Hume – Virginia’s Newest Winery

In the spirit of totally accuracy, I’m not sure if Hume Vineyards is technically Virginia’s newest winery – it’s possible another winery has completed requisite paper work and opened, but close enough.

“Respectful of tradition, unbound by convention.”

This is certainly an exciting time in the Virginia wine industry, as a new winery seems to be opening every week.  Following on the heels of Hume’s opening will be DuCard Vineyards in Madison County, which is set to officially open in the next few weeks (check back next week for an interview with DuCard’s proprietor Scott Elliff).

I recently had the chance to catch up with Hume Vineyards proprietor, Stéphane Baldi, to talk about Virginia’s newest winery.

The basics: Hume Vineyards is located in Hume, VA, population 263 – and their official grand opening is July 10^th.  Current releases include 2009 Vidal Blanc, 2009 Chambourcin, 2008 Detour (blend of Cab Sauv and Merlot), and 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon (with a splash of Cab Franc blended in). Stephane currently has 5 acres under vine – 1.5 acres of Viognier, 1.5 acres of Merlot, 1 acre of Petit Verdot, and 1 acre of Chambourcin.  Hume will add six acres next year that will include Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc plantings.  Future wine releases include a Chambourcin Rose, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Sauvignon Blanc and Viognier.

DWYL:  Stéphane, congratulations on the upcoming opening of Hume Vineyards (and for surviving the paperwork nightmare).  Tell us a little about yourself and your background.

Both my wife (Andrea) and I are social scientists who consult to a variety of clients (mostly government).  She has a Ph.D. in Psychology from Florida State and I have a Ph.D. in Sociology from Ohio State.  I was born and grew up in France and lived in several wine regions, which is where I got the bug.  Because of our background, we really approach everything in the vineyards and winery analytically.  What does the research suggest, what has been learned, etc.?  However, we do let our instinct and palate make the final call!

DWYL: There are a lot of regions you could have selected to open a – why did you select Virginia as the place to open your winery?

Because we couldn’t afford California   Kidding aside, we love the Virginia Piedmont and as a wine aficionado I realized a few years back that Virginia held a lot of promise to deliver outstanding wines. We want to be part of something and be instrumental in the growth of the industry (as opposed to just one more winery in CA), which is why Virginia is the perfect place for us.  Virginia has so much potential and opportunities.  And the soil and climate are here to make it work (with lots of hard work!).

DWYL: What is your inspiration for starting Hume Vineyards?

Many of the small boutique wineries in CA dedicated to small lots and experimentation have served as our inspiration.  Here I’m thinking of what’s happening right now in Santa Barbara and Paso Robles:  places like Foxen, Tablas Creek, Linne Collodo, etc.  Like them, we’re dedicated to trying new things, blends, etc., and experimenting –whether it be in the vineyards or in the winery.

DWYL:  Describe the most challenging aspect of starting Hume Vineyards.

Having to fight the still widespread perception that no decent wine can come out of VA. While slowly changing, this perception is still widely held by sommeliers, distributors, and much of the general public.  It will take time to convince folks that a lot of knowledge, dedication, and capital are being invested in Virginia wine and that we can create wines that have distinct personalities (that infamous “terroir”) and that can rival any region. (Editorial note:  Your humble correspondent couldn’t agree more – Virginia’s wine time has come, and the national spotlight is now beginning to highlight the potential of wine here in the Commonwealth.   All the years of hard work from the wineries/winemakers that have been here in Virginia is gaining exceptional momentum.  Although some readers will disagree with me on this point – I feel that Virginia will eclipse New York and Washington state in both wine quality reputation and wine sales in the near term.)

DWYL:  Describe one unexpected challenge you’ve encountered and how you handled it.

I can’t think of just one, as everyday is a new challenge for someone starting a winery, but at the top of my list would be the Virginia climate.  It is a lot more work than we had expected to nurse fruit to where we want it to be.  We have to work a lot harder than most because the Virginia weather can be so unpredictable.  This year is a good case in point:  Record heat in April, followed by frost, and now draught-like conditions.  We can make it work, but with a lot more effort than if we were in Sonoma County!

DWYL:  The velocity of new winery openings here in Virginia is certainly increasing which is great for the industry as a whole and a benefit to wine consumers, but presents a challenge to the new wineries in terms of getting noticed.  What makes Hume different?

