The new vines have arrived for phase 3 of our planting. The first year there were ten, the second year there were 65. Now we are adding another 66 vines. Of those, 25 are Pinot Noir and 25 Albariño, and 16 Chardonnay, all on SO4 rootstocks.. How we're going to manage them is another discussion.
Of course, while in Alexandria for three weeks, I learned that Viognier vines are commonly planted in Virginia. Viognier — the state grape of Virginia — is a wine made by 76 of the commonwealth’s 230 vineyards as of 2012. In May 2011, the Virginia Wine Board approved the marketing of Viognier as “Virginia’s signature grape,” just as Cabernet Sauvignon is identified with California’s Napa Valley and Pinot Noir with Oregon.
Viogner, that rare French wine that we discovered in St. Martin and brought home cases of it on our boat. In the mid-1960s, a mere 3.2 acres of vines existed in the entire world. It does extremely well in Virginia and is considered quite possibly the best Viognier made outside of Condrieu — home to the Viognier grape in the white-wine capital of the Rhône valley. Alas, as Viognier vines start to hit their peak after 20 years, I don't think we'll be planting many here in Ireland but if Virginia's young vines (mostly <10 years old) are doing so well, you never know. Stick with what you like, right? And we do like Viognier. 