Step One – Grape Varietals

Vint Hill Craft Winery makes wine from grape varietals grown in California, Washington State and Virginia. Here are some of our classic recommendations:

Virginia Chardonnay or Viognier in Standard barrels	California Cabernet Sauvignon in any New oak barrel
Virginia Cabernet Franc in Standard or New Hungarian	Virginia Merlot in Standard or New American oak barrels

What’s all the fuss about barrels?

Barrels are very complicated tools that impart certain flavors in wine (vanilla, clove, smoke, char, butterscotch, coconut, etc.). Oak from different regions of the world flavor wine uniquely, as does the “toast” or charring inside. We use several barrel coopers from around the world and we’ll help you pick the one that’s best for you based on the style and flavor profile of the wine you want to craft. Here are our barrel options:

-Standard Barrel – Three rack and returns of your wine with it spending at least 1/3 of the time in new oak barrels of our choosing but based on your stylistic guidance. Your wine will spend the balance of time in 2-3 year oak barrels.

-All American Barrel – Your wine will spend 100% of its time in new oak barrels for 9-10 months.

-All Hungarian Barrel – Your wine will spend 100% of its time in new oak barrels for 9-10 months.

-All French Barrel – Your wine will spend 100% of its time in new oak barrels for 9-10 months

We also offer unique barrel aging options, including Acacia wood barrels for white wines and locally-grown Virginia Oak barrels to further enhance the distinctive nature of your wine.