This past fun-filled weekend we had to hurriedly prepare a spray for the vineyard, only to have our sprayer malfunction in the worst possible way — two strainers in the back blew out from the strain of the pressure.  Our air blast sprayer (produced by a company called Air-o-Fan) run at about 100 pounds per square inch, and the strain on the strainer takes its toll.  One blew out, and we thought, no problem, because we had one extra.  Drove back to the barn, put on the new one, returned to the vineyard, cranked it up — and the second strainer blew (there are two).  No replacement for that one, which mean’t no spraying that day.  We’re experiencing severe disease pressure — what to do?

Indeed, what to do?  We had a wine festival in Richmond the next day, and the day after on a plane to California to visit family and friends for a graduation at the University of Southern California, first swinging through San Francisco to see relatives and a fabulous dinner planned at Restaurant Gary Danko on North Point in The City (more on that later).  We’ll be away a week and can’t delay a fungicide application, with our Phomopsis problem lurking in the vines.  A few quick calls secured replacement parts (a half dozen) from the manufacturer, which will be overnighted, and calls to our beloved neighbor who tends to the fields and keeps an eye on things (but has never run the sprayer) took care of our other problem, which is to make sure we applied a treatment very soon, not that the rains have passed, for now.  Russell came on over 20 minutes after our rather frantic phone call, had a quick tutorial and instructions on operating the thing.  Many thanks to Air-o-Fan (and to Russell) for coming though for us!

Saturday proved a bit forbidding, with violent thunderstorms in the forecast that were to peak mid-afternoon.  But the storms missed us, and it was a rather pleasant afternoon at the Snag A Job Pavilion in Glen Allen for the Central Virginia Wine Festival, an event put on by the Richmond Virginia Tech Alumni Association, a fundraiser for scholarships for Richmond-area students attending Tech.  Fabulous cause with fabulous people running it.  And the volunteers!  We had teams assigned to us to help pour (they were in a word (and we’ll say it again) fabulous — such enthusiasm, such grace and good cheer!   And of course they loved the wine (how could they not?), and purchased several bottles on top of the wine we gave them as a thank you gift for helping.  The festival staff helped us unload, and when it was over they loaded us up to go (we were among the first out of there) — we felt like Princes.

Just before our sprayer mis-adventure on Friday, however, we looked down and spotted our first cicadas on the fence post at the gate to the vineyard.  We are due to have a massive invasion of the periodic cicada this year, an event we look forward to with curiosity and dread.  We didn’t see them in Richmond on Saturday, or up north in McLean on Sunday, but they are all over Annefield.  When packing up to depart the next day for the festival we spotted dozens of them in the grass and crawling up the side of the house, many of them just emerging from their exoskeletons.  Many that we saw had just emerged, with their crazy orange eyes, waiting for their shells to harden, milky white and vulnerable.  They haven’t started singing yet.

Dr Tony Wolf of the Alson H. Smith Jr Agricultural Research and Extension Center of Virginia Tech Virginia circulated a memo about them (and included an ominous note that there is a threat of potential spring frost on Monday in the Shenandoah Valley) advising what winegrowers need to do about the 17-year periodic cicadas emerging this year — in a word, nothing.

Periodical cicada spends most of its life as a nymph, feeding on xylem sap from tree roots. In the final year of development, nymphs crawl from the soil, climbing tree trunks or any other structure. During the night, the nymphal skin splits along the midline, and the adult emerges. Adults appear in mid- to late-May (a few individuals may be heard as early as late-April). They appear around sunset, males slightly preceding females. Males congregate en masse in “chorusing centers”. Singing peaks around 10:00 AM. Adults feed on a wide range of woody plants during the day; such feeding is apparently restricted to the females because the male digestive tract is rudimentary. Egg-laying begins about 2 weeks after emergence. Eggs are inserted into twigs in groups of 10-25; the slit into which the eggs are inserted is 1-4 inches (2.5-10 cm) long. Females may lay over 500 eggs. Oviposition peaks in the early afternoon. Adults are active for about 6 weeks. Eggs hatch 6-10 weeks after oviposition, whereupon nymphs leave the twigs and drop to the soil. Nymphs tunnel to the roots where they establish themselves for feeding.

