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Horton Vineyards
Horton Vineyards is a winery located near to Gordonsville in Orange County, Virginia and within the Monticello AVA winemaking appellation. The winery was founded in 1983 by Denis Horton. History Horton Vineyards was founded by Dennis Horton With his wife Sharon Horton, with a small home vineyard. The small home vineyard has grown; as a result Sharon has to work out in the vineyard, with about twenty other workers where everything is done by hand. The winery's early experimentation with grape varieties led to the conclusion that the humid weather of the Virginia Piedmont region favored grapes with thick skins and loose grape clusters. As a result of this conclusion, Horton has concentrated on varietals from the Rhône River valley in France and, in particular, on Viognier. Grapes grown Horton Vineyards makes its wines from among the following varieties of grape: * Marsanne * Mourvedre * Cabernet Franc * Syrah * Viognier Viognier () is a white wine grape variety. It is ...
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Varietal
A varietal wine is a wine made primarily from a single named grape variety, and which typically displays the name of that variety on the wine label.The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, 2000.winepros.com.au. Examples of grape varieties commonly used in varietal wines are Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Merlot. Wines that display the name of two or more varieties on their label, such as a Chardonnay- Viognier, are ''blends'' and not varietal wines. The term is frequently misused in place of vine variety; the term ''variety'' refers to the vine or grape, while ''varietal'' refers to the wine produced by a variety. The term was popularized in the US by Maynard Amerine at the University of California, Davis after Prohibition seeking to encourage growers to choose optimal vine varieties, and later promoted by Frank Schoonmaker in the 1950s and 1960s, ultimately becoming widespread during the California wine boom of the 1970s. Varietal wines a ...
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Syrah
Syrah (), also known as Shiraz, is a dark-skinned grape variety grown throughout the world and used primarily to produce red wine. In 1999, Syrah was found to be the offspring of two obscure grapes from southeastern France, Dureza and Mondeuse Blanche. Syrah should not be confused with Petite Sirah, a cross of Syrah with Peloursin dating from 1880. The style and flavor profile of wines made from Syrah are influenced by the climate where the grapes are grown. In moderate climates (such as the northern Rhone Valley and parts of the Walla Walla AVA in Washington State), they tend to produce medium to full-bodied wines with medium-plus to high levels of tannins and notes of blackberry, mint and black pepper. In hot climates (such as Crete, and the Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale regions of Australia), Syrah is more consistently full-bodied with softer tannin, jammier fruit and spice notes of licorice, anise and earthy leather. In many regions the acidity and tannin l ...
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Cabernet Franc
Cabernet Franc is one of the major black grape varieties worldwide. It is principally grown for blending with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in the Bordeaux style, but can also be vinified alone, as in the Loire's Chinon. In addition to being used in blends and produced as a varietal in Canada and the United States, it is sometimes made into ice wine in those regions. Cabernet Franc is lighter than Cabernet Sauvignon, making a bright pale red wine that contributes finesse and lends a peppery perfume to blends with more robust grapes. Depending on the growing region and style of wine, additional aromas can include tobacco, raspberry, bell pepper, cassis, and violets. Records of Cabernet Franc in Bordeaux go back to the end of the 18th century, although it was planted in Loire long before that time. DNA analysis indicates that Cabernet Franc is one of two parents of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Carménère. History Cabernet Franc is believed to have been established in ...
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Marsanne
Marsanne is a white wine grape, most commonly found in the Northern Rhône region. It is often blended with Roussanne. In Savoie the grape is known as ''grosse roussette''. Outside France it is also grown in Switzerland (where it is known as ''ermitage blanc'' or just ''ermitage''), Spain (where it is known as ''Marsana''), Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States. Wine regions The grape most likely originated in the Northern Rhône region where it is widely planted today, more precisely in the village and abbey of Marsanne (Drôme). It is a principal component of the white wines from the Hermitage, Crozes-Hermitage and Saint-Joseph AOCs. It is the most widely planted white wine grape in the Hermitage AOC, where it is often blended with Roussanne. Along with Roussanne, up to 15% of Marsanne can be added to the red wine of Hermitage under ''Appellation d'origine contrôlée'' (AOC) regulations. In the Saint-Péray AOC, it is used for both still and sparkling w ...
