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Winemakers Notes on 2009 Vintage
2009 started with a persistently cool and damp spring, which effectively made spring vine management a challenge but did not at that point effect quality. Once fruit was set and we transitioned to mid-Junly, the weather pattern shifter to persistently dry, but remained cool. Our proactive and aggressive approach to vine management at Chateau O’Brien is designed to maximize ripeness progression even in the most challenging years. I can proudly say that our vine management philosophies and practices are paying their rewards at this point; yielding ultra-ripe fruit year after year, with subtle expression of each vintages weather implications.
Whites showed exceedingly well in 2009 in response to these cooler conditions, affording a longer hang time for greater concentration of delicate fruit flavors and aromas, a vibrant and bright vintage. This was our second harvest of Pinot Grigio which is now showing the true promise of consistent vivid and lively character, with subtle tropical fruit expression and an intriguing minerality. In the Chardonnay vineyard, some management changes effected vine composition and balance, that when combined with the cooler temperatures, produced the most intensely flavored barrel Chardonnay we have yet seen in our winery. We also picked our first ever crop of Petit Manseng and is also showing great potential. The first processing of any varietal requires much patience as we try to understand the direction the fruit and wine wants to go and create the conditons for it to prosper. Ours appears to be telling us it is intent on being stylistically semi-dry with luscious fruit and fabulous rounded-depth. And finally to conclude whites, the apple wine is as fabulous as ever.
Reds required patience, but upon wrestling with the critical decisions of timing harvest for each varietal, the rewards are again truly evident. I’m finding the greatest passion for those varietals that perform at the highest level every year regardless of the weather conditions. Many of you have experienced the accomplishments with the Tannat varietal - but we are also increasing excited about the consistent, ultra-premium quality arising from our Malbec and Petit Verdot vineyards. These are some of our younger vineyard blocks and therefore, our first opportunity to bottle these varietal wines will come from the previous 2008 vintage, which is still in barrels in the winery (intended release summer 2011.) This is very exciting! The Malbecs are medium bodied with overflowing distinct varietal flavors and a graceful pallot progression that makes the words silky and velvety seem like understatements. The Petit Verdot is a bold full bodied wine with a great front pallot exuberance that maintains a long finish and quality tannic structure. As always, the Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon produce smooth and lusciously flavorful blends that carry the signature style we have all come to love from Chateau O’Brien. Our cellar practices for reds are building upon the 2008 vintage transition to un-inoculated indigenous yeast fermentations, which are creating truly round and broad pallot profiles with a depth and complexity beyond many expectations of the potential for Virginia Reds.
Overall, a beautiful vintage, building upon the momentum of highest quality wines produced in 2007, 2008, and now 2009 - we offer the promise of great things to come.