Thursday, April 19, 2012
Mountain Rose Vineyards
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| This is their motto: From Mines to Wines and Everything Fine! |
So my environmental mining class took a field trip to wise county to visit many different locations. One of the locations we stopped at was the Mountain Rose Vineyard in Wise, Virginia. The reason for a bunch of mining engineers to stop at a winery is because this winery was started on reclaimed mine land. This family owned and operated winery was not huge but it was very interesting. We started with a tour of the vineyard. Below are some pictures from the tour.
The picture to the left is the first picture I took at the vineyard. The grapes of course have not came in yet, but notice the pond at the bottom of the hill. They use this pond for the facilities at the vineyard. However, when this property was an old coal mine this used to be a sediment pond (meaning a place to
catch runoff and hold the water while the soil and debris in the water settles
out to become sediment). To hear that they have reclaimed an old sediment pond to a naturally functioning pond with the native fish and the water is now clean enough to use in the facilities, is amazing.
The photo to the right is of David the owner and wine maker holding a mustard plant. If I remember correctly the reason for planting the mustard seed had to purposes. One purpose was to ward off some kind of lizard. The main purpose was to enhance the soil. The mustard plant and several other clovers and flowers planted would bring the nutrients up to the surface and help loosen up the soil to make it ready for the deep rooting grapevines. They had to do this for all of the area that would be getting grapevines. Fun Fact - when they first started after mining there was not one earth worm to be found for miles. Today every shovel turn will expose an earth worm. So they have been very busy making this land usable for grape growing.
The photo to the left is a row of young grape vines. As you can see there is not much of a slope. David mentioned that in the middle of each of these rows is a flat area where not one grape vine will thrive. This is due to the large amounts of water that catch here. When they asked the mining company to grade the land they originally asked for a flat contour because they knew they would be farming something, potentially apple trees. Had they know they were starting grape vines they would have asked for a steeper slope so the water would run-off better. Wise county gets a lot of rainfall and this makes wine making tough for David.
The background of how this vineyard started is so fascinating to me, since I am a mining engineer myself. To be able to see the reclamation of an old coal mine is incredible. David mentioned that if we could figure out how to get the left over coal out of the ground we could strike it rich. When we all looked closely at the soil around the vines we could see the small pieces of coal just hanging out. Its not a problem its just extra carbon in the soil for the grapes, well at least that's how David saw it.
David focused more on the history of the land and how he took this property from mines to vines. He didn't focus much at all on his grapes during the vineyard tour. But he did go into more details later in the evening.
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Next we went back to their tasting room for dinner and wine tasting. They had a catered dinner set up for us and allowed us to taste up to five wines for free. I didn't have any wines with dinner but I did get to enjoy five of their wines.
The 5 wines I chose to taste were (note: their wines are not labeled by variety, they are named for different coal seams located in the region):
Banner White: Which they said: Ripe peach and pineapple exude from the elegant aroma with the palate following the same fruity characteristics.The smooth, mouthwatering finish just tempts you to take your next sip. Off-dry. Grapes: Seyval. This wine has won multiple awards: Wines of the South 2008, Silver; Wines of the South 2009, Bronze; Virginia Governor's Cup 2009, Bronze.
* I did agree with the fruity aromas of peach with a hint of pineapple. On the taste it was not as fruity to me. It had the hint of peach and pineapple but it had more of an earthy taste.
Blair White: For this wine they said: Vidal/Seyval Blanc blend with a floral and lime bouquet, and lemon/pineapple flavors. The crisp, clean finish is great with chicken, cheese of for sipping any time. Semi-sweet. Blanc. This wine won: Virginia Wine Lover Classic 2011, Silver.
* On the nose lime and flowers was definitely accurate. The taste to me was more lemon/lime, but there was a subtle hint of pineapple. It was delicious and sweet with a very crisp finish.
Darby Blush: This wine review stated: Luscious grape and fruity aromas are followed by strawberry flavors in this crisp, semi-dry blush made from the red grape, Chambourcin. The clean green apple candy finish makes this a perfect wine for sipping or with a variety of foods. This wine won the Ines of the South 2008, Silver.
* This wine was one of my favorites. It definitely had a green apple candy finish and it was delish. Fun Fact - these grapes are grown at one of their other vineyards located in St. Paul. They own and operate 3 small vineyards.
Dorchester: Elegant spectrum of fruit and a slight oak echo in this gang buster cherry flavored wine with a nuance of nut and a velvety finish. This wine is perfect to enjoy with a wide range of foods and cheeses. Off-dry. Grapes: Chambourcin. Won: Wines of the South 2009, Best of Reds.
* this wines review is spot on and was really good.
Pardee Red: Delicious red sipping wine that has nice cherry and a hint of grape flavors. The wine is smooth from the beginning to the end with great body and mouth feel. This SWEET wine can also be paired with foods like honey ham and pasta. Grapes: Chancellor & Chambourcin. This wine won: Virginia Wine LOver Classic 2011 - Silver and Wines of the South 2011 - Silver.
* This wine was amazing (and I am not a fan of red wines). Davids mom recommended that this wine be used in sangria, That's what she used it for. She also used it in a Chocolate Devils Food Cake and added vanilla ice cream. Best cake I have ever had.
