Follow-up Post: “What works best for Virginia?”
Jason Burrus, winemaker at Rappahannock Cellars in Rappahannock County responds with a follow-up post on which red and white wine grape works best for Virginia. Many Virginia wine consumers think it to be Viognier and Cabernet Franc, while some in the industry would just as soon take Chardonnay and Merlot. In this follow-up post, Jason continues to make the case for Chardonnay and Merlot.
What works best for Virginia?
Chardonnay and Merlot
From a business perspective, sometimes being "unique" is the kiss of death. Pioneers make for great editorial content, but most are fantastic failures. Let's make what we're already critically successful with and what's already selling: Chardonnay and Merlot. Let's blaze a trail to mainstream wine culture without reinventing the wheel. Then, when we're successful, we can promote those unique varieties that we've developed an affection for and know makes great wines. If this is the direction we want for Virginia wine, then I doubt there's any other way we can do this. This formula has already worked before. Would we care about Chilean Carmenere if it weren't for their Cabernet Sauvignon? How about New Zealand Pinot Noir without their Sauvignon Blanc? We love California Syrah and Zinfandel. But there wouldn't be California Syrah and Zinfandel without the Chardonnay, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon as the basis for their industry.
Viognier and Cabernet Franc
Finally, I want to address the idea that the industry is saturated with Merlot and Chardonnay. I suppose it is. But then again the alcohol industry in general is saturated with wine. For many of us with a business perspective, breaking the mold is the only way to the mainstream. It's been done before. If we can't do it, then we should get comfortable with always remaining a boutique industry. There's an unspoken feeling from our counterparts on the west coast that we pursue off-beat varieties because we can't compete with mainstream varieties. Let's prove them wrong.
Have a question about this post, friends? Feel free to leave a comment or send me an e-mail at myvinespot@yahoo.com, and as always, Happy Sipping! Stay tuned friends ...More to come!
Info: Rappahannock Cellars,14437 Hume Road,Huntly,VA 22640, T(540)635-9398
Click here to visit Jason's vintner's blog.
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3 comments:
Jason: Thanks for the further peek into your beliefs on this topic. Always great to get more information when we're discussing topics like this one.
This comment could get a little long, but I'll try to keep it focused as best I can!
First, with regard to "my thought is to put as many bottles of Virginia wine into the hands of those that have never tried it."
I think that anyone in a new or emerging region wants that. I'm just not convinced that goal is what should make this "what grapes do we focus on" decision. If you really want to put VA wine in the hands of as many people as possible, sweet rose and whites seems to be the easy way to do that. Right way? No, but if simply putting wine in hands is the goal, that's a good way to do it.
Perhaps I'm mis-reading your post, but I feel like there are some contradictions in it, so perhaps you can explain further.
You say "From a business perspective, sometimes being "unique" is the kiss of death." But then in the next paragraph you say "For many of us with a business perspective, breaking the mold is the only way to the mainstream."
The "mold" in this case IS merlot and chardonnay.
Your discussion of Chilean and Kiwi winds is an interesting one, but I think there's one major component missing -- price.
You can, even today, find good Chilean cab and Kiwi sauvignon for $12 or less. That's how they were able to break into those markets. You can pick up $9 Chilean cab that is better than many $20 cabs from California in my opinion.
Can you make chardonnay and merlot -- even of the same quality -- as California (or Burgundy or Bordeaux) for significantly less money? In the -- as you admit -- saturated market for those wines, that's going to be extremely challenging.
While we're comparing VA to other regions, why not take a look at Oregon, which has latched onto pinot noir and made that grape its own? To me, that's a model that every non-West Coast region should consider emulating.
Again, I'm not saying that VA chard or merlot aren't any good. I've had fine examples of both. And this certainly isn't France -- diversity is a great thing. It's great that we CAN grow chardonnay next to merlot next to petit manseng next to petit verdot next to nebbiolo. But as far as an identity, I think it makes a lot more sense for any emerging region to "break the mold" and "blaze a new trail" with varieties that they can do, do in a distinctive way and use to differentiate themselves.
One other point worth making I think -- is the VA industry mature enough to even select its signature varieties? I'm not sure that it is!
Hello Jason, Lenn, et al
I wanted to thank Jason for the guest blog post and all those who left comments, as well those who DM’d, e-mailed, and tweeted their opinions to me. I do think Jason makes some valid points in his two posts. Keeping the questions in perspective – “What works best for VA” – you have to consider Chardonnay and Merlot. This question differs from unique varieties or possible break-out varieties. Chardonnay has been the top planted variety for over twenty years and there is a good reason why it has not lost this spot – overall, it does a good job in the vineyard and you already know its reputation in the winery. Matching variety to site in these parts is very important. We have a lot of red clay with moderate to high water holding capacities and typically showers during harvest season. Merlot is better suited for such and also ripens fairly early, so in the event we get steady showers early during harvest season the Merlot can hang and correct itself (provided we stay dry). Merlot is very vital to our Bordeaux-style blends too, which is one of our most consistent wines (red wine blend) in quality for producers crafting nice blends. Style is difficulty to control – at least naturally – due the randomness of our growing seasons.
That said, varieties like Cabernet Franc, Viognier, Petit Verdot, Petit Manseng, etc. are all up-and-coming. While these grapes are well known, as varietal wines they are not so well known – especially outside our area. Our industry has pushed both Cabernet Franc and Viognier via a number of producers growing and producing it and educating the public to it. The industry created the demand for those varieties and there is still a lot of work to be done. Both Viognier and Cabernet Franc have been hugely successful, but quality and style are scattered throughout the Commonwealth. At the very least, we have to get on the same page as a wine producing region with pushing the envelope on quality if the goal is to make inroads nationally.
I think Lenn put it best, “is the VA industry mature enough to even select its signature varieties? I'm not sure that it is!” Our industry is very young and growers are still trying to match site with specific grape varieties Guys are still pulling up stuff and planting new – this takes time. Additionally, we don’t have enough of anything planted IMHO right now to blow-up with that variety on a grand scale. A grape we haven’t even heard of yet, decades from now, may just be the one to put Virginia on the map. I hope we are still on Twitter to talk about it. It’s going to take time, but while I’m living and breathing I’m going to enjoy and witness the rise of the Virginia wine industry.
How about Nebbiolo?
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