Preparing the Vines for Spring

The three major snow storms that blanketed our area this winter caused our vineyard crew many sleepless nights.   Pruning of the vines is now complete and the last of the cut vines are being removed.  Soil samples have been taken to determine if our pH is the proper level for the upcoming season.  In this area of the Commonwealth we often have to add lime to our soil to insure a neutral pH is achieved.  It is interesting to note that when you see many pine trees you will generally find higher pH levels; grape vines want a balanced pH soil.

Mat Thomas pruning the vines.

Winter is also the time we repair our trellis, deer fence, tractors and other equipment.  Once the growing season begins there is little time for such work; the vines take center stage and a great deal of tender loving care.

We have 540 vines per acre in our 26½ acres of vineyards, which means approximately 14,500 vines to care for each year.  A few of these plants die each year and must be replaced due to a number of factors; galling, damage from equipment or they had an improper graft between the native rootstock and the upper clone.   It's a difficult task to pull and replant vines within an established vineyard; however, with our ingenious crew and good equipment we are able to complete this task with minimal effort.

Making Wine during Winter

Kevin Jones working with the barrels.

Upcoming Events

Please mark your calendar for Saturday, May 22, 2010.  This will be the date of our 2^nd annual "A Taste of New Kent" Wine Festival.  Sponsored by the New Kent Chamber of Commerce and hosted at the New Kent Winery, this festival is destined to become one of the best in Virginia.  Last year's event was enjoyed by some 6,200 guests and this year will be even better. For ticket information: ATasteofNewKent.com

Classics on the Green Classic Car and Wine Festival

Save the date, September 19, 2010, will want to be at the winery to enjoy more than 450 antique classic cars, wine, music and good food.  Formerly Classics on the James, held at Brown's Island, this is an event you will certainly enjoy.  This year's featured car is the Porsche & will have some of the most historic and valuable cars on the east coast.

Click on the photo for more information.

Wine facts

Wine has been around a long, long time!

Wine has been made for millennia; an early piece of evidence, in the form of a wine-stained amphora, dates back to more than 3,500 BC.  Some archeologists believe they can date findings of cultivated grape pips to 7,000- 8,000 BC. 

The effect of oak

Wine may be stored in a variety of materials, including stainless steel, concrete, fiberglass and wood.  Aging wines in oak barrels makes wines that are different than those made using other storage units.  First, there is a small exchange of gases through the pores of the oak and the wines; this slow oxygenation softens the astringency of the young wine and reduces the fresh primary aromas. 

New oak barrels also give wines a particular flavor, most obviously vanilla.  This has a delicious affinity with the flavor of some grapes, notably Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay. If overused, however, new oak can dominate the flavor of the wine and become overbearing with its intensity.

We made the decision early in our business plan that we are an American winery and we would use American oak barrels in our production.  Our oak comes from White Oak trees found in Missouri and it is coopered (made into to barrels) for us in California by Demptos Napa Cooperage.

We will use a barrel for approximately three to four applications; some of the white wine applications may involve wines being stored in oak barrels for only a few months and some of the red wine applications may take three or more years.  A white wine barrel can move up and be used in the production of red wine, but a red barrel cannot move back to be used in white wine production.