This concluded my wine tasting. They offered 8 white wines, ranging from a dry Reisling to Autumn Gold, their "late harvest" or "ice wine". They offered the one blush wine that I tried. They offered 6 red wines ranging from their dry Jawbone (made up of Chancellor and Cab Franc) to their Pocahontas Red, which is their sweet desert wine.
Overall, I found this vineyard facinating, how they could reclaim a mine site and make wine from it. The processing of the wines was interesting. I could not figure out what they did to their red wines to make them so delicious and soft (opposite of the bold punch you in the face reds I am used to). When I asked David why his reds were so soft and easy on the pallet he responded, "We are very gentle in handling our grapes."
I would recommend these wines and this vineyard to anyone that loves good wine at a good price. This family was so kind and caring and enjoyable to be around.
For the full story about this vineyard and their family, go check out their website: https://www.mountainrosevineyard.com/
The story of how David got started is very interesting as well as how the vineyard got its name: Mountain Rose (the canary in the mine). To understand check out their full story.
The 5 wines I chose to taste were (note: their wines are not labeled by variety, they are named for different coal seams located in the region):
Banner White: Which they said: Ripe peach and pineapple exude from the elegant aroma with the palate following the same fruity characteristics.The smooth, mouthwatering finish just tempts you to take your next sip. Off-dry. Grapes: Seyval. This wine has won multiple awards: Wines of the South 2008, Silver; Wines of the South 2009, Bronze; Virginia Governor's Cup 2009, Bronze.
* I did agree with the fruity aromas of peach with a hint of pineapple. On the taste it was not as fruity to me. It had the hint of peach and pineapple but it had more of an earthy taste.
Blair White: For this wine they said: Vidal/Seyval Blanc blend with a floral and lime bouquet, and lemon/pineapple flavors. The crisp, clean finish is great with chicken, cheese of for sipping any time. Semi-sweet. Blanc. This wine won: Virginia Wine Lover Classic 2011, Silver.
* On the nose lime and flowers was definitely accurate. The taste to me was more lemon/lime, but there was a subtle hint of pineapple. It was delicious and sweet with a very crisp finish.
Darby Blush: This wine review stated: Luscious grape and fruity aromas are followed by strawberry flavors in this crisp, semi-dry blush made from the red grape, Chambourcin. The clean green apple candy finish makes this a perfect wine for sipping or with a variety of foods. This wine won the Ines of the South 2008, Silver.
* This wine was one of my favorites. It definitely had a green apple candy finish and it was delish. Fun Fact - these grapes are grown at one of their other vineyards located in St. Paul. They own and operate 3 small vineyards.
Dorchester: Elegant spectrum of fruit and a slight oak echo in this gang buster cherry flavored wine with a nuance of nut and a velvety finish. This wine is perfect to enjoy with a wide range of foods and cheeses. Off-dry. Grapes: Chambourcin. Won: Wines of the South 2009, Best of Reds.
* this wines review is spot on and was really good.
Pardee Red: Delicious red sipping wine that has nice cherry and a hint of grape flavors. The wine is smooth from the beginning to the end with great body and mouth feel. This SWEET wine can also be paired with foods like honey ham and pasta. Grapes: Chancellor & Chambourcin. This wine won: Virginia Wine LOver Classic 2011 - Silver and Wines of the South 2011 - Silver.
* This wine was amazing (and I am not a fan of red wines). Davids mom recommended that this wine be used in sangria, That's what she used it for. She also used it in a Chocolate Devils Food Cake and added vanilla ice cream. Best cake I have ever had.
This concluded my wine tasting. They offered 8 white wines, ranging from a dry Reisling to Autumn Gold, their "late harvest" or "ice wine". They offered the one blush wine that I tried. They offered 6 red wines ranging from their dry Jawbone (made up of Chancellor and Cab Franc) to their Pocahontas Red, which is their sweet desert wine.
***
The processing of the grapes once they are off the vines are pretty standard except David said, "We are very gentle with our grapes." This meant that, First they de-stem the grapes. Then sort them on a sorting table to make sure all of the leaves and stems are off the grapes. Then they put them into a bin and add the yeast where they will ferment, with the skins still on the grape. Some juices will come off the grapes at this point. Then they press the grapes with the machine shown in the pictures below. After that they are put into either stainless steel tanks or oak barrels. Some of the wines still get oaked but not in barrels. They are oaked using wood chips in the steel tanks. Some even get fermented with oak shavings. Enjoy the following pictures representing the pressing tank, steel tanks, oak barrels, and the oak chips and shavings. |
| Stainless steel aging tanks. |
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| Oak Barrels - American Oak and some Hungarian Oak. |
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| Oak Chips added to the stainless steel takes to impart the oaky flavor. |
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| Oak Shavings added during the fermentation process. |
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| Pressing tank. |
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| Inside of the pressing tank to see the bladder that is filled with air to press the grapes. |
I would recommend these wines and this vineyard to anyone that loves good wine at a good price. This family was so kind and caring and enjoyable to be around.
For the full story about this vineyard and their family, go check out their website: https://www.mountainrosevineyard.com/
The story of how David got started is very interesting as well as how the vineyard got its name: Mountain Rose (the canary in the mine). To understand check out their full story.
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