Our spirit of innovation and experimentation is our primary differentiator with a focus is on very small lots that offer something unique.  There is still a lot of room in Virginia for experimenting, both with viticulture practices and in the winery.  At Hume, we want to be the folks who will experiment with new blends or ripeness levels, or something else that no one else has attempted yet.  Not for the sake of being different, but in a spirit of learning about how we can make better wine.  We are also learning how we can shift form our reliance on conventional farming to organic practices.  This latter one is a real challenge in light of Virginia’s climate, but we believe that with exchanging ideas and know-how with other producers who have done so (e.g., Shinn Estate on Long Island) we can do it here as well.

Having not tasted Hume’s wines yet, I am unable to attest to their quality, but I suspect they will be excellent and interesting given Stéphane and Andrea’s commitment and spirit of experimentation!  Hume is definitely one to watch!

If you are out and about on the Virginia wine trail, stop by Hume’s official grand opening celebration on July 10^th.  Check out www.humevineyards.com for details on their wines and grand opening celebration.

Aerial photo of Hume property.

Sunrise at Hume Vineyards.

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Nautilus Taste Live Recap

*Disclaimer: I received the Nautilus wines as samples to participate in the Taste Live event.

On Wednesday night I participated in a Taste Live event organized by Creative Furnace and Negotiants USA featuring wines from Nautilus Vineyards.  Based in Marlborough, New Zealand, Nautilus produces 42,000 cases of wine annually.   This year’s vintage marks Nautilus’s 25^th.

The Nautilus Taste Live line up. Photo taken by Rob Cordosi

For those unfamiliar with the concept, the Taste Live <www.tastelive.com> format provides an opportunity for a group of wine bloggers throughout the US to taste the same wines and share their tasting notes and thoughts live via Twitter.

We tasted three Nautilus wines as part of the tasting – 2009 Sauvignon Blanc, 2008 Pinot Grigio and 2008 Pinot Noir.

The 2009 Sauvignon Blanc was the first in the tasting line up (at least at our place). I believe the suggested retail is $16.  The group at our house opened this one before the tasting started to pair with the steamed seafood bowl my wife fixed – shrimp, scallops, mussels, corn and kielbasa with butter and Old Bay.  I love how the jalapeno, hints of bell pepper, and citrus worked so well together.  The acidity made this a perfect wine for the hot, humid evening on the deck.

Thoughts from the Twitter gallery…

“Holy jalapeno – this #nautiluswine SB is rockin the little green pepper!” ~ @DrinkWhatULike (that’s me)

“Nautilus SB 09 is tasting great. Crisp, fresh, with some groovy tropical layers.” ~ @NegociantsUSA

“As the wine warms a little more, getting some kiwi and more grapefruit to balance the herbal of the SB” ~ RobBralow

“…definitely herbacious. Not getting asparagus tho. Maybe green pepper.” ~ @WineBratSF

Next up in the tasting was the 2008 Pinot Grigio.  $18.99 suggested retail. Although this Nautilus Pinot Grigio was ok, I’ve never been a fan of the grape, and this one did little to change that.  A few notable tweets for the Pinot Grigio:

“this pinot gris is an excellent food wine. perfect with light cheeses and smoked meats” ~ @RobBralow

“ginger…nutmeg…” ~ @NegociantsUSA

“Spiced pear for me on the nose of the Pinot Gris” ~ @Sonadora

“The 08 Pinot Gris, perfumed pear, lemon, spice and soft toasted notes.” ~ @MyVineSpot

“PG 08 WOW mineral. A bit of light butter, some nice honeydew mellon and then nothing but minerals and sea salt.” ~ @RobBralow

“Looks like #NautilusWine SauvBlanc is the overall white fav amongst the group of tasters.” ~ @DrinkWhatULike

The final wine in the lineup was the 2008 Pinot Noir. $25 Suggested Retail.  Nautilus has 60 acres of Pinot that includes seven different clones.  This is the only red wine that Nautilus produces – about 4,500 cases produced.  This NZ Pinot exhibited a lot of similarities to many of the Pinots I tasted during my trip to the Adelaide Hills region of Australia. By far the overall fan favorite – excellent QPR.

