Wine Club Notes – December, 2012

Wine Club Notes – December, 2012

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

Wine Club Notes, September, 2012

I have been sitting on the deck sampling the new Chardonel and Chambourcin, which are two of this quarter’s three selections. (It is a tough job, but somebody has to do it!).  It is mid-August, summer is in full swing, but the days are already perceptibly shorter.  I can see bird netting covering half of the vines while wild turkeys and a few deer come out at sunset.  I am reminded that this will be the last wine club pick up before Thanksgiving, and I am already reflecting on the fall ahead, harvest, Thanksgiving, and completion of another cycle of grape growing and wine making.

All of us, the Cooper Vineyards family (now numbering more than 150 wine club members) are thankful for the opportunities afforded us in our great country.   There will be an election this year, and regardless of one’s political philosophy, we are united by the understanding that ours is a nation of incredible freedom and opportunity.  Our vineyard was once walked by Jack Jouett, Virginia’s Paul Revere.  He is a patriot who rode on horseback from here to Charlottesville and Monticello to warn Thomas Jefferson and the Virginia Assembly that the British were coming.  His success and the sacrifice and forethought of our fathers and forefathers have allowed our nation to grow and prosper.  I am humbled by their dedication and sacrifice. I hope that you will participate in the electoral process and remember that in order for evil to triumph all that is needed is for good men to stand idly by and do nothing.  

This has been a dicey and interesting year to be a grape farmer.   Spring came early after a warm winter.  We were at risk for frost damage for much longer than usual.  We are glad to report that we skated by without a frost event despite a low temperature of 32 one night.  Our newest vines (Viognier and Albarino) were planted on March 31 followed almost immediately by a hot and dry April.  We were prepared and diligently watered and fed them.  After being protected by grow tubes, which Boone and Tyler will remove this week, they are ready to start hardening in for winter.  They have had such nice growth that we are stringing a second wire for them to strive for.    The vineyard is thriving.  The vines have been hard at work converting sunlight into award winning grapes.   The fruit set in Merlot has been less than usual (we blend the Merlot with some of our other Bordeaux varietals).   We understand that there is a shortage of Viognier in the Commonwealth so will most likely have to rely upon our own production without supplementation from other vineyards.   I am optimistic of a harvest that will bring us high quality grapes that we will make into fine wines.  (I was similarly sanguine one year ago at this time before Hurricane Irene hit, but that is another story!)

As always, I am in awe at Graham’s incredible talent at spinning golden wines out of the raw materials with which he is presented.  He is truly a master and has an understanding of wine creation that transcends mere chemical knowledge.   The more I learn about wines the better appreciation I have for his ability.  Two of the wines that we are releasing to the wine club as part of this selection would not have come about without Graham’s urging.   Thank you, Graham for persevering!  

For this September release of wines, I tried to imagine three events that you may experience before our next allotment to you.  The first is the end of summer with perhaps a trip to the beach, time by the pool, or a summer picnic.  Our new release, Chardonel is the perfect white wine for these occasions.  The Chardonel is from 2011 and was harvested pre-hurricane Irene after a perfect growing season.   It is the perfect end of summer white with depth, flavor and interest. 

Football season has begun, and for tailgate parties, or for outdoor barbecues with meats on the grill, our other new release, Chambourcin will be the perfect companion.  The year 2010 was outstanding for Virginia grapes and allowed this Chambourcin to develop its maximal potential, creating a flavorful, complex, nuanced wine that is a pleasure to drink. 

The 2009 Petit Verdot has continued to age in the bottle and now presents a mature, complex blockbuster of a wine.  It has been a multiple competition medal winner for us, and continues to improve with age.  This will be served at our Thanksgiving table to go with Muscovy duck (thank you, D’Angelo) and dark meat turkey.

Let me close by giving thanks to all of you for participating in this journey with us.  Jacque, Karen and I are blessed to work with exceptional colleagues.  I hope you will appreciate the tireless efforts of Boone, Graham, Tyler, Larry, Leslie, Marie, Kate, Dan, John and Jan, Bill and Judy, D’Angelo, Bobby, Kim, and Regina in our efforts to make the Cooper Vineyards Wine Experience unparalleled.   

If you have thoughts or comments you would like to share, please contact us at the winery at info@coopervineyards.com or (540)894-5474

From the Cooper Vineyards family, Jeff & Karen Cooper, Jacque Hogge, Graham Bell and all the staff at Cooper Vineyards, thanks to you for making us what we are today.