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Wine
Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are major factors in different styles of wine. These differences result from the complex interactions between the biochemical development of the grape, the reactions involved in fermentation, the grape's growing environment ( terroir), and the wine production process. Many countries enact legal appellations intended to define styles and qualities of wine. These typically restrict the geographical origin and permitted varieties of grapes, as well as other aspects of wine production. Wines not made from grapes involve fermentation of other crops including rice wine and other fruit wines such as plum, cherry, pomegranate, currant and elderberry. Wine has been produced for thousands of years. The earliest evidence of wine is from the Cau ...
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Viognier
Viognier () is a white wine grape variety. It is the only permitted grape for the French wine Condrieu in the Rhône Valley.J. Robinson ''"The Oxford Companion to Wine"'' Third Edition pg 754 Oxford University Press 2006 Outside of the Rhône, Viognier can be found in regions of North and South America as well as Australia, New Zealand, the Cape Winelands in South Africa, south Moravia region in Czechia and Israel. In some wine regions, the variety is co-fermented with the red wine grape Syrah where it can contribute to the color and aroma of the wine.Wine & Spirits Education Trust ''"Wine and Spirits: Understanding Wine Quality"'' pgs 6-9, Second Revised Edition (2012), London, Like Chardonnay, Viognier has the potential to produce full-bodied wines with a lush, soft character. In contrast to Chardonnay, the Viognier varietal has more natural aromatics that include notes of peach, pears, violets and minerality. However, these aromatic notes can be easily destroyed ...
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France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area extends from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean and from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea; overseas territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the North Atlantic, the French West Indies, and many islands in Oceania and the Indian Ocean. Due to its several coastal territories, France has the largest exclusive economic zone in the world. France borders Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Monaco, Italy, Andorra, and Spain in continental Europe, as well as the Netherlands, Suriname, and Brazil in the Americas via its overseas territories in French Guiana and Saint Martin. Its eighteen integral regions (five of which are overseas) span a combined area of ...
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Rhône Wine
The Rhône wine region in Southern France is situated in the Rhône valley and produces numerous wines under various ''Appellation d'origine contrôlée'' (AOC) designations. The region's major appellation in production volume is Côtes du Rhône AOC. The Rhône is generally divided into two sub-regions with distinct vinicultural traditions, the Northern Rhône (referred to in French as ''Rhône septentrional'') and the Southern Rhône (in French ''Rhône méridional''). The northern sub-region produces red wines from the Syrah grape, sometimes blended with up to 20% of white wine grapes, and white wines from Marsanne, Roussanne and Viognier grapes. The southern sub-region produces an array of red, white and rosé wines, often blends of several grapes such as in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. History The first cultivated vines in the region were probably planted around 600 BC. The origins of the two most important grape varieties in the northern Rhone (Syrah and Viognier) have in the pa ...
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Piedmont Region Of Virginia
The Piedmont region of Virginia is a part of the greater Piedmont physiographic region which stretches from the falls of the Potomac, Rappahannock, and James Rivers to the Blue Ridge Mountains. The region runs across the middle of the state from north to south, expanding outward to a width of nearly 190 miles at the border with North Carolina. To the north, the region continues from Virginia into central Maryland and southeastern Pennsylvania. Overview The Virginia Piedmont is largely characterized by rolling hills and numerous ridges near the boundary with the Blue Ridge Mountains. Lying between the mountain and coastal plain regions, the piedmont region is a naturally diverse landscape. The bedrock consists mostly of gneiss, schist, and granite rocks at a typical depth of between 2 and 10 feet. Soils developed from these rocks and minerals form acid, infertile soils, with sandy loam surfaces. Many of the clayey subsoils are red or yellowish red due to the oxidized iron weathe ...
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