Over the past few years we have planted and harvested grapes from over 50 varietals, searching for those best suited to our unique climate and terroir. We've narrowed it down considerably, and are now focusing on Petit Manseng, Petit Verdot, Traminette, Vermentino, Albarino, Chardonney, Chambourcin, Merlot, Sauvignon Kretos, Cabernet Franc, and Norton.

Our goal is Minimal Intervention. Like so many modern agricultural and culinary practices, large-scale winemaking has become an intervention heavy, additive filled process whose result is drastically different that its predecessor 100 years ago. There are over 200 approved additives in the winemaking process, yet none of them need to be disclosed as there are no ingredient labels required on wine bottles. Some examples of additives are Isinglass, derived from fish swim bladders, egg whites, Mega Purple Dye, and Polyvinylpolypyrrolidone. Many of these additives are used to stabilize and clarify wine, and are entirely unnecessary. The only additive we use is minimal SO2, or sulfur dioxide, which prevents microbial spoilage of the wine. We will be labeling our first wines soon, and we will voluntarily include an ingredients list on our bottles which will read; grapes, minimal SO2.

Basically, it's not adding any commercially grown yeast to the fermentation vessel, and instead allowing the yeast present in the air and on the fruit at harvest to innoculate the juice and begin the fermentation. Natural Fermentation is a bit of a misnomer, as the commercial yeast sold by the billions is dry packets is just as natural as the yeast in the air, it's just been isolated, cultured, and dried. Spontaneous fermentation is more accurate, though perhaps Ambient Fermentation is better.

We've noticed over the years that many of our favorite wines have been created without the addition of commercial yeast, so that, along with our desire to intervene as minimally as possible, is why we choose to use Ambient Fermentation. Our current theory has to do with the speed of fermentation. If you add billions of yeast cells to your must, the fermentation takes off and finishes quickly, while ambient fermentations are slower and take longer, which can result in unique and enhanced aromas and flavors. It's also a risk, however, as you can end up with a "stuck" fermentation, or one that hasn't fully completed, so it's wise to keep commercial yeast on hand in that event.

The Eastern Shore is a very unique wine growing region. As it is essentially a huge sandbar, the mostly sandy soil is also very fertile, loamy, and well-drained, which is essential given our heavy rainfall. Our maritime nature results in higher humidity and moderated temperatures, which are generally not favorable to Vinifera grapes, though several of the 6000 or so varietals out there are evolved to thrive in such conditions. The unique mineral and climatic profile gives a distinct character to Eastern Shore wines, and we strive to showcase this unique Terroir in each bottle.

Hybrid Grapevines are those with parentage from the traditional European Wine Grape, Vitis Vinifera, crossed with another of the 70 Vitis species in the world. Historically, essentially all the wine in the world was made from Vitis Vinifera alone, which is no surprise given that humans have been selecting and crafted varietals from that species for thousands of years. The same process that created modern corn from the spindly Teosinte has given us our modern wine grapes and it's difficult for any wild species to compete with that.

In the last 150 years or so, people have begun crossing their favorite wine grape vines with wild vines to confer disease or frost resistance, as Vitis Vinifera is both sensitive to cold and susceptible to disease. Its ancestral environment is believed to be around modern day Iran, so while drought tolerant, it struggles in extreme cold and high humidity. However, there are many other grape species that survive in extremely cold and humid conditions, and these vines have developed resistance to both.

Early efforts at hybridization yielded tough, resistant vines, but the quality of their wine was subpar, being as they were, about 50% wild vine that hadn't been through the centuries of careful selection by humans to improve wine quality. But in recent years, scientists have used back crossing and genetic markers to breed vines that are 98% Vitis Vinifera but still confer some particular desired trait from the wild parent. Hybrid vines have a bad reputation in some circles, but many hybrid vines create outstanding wine, including Traminette, Chardonel, Sauvignon Kretos, and others. I have no doubt that as our ability to selectively breed vines improves, most vines grown in the future will be hybrids, because they can dramatically reduce the need for chemical inputs, such as Pesticides and Fungicides.

That's a great story. There is a root louse native to North America called Phylloxera, which attacks the root systems of Vitis Vinifera grape vines and kills them in short order. This louse is what prevented the establishment of Vinifera vineyards in North America. In 1863, some American vines were transported to Europe, and Phylloxera went with them. Within a few decades, over half the vineyards in Europe were destroyed, and the louse continued to spread, until over two thirds of the vineyards were destroyed. Fortunately, the grape growers of the time discovered that their wine vines could be grafted on the roots of vines native to North America which had developed a resistance to Phylloxera, and nowadays, nearly all the vines that produce the wines we drink are grafted onto American stock.

There are a few Hybrid vines that can be grown on their own roots, thanks to their partial American parentage, including Chambourcin, Traminette, Norton, and Chardonel, all of which we have in our home vineyard.