2020 Virginia Petit Verdot

Winemaker Notes:

Visually the wine shows a beautiful dark garnet.  Aromatically it is explosive with ripe berries, black cherry, red apples, and plums.  Along with the riper fruits there is a touch of dark fruits wrapped in cocoa and a hint of cola. This is all combined with some fresh leather, limestone, and herbs.  The oak is elegantly woven into the fruit nuances creating a lovely complexity and some soft graphite.  The finish is very clean with soft rounded tannins and the bright fresh fruits coming forward.  This wine should age well over the next few years.

Vintage:

This was a tough year on many counts.  The winter started mild and was somewhat uneventful with moderate temperatures.  Then in April and May Virginia was hit with some severe frosts devastating some growers.  We then had a very wet start to the summer which proceeded to dry up with some extreme heat days.  The rains then remerged in September making for difficult conditions with the grapes ripening.  The rains did not completely dissipate for the remainder of harvest and did allow for some nice days to work.

Blend

87% Petit Verdot, 13% Cabernet Franc

Harvest

The Charlottesville Petit Verdot grapes were harvested on 5th October at 22.6 brix, 3.45 pH and 7.46 g/L TA.  The Wessex Hundred Petit Verdot Grapes were harvested on 8^th October at 22.0 Brix, 3.59 pH and 7.96 g/L TA.  The Bent Mtn. Cabernet Franc was harvested on 22^nd October at 21.7 brix, 3.91 pH and 6.43 g/L TA.  The Covesville Cabernet Franc was harvested on 9^th October at 20.6 brix, 3.50 pH and 5.14 g/L TA

Vineyard Source:

Charlottesville, Virginia – 50% (Petit Verdot)

Wessex Hundred, Williamsburg, Virginia – 37% (Petit Verdot)

Bent Mountain, Virginia – 8% (Cabernet Franc)

Covesville, Virginia – 5% (Cabernet Franc)

Fermentation

The Charlottesville Petit Verdot fermented for 7 days in stainless steel with IONYS Yeast.  The Wessex Hundred Petit Verdot was cold soaked for 2 days then fermented for 9 days in stainless steel with D54 Yeast.  The Bent Mountain Cabernet Franc fermented for 6 days in ½ ton macro bins for 6 days with Alchemy III Yeast.  The Covesville Cabernet Franc fermented in ½ ton macro bins for 6 days with CSM Yeast.

Aging

12 months in 87% French Oak Barrels and 13% Hungarian Oak barrels.

Bottling Date

19 January 2022 – 920 cases

Release Date

February 2022

Technical Information

12.3% Alc

3.53 pH

6.75 g/L TA

0.035% RS (dry)