New winery under way in White Hall

If Jake Busching has his way, Albemarle County’s newest wine label will be the terrior of White Hall.

Yes, terrior.

“It’s a French word and it describes the environment, the soils, the climate, weather and everything that goes into the fruit, where it comes from,” Busching said. “I want the wine to express all of that.”

Busching has served as vineyard manager at two area wineries and winemaker for Pollak Vineyards. Now he’s taking over White Hall’s Mount Juliet Farm vineyard, a 50-acre vineyard with 10 varieties of grapes that has been selling its fruit to other Virginia wineries for more than 10 years. Busching hopes to have Grace Estates Winery — named for the farm’s owners — up and running by 2012 with as many as six wines for the offering.

“I was buying fruit from here when I worked at Jefferson and Keswick [vineyards],” Busching said, standing near the patio of a large manor home he hopes will serve as a tasting room and vineyard store. “Last year I sold to 22 customers and I could have sold about 200 tons of fruit. It makes a great statement about the wine industry in Virginia that there is that kind of demand out there.”

It says a lot about the quality of grapes produced by the vineyard, just down Route 810 from White Hall. The property is a 600-acre former dairy farm and orchard. Grapes were first planted on the farm in 1999. The fruit has never been bottled on site, but has been sold to various wineries to help augment the yield of other vineyards.

“There are probably about six gold medal wines that have come out of this vineyard,” Busching said. “The soil, the microclimate, the weather all help create some wonderful fruit.”

The vineyard is planted in clusters of varietals. The vines’ locations are chosen to help improve the particular flavors each grape yields, Busching said. Viognier, Vidal, Chardonnay, Petit Mansang, Petit Verdot, Merlot, Malbec, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Tannat grow in patches.

Mount Juliet Vineyards was planted by former owner Jose Morejon and Chris Hill, who has a long history in the Monticello wine producing region. The Grace family has held the property for six years.

“They were operating on an as-is basis and the owners decided making wine makes more sense than just growing grapes. The challenge for me is to come in and create a successful winery and business on the property,” he said. “They want a self-sustaining business on the property and something for their kids, and I get to do what I love to do — grow and make wine.”

If the idea of yet another winery in the state seems like overkill, forget about it. The industry is alive and growing and there’s lots of room, officials say.

According to the Wine Market Council, a nationwide wine marketing and research organization, national wine sales have continued to increase despite the Great Recession and lackluster recovery.

In 1970, enough wine was consumed to equal about 1.05 gallons of wine per adult. In 1982, 2.58 gallons of wine was consumed per capita, but that dropped to 1.89 gallons per adult in 1991. Citing improved marketing techniques and medical studies that indicate moderate wine consumption is healthful, the amount of wine consumption has increased every year since 1994 to 3.04 gallons per adult in 2010, the council estimates.

In 1991 Americans consumed 140 million cases of wine. In 1996, table wine consumption reached 176 million cases. An estimated 205 million cases were consumed in 2000 and 276 million in 2010.

Virginia officials say the consistent growth nationally is echoed regionally. They note that state wine sales are about 5 percent of beverage alcohol sold in the state.

“I don’t think we have too many wineries at all. The industry is growing and we’re seeing double-digit growth in sales,” said Todd Haymore, Virginia’s agriculture and forestry secretary. “In the first six months of [2011], sales were 10 percent ahead of 2010.”

More than 460,000 cases of wine were produced and sold by an estimated 210 Virginia wineries, Haymore noted, adding that the state’s wine products are finding their way overseas. Barboursville Vineyards is exporting to China and several state wines are being marketed in Great Britain.

“There’s room for more,” Haymore said.

Busching said local wineries often cooperate in marketing, selling grapes to each other and even trading personnel. Creating the right presence, mood and image for a winery may be more difficult than producing good wines, however.

While Busching has definite plans to adjust the vineyard and create a fine drink, the plans for the winery itself are still developing. He’s looking toward labeling, marketing and creating a brand presence that will last.

“You need to create something that is different, that is attractive and will appeal to people in the long term,” Busching explained, pointing to an equipment shed/garage he believes can be easily repurposed for winemaking. “Getting the actual winery, where the wine is made, is just a matter of spraying some foam insulation and hanging some doors, and off you go. The rest of it requires a lot of thought.”

The grand house on top of the property, which has stunning views of Albemarle County’s rolling countryside, could serve as the winery taste house and store, and its image may make its way onto the brand’s label and logo, Busching said.

Although he’s played a role in area award-winning wines, Busching didn’t grow up with Virginia grapes. He grew up with Minnesota cows on a ranch near Grand Rapids, and later fell for the grape.

The farm’s hillsides could hold other varieties, Busching said, with higher elevations suited to other grapes. That excites Busching.

“I’m considering planting a Pinotage. I think it would do well in this soil. We’d like to add about 10 acres to the 50 we have. The idea is to find the grapes that will provide the best expression of the varietal and express the terrior of the land,” he said. “That’s something you look for in a wine because where it’s grown can affect its acidity, its tannins. The Viognier we make here will be different than what we made at Pollack or Jefferson or Keswick because the soils are different, the elevation is different.”

Busching plans to work the soil and tend the vineyard in such a way that it brings out more flavor in the grapes.

“My goal as a winemaker is to get the best expression I can out of the grape. That’s where it’s at. You can blend another grape into the wine but I want to use 100 percent Viognier in my Viognier to bring out the expression of that vintage,” he said. “I want the dirt and the climate to really come through.”

Vintners often blend other grapes into a varietal to help offset odd flavors caused by poor weather conditions. For area winemakers, 2011 was a rough vintage because of heavy September rains that led to rot and ruined some harvests.

“I know some vineyards lost almost 100 percent of their yield and we lost more than 15 percent. We still sold 190 tons of fruit,” he said, noting that a July 3 tornado took out a small portion of vine. “We’re so vintage-driven in the industry because it impacts the flavor. It will be interesting to see how the others handle this year’s vintage.”

Busching said he’ll offer some 2011 vintage wines this spring, but hopes to begin serious production in 2012. His focus will be Viognier, Petit Verdot and Merlot grapes that have proven exceptional in the past.

“There’s definitely an art to making wine and getting it to provide the best expression of the grape and the terrior that it can give,” Busching said. “There’s a science to it but it’s definitely a craft. That’s one reason why I love it.”