What threat do cicadas pose to grapevines?  If you’re new to grape growing since the last emergence of periodical cicada’s you may think that the insects are causing significant damage, and your immediate reaction will be to ask what insecticide might be sprayed to keep the insects off your grapevines. While that’s an understandable reaction, my advice (TKW) would be to find something else to do and not worry too much about what the insects are doing. You are going to see shoot breakage and you may want to defer trunk and cordon establishment on young vines until next year, but grapevines are pretty resilient. Injury by egg-laying is a much greater problem than feeding is, but it’s helpful to realize that the egg-laying (ovipositioning) on mature grapevines is not as detrimental as it can be for young fruit trees or woody landscape materials, which you may wish to protect. The cicadas will deposit eggs in grape shoots and smaller cordons of the vine. Unsupported shoots often break beyond the point of egg-laying, but because this occurs relatively early in the growing season (June), lateral re-growth will normally compensate for the loss of a primary shoot tip. In older wood, the oviposition site typically heals.

Insecticidal control of cicadas is not very practical because of the extended period of emergence and activity (up to 6 weeks) and because insecticides would have to be applied very frequently to come in contact with newly emerging insects. Fine netting is an option mentioned in the above-cited Fact Sheet, but the economics of this approach with grapevines is questionable. Young (first-year) vines are a special consideration in that one is attempting to produce shoots to serve as trunks in the following year. One potential means of protecting the shoots would be the use of grow tubes, which would discourage cicadas from at least the first 24 to 36 inches of the shoot. Alternatively one might simply retain several shoots in the first year in the event that one or more shoots break during development.

They’ll put on a spectacular show.

Incidentally, at the Central Virginia Wine Festival, our newly released 2012 Annefield Vineyards Viognier was named best white wine at the event.  We last attended this festival two years ago (we had a conflict last year) and received the same honor.  We like to think they love us and we certainly love them.  Its a great event, a worthy cause, and we’ll probably be back. next year.  Go Hokies!

Bud Break, 12 April 2013.

Ah, spring!  Winegrowers have a different spin on that old ditty:  ”April showers bring May . . . Phomopsis.  More specifically, Phomopsis viticola, otherwise known as Phomopsis cane and leaf spot.  The weather this spring has been perfect for it — cool, wet days with relatively cool temperatures in the range of 59 to 68 degrees Fahrenheit.  We haven’t seen it in our vineyards for about four years, but this past week the tractor was being serviced so we had to miss spraying fungicides one week.  The infection seemed relatively small — just a few patches — but it must be controlled.  One can expect to see it anytime after bud break, which this year occurred around April 12 in our part of the world.

Readers of this space probably don’t care for the ugly details, but those interested in learning more can turn to any of several sources: Virginia Tech’s Online Guide to Grapevine Diseases and the University of California’s Integrated Pest Management Program are excellent, Cornell University has theirs, as do most every other university agriculture program.  The bottom line is it ain’t pretty, and if not controlled, it can ruin your crop.

How do you fight it?  You treat it the same as all of our other loveable fungal infections: downy mildew, powdery mildew, botrytis, black rot — with a fungicidal spray, applying once a week or so or after a heavy rain, being mindful of the limits specified on the label for the application of that particular product in a particular growing season.  There are a range of products effective against it, such as copper and sulfur (for those focused on organic production), but our personal favorite is a Dupont product called Manzate, which contains manganese and zinc.  The rules for its application vary by location and crop.  In California, for example, it is illegal to apply Manzate to grapes after bloom, yet east of the Rocky Mountains you can apply it up to 66 days before harvest (referred to as the “pre-harvest interval,” or PHI), yet for squash and melons, the PHI is 5 days.  Go figure.

However, all of these are contact products and need to be re-applied after the next heavy rain, and need to be applied again anyway to protect the growing shoots.  The inoculum overwinters in the vineyard, so a dormant application of lime sulfur is probably in order this fall and again before bud break next year.  This is also effective for botrytis and powdery mildew. Our usual practice is to combine two products in each tank mix — one that targets powdery mildew and the other downy mildew.  Fortunately the products that fight both of these are good for Phomopsis.  And for good measure, we include a tea of fermented Horsetail, as prescribed in Biodynamic practice for fungal diseases.  Whether it works or not is of course subject to debate, but it definitely can’t hurt.

