Old Town Crier, April 2008 Issue
Exploring Virginia Wines by Doug Fabbioli

The Daffodils are blooming, the grass is turning green and the sap is running from the freshly pruned grapevines.  Here comes the birth of our next vintage of what we all hope to be another great growing year in the Virginia wine country.  I have learned over the years that the best way to succeed in this industry is to play well with others.  When people plan a wine tasting trip, they will visit three to five wineries within the area.  It is important that the wineries act as ambassadors to the region; know the other wineries and other amenities in the area.  Many customers came to buy some of my wine, but I know they will buy other wines as well as lunch, a few antiques and maybe a scarf made from alpaca fiber from up the road.  That is what the rural economy is all about. 

As our industry continues to grow, there is more collaboration happening to ensure good visits by guests and good business for the wineries.  There are more tour groups developing now.  Some are focusing not on the bigger wineries, but on the smaller ones like mine that will give a more intimate experience.  Of course because the tours are smaller, the pricing will be more, but this gives an option to the visitor that wants something special.  I am also seeing more localized winery maps.  With more wineries in the state, these smaller, regional maps will be the main tool for the self guided tours.  I do not always think of myself as being in a tourist industry, I am a productionist and artist making great wines.  But I recognize that the customers like to see the winery and enjoy the experience of the country.  We can do that.

On May 17 and 18, Loudoun County will be having its Spring Farm Tour.  Go to www.loudounfarms.org for more information on the tour.  Fabbioli Cellars will not only be offering wine tastings, giving tours of the vineyard and cellar, but we are hosting a rural market.  This is for the farmers, producers and artisans in the area that would like a place and an audience for their products but are unable to open their farm for the tour.  This is our first time doing this and I am already getting lots of promising interest.  Come on out and visit us.  Feed the local green economy and it will pay you back in spades.  That is my shameless plug of the month.

Production Update
Many of the small Northern Virginia Wineries are finding a problem in their business plan:  there are not enough bottling lines to bottle all of the wine we have been making.  I guess this is what we call growing pains.  With more wineries opening and the current ones bottling more wine each year, we have created a need for a new mobile bottling line to service us.  There are plans in the works but this is just one of those issues where I wish I had better foresight.  (In a previous column I wrote about how a mobile bottling line can have all the fancy high tech equipment to bottle our wines without having to own the equipment and use it only 3 days a year.  The Mobile bottling line has been a great tool for efficiency and higher quality.)  I will give you an update next month on our progress with this issue.

Vineyard Update
The vines are warming up and ready to pop.  We want them to stay hunkered in for a little while longer.  Some of you may remember the freeze we had last Easter.  Many tons of crop were lost in Central Virginia and further south because the buds were open and the freeze burned them off.  All of the crop for the year is nestled in those tiny buds, so protecting them is critical.  An early spring and a late freeze is a bad combination.  Let’s hope that does not happen this year.  We are finishing up the pruning of the vines and spreading compost to feed the vines for the year.  We also are spreading lime throughout the vineyard to sweeten the soil.  We will take soil samples and add according to the recommendations. 

The Loudoun Wine Trail has 2 new additions this spring with more to come.  Notaviva Vineyards has recently opened and will be featured on HGTV in a few months as they show the building process of the winery, home and business on Dream House.  Shannon and Steve Mackey are young, energetic owners that bring their love of music, wine and life to all that they do.  On the other side of the Short Hill Mountain is Hiddencroft Vineyard.  Clyde and Terri Housel are opening on May 3rd what will sure to be a hidden treasure of the valley.  The combination of fruit wines and classics will make for a memorable tasting from Clyde’s experienced winemaking hand.  Get more information on these wineries and others on the trail at Loudounfarms.org or visitloudoun.org.