“On the Pinot, I get red fruit, coffee, spice, sweet toasty oak…” ~ @MyVineSpot

“Heard from peanut gallery here at The Morgan’s @Nautilus Pinot Noir – ‘cherry cobbler’ ‘hot’ ‘raspberry’ ‘pink peppercorn’ ~ @DrinkWhatULike

“…rich black cherry, Dr Pepper, black raspberry on nose. red zinger – hibiscus, red currant, juicy juicy juicy” ~ @WineBratSF

“(Katy) My fav match is wild duck or venison with a redcurrant sauce. Mmm mmm.” ~ @NautilusEstate

For our group, the Pinot Noir was the overwhelming favorite, with the Sauvignon Blanc trailing in second place.  I’d like to have the Pinot in a lineup during one of our ‘Pork and Pinot’ tastings – would be interesting to see if anyone picked this one out as a NZ Pinot.

As always, Taste Live was a fun, fast-paced, enjoyable event.  Big thanks to Katy, Brett and Clive of Nautilus for participating, Crista from Negotiants USA, and Cailyn at Creative Furnace for pulling this together.  And, a smaller thanks to Rob and Jen for coming over, chatting, eating our food, drinking this wine, and taking photos.

Out on the deck, enjoying food, friends and Nautilus wines... Photo by Rob Cordosi.

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Va Winemaker Interview Series – Virginia’s Grape – Part III

This post marks the final part in this Virginia Winemaker Interview Series – What Grape Works Best In Virginia.

As I noted in Part I and II, this series is a follow up of sorts to the ‘Thomas Jefferson was right: The grapes that work best for Virginia’ session at the Drink Local Wine Conference last month.  Since the session resulted in such robust discussion, this series is intended to provide a forum for more Virginia winemakers to share their opinions on what grape they feel works best in our climate (or works best in their micro-climate).

Part I of the Virginia Winemaker Interview Series featured:

• Stephen Barnard, Winemaker, Keswick Vineyards
• Emily Pelton, Winemaker, Veritas Vineyard & Winery
• Jordan Harris, Winemaker, Tarara Winery

Part II featured:

• Derek Pross, Gadino Cellars
• Sébastien Marquet, Winemaker/Vineyard Manager, Doukenie Winery
• Jason Burrus, Winemaker, Rappahannock Cellars

Today, in Part III, we hear from:

• Matthieu Finot, King Family Vineyards
• Andy Reagan, Winemaker, Jefferson Vineyards

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Matthieu Finot, Winemaker, King Family Vineyards

What grape do you feel is ideally suited for the Virginia climate?  Why?

Chardonnay:  Classical grape, easy to grow and I think can make very good wine, better balance in VA than CA (I think) but doesn’t have the best reputation (a little bit like merlot).  If we’re careful to not over oak the wine and keep a balance with the acidity, it will make great wine.

Viognier: Very aromatic varietal became VA white signature wine and I think it is justified.

Albarino: More suitable than Sauvignon Blanc to produce fresh aromatic white wine.  This varietal likes heat, clay and doesn’t need lot of difference of temperature between night and day to maintain freshness.  Not widely planted but probably one of the white varietals with the best potential in Virginia.

Petit Manseng: Perfectly suited to produce desert wine – high brix with low pH and high acid, tough skin, and good resistance to rot.

Merlot: Despite the ‘Sideways’ effect I think merlot is great for Virginia (at least in central Virginia) and can produce wines more Bordeaux style.  Same thing as the chardonnay, we can keep a better balance with the acidity, we can have the phenolic ripeness without having the flat “sweet” overripe jammy merlot.

Petit Verdot: If we’re looking for big bold wine this is it – small berries produce dense, dark, tannic wine.  Can sometimes be a little too simple or monochrome, but with good acidity.  Perfect for blending but can overpower the blend – It can also stand by itself quite well.

Tannat:  Tannat is tannic and produces high brix with good acidity (like the petit manseng in white).  This varietal likes clay, and if it’s grown properly can do very good in VA – very hedgy varietal that needs to be ripe to be good but can produce outstanding wines.

What grape would you say is not well suited for our climate?  Why?

The very hot and humid climate – not lot of difference of temperature between night and day – and clay soil can be a problem for some varietals.  Although I do not like to name what doesn’t grow well here in Virginia because I am sure that somebody will prove me wrong.  Here’s a list of varietals that I would not plant in central Virginia for myself (it doesn’t mean that we can not make good wine with them):

Pinot Noir:  Too sensitive to rot doesn’t like hot weather.