No doubt Phomopsis is making an appearance in vineyards up and down the eastern seaboard this year.  This is certainly not the end of the world — we just need to be extra-diligent with our spray schedule this year to make sure we contain the infection so the disease doesn’t infect the fruit, and be prepared to spray in the dormant season to keep it from becoming established in the vineyard next year.

Six Inch Shoots, 3 May 2013.

Beware the Festival Beast!

When the sun was sunken, he set out to visit
The lofty hall-building, how the Ring-Danes had used it
For beds and benches when the banquet was over.
Then he found there reposing many a noble
Asleep after supper; sorrow the heroes,
Misery knew not. The monster of evil
Greedy and cruel tarried but little,
He drags off thirty of them, and devours them
Fell and frantic, and forced from their slumbers
Thirty of thanemen; thence he departed
Leaping and laughing, his lair to return to,
With surfeit of slaughter sallying homeward.
In the dusk of the dawning, as the day was just breaking,
Was Grendel’s prowess revealed to the warriors:
A cry of agony goes up, when Grendel’s horrible deed is fully realized.
Then, his meal-taking finished, a moan was uplifted,
Morning-cry mighty.

-Beowulf

Almost two years ago we wrote an especially cranky post in this space about our experience with the Shenandoah Valley Hot Air Balloon, Wine & Music Festival at Long Branch, a historic house and farm in Clarke County, Virginia, just outside of the town of Winchester (“Those Blasted Wine Festivals“).  That three-day event occurs each October, so the cumulative effect of three very long days of nonstop work at the end of the season made it the “nail in the coffin” on working these beastly things.  Or so we thought.

This past weekend we were again in Winchester, only this time for the Bloomin’ Wine Fest at the Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival.  This two-week event takes place in historic downtown Winchester which is in the northern reaches of the Shenandoah Valley. The wine festival opens the celebration and lasts just two days, so perhaps the cranky quotient was reduced by a third.  It was actually a great crowd, many gaily attired in pink and chartreuse, and we had some fantastic, enthusiastic helpers with us.  We couldn’t have done it without them (and if any of you are reading this, thank you!).

But for some reason when contemplating our evolving attitude about wine festivals, this correspondent immediately thought of  ”monsters.”  Why monsters?  In the mind’s eye its a big lumbering thing, ruthless and out of control, like Grendel in the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf.  The Latin root for “monster” is monstrum, which means “an aberrant occurrence” that is interpreted as a sign from the Almighty that something is wrong with the natural order of the world.  Drill down deeper, and we learn that the root of monstrum is monere, which bears a dual meaning: to warn, but also to instruct.

Every age has its monsters.  Beowulf, which dates from the 7th century, gave us Grendel, who in the passage quoted above carried away 30 Thanemen and devoured them.  The monsters of our age are more insidious, being nearly human (possibly dwelling among us unnoticed, like vampires), or formerly human, like zombies.  Funny how a decade ago references to vampires littered the cultural landscape, acting as a metaphor for the human condition — bloodsuckers on Wall Street, that sort of thing — while the horror metaphor of our times is the zombie, a mindless, soulless creature seeing human flesh for nourishment.

Is the rampant wine festival culture a phenomenon limited to Virginia?  Hoping to find a central repository of information on them, we had a look at localwineevents.com, which showed that virtually every state has them, and the larger wine growing regions have lots of them.  However, the listings on that website aren’t dispositive; for example, a search on the site found none in Kentucky (which has over 66 wineries), but a quick web search found several festivals in and around Louisville and Lexington.  Checking other states without listings on that site, such as Alaska and Hawaii, we found even more festivals, so clearly not all events are listed there.  If anything, this exercise shows that there are far more wine and food festivals than we realize, and that they aren’t an aberation — they may be the rule.  And if they are the rule, then they can’t be called monsters because they aren’t aberrations.  If anything they are simply unruly beasts in need of some discipline, so let’s call them the “Festival Beast.”

