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| Sugarleaf Vineyards | North Garden, VA 22959 |
www.sugarleafvineyards.com
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(434) 984-4272
Email: info@sugarleafvineyards.com |
Residing on a breathtaking estate, Sugarleaf Vineyards has evolved before our eyes into a mesmerizing place and experience. Although, this endeavor began as a hobby, we are very proud of what we have accomplished thus far and we cherish the opportunity to share our story with you today as an award-winning vineyard and winery. The idea to establish a vineyard as a leisurely hobby came about in 2001. Jerry’s good friend, Mike Taylor, with whom he collected rare “cult” wines from the Napa and Sonoma regions of California encouraged Jerry to, “make his own great wines.” Although the newly purchased estate was meant to be a retreat, and eventually a retirement property, the thought of also having a vineyard and making proprietary wine was irresistible. So once the vision manifested, Jerry turned to the University of Virginia and several well respected vineyard consultants in Virginia to confirm the property’s attributes for vineyard growing and to determine the specific location on the property where this hobby would be planted. After discovering that the estate, was located at an elevation ranging between 750 feet at the pond to 1,100 feet at the mountain ridge, had parker loamy soil, resided on limestone platelets, was the beneficiary of natural drainage, received cooling from the wind over the mountains, and had five springs on the estate that provide a source of natural irrigation, it was quickly recognized that the estate had more than just the bare necessity attributes for a vineyard. All of these characteristics made it clear that the estate was a diamond in the rough. After all of the research was compiled, the vineyard site was determined, and the first order of vines was placed on September 6th 2001 , Jerry’s friend and motivator for this project, Mike Taylor, passed away in the tragedy of 9/11. After all of the time, passion and effort that went into preparing to embark upon this hobby, Jerry continued and began to plant 300 of the existing 2,075 vines himself. Not realizing all that it would take to plant a 4 acre hobby-vineyard; professionals were once again brought onboard to plant the remaining acreage. Sugarleaf Vineyards still did not have its name and there were still no plans to build a winery or any formal production facility. The first harvest looked promising, and the second and subsequent harvests produced exceptional fruit. We sold our exceptional fruit to select neighboring well-respected wineries from 2003 until 2005, and our grapes produced award-winning vintages for those wineries. At the time, Virginia was an emerging wine region, and our estate’s thriving vines sat in the middle of Monticello, the most prestigious region in the state. We decided to take advantage of the opportunity that began to seem “meant to be”. Lauren came up with the name Sugarleaf Vineyards, and in 2004 we trademarked Sugarleaf as a vineyard and winery with the vision of making fine wines out of our exceptional fruit. The hobby stage was now over and the rest of Lauren’s time would be spent establishing the vineyard and winery as a well-respected newcomer in the Monticello Region. Lauren manages every aspect of the vineyard/winery operation which is no small feat. She has and continues to ensure that we are as meticulous with operating the winery and maneuvering through the volumes of governmental agency requirements as we are in the vineyard. In the fall of 2004 we began to construct the winery from the ground up, and gathered ideas from magazines and other wineries that we had visited around the world. It was very important to us that we incorporate the minimalist gravitational pull method of production into the winery’s architectural plan so that we could preserve the natural qualities of the fruit during processing, but we also wanted the winery to remain a quaint and inviting space that overlooked the vineyard. The winery was completed in the beginning of 2006 and we seamlessly produced our first Sugarleaf vintage in our new custom state-of-the art facility. Today, Sugarleaf Vineyards is an award-winning boutique vineyard in the heart of the Monticello region, producing limited quantities of each varietal so that we can remain committed to our vision of producing fine wine. We never imagined that Sugarleaf would be what it has grown to be today. Sugarleaf is living proof that with patience, diligence and faith, dreams do come true… |
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Winemaker Daniel Neumeister Dan’s journey into wine started with a great bottle of Italian wine at a restaurant in downtown LA. Realizing there was a vast realm of wine to be tasted from regions all over the world he started developing his palate on the California coast. In 2001 he came back to Virginia where the mountains, seasons, and people had beckoned him home. Once back in Virginia he quickly realized his desire to become a part of the flourishing local wine industry and became very eager to face the challenges of the Virginia growing season. In the spring of 2002 he crossed paths with several other winery and vineyard operations, working hard at bottling and in the vineyards. Through Chris Hill a dedicated consultant and the sage advice of many respected wine industry professionals Dan joined our vibrant team in the summer of 2002. Our 4 acre vineyard had just been planted and had great room for experience, development, and meticulous growth training. While our vineyard was in its young growth years Dan nurtured the vineyard through his diligent vineyard management while he also spent his first harvest helping King Family Vineyards and working at White Hall Vineyards in the fall of 2002. In the spring of 2003 he took a job as the Assistant Winemaker at nearby White Hall Vineyards while working at Sugarleaf. Under the leadership of Winemaker Michael Panczak he started hand crafting award winning wines. After years of wine industry viticulture seminars and enology short courses offered through Virginia Tech he started turning his grape growing skills into winemaking practices. While gaining a reputation for growing top quality Virginia fruit and focusing on the marriage of vineyard and winery techniques, plans for Sugarleaf Vineyards crush facility began in the fall of 2004. By the summer of 2005 the winery was complete and needed nothing but a test run. In the fall of 2006 with a beautiful dry growing season Dan took Sugarleaf Vineyards into its first full scale crush producing an outstanding premier vintage that immediately won Sugarleaf its hard earned Silver and Bronze Medals. His enthusiasm, dedication, and understanding of Virginia viticulture show in all of Sugarleaf Vineyard’s wines. |
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Red
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2006 Cabernet Franc
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Regular as of 01/23 |
Order Direct Online Phone: (434) 984-4272 |
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