Acorn Hill Winery

The Vineyard

“Often times it’s the little things done in the vineyard that have the biggest impact.”

Benjamin Abric, Vineyard Manager

1st year of the Acorn Hill vineyard

The first consideration in choosing where to plant a vineyard is, as you would expect, the soil; and then the direction of the rows, which should always be north to south, because this provides the most advantageous exposure for the grapes to the course of the sunlight. The vineyard locations were selected because of their ideal soil combination of clay & sand, which allow the vines to grow deep into the earth. We were able to identify 40 acres of premium grape–growing land on the property.

We next identified classic French varietals that were proven to be ideal for Central Virginia. It is critical to consider the spacing, since it will have a vital impact on the growth and health of the vines. Based upon our soils, we implemented a program of close spacing. We have 7 feet between rows, and 3–3/4 feet between each vine. This type of spacing increases density, and encourages the roots to grow deeper. This is a different approach then most vineyards take in Virginia. You will also see in our vineyards that we have Vertical Shoot Positioning (often referred to as VSP), which is a type of canopy management. VSP and close spacing of the vines provide the grapes with better exposure to sun and air flow, and minimizes the potential of disease caused by the humidity.

Benjamin Abric, Vineyard Manager

Vineyard management requires year–round care and maintenance which is ably provided by Benjamin Abric. Benjamin hails from the Rhone wine region of France. Here he gives you a peek into a typical calendar year in the vineyard.

January through March is all about pruning the vines. Benjamin prefers Guyot, a Bordeaux–style pruning for all of the varietals, except viognier. He prunes the viognier in Cordon de Royat, a typical Rhone style. The importance of pruning cannot be overemphasized, because it will determine the number of clusters.

March — The wind machines in the vineyards aid in preventing frost for upcoming bud break, which is a critical time in the vineyard. Early Spring is also the time to add nutrients to the soil. For example, we might add some lime for acidic soil. This is also the opportune time to do general maintenance of the vineyard.

Bud Break

April, May & June — Bud break happens in April, and is the first sign of what’s to come. It signals to us that the growing season has begun, and brings all of the excitement and anticipation of another vintage. Shoot thinning follows bud break, which is done to control the quantity and size of clusters.

June — The blooms begin to pop out. This is the time when we try not to touch the vines too much, because they are very sensitive at this stage — a crucial moment in the growing process.

July & August — During this time we continue to do shoot thinning, as needed; and this is also when leaf thinning begins. It is a very important step in correctly exposing the grapes to the sun, so we start thinning on the sunrise/east side of the vineyard.

Veraison

The other, and very exciting, development in July is the beginning of veraison, which is the word to describe the grapes changing to their color of ripeness — the red grapes, which were originally green, begin to take on their true colors. It is at this time that our vineyard crew will start “dropping fruit,” to ensure that what remains on the vine is more concentrated. This is also one way to fight against risk of botrytis and humidity pressure, both of which can lead to diseased fruit.

August and September, maybe into October — HARVEST!! This is where all of the hard work pays off! We pick everything by hand, another effort to ensure the very best grapes for our wines. The whites are always first: Pinot Gris, Viognier and Chardonnay. Then the reds, in this order: Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot. Every harvest is exciting, in one way or the other — it’s either a happy exciting, or a nail–biting exciting — depending on the conditions of the growing season. So, at the end of the day, Mother Nature will have the final word, but with AH’s knowledgeable and experienced vineyard and production crew — our wines will always have the best advantage!

But what about those young vines? Acorn Hill’s Vineyard is a young one, first planted in 2005. It’s customary to drop the fruit, after bloom, for the first two years to allow the vines to strengthen without using their energy to bear the fruit. But due to some excellent growing conditions, we were able to harvest fruit for our first bottling in 2006.

This year, we are planting a cover crop between every other row, which will lead to lower vigor for the vines and combat erosion. This is one example of expert vineyard management. Another is using a Subsoiler, which is used to fight the weeds by rooting them out, and it also cuts the surface of the vine roots to force them to grow downward — we prefer this to using herbicides.

When planting the vineyard, one is planning and thinking ahead 25 years — with the goal to achieve great complexity from the fruit as the vines age. We are constantly looking for ways to push the quality of the fruit to the next level.

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