TASTING NOTES
Chardonel 2011 – Harvested after a good growing year for whites and just before hurricane Irene hit Virginia, this wine was so good that we just had to bottle it as its own varietal!  Reminiscent of a French Muscadet, this wine has pear aromas and flavors married with citrus and honey.  The mid-palate has surprising body for this clean, white wine with a mineral finish.  Great with seafood!
219 cases produced

Petit Verdot 2009 – Silver 2012 VA Governor’s Cup, Silver 2012 Int’l. Eastern Wine Competition, Best in Show for Red 2012 Chesterfield Celebration of the Vine, and Silver 2012 Atlantic Seaboard Wine Competition.  With enticing aromas of vanilla and blackberry, this deep ruby-colored wine with a mild structure delivers flavors of black cherry, caramel, and cassis, followed by a soft finish. Pair with duck or quail.
384 cases produced

Chambourcin 2010 – This was an epic year for Virginia grapes.  Our Chambourcin is rich, deep and complex.  Aromas of leather, coffee and freshly turned earth lead into jammy flavors of plum and raisins over a structure of soft, integrated tannins.  A huge long finish completes the California Zinfandel-like experience.  Enjoy with grilled meats!
322 cases produced 
 

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.

February 28, 2012

Past Notes: 2012 June

February 28, 2012

Chardonnay 2010

By any measure, 2010 was an exceptional growing year for grapes in Virginia.  The summer was hot and dry, but the field was well charged with water from abundant Spring rains.  The fruit was harvested in excellent condition, and made our best Chardonnay yet.  The vines are among the oldest on the property (initially planted in 1999, with extensive replanting in 2003).  The fruit was entirely estate produced, and these mature vines are giving us a consistent, flavorful, nuanced Chardonnay.  Several years ago we realized that we were able to get a fully ripened chardonnay with excellent fruit characteristics without having a high alcohol level that would necessitate oak addition.  Consequently, we moved to making a non oaked (all stainless steel) Chardonnay, and have never looked back!  I think that this is our best effort yet, and hope that you will enjoy it as much as we have.

Cabernet Franc 2009

Cabernet Franc is the classic Virginia red grape.  It was initially chosen by Virginia Vineyards as a Bordeaux varietal that could create a big red wine.  Cabernet Franc ripens 2 weeks earlier than Cabernet Sauvignon, and can be more predictably harvested fully ripe before the Autumn rains arrive.   As we have made Cabernet Franc through the years, we have come to the realization that Cabernet Franc works best in a softer, claret style.  We use it the same way that others would use a Pinot Noir, enjoying it with more subtle and complex meals.   We like the way the strawberry fruit flavors come forward associated with soft tannins.  To create this blend we combined Cooper Vineyards Cabernet Franc with fruit from Mt. Juliet Vineyards.   Rigorous, individual barrel selection combined to make this quintessential Cabernet Franc. 

Norton Reserve 2010

Cooper Vineyards is known for Norton.  Our Norton vines were the first we planted, and we love growing the grape and making the wine.   Norton was first hybridized by Dr. Daniel Norton in Richmond in 1820.  It is a New World grape, and was Virginia’s first varietal to achieve international recognition.  Our approach to Norton has been to try to achieve a fruit forward, friendly, drinkable wine that appeals to more than simply Norton aficionados.   The hallmarks of our approach to vinifying Norton can be summarized as follows : (1) Get  ripe fruit.  We let the fruit hang the longest of any of our grapes so that we can achieve full flavor development and ripeness.  (2) Handle the fruit gently.  We do not pump any must with Norton, but destem  using gravity into fermentation bins, do manual punch downs, then dejuice the fermented wine and transfer the solids to the press by hand (yes, one 5 gallon bucket at a time.  Check out our biceps at the end of harvest!).  (3) Use appropriate yeasts to elicit the exuberant flavors and soft tannins.  (4) Age in Virginia Oak.  Tradition has it that Norton cannot tolerate much new oak.  We have found that good Norton fruit is enhanced by new Virginia Oak Barrels, and incorporate them appropriately.     

Once a year we have a Norton vertical tasting (which will be held this year on March 10^th).  We open all of our old vintages going back to 2001.  We have been impressed by how even the older vintages maintain their quality and exuberant fruit without signs of decline.   We hope you enjoy this effort, which has obtained our “Reserve” classification. 

Welcome Wine Club Members

 Welcome Wine Club Members
 
On behalf of all of us at Cooper Vineyards, we would like to welcome you to the Cooper Vineyards Wine Club.  We are excited about the club, and view it as more than just a vehicle for shipping wine to you, but rather as a way to reward our best and most interested Cooper Vineyards friends.  We hope that you will avail yourself of discounts on the purchase of wine, use of the tasting room facilities, and preference for our special events. Our Cooper Vineyards Wine Club Blog is a good way to read about our production of wines, the harvesting logs and vineyard growth. We invite you to participate in our discussions.

If you have an idea for additional benefits, or ways that we can improve your Cooper Vineyards experience, please do not hesitate to let us know.  We consider you family, and you are our best customers.   We may be reached via email at info@coopervineyards.com, or by telephone at (540) 894-5474.

We hope you enjoy these wines, and have as much fun drinking them as we had making them for you! Our Wine Club is over 300 Club Members and STILL growing! If you have not registered for the Wine Club you may do so here.