In the Bordeaux region of France, there are good years and great years. Here in Virginia, we are not so lucky. We have exceptional years and disastrous years. More than ten thousand varieties of grapes produce wine, but only one (Norton) is native to Virginia. Wine grapes do best in warm, dry climates with stable, temperate weather all year round in soils dominated by chalk, schist, volcanic rock and shale. Think: Southern France, Italy, Spain, California, Australia, South Africa and the Republic of Georgia.
Virginia’s climate is everything that a good wine growing region isn’t. We have wildly varying temperatures throughout the year with the thermometer jumping from the 60’s to the 90’s and back again in a typical week. We have soggy, humid summers, punctuated by the occasional remnants of a tropical storm. Every year’s weather is completely different from that of the previous year. Our soil is mostly a blanket of thick red clay over a bed of hard granite and is infested with various molds, diseases and vine root-destroying phylloxera.
In order to get wine grapes to grow in Virginia, our intrepid growers graft wine varietals onto other, more hardy, root stock, and even then remain captive to climate. One year, a winemaker may be celebrating Governor’s Cup medals and accolades, and the next be picking through the soggy remnants of a crop decimated by a late season hail storm. The fact that Virginia wineries, and Loudoun County wineries in particular, are able to produce such high-quality wines year-in and year-out is a testament to the skill and determination of our local growers and vintners.
Now there is hope for something that may make their lives easier while giving us, Virginia oenophiles, something new and unique to add to our “must taste” lists.
In 2013, a pair of researchers at Cornell University, Bruce Reisch and R. Stephen Lane, produced a new hybridized grape vine that is resistant to disease, rot, mildew and other hazards suffered by wine producers across the Eastern United States. They named it “Arandell,” wrote a paper on it, and waited for the winemakers of the world to come knocking. They didn't, or, at least not until Paul and Loretta Briedé, a retired airline pilot and his wife, decided to plant a completely organic vineyard in Winchester, Virginia.
With some help from Bruce Reisch and Virginia Tech, the Briedés began to experiment with this new grape. As expected, Arandell thrived in the Virginia climate. By 2017, Paul and Loretta bottled their first Arandell wine. Though they eventually had to resort to some limited chemical treatment to prevent black rot, the vines thrived to the point that, today, the Briedé Family Vineyard has 750 Arandell vines planted and producing.
Of course, for Arandell to be successful in wine-making, it has to convince connoisseurs who swear by traditional Cabernets and Pinot Noirs to add it to their repertoire. Its taste and temperament must stand up to the best, most reliable varieties grown across not just Virginia and the Eastern United States, but around the world.
To coax the best wine from this newcomer, the Briedés teamed with Nate Walsh of Walsh Family Wines in Purcellville. The result is a beautifully balanced red wine that is rich in dark fruit flavors with a long cherry finish and notes of pepper and coffee. It is neither jammy like some California Cabernets nor dry like a Merlot, but walks the line between the two extremes. Neither too light nor too aggressive, it is flexible enough to sip solo, or pair with food. I tried it with a variety of creamy cheeses, smoked salmon and spicy meats and found that it complimented all of them.
The verdict? This is no novelty. This is a lovely varietal representing the first truly significant leap forward for American viticulture since Norton was tamed in the 1820s. If it catches on, and I really hope that it does, it has the potential to get the attention of the international wine industry and finally earn the respect that Virginians deserve for our innovation and willingness to take bold risks.
I highly recommend that you give it a go. You will not be disappointed.