The winemaking process has been in existence since quite a long time. A lot of people may consider that there may have been huge advancements in the process with the passage of time. However, the truth is that the basic process has remained the same except that few modifications have come in it over the centuries. It was in the early 1600s that Virginia's first settlers made attempt to cultivate grapes. At The Winery at Bull Run, we don't follow the conventional approach to grape cultivation.
At the initial stage of the process, we de-stem the grapes with help of a de-stemmer machine. Further, the grapes are crushed properly in our clean wine cellar. With stems removed, the fruit is kept in big size T bins to allow initiation of the fermentation process. During the fermentation process, several changes occur in the structure of the fruit. Within a few weeks time, the fruit skin as well as its seeds get separated and fall to the bottom.
After that, we clarify the wine in a large capacity stainless steel tank and finally move the filtered wine into French Oak barrels. The wine remains in the barrel for about a year and during this period it ages considerably. When the aging process is over, we transfer the wine into suitable bottles. It simply means that the grapes harvested this year will only be made available next year for tasting. We use Merlot and Norton grapes for winemaking; lets know more about these varieties in detail.
Merlot features a dark blue color and finds use for varietal wines. Typically medium-bodied, Merlot based wines have hints of berry, currant and plum. This excellent grape variety is quite soft and has tendency to ripe early. Its owing to this softness and early ripening ability that Merlot is extensively used for effective blending with Cabernet Sauvignon.
Cultivated in Richmond for the first time, Norton got its name from Dr. Daniel Norton, the person credited with the development of this brilliant grape variety. Features that make Norton a hot favorite for winemaking include its blue-purple color and red color juice. At TWABR, you will find our Norton to be a rich, robust wine that is prepared to impress. Besides Norton, you will find a lot of other wines to taste when you come and visit our winery. TWABR is a great winery to relish tasty wines besides being one of the prominent wedding reception venues in Virginia. So, come and have a great time at TWABR.
