Vineyard
Notes
The Merlot grapes are grown at Carter's Mountain, located about twelve
miles from First Colony Winery at an elevation of 1165 feet. The vineyard
is on a western facing slope on the top of a ridge with fertile Davidson
red clay soil with some greenstone. Due to the high elevation, this
site has excellent drainage and is above the frost zone. Planted in
1996 on a 8 x 10 foot spacing, the vineyard uses a divided (Smart
Dyson Ballerina) canopy.
A long, dry summer turned into a long, dry autumn, producing the
best vintage to date in Virginia's winemaking history. Due to the
phenomenal weather conditions, the grapes were picked according
to their optimum levels of Brix and pH.
Cellar
Notes
The grapes were gently crushed and destemmed, leaving 15% as whole
berries to ferment with the juice. This method of delestage, the
process of removing the juice from the tank, allowing the "cap"
to collapse on its own, and then racking the juice back in on the
top, intensifies the color of the wine and extracts more tannin
from the skins.
During fermentation, the winemaker pumped over the wine four times
a day. After four weeks on the skins, the Merlot was aged in 50%
new oak barrels: 70% American and 30% French oak. After eight months
of aging the wine was racked, fined with egg whites and bottled
without filtration. This wine exhibits aromas of coffee, chocolate,
oak and chestnut on the nose with a smoky, peppery and lavender-filled
finish.
|
This
site is best viewed with a screen resolution of 1024 x 768 and the latest
version of....