On Friday, June 3, 2016, I visited the stunning Crosskeys
Vineyards in Mt. Crawford, Virginia with parents. This was my first time visiting a winery and
grape vineyard. I was very eager to
learn about the winemaking process and see a vineyard up close. Crosskeys definitely
surpassed my expectations! We were running behind schedule and wanted to have lunch
prior to the 2:00 pm tour. The Crosskeys staff was extremely accommodating. We
called ahead and they had our lunch waiting for us when we arrived! We enjoyed a
delicious lunch at the Bistro while soaking in the amazing view of the
vineyards.
me enjoying a sandwich and some wine
Jessica, our tour guide, is studying to be a viticulturist.
She was an informative and extremely entertaining tour guide. We learned Crosskeys
is named after the decisive battle victory called the Battle of Cross Keys that
was fought in 1862, in the Shenandoah Valley lead by Stonewall Jackson. The gold crossed keys are an ancient symbol
of hospitality, excellence and prestige. Today, the keys represent the desire
to produce excellent wine, which Crosskeys definitely does!
the tourguide
We learned that in the 19th Century, Cross Keys
Tavern serves as bar and brothel. In
1862, Crosskeys was converted into a hospital for the wounded soldiers in the
infamous battle at Crosskeys. In 2011, Crosskeys was purchased by Bob and Nikoo
Bakhitiar. They along with their two
sons Sam and Baback, are active in the business. Sam serves as Director of Operations while
Baback serves as Director of Marketing). Stephan Heyns, of Malmesbury, South Africa
is the Winemaker and he travels to Virginia twice a month to oversee the
winemaking.
We learned that when the Bakhitiar owners first saw the land
it was an absolute mess of overgrown cedar trees and scrubby trees. However,
they saw the potential when they walked to the highest point on the property
and saw the beautiful Massunutten Mountains.
In 2011, they planted their first vines and after seven years of blood,
sweat and tears they opened the tasting room in 200. They offered the first vintage harvested in
2006.
the vineyard
They produce approximately 7,800 cased of wine per year at
Crosskeys. Which is considered small, but they focus on quality vs. quantity
and they only use grapes from their vineyards. In the vineyards we spotted several windmill
like structures. We learned that these are
German made machines that keep the frost from forming on the vines by emitting
propane, causing a warming effect. The
machines cost $100,000 each, and they have five of them! To date, the machines
have only been used one time, which seems like a lot for a $500,000
investment! However, when considering
the cost of losing an entire vineyard for a season of wine-making it was a sound
investment.
the windmill is rather far away in the picture
The grapes are harvested when the winemaker decides the
grapes have reached the peak level of sugar and acid levels in September and
October. Once the grapes are picked
they are placed into large bins. The white
grapes are placed in refrigerated truck beds because they are more fragile in
hot climates. The grapes are transported
into the winery were they are hand sorted and any damaged grapes are removed.
The red wine making process is much more labor intensive than white wine it
must ferment longer with the skins. In
white wine, the grapes are crushed to extract the juice and skins play no
further role. The stems are removed and
the grapes are sprayed with a light mist of water to clean them and then
transported into large stainless steel fermentation tank. The grapes are then crushed and pressed by
employees that work with a large tool that looks like a potato masher to crush
the grapes. To ferment the wine, yeast
is then added to the must, which is the juice, skin, seeds and pulp. Once the fermentation is completed, the wines
are moved to oak barrels or straight to stainless steel tanks. A bladder press and filtration system is used
to remove the skins and seeds that will be used for compost back into the
fields. There is a corked hole in the
center of the barrels that the winemaker uses to extract wine to check wine
quality. Since wine evaporates, they top off the barrels to keep oxygen out. The
wine is aged for the desired period or bottled immediately.
the equipment used in the fermentation
Following the tour, we made our way to the tasting
room. A 5% discount is provided if you purchase 5 bottles or more of wine. Below
are my favorite wines from the tasting:
2015 Joy White:
This was a very
refreshing wine for a hot summer afternoon! The wine is a beautiful translucent
lemon color. The aromas were that of citrus and green apples. This was light and crisp white wine served
chilled. It had a slight mineral taste
with balanced perfectly with the just the right amount of sweetness. It has a
slight green apple tartness and acidity at the finish. This wine made from 100% Vidal Blanc, won the
Silver Award at the VA Governors Cup. The price was $18.50 and was a good value
for the quality.
2014 Meritage: This
is the only wine at Crosskeys where they must pay a royalty to use the Meritage
name. Meritage is a registered trademark
and a wonderful blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, and Cabernet
Sauvignon aged 15 months in new (20%) and neutral oak barrels. This blended wine has a vibrant ruby red
color. The aromas on the nose were of
floral, vanilla and black pepper. This
is a full bodied wine with huge personality! The acidity and sweetness were
blended harmoniously. I noted flavors of dark frits such as cherry and
plum. This semi-dry wine had notes of
coffee and pepper at the finish. I would
highly recommend this wine with steak or lamb dish! The price was $30.00, which
seems high but it reflects the royalty fee.
2014 Cabernet
Franc: This was a light maroon
colored wine. Its aroma was complex of
tobacco, vanilla and black raspberry.
This medium bodied red has flavors or oak, green peppers, blackberry and
blueberry. The tannins were smooth and
balanced well with the low acidity and sweetness. This semi-dry wine was very smooth and I
pleasant berry taste at the finish. The
cost of this wine was $24.00 and a good value for this wine with loads of
personality!
I highly recommend a visit to Crosskeys Vineyards! The food
and wine was delicious, the tour guide Jessica was extremely informative and it
was a very good value. In fact, Groupon is running a special right now https://www.groupon.com/deals/cross-keys-vineyards-1
. The package for 4 people includes the wine tour, cheese plate and logo glass
for four for only $29.00 or $15.00 for two people!
No comments:
Post a Comment