Boxwood Winery Milestone: Saturday May 26, 2012

The milestone of a new vineyard begins, in truth, long before the morning I peeked into the cave to see the new vines. It was more than a year ago that I began chronicling the preparations at Boxwood to add seven acres under vine. 

Perhaps you are a little amazed to see this is how they arrived from California. Fedex can ship you a vineyard in two boxes, I thought. Amazing. We lifted the top from the boxes and it was a remarkable experience. I have known the Boxwood vineyard since it was five years old and it was on third leaf before it was planted; these babies of the vineyard were an entirely new experience.

Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Syrah, in neat, youthful, green stick-like, 24 inch bundles. Wiry young guns, the future of fine Virginia wine.

Adam gave them a hose-down until they were ready to be planted. Boxwood Winery's vineyard consultant, Lucie Morton inspected the shipments to be certain they met her standards and, thrilled with the quality of the vine stock, gave the nod to have them interred. That was May 23, 2012. Hole digging on the new block was underway on the hill in preparation.

Measuring out the vineyard and inserting the row guide-poles had taken more than a week. Seven acres, I have observed, is a lot of space. For Adam's team, also managing the existing vineyard, it was a tremendous undertaking.

Adam and our new vineyard management intern, Brice, measured and drilled 18" holes for each vine placement. The process was rather tedious: Measure, back the tractor up, hold the drill in place, "okay to drill," drill, pick it up, pull forward. Repeat, one thousand times, maybe more. I lost count. 

The rows are spaced two meters by 1 meter: in easy terms: One stride between vines, two strides from row to row, roughly.

When it is all said and done, this is what you have: Row upon row of 18" holes, seven acres wide, down the left length of Boxwood's driveway. That was Friday, May 25, 2012. The temperature cleared ninety degrees at 1 pm that afternoon, it would remain that way for four days. 

Saturday morning, May 26, 2012, just after 7 am, the vines emerged from the darkness of the cave where they awaited their debut and into the bright Virginia sunlight of a Memorial Day weekend which felt for all the world like a Fourth of July weekend if the heat was any indicator.

Ten sets of hands, those that will shape and guard the future of this vineyard, laid the vines of a new vineyard on that day. 

A new Boxwood Winery emerged from the soil along with the five inch tips of vine peeking out of the soil.

I am pleased to introduce you to the 23 acre Boxwood Winery. 

It is quite a contrast; what we were on Friday and what we are now. Upon the hill above the new block is where we began. Experienced vines of eight years were billowing above the youth of the new vineyard. The day before, Friday, we were different in many ways and I think now it is clear how we have grown since you first met Boxwood in 2005.

We were very proud on this day, though many were exhausted and spent. I think we all knew how far we had come, and it was not just across seven acres of land: As Boxwood and as Virginia fine wine, what a ride to this place, what a pleasure the journey has been.

Welcome, young guns, we can't to see you grow!

Just a flutter

It's time to check in on the vineyard from the south edge of the blocks.  Mid-spring is that time of year, before the riot of long vines begins, when the vineyard is short and youthful. It is neat and the rows clearly defined across the landscape.

Before long, they will climb the trellis's and leap skyward, keeping the vineyards staff busy with vigor control.

For the moment though, the low vines and bio-diversifying middle grasses make it look like a verdant paradise of soft, fluttery waves and wings. 

The vines are, as of this week, about half way up the trellis structure: Healthy, happy, and enjoying May's mix of long sunny days and quick, fleeting rains. 

Remember these vine-height photos, soon we will not be able to see through the trellis's for the vines and summer will be here.

Boxwood Winery will open to the public on June 8, 2012

For the first time in our seven year history, John Kent Cooke's Boxwood Estate Winery will open to the public. Boxwood has announced the relocation of the Middleburg Tasting Room to the Boxwood Winery property located at 2042 Burrland Road in Middleburg.  The opening of Boxwood Winery for wine-tasting visitors will begin on Friday, June 8, 2012.

Boxwood Winery will welcome wine touring and tasting visitors Fridays through Sunday from 11 am until 6 pm. Tasting flights of current Boxwood vintages will be available in the Tasting Room. Guests to Boxwood will be encouraged to enjoy Boxwood wines by the glass or bottle in courtyard seating with sweeping views of the vineyard. Boxwood wines will also be available for regular retails sales by the bottle and case in the Winery's Tasting Room.

Groups of six or larger are asked to reserve space in advance of arrival. Touring limousines are welcome; buses will not be permitted.

Boxwood Winery looks forward to welcoming the public to view the architecturally renowned winery building and enjoy Boxwood's award-wining estate bottled wines: Boxwood, Topiary, Trellis, and Rose.

Boxwood Estate Winery

2042 Burrland Road

Middleburg, Virginia

540-687-8778 x1

Public business hours beginning June 8 through September 15, 2012:

Friday through Sunday, 11 am to 6 pm

Business hours will adjust seasonally.

Boxwood Winery hosts Taste Camp 2012

Taste Camp 2012, a weekend of tasting outings for distinguished journalists, made its first visit in the organizations' six year history to Virginia; priding itself on locating and writing on upcoming wine regions through an emersification format with other wine journalists.

Boxwood Winery was pleased to be approached as the first venue the writers would see in Virginia. It turns out writers in the Mid-Atlantic region agree Boxwood is as much of a showplace as we less objective parties. It was such a pleasure to see the excitement with which the visitors took in their first views of our architecturally-renown winery and the historic Boxwood property.

We hosted both a luncheon featuring cellared vintages of Boxwood and Topiary 2007 catered by locavore Ayshire Farm, and a Grand Tasting of Virginia wines. Both where phenomenal events, I am pleased to relate! If only we could have ordered the weather; which was indecisive, and failed to cooperate. But, we're a winery after all, that is problem with which we are old hands.

Robert Burns had this much right: The best laid plans...

Having received this event project months ago, I had the idea you see in my sketch above. And we all agreed; it was May, we would host lunch on the press pad overlooking the property. 

By 8:00 am on the morning of Taste Camp, the press pad was set to spec as you see above and we were working on last minute details. 

Two things happened at about 11 am: First, the sky opened and slayed right-driven rain into the press pad and the lunch set up. And second: The guests were about fifteen minutes away according to my phone, which was tracking their every move. At that moment, the Chai was set with long tables for the Grand Tasting. It absolutely did not look like this:

But it was about to.

This is what you can accomplish in ten minutes with eight people who always have each other's backs. The Grand Tasting was moved into the Cave and the luncheon, with its great ground tables already set, was moved into the Chai while rain pounded the cuppola's above. 

This is what the guests saw when Rachel escorted them into the Chai after they enjoyed Boxwood's 2011 Rose as an apertif in the Tasting Room.

Frankly, we were all awed. None of us had even seen the Chai set in this fashion. While it is always magnificent, our relationship with this room is largely utilitarian: We use it to make wine and in that capacity, it is beautiful, sleek, and efficient.

In this fleeting and momentary capacity however, the Boxwood Chai is no less all of those things and those who have the pleasure of seeing this room daily stopped in our tracks. 

"Wow. This is beautiful!" The guests exclaimed as they entered the room. 

We sincerely couldn't agree more. It was a pleasure to host the writers of Taste Camp, 2012.