Saturday, April 24th kicked off the first of the blending workshops with our winemaker, Bill Swain. The wine being blended was our future Virginia Gold 2007 vintage. Virginia Gold is our Bordeaux blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Merlot, and Petit Verdot, all of which are grown right here on the Ingleside estate. This wine is only made from premium vintage year harvests, the last being 2002. Winemaker, Bill Swain, notes that 2007 was a “wonderful vintage year… bad for the farmers but good for the vineyards.” What constitutes a good vintage year for a wine is that the weather was warm and dry well into the harvest season, allowing the grapes to ripen to perfection, giving our reds an intense flavor.
At this blending workshop, participants worked hard along side of Bill for over five hours to develop the best blends of these grapes for the future 2007 Virginia Gold release. Each grape variety is done in different styles of barrels leaving each barrel with a different taste. Of the five wine varieties being used, 100 barrels were tasted. Participants unanimously stated that “It’s so amazing how the same wines in different barrels can taste so different and in a positive way!” The wine blend is not yet finalized but they have narrowed it down to three blended candidates in which Bill will choose and bottle next month. Though the pressure is on us to release our new Virginia Gold as soon as possible, perfection takes time and could bottle age for as much as a year.
The next blending workshop is Saturday May 1st 6 – 8 pm where the winemaker will be barrel blending the Petit Verdot 2007. Space is still available. Call 804.224.8687 or visit our website www.inglesidevineyards.com for more info.
