Sparkling Wine Making - Part I

SPARKLING WINE MAKING - PART I
Saturday, April 25, 2009

Our Sparkling Wine Making class met on April 25th. Champagne native and master sparkling wine maker, Claude Thibaut, was our instructor. Claude grew up in the Champagne region of France and he has worked as a sparkling wine maker in France, Australia, California, and now Virginia. After our classroom session at PVCC we went to Veritas Winery where Claude makes his sparkling wine. It was a great class! Here are some of my notes from class and some pictures:

• Only three grapes varieties are allowed in the production of Champagne: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier.
• The Champagne region of France lies at the northernmost limit of vine cultivation. It has an annual average temperature of 50 degrees Farenheit.
• The two most popular methods for making sparkling wine are: Methode Champenoise, the traditional method, and the Charmat Method, also called the tank method.
• For sparkling wines, the levels of sweetness from least to most sweet are: Brut natural/Brut zero, Brut (most common), Dry, Sec, Demi-sec, and Doux.
• The United States produces about 110 million bottles of sparkling wine.
  
  Claude makes an excellent Virginia sparkling wine called Thibaut-Janisson. It's a Blanc de Blanc, made from 100% Chardonnay grapes. It has aromas of apples and pears, and a crisp, refreshing taste.
  
  Next week: Our Legal Issues in the Wine Industry class being held at Cardinal Point Winery.
  

SOIL PREP AND PLANTING CLASS
APRIL 18, 2009
DELFOSSE VINEYARDS

Our Soil Preparation and Planting class met on Saturday, April 18th. Our Instructor was the award winning grape grower, Chris Hill.

When planting vines:

• Holes should be about 10" deep - use an auger!
• The graft union should be about 2" above the soil
• For ungrafted vines with no graft union, a less shallow hole is needed. Just get the roots in the ground.

After our classroom session, we went to DelFosse Vineyards and Winery and we planted about 100 Malbec vines. Here are some pictures.

It was a beautiful day to be in a vineyard!

DelFosse Winery offers some excellent wines. I would recommend their Chardonnay Reserve, Viognier Reserve and their Merlot. They are also one of the few Virginia wineries that offer Malbec as a varietal. For more information about Delfosse Vineyards and Winery check out their website at http://www.delfossewine.com.