Intro - It's Hot and My winemaker Bothers Me

OK, so listen up!  If you are a fan of your favorite winemaker or vineyard manager this blog is not for you.  Those greedy winemakers and vineyard managers try to take all the credit while forgetting about what I went through.  This is a blog about what it’s like to be me -  a grape of great distinction!

So I’ll start by letting you know who I am.  My name is Viognier Nevaeh.  I am an ancient grape variety (Viognier) that is probably best known for my work in the Northern Rhone Valley in the appellations of Condrieu and Chateau Grillet, but I myself am located in the Pond Block of Nevaeh Vineyard on the estate of Tarara Winery in Leesburg, Virginia.  Hence my name, Viognier Nevaeh.

So even though I am best known for my brothers and sisters that have been raised in the Rhone Valley, I have been told I am pretty awesome here in Virginia too.  Someone even named me as the State grape last year.  How cool is that?  So cool that some weird wine bloggers even gave me a cool nickname “Viggy”.  Thanks Guys!!! – I’ll try to not let it go to my head.

So now that you understand where I come from, let’s get started on griping about my life a bit.  It has been freaking hot out here man!  My lousy caretakers Jordan and Ben come and check on me once a day before they go home and hang out in an air conditioned house, so forget them.  This week I have had to hang out here with every day getting close to 100 degrees Fahrenheit.  How do they thank me?  They talk about how this weather is also creating some serious downy mildew pressure and that it might be a good idea to spray some fungicide on me.  Really guys!  I have already been through a lot this week.  While you were inside watching a cool lightning storm, Mother Nature was smacking me with 80mph winds and throwing trees at me.  Even the rain she gave came down so fast that it just ran away from me anyway so I hardly got a drink.  I’m thirsty guys.  That said, I was talking to my new little brothers up on the Hill block that you planted last year and they say they are going to wither away if you don’t irrigate them soon.  But no, you guys think dry farming is cool and will help with vertical root growth and give me better concentration.

Oh well, at least today is nicer.  The breeze is cutting through my foliage and keeping my grapes nice and dry so we might have a little less issue with mildew or botrytis if this can keep up.  They are also calling for some good rain at the end of next week, so if I can just hold up until then I should be able to get the drink they don’t want to give me.  The only thing that could make today a little nicer is if that dry sand on top of the Penn Silt Loam would stop blowing in my face.  Oh well, can’t have it all I guess.

So there you go readers, this is what this blog is all about.  Letting you know what my life is like as a grape living with these guys here at Tarara.  They tell me I am some of their most prized possessions and that I am destined to eventually be blended with my buddy Chardonnay from the Hill Block #2 for some weird single vineyard wine or something that they call “Nevaeh” after where we are located.  Hey, I don’t make this stuff up!  Anyway, this will be my place to gripe about what they are doing to me or tell when things are going great.  I plan to keep you updated until you get a chance to taste me which they say should be some time in 2014.  We’ll see!