Winemaker Notes
Quaker Run Vineyard Cabernet Franc is our most unique and dynamic bottling of Cabernet Franc. We love tasting it in contrast to the other Cabernet Franc bottlings, as Quaker Run naturally brings more structure and density, with tannin and acidity being uniquely balanced. This is a wine of precision, carrying the hallmarks of mountainside fruit highlighting Cabernet Franc’s best attributes.. This Cabernet Franc is where we find the most beauty in aroma, and our approach is always to understand and convey the fragrance of the fruit from this outstanding site.
Vineyard Notes
The 2020 growing season in Virginia was dynamic. With an early budbreak followed by frost risk in late April and early May, Early Mountain was lucky to avoid the worst of it with only a Petit Manseng block and some lower areas of Chardonnay impacted. The first half of the growing season was relatively dry and quite hot in June and July. Late July and early August brought a lot of moisture that was very challenging, but things dried out a bit heading into harvest. We ended up in a dance with the Atlantic, as tropical systems waltzed through every ten days for two months. Once again, we were lucky to be spared the worst of the weather, and we emerged at the end of harvest with a cellar full of high quality 2020 wines. In the spirit of every vintage being different from every other in our state, 2020 was unique in that the first half produced lighter wines with high acid and the second half brought riper, more classic wines.