A wine festival is without a doubt an exhausting, arduous way of promoting wine that sucks the life from you.  ”Zombie” is probably the better metaphor because we do feel brain dead the day after.  And if one festival goes away, another rises in its place.  We get calls all the time from people organizing new ones to benefit some cause or promote some region or town.  Clearly there is no killing the Festival Beast, but we can try to tame it and live with it.   And like good wine zombies, we rise from the dead and keep on pouring.  Because we have to, given the realities of the art of selling wine.  What can we learn from the “Festival Beast?”

Taming the Festival Beast

What are the “realities” of the art of selling wine?  Look at it as a three-legged stool: (1) onsite sales direct to consumer via tasting room, online sales and wine clubs; (2) offsite direct to consumer via remote events (festivals and trade shows); and (3) wholesale (wine shops and restaurants).  All three have their challenges, but the offsite events are the most daunting, physically — the dreaded “Festival Beast.”

There are three recurring themes in our encounters with the public at these events, all related to that saying forever linked to the sale of real estate: “the most important thing is location, location, location.”  These questions can be summed up as “Where are you located?”  ”You’re awfully far away!”  and “Where can I buy your wine locally?”  Let’s have a look at each.

Where are you located?  Perhaps the measure of when we can stop doing as many as we do now (which aren’t that many, compared to many other wineries) is when we no longer hear this question: “Where are you located?”  That will show we’ve reached a level of renown that allows us to put our promotional efforts in other places.  Festivals are, in the end, exposure and advertising without the expense of a media buy and the advantage of reaching a narrowly focused target audience.  Even so, wine may be sold, and some events are “profitable” (translation: cash positive in the end), but others are not, and on those occasions when the value of what is poured exceeds the money taken in, that is when we strike that event from our list of possibilities for the next year.

You’re awfully far away!  Another constant refrain: the buyer who is disappointed by our remote (to them) location.  ”I’ll never be able to come visit because you’re so far away!”  Perhaps, but we ship it to you, and with online orders of six or more bottles, we provide free UPS-ground shipping to your door.  If you join one of our wine clubs, we will ship your allocation twice a year and you don’t even have to bother ordering. We’re licensed to ship to all of the states abutting Virginia (except Tennessee), plus South Carolina and California, so shipping to the average Virginia wine festival attendee is not an impediment.

Where can I buy your wine locally?  Some expressed dismay that we were not available locally, but there is an answer to that, too.  Tell your favorite restaurants and wine shops about us and insist that they give us a call, or have them contact our distributor, Williams Corner Wine.  Their contact information is on the bottom of the wine-stained tasting notes that hopefully made it home with you.

Since we can’t escape the Festival Beast, we’ve learned to live with it.  Other wineries have clearly given the matter some thought, such as one winery in Washington called Hedges Family Estate that bills itself as the “Guardian of Red Mountain” and the Red Mountain American Viticultural Area, though one wonders what threat concerns them.  Their logo is a forbidding looking crest with what looks like a grinning skull and a sword crossing a shovel.  Let this guardian be our Beowulf and take on the Festival Beast — our Grendel, Grendel’s mother and that dragon everyone forgets about that leads to Beowulf’s demise all rolled into one.  Last March the Wine Business Blog published their humorous and helpful “Rules for Attending a Wine Festival,” so those of you attending a wine festival this year, take note:

- Don’t tether your wine glass to your neck
- Don’t pinch your fingers and say, “Just a little.” Dump it if you don’t want to finish it, but I’m going to pour as much as I damn well please
- Don’t violently lift your glass mid-pour and say, “That’s enough.” Same deal as above.
- Don’t say, “Give me the biggest thing you have.” This isn’t NASCAR.
- Let “smooth” take the day off from your vocabulary… the whole day
- Don’t shove. I mean… really
- Don’t say you hate Merlot. We all saw Sideways. Guess what: Miles didn’t want to drink Merlot because it reminded him of his ex-wife. That bottle he drank in the end—his most precious bottle—had a ton of Merlot in it.
- Don’t tell every winemaker about the winery that was down the street while you lived in Lodi
- Don’t ask how the wine scored… ever.
- Do wear a “Wine’er, Dine’er, 69’er T-shirt
- If you are going to wear one of the those little food trays that has a cutout for your glass, you better be damn sure you are cool enough to wear it. Note: no one is that cool
- Over-buff late thirties guy: Don’t try to impress your date by contradicting me. You’re going to fail. Yeah, try me
- Don’t lick your glass… pig
- Don’t talk about your sulfite allergy. There is a good chance you have no idea what you’re talking about
- Don’t dump into the water pitcher. And always look before you drink out of it
- Practice spitting at home; it will come in handy
- Don’t talk about the legs after you swirl the glass. Here’s a tip: the legs don’t matter.
- Don’t take your heels off and puke in the lobby
- Don’t ask what the most expensive wine on the table is
- Keep the rim of your glass food free
- If you proclaim that you don’t like white or rose, we will make fun of you when you walk away
- NO Perfume! And go light on the lipstick, honey

Historic Garden Week in Virginia began last week.  Known as “America’s largest open house,” proceeds from the house and garden tours go to the restoration and preservation of historic gardens throughout the Commonwealth.  For the voyeur it’s an opportunity to see the interior of some of the most interesting and historic houses in the United States.

We first encountered Garden Week in our pre-winery days, when we had such a thing as free time.  Back in those carefree days we had a house on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, and with friends went on a tour of the places open in on Virginia’s side.  The most notable being Eyre Hall, which has been on the tour every year for many, many years.  The owner has such a tradition of hospitality that anyone who wants to may come visit and stroll through the gardens, which are essentially unchanged since the 18th century.  The property has been in the same family for some 12 generations.  The house itself is open only during Garden Week, and is not to be missed.  Other houses on the tours we made were equally striking.  We are still haunted by the dining room at one house that bathed the visitor in the most amazing shade of coral, and another house had the misfortune of displaying antique China on virtually every surface — and sadly, one piece met its maker during our tour, to the horror of the multitude crowding the room.

There are three tours close to Annefield in Chatham (Sunday, April 21), Martinsville (Wednesday, April 24), and Danville (Thursday, April 25).  By the time this post appears two of the three dates will have passed, but make a note to attend next year.  Since these locations are open during the week, it would be impossible to combine the garden visits with a trip to see us — but then, these are all-day affairs and one would likely not have the time.

Prestwould. Image courtesy of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.

So — let’s plan our own house and garden tour!  Only this one can be made throughout the season.

Begin with a visit to Prestwould, the magnificent  circa 1797 Georgian mansion of Sir Peyton Skipwith and Jean, Lady Skipwith.  Located just outside of the town of Clarksville, Prestwould is open to the public and is a landmark in garden history, being the creation of Jean, Lady Skipwith, the second wife of Sir Peyton Skipwith, seventh baronet.  Her papers wound up in Williamsburg and provide great insight into 18th century garden history.  Indeed, Prestwould is one of the best documented Antebellum plantations in Virginia, and it has one of the largest collections of slave writings in the nation.  We first wrote about the family in another post a couple of years ago; see that post for background on the Skipwith family (“The Clarksville Lake Country Wine Festival (and an Unrelated Ghostly Tale”).

The Saloon at Prestwould. Image reproduced from “Virginia’s Historic Homes and Gardens”, by Chuck Blackley (Voyageur Press, 2009).

The house and garden are fascinating, with the house being especially well preserved, though the foundation that has owned the house since 1963 lacks the resources to maintain the garden to the standards of the Virginia Garden Club.  In 1980 the gardens were restored with garden club resources and because of their inability to keep to the garden club’s standards, that organization released them from their obligation some years ago.  Nevertheless, the gardens are definitely worth seeing, as is the house with its amazing collection of early American furniture and decorative arts.

