It’s a family affair at JBR Vineyards & Winery, and they’ve recently picked the first grapes of the 2019 vintage.
In the vineyard’s twelfth year, Jessee Ring and his son, Cameron, worked togetheron a recent day picking the bunches of Pinot Noir.
“The weather during picking was perfect: no rain, but cloudy so the grapes didn’t have to sit in the sun,” Jessee Ring said.
“The weather the last several weeks has been perfect for ripening the grapes: hot and dry,” he added. “These were probably the best grapes we ever picked. In fact, this entire season has been perfect weather-wise: wet in the spring and early summer, then hot and dry.”
These grapes will be pressed, the juice will ferment for 10 to 14 days, then age, or clarify, for nine months. That wine will be bottled next summer.
JBR Vineyards is a boutique winery producing small quantities of classic wine grapes from hand-tended vines. Enjoy a unique experience!
There are more than eight thousand vineyards in Virginia, but only one in Radford.
Half the fields of the small vineyars are dedicated to Pinot Noir.
“We got about 500 pounds. That will ultimately result in about75 bottles of wine,” said Ring. “The other half of the Radford vineyard is planted in Cabernet Franc, which take longer to ripen. They still have several days to go.”