Sauvignon Blanc: Difficult to keep a good acidity, like cool weather to keep sauvignon flavor.

Cabernet Sauvignon:  Will make good wine on very good year, when it can get very ripe, the other years it will make only average wine.

Riesling and Gewurtz: Cool weather varietals.  We’re loosing too much acid.  Riesling is very sensitive to rot.

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Andy Reagan, Winemaker & Vineyard Manager, Jefferson Vineyards

What grape do you feel is ideally suited for Virginia’s climate?  Why?

With all of the advances in root stock, and clone selection, it is hard to single one variety out.  I would have to go with Petit Verdot, it seems no matter how rainy the season, if cropped properly and well maintained even in the wet years you can have a well-ripened PV.

Conversely, what grape would you say is not well suited for our climate?  Why?

I would have to go with Pinot Noir, with the exception of really high and cool sights in the Valley, the heat and humidity and length of the growing season really inhibits the development of any real structure, color or tannin.

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Thank you Matthieu and Andy for taking time to participate in this Virginia Winemaker Interview Series.

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Bandol, Berry, and Boxwood

As a proud Global Warming skeptic, I am reluctant to believe 99.9999% of the hyperbole spewed by the “environmentalist” crowd, however, I will admit that my skepticism has softened in the last few years as I’ve experienced first hand how the weather patterns here in Southeastern, VA have changed markedly.

Although we experienced record snowfall this winter, the heat of summer moved on us quickly, sneaking past spring.  Save for a few days in the late 60’s, spring is MIA.

What does all this have to do with wine?  Not much – other than the fact that weather tends to affect my personal wine consumption habits. The warmer spring weather is a beacon to begin opening up the Rosé.

In addition to having a Gamay fetish, I am a Rosé feign.  I love the stuff, and consume generous amounts during the summer months.  I’ve found two winners so far in this year’s Rosé season:

• Domaine Tempier 2008 Bandol Rosé
• Boxwood 2009 Rosé

I tried the Domaine Tempier 2008 Bandol Rosé at the Chesapeake Bay Wine Classic. If I had to describe this light salmon-pink wine in one word it would be ‘pretty.’  It’s the Halle Berry of wine – no matter what movie role she plays, no matter what she wears, no matter what her hair looks like – she’s just damn pretty, no matter what.  So is this wine.

The Domaine, located in the heart of Bandol, has been in the Tempier family since 1834.  The Rose is a blend of Mourvèdre, Grenache, Cinsault, and Carignan – fermented in steel after cold soaking, then matured in large vats for 6 – 8 months before bottling.  Light salmon pink with orange hues in the glass, this wine showed an expressive nose of strawberry, raspberry, watermelon candy, orange peel, followed by more strawberry, watermelon, peach, mineral, and copper flavors in the mouth.  The strawberry/watermelon component carried through to a long finish.  Very crisp, clean, with excellent acidity.  About $35/bottle retail.  Imported by Kermit Lynch for over 30 years. Damn good!  Big ups to Bill Averett from Roanoke Valley Wine Company for pouring this beauty during the event.

If you haven’t tried the Rosé from Domaine Tempier, use this summer as your reason to do so – July 4^th would be a great occasion for such a wine.

On to my second favorite Rosé of the season so far – from right here in the Commonwealth – the Boxwood 2009 Rosé. I happened across this wine at the Drink Local Wine Conference live twitter taste event, and am hooked.

Boxwood Winery is located in scenic Middleburg, VA and also has three satellite tasting rooms located in Middleburg, Chevy Chase, MD, and at the Reston Town Center in Reston, VA.  Boxwood Winery is owned by John Kent Cooke, son of the late Jack Kent Cooke, former owner of the Washington Redskins.  Boxwood’s consulting winemaker is internationally renowned French vigneron Stephane Derenoncourt.

Boxwood 2009 Rose – This steely wine is light pink with lively aromas of peach and strawberry with mineral and light fruit on the palate.  At $12/bottle, the Boxwood Rosé is absolutely one of  ‘the’ best value wines in Virginia – perhaps highest QPR wine in the state.  This is a perfect wine for sipping on a summer afternoon when only a crisp, refreshing wine will do.

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