We head into Winter with a blockbuster trio of wines for you, our family of wine club members. We hope you enjoy them! Before we get to the wines, a few notes about goings on at the vineyard. As I write this, on November 12, experiencing what promises to be the last sunny warm day for a while, I can’t help but reflect on what a nice year it has been. Owning a vineyard (and winery), really puts one in touch with the cycle of the seasons. I often think of the line from the song “The Wheel” (hint, check elsewhere in the vineyard for other Grateful Dead themes!) that goes “Every time that Wheel turns around, bound to cover just a little more ground.” In the past year we have settled into our tasting room, started our wine club (thanks to all of you, now just over 300 strong), planted 3 more acres of vines, and released several new wines while garnering top awards for our wines and facility, locally and nationally. It has been a good year, and all of us at Cooper Vineyards are grateful to all of you for coming along on this journey with us.
The vineyard is in fine shape. Although it is mid November, the vines still have some leaves because we have not yet had a hard freeze. Boone and Tyler have been busy stringing wire in the new block and pounding in end anchors. They will soon do trellis work to repair damage from the growing season (storms, weight and tractor damage) and tighten wires before starting pruning. Boone has done an exceptional job, and the quality of the fruit we harvested this year was the best yet.
This year’s wines show great promise. I have previously written about the uncertain weather this growing season presented. We dodged multiple dangers that damaged grapes elsewhere in the State this year, from early frost to early drought to extensive storm and hail damage. Despite these threats, we managed to emerge with a full crop of excellent quality fruit. We are pleased with the young wines and optimistic that they will finish strongly. We generally age red wines for one to two years in oak barrels. We will have a bottling date in December for some of our reds which have been in barrel for a year or two, and the test blends are delicious. I think our new 2010 Cabernet Franc will be the best one yet. Our Chambourcin that was part of the last wine club selection recently won a gold medal in the National Grand Harvest Awards Competition.
The Tasting Room received its LEED Platinum certification in June, 2012. The effort was multifaceted with members of the design and implementation team working on multiple fronts to achieve it. Special thanks to Michael Pellis, our visionary architect, and Rebecca Arons-Sydnor who administered the submission process. We now have a handsome plaque above the fireplace making it all official. Along the way we received the 2012 Virginia Green Travel Star as the Green Facility of the year! And we were voted the Best Tasting Room of the year 2012 by the readers of Virginia Wine Lovers Magazine. It serves to be a friendly place for all to enjoy our wines.
Now, onto this quarter’s selections. Winter is the time for all to enjoy the fruits of our labors. It is a time for solitude and prolonged enjoyment, a time for reflection and deep analysis. The wines should have a similar depth and complexity, and we are happy to present you with a trio of our finest.
The first is our 2011 Viognier. Brought to us from the Northern Rhone region, Viognier has become Virginia’s grape, and Virginia Viogniers are regarded among the world’s finest. We have developed a reputation for the quality of our Viognier that puts us in good standing with our peers. To make our Viognier we start with ripe fruit. (Under-ripe Viognier has a characteristic grapefruit flavor while adequate ripening allows a full palette of pear, melon and passion fruit flavors to come forward.) We whole cluster press the fruit, do neutral barrel fermentation, and age mostly in neutral barrels with a few barrels of new Cadus oak to add complexity. We rigidly select the barrels of Viognier to be bottled with only the best becoming our varietal Viognier, the remainder is used as blending wine for our other white wines. Enjoy its honeysuckle aroma, weight and unctuous feel. Check out the impressive legs, and enjoy by itself or with winter root vegetables, roast chicken or duck. Silver 2012 VA Wine Lovers Magazine Wine Classic and Silver 2012 Grand Harvest Awards.
316 cases produced
The second selection for this quarter is Noche, our most popular and most famous wine. With a Norton and Chambourcin base, this chocolate infused gem is certain to bring a smile at the conclusion of a special meal or the start of a romance. Enjoy by itself, slightly chilled, or to accompany cheese cake or vanilla ice cream. (My favorite is with hot apple pie a la mode!) . Gold 2012 Atlantic Seaboard Wine Association, Silver 2012 VA Governor’s Cup, and Bronze 2012 Town Point.
1724 cases produced
The third is the one of which I am most proud - Cabernet Sauvignon. Everyone who starts a winery has dreams of creating a classic Cabernet Sauvignon or Pinot Noir. I have always admired the Cabernets, and have looked to Bordeaux and then to California as guides to what a Cabernet can become. In 2010 we were able to secure a small allotment of Cabernet Sauvignon from Carter’s Mountain, near Charlottesville. (Carter’s Mountain is the premier site for Virginia Cabernet Sauvignon.) After fermentation, we aged this 100% 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon for 20 months in 100% new French Oak. This is the first Cabernet Sauvignon that we have bottled in more than ten years. We recommend decanting this wine for maximal enjoyment. Cabernet Sauvignon is the backbone grape for the Bordelaise. It does not tease with wanton fruit, but is restrained and has intricate tannins layered upon each other with hints of the mature fruit that will awaken as the tannins age and soften. It is young, blossoming with soft floral notes mixed with old leather, and ready to emerge with future greatness. Today this wine is a thoroughbred colt, energetic, exuberant, playful and filled with promise of the power and grace to come. Enjoy now with cheese or red meat and allow the cherry and plum flavors to emerge. Marvel over the length of the lingering, crisp, clean finish. This is certainly a cellar worthy wine, and will not meet its maximal potential for several years to come. Bronze 2012 Grand Harvest Awards. (An incredible first medal for this young wine up against California Cabernets!)
227 cases produced
From our family to yours, a votre santé!
Jeff, Karen, Jacque, Graham and all of your friends at Cooper Vineyards
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