2012 June - Summer Selections

 2012 June - Summer Selections
Wine Club Notes, June, 2012

We always want to save the best for our Wine Club members and bring out classics as well as new experiences for the season.   Harry Truman had a sign on his desk that says “The buck stops here”, and I have a replica of it on my desk.   If you ever have comments, concerns, suggestions, criticisms, please contact me directly.
Info@CooperVineyards.com Attn: Jeff Cooper

With that out of the way, let me comment a little on the state of the vineyard and winery and then describe the summer selection of wine club wines.   Bud break was two to three weeks early this year due to the warm winter and early spring (with the exception of Norton, our native grape which was able to keep sleeping and not be fooled until its normal time to emerge).  The early bud break put us at prolonged risk for spring frost damage.  Our frost control strategy relies upon our site selection (and we have lost fewer than 2 tons of grapes due to frost in the history of the vineyard).  We squeaked by again this year despite a low temperature of 32 degrees, but no frost damage!  We planted three new acres of vines (approximately two of Viognier and one of Albariño) on March 31.  I am happy to report that only two vines out of the more than 1700 planted failed to take.  The new vines have already grown more than a foot above the grow tubes, and hopefully will provide a good first harvest in two years.  The rest of the vineyard has exhibited great early season growth, and seems not to have suffered any ill effects from the wetter than normal late spring.  Boone has worked tirelessly in the vineyard and has it in wonderful shape.  The foliage has been thinned, shoots are positioned, and the grapes (particularly Chardonnay) have great sunlight exposure.  The Petit Verdot is really coming into its own and should reward us with a nearly full harvest for the first time.

The Tasting room continues to be the aesthetic focal point, incorporating panoramic views of the vineyard to create a relaxed ambience and blended indoor/outdoor space.  We are pleased to announce that we have received notification of Platinum LEED Certification, the first winery on the East Coast to reach this level and only the second one in the country!  We have had several weddings on the site, and have many more planned, using the wedding tent and winery with ceremonies in the Shady Grove.  Karen and I enjoy having dinner on the deck when we are at the winery, and watch the wild turkeys and deer come out at twilight to feed at the pomace pile and then get a drink at the pond (stay away from the vines, dammit).

Now, how about those wines!

Rhapsody:  A perennial favorite.  Why include a semi dry wine in a wine club?  Because it is a summer thriller, that’s why!  Rhapsody is one of the first wines we produced, and has remained one of our most popular.  It is a blend of Chardonnel and Vidal Blanc with some Viognier blended in with 3.5% residual sugar.  The Chardonnel gives it the wonderful apple flavors, and it has enough crisp acidity to stand up to the refreshing sweetness.  I was the first winemaker for Rhapsody, and I’ll always remember doing the test blends to decide on the right amount of residual sugar.  Jacque came up with the name.  She was driving to work, listening to the Grateful Dead play Bob Dylan’s song “My Masterpiece” and heard the line “Life will be sweet like a Rhapsody when I paint my masterpiece”. Hmmmm, “sweet like a Rhapsody she thought, what a perfect name for a sweet wine!”   Please join us in saluting one of our classics. Enjoy it by itself (naked in the hot tub), or with spicy food like Thai food.

Coopertage Blanc 2011:  It is the first 90 degree day of the summer as I write this.  I lived in Italy for a year, and always remember how Italians drink white wines in the summer and red in the winter (reds thicken the blood….).   Coopertage Blanc is a blend of Chardonnay and Viognier.  It is something of a holy grail to me.  I love the way that the soft, round succulence of Viognier fills in the sharp, citrus edges of the Chardonnay.  Our blend truly seems to work, and for me, it fills the same place as a white burgundy:  supple, complex, and wonderful with food.  This year’s blend is 73% Chardonnay and 27% Viognier.  The Viognier is neutral barrel fermented, and experiences some new Cadus Oak.  As always, thank you Graham for your understanding and mastery.

Coopertage 2009:  As many of you know Dr. Hogge and I are both physicians, and we maintain full-time clinical practices on top of our passion at the winery.   It was the quest to create a great Bordeaux-like wine that led me to start the winery in the first place.  Our efforts to grow Cabernet Sauvignon proved fruitless (no pun intended), although we have produced very good Merlot, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc.  Starting in 2008, we have been able to obtain excellent Cabernet Sauvignon from Carter’s Mountain near Charlottesville.  It is this 67% Cabernet that forms the backbone of our Coopertage.  We blend it with 13% estate Merlot and 20% Petit Verdot.  I strongly believe that the future of wine is in blends, and that the era of “fighting varietals” is drawing to a close.  I love the way this blend has solidity, approachability and great fruit.   We hope you enjoy this complex, rich temptress with a summer steak on the grill (or for vegetarians like me a boca burger!). (By the way, the 2010 Cabernet is so good that we will produce a varietal Cabernet Sauvignon this year for the first time since 2000, but that is the subject of another (perhaps next quarter?) newsletter).

Enjoy!

Jeff Cooper, along with Jacque Hogge, Graham Bell and all the staff at Cooper Vineyards.