2007, the First Great Pennsylvania Vintage

Posted by Keith Wallace on Jan 5, 2011 in News | 3 comments

Eric really should have told me to take the right infront of the Amish lass picking flowers. She was there everytime I sped past. Eric Miller’s voice, recorded and replayed several times over the feeble speaker on my cellphone, is calmly giving directions to turn right at Mansion street.

After a few more circles through the Brandywine Valley, I manage to accidentally turn up that correct street–Natmensing Road–and drive between an home that looked to be propped up by tall grass and a barn that should have been. I turn up the hill, and am suddenly –potholes be damned– driving into a hilltop vineyard at 40 miles an hour.

Hitting the brakes as the rows of empty vines flicker by, I tuck the car against the deer fence on the top of the hill. Getting out in a juggle of camera, notebook and cellphone, I make a few stumbling steps until I can get my self in order. Calm and professional, I start walking into the nearest row of vines. Within a few steps, I loose my footing again. This time, its not just my inherent clumsiness, it is pure amazement.

Eric, the winemaker & co-owner of Chaddsford Winery, had called me a few days before. There was a possiblity of a ladybug infestation and he had asked me to tag along as he inspected the vines. He was planning to finally harvest his Cabernet Sauvignon in a few days, but such a infestation would mean problems. The bugs –if accidentally harvested with the grapes– would give the wine a nasty swampy smell.

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The Science of Soil

Posted by Keith Wallace on Dec 29, 2010 in News | 0 comments

I loved this article from the Lancaster Farming website by Chris Torres, “A Systems Approach to Organic.”

It’s a quick, and fascinating, read about how California winemakers recently demonstrated to local growers — in a workshop sponsored by our unbeatable local resource, the Penn State Cooperative Extension — those methods proven to create healthy soil and raise organic vines notwithstanding our sticky climate on the East Coast.  Apparently, the basic components for sustainable (and soil loving) agriculture remain the same no matter the location:  employing integrated pest management (IPM), using minimal tillage and herbicides, increasing biodiversity, and introducing cover crops doused with ample compost.  In fact, one local winemaker, Ed Boyce of Black Ankle Vineyards, has taken to using dish soap and canola oil to control pests, and hand weeding to control weeds.  This doesn’t make for cheap wines — his starting prices reach $26 a bottle — but how wonderful that the sustainable ethos is spreading to an area with as many winemaking challenges as we find here in the tristate area.

This piece also reminded me of a lovely portrait of a New Zealand winemaker in the Guardian a few weeks back.  “A Working life: The Winemaker“, by Mark Tran, will take you on a stroll through Chapel Down’s vineyards with winemaker Andrew Parley who, while detailing the vast amounts of hard work that go into production, still conveys the love of soil and craft that spurs winemakers through each bud break and harvest season.  Don’t miss the snapshot of what it’s really like to live full-time in the world of wine at the end of the article.