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

Man this joint is jumpin’!
This is the time of year when the vines are growing so fast that you can almost watch them.  And with the amount of rain we have had this spring, they are growing even faster along with the grass and the weeds.  In another 2 weeks, many of the shoots will be touching the top wire, and will continue to grow.  We will hedge them to keep them from shading the fruit, but each of those leaves is like a little solar panel.  They will gather the energy from the sun to feed the plant and ripen the fruit.  We are always balancing the vine to keep enough leave to ripen but not too much to create shading.  The growing season is in full swing and we are running hard.  Also, this rain adds a lot of disease pressures.  We are regularly applying fungicides to protect the vines from powdery mildew, downey mildew, phomopsis and black rot.  These are sprays that protect but break down quickly, so we need to apply more often when there is more rain.  Not the fun part of the job, but critical to success.

Not only is the vineyard busy, but the tasting room is very busy.  Springtime brings out the customers as well as the growing reputation of Virginia wines.  We are getting visitors from Maryland, VA, DC, PA, Ohio and many other places.  Many are making VA a regular destination for quality wines.  I cannot tell you all how proud I am of that.  I am not one to brag as many have been involved in starting and building this quality industry.  I am very pleased to be part of a winning team.  With all of the wine festivals, wineries, restaurants and wine shops having VA wine, be sure to try a new one this week.

Bottling Again?
When I finish writing this, I will be pulling sample to taste, and make final decisions on the Cabernet Franc blend.  We are bottling this in a few weeks.  Cab Franc is a wine that many are unfamiliar with.  It grows very well here in VA, because it can survive the humidity and can consistently give positive varietal characters, even in the rougher years.  It is the red grape of the Loire Valley and when grown right can have great complexity, spice, fruit and a little earth.  If you are at a VA wine festival, be sure to focus on the Cab Francs from different wineries.  There is diversity along with quality.  We always want to try one more level of quality.

One Farm at a Time
There is an old saying about protecting or purchasing land because God is not making anymore.  As we have grown as a nation we have filled in the lands that were farms 100 years ago in this area with homes, stores and office buildings.  Those green spaces are harder to find but critical to our survival.  This is a big congratulations and thank you to Steve Cox and Avis Renshaw, owners of Mom’s Apple Pie Company here in Northern VA.  They purchased a 371 acre farm in Lucketts, north of Leesburg, 11 years ago.  With its rolling hills, ease of access, and 1 mile of Potomac shoreline, this was ripe land for the developers to build some high end homes.  Steve and Avis just closed the deal to give up their development rights and put the land into a conservation easement.  We eat off this land when we have a strawberry pie or asparagus quiche from Mom’s.  This arrangement has ensured that this land will stay green, and that the farming can continue.  This may sound like a shameless plug, and it is.  The folks at Mom’s pies are hard working, salt of the earth people that are dear to me and others around them.  Patronizing businesses like this makes life around us better.  So have a pie. www.momsapplepieco.com Shops in Sterling, Leesburg, Warrenton and Occoquan.  Tell them Doug sent you.