2022 Coeur d'Est

After a mild winter with very little snowfall, a relatively cool, breezy, and wet pattern followed the late-April bud break. The new shoots grew rapidly, developing a dense canopy with lots of leaf area and photosynthetic potential. Toward the end of June, things started to hear up and the moisture all but disappeared, providing great conditions for healthy fruit set and comfortable bunch closure. The warm, dry pattern continued into July and August with no penetration rainfall recorded for many weeks. The beautiful weather hastened ripening, with early white varieties coming into the winery before the end of August. Typical summer storms returned in September, brining humidity and quick shots of rain every Sunday with freaky consistency. Picking continued between rain events with all the whites and many reds coming off the vine before October 1. Hurricane Ian ripped through the mid-Atlantic in early October, dropping a couple inches of rain and pausing picking for quite some time. Thankfully, dry and windy conditions returned and the remaining reds came into the winery in great condition. The 2022 vintage will be remembered fondly for its record-breaking yields, and the purity of fruit and rich, ripe flavors of its wines.