suite, tasting room and gift shop. We've added important new members to the Chrysalis team. We've continued to
enhance our on-line web presence and seen our viticulture discussion list grow into a valuable tool for its over 200 member growers and
winemakers.
In 2000 we also established our public presence through participation in all the major wine festivals and events. That, by the way, is something
we couldn't have done without the help of all our many friends and volunteers, and for that I offer a huge "Thank you!" to each and every
individual who helped make it happen. We've been bowled over by the enthusiastic reception our wines have had in the wine press, both
locally and nationally.
When we received two Silver Medals in the Governor's Cup this spring, we were absolutely elated. Then, with word a few weeks ago that our 1999
Viognier had taken top honors as the overall best wine in the state, well, we were just blown away. We knew that we had something special,
but the official recognition as Grand Champion was even more than we could have expected for our first year of commercial release.
So now we've set a high standard for ourselves, and the challenge will be to not only keep it up but to broaden the scope and scale of our
efforts. We've made important strides toward that in 2000, and look forward to many grand years to come.
From a personal standpoint, I think what has perhaps been most satisfying to me is to see the smiles on the faces of our many new
friends and supporters. When you get right down to it, winemaking is about good times and good people. I hope we will continue to make it
possible for everyone to do what we always say at the end - Enjoy!
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