winemaking
Around the time of the pandemic, I started to get obsessed with the idea of how a bottle of wine is a time capsule.
So, I started the pursuit of learning.
Winemaking requires precision & technicality and it kicked my ass, at first. Then, it shaped me to focus more on what is in front of me, always.
I love the idea of popping a bottle of bubbles with friends for a normal occasion rather than a rare one. So, my first wine I ever made professionally was a Méthode Ancestral style with lots of bubbles, inspired by the incredible Milan Nestarec in Czech.
The wines below are wines that I have made from grapes we have grown here in North Carolina.
I’ve even enjoyed some of these bottles with some of you.
Starting with the most recent at the top and going backwards in time from there.
Bottle Rocket 2023
2023 Petit Manseng Méthode Ancestrale / Pétillant Naturel - Bottled just before fermentation is complete to develop & capture crisp bubbles. Notes of meyer lemon, pear cider, and sun drop on a summer time boat ride.
Red Wolf 2022
A 2022 Sangiovese piquette aged in a French Oak barrel for one year. Bubbly, Cheerwine-esque cola nostalgia battles a nose of Pont L’eveque cheese. Great chilled and enjoyed with a steep hike.
Crown & Plough 2022
2022 Sangiovese Methode Champenoise Dark Rose - Created from a hard to grow Sangiovese and harvested with a great crew this wine extracted color super quick and then was destined for bubbles. Still a notorious bottle for holding its own when blind tasted against some big hitters of national recognition.
Red Dress
A collab with an incredible winemaker Chris Nelson @ Raffaldini Vineyards. This is a blend mainly of Chris’ 2021 Montepulciano and my 2022 Sangiovese from Addison Farms Vineyard. It lands as an acidic and fruit forward light red that defies the usual characterstics of both cultivars.
Orion 2022
2022 Chardonel -
I pitched this wine with a yeast that aimed to entice some apricot out of the fermentation. The nose of this fermentation still reigns as one of my favorites. For the first year in bottle this wine was tropical and reminscent of a familiar sauvignon blanc, but year two it delved into a darker mineral wine that is still very popular but for me makes me miss the tropical summer. A winemakers note is that typically for whites we cold crash them to precipitate out the tartaric acid (tartrates). In this particular case, as it was my first still white wine, I did cold crash the wine, but not enough and when we bottled the night after temperatures dropped to the 30’s and the tartaric acid precipitated out in bottle. So, as you can see, the bottom has an aesthetic flaw while the wine itself was not affected by this. Still, it’s the only thing I see when I look at this bottle.
Coming Home 2021
2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Single Barrel -
My first vintage as a winemaker at Addison Farms was a whirlwind and it was a rainy whirlwind. This Cab did not get the treatment it deserved mainly because of my naivete and scramble to understand all things winemaking. It landed in the realm of a deep cherry pomegranite afternoon red, with a slight finish of bret. It’s slightly flawed but highly intriguing.
Bottle Rocket 2022
2022 Petit Manseng Méthode Ancestrale / Pétillant Naturel -
A second vintage wine of the same name. This wine ended up with subdued lemon and more of a refined citrus blitz than its counterparts of the same name. Deliciously paired with lemon buttercream gnocci and fresh baguette with high quality butter.
Crown & Plough 2021
2021 Sangiovese Rose -
My first vintage as a winemaker and a first attempt at a rose. In bottle this wine changed so much, at first it was floral and vibrant. Then, after a month, it dove into a gnarly munster cheese phase of rebellion, which concerned me greatly. 30 days later it came back to a fresh bouquet and sold very quickly in the summer of 2022.
Bottle Rocket 2021
2021 Petit Manseng Méthode Ancestrale / Pétillant Naturel -
Terrified but with nothing to lose, I made style of wine that had never been made before at Addison Farms. It is also a type of wine that is not found often in this region, but it is something that I am always drawn to.
I made a mistake, naturally, this was my first wine. I leaned into some predecessors for advice and like a bad game of telephone a decimal point was placed in the wrong direction and we bottled too early. So, Bottle Rocket made it easy for us to name since, by an order of magnitude, every bottle had more atmoshperic pressure than it should. I personally disgorged every bottle and re-bottled when the number matched the RIGHT decimal.
It sold well, and was a great introduction for me to the world of winemaking. One lonely bottle sits in my fridge waiting to be opened…one day.