There are several noteworthy examples of French scenic wallpaper at Prestwould.  Pictured here is the Saloon, in which Humbert Skipwith installed a paper called Le Parc Français by the firm Jacquemart et Bérnard in 1831 and 1832 (the invoices survive among the Skipwith papers).  The dining room features another Jacquemart paper, La Chasse de Compégne, a hunting scene first printed in 1814, and the drawing room behind the Saloon (through the door on the left pictured above) is Jean Zuber’s Jardins Français of 1822.  Jacquemart is no longer in business, but the Zuber Company survives, and it possesses the original wood block prints of several of its 19th century scenic wallpapers and can print a set to order.  

Some of the simpler wallpapers at Prestwould have have reproduced by Scalamandre and is still available (do a search for “Prestwould” on the site to find them).  Exploring the house, gardens and grounds with its extensive outbuildings can occupy a good two hours, so plan to arrive early.

Follow your visit to Prestwould with lunch in Clarksville.  There are a number of places to choose from, but a favorite for its commodious shaded terrace is Cooper’s Landing Inn & Traveler’s Tavern in Clarksville’s Historic District.  Cooper’s doesn’t serve lunch on Saturdays, but they do serve brunch on Sundays, from 10 am to 3 pm.   There are a number of other places, but a reliable choice for a casual lunch on Saturdays and Sundays is The Lake House a few blocks east of Cooper’s on Virginia Avenue.

Image courtesy of MacCallum More Museum & Gardens

From there, make your way to Chase City to see the MacCallum More Museum and Gardens, which has evolved into a cultural center featuring a  permanent display of Indian artifacts and other items of local interest, and eclectic forma gardens featuring architectural elements from all over the world that were collected by Lucy Morton Hudgins, the wife of Edward Wren Hudgins, a former Chief Justice of The Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, and expanded by her son, Commander William Henry Hudgins, in the 1940s, 1960s, and 1970s.  The house and grounds were recently placed on the National Register of Historic Places and the Virginia Landmarks Register.

Conclude your visit with a stop at Annefield and share a bottle of wine with a friend on the terrace overlooking the garden in the back of the house.  Our own garden is coming along — the parterre is filling in nicely, though something happened to the yellow tulips we planted in 2011 (Tulip Monsella) — the squirrels must have consumed them.  We do love the red tulips (Sky High Scarlet) dramatically bobbing above the grey-green foliage of the lavender.  We’ll have to plant more this fall.

We’ve been waiting for the boxwood to gain a bit of mass before bringing some shape to it, and this year the plants are finally touching, so we will prune the boxwood this year.  Traditionally the summer hedging takes place in England on Derby Day at Epsom, which is always the first Saturday in June.  The gardeners picked that day because the Master of the House would otherwise be occupied with the races and not interfere, which makes perfect sense.

Prestwould Plantation, 429 Prestwould Drive, Clarksville, Virginia 23927 (434) 374.8672 (open May through October)

Coopers Landing Inn & Traveler’s Tavern, 801 Virginia Avenue, Clarksville, Virginia 23927 (434) 274.2866 (Sunday Brunch only)

The Lake House, 335 Virginia Avenue, Clarksville, Virginia 23927 (434) 374.4646 (lunch on Saturdays and Sundays)

MacCallum More Museum & Gardens, 603 Hudgins Street, Chase City, Virginia (434) 372.0502 (Gardens open daily 10 am to 5 pm; Museum open Monday through Friday 10 am to 5 pm, Saturdays 10 am to 1 pm.)

Annefield Vineyards, 3200 Sunny Side Road, Saxe, Virginia 23967 (434) 454.6017 (Annefield is open to the public on Saturdays, 11 am to 5 pm, and on Sundays by appointment.)

Two weeks ago was our opening weekend for the season at Annefield.  Friends from Northern Virginia turned up, so we decided to have an impromptu dinner party that included some friends nearby in the middle of a kitchen renovation (translation: they can’t cook right now).  Sadly, they canceled at the last minute, which in the scheme of things was a bit of a relief because one of them has gluten issues and we were not sure how to deal with a flour substitute for this recipe, which calls for a traditional Creole roux made with flour and oil.  The original plan was to thicken the sauce with corn starch, then we thought we’d substitute rice flour for wheat — but in the end the crisis was averted so we’ll have to conduct that experiment another day.

This Creole Chicken Fricassée is one of those recipes that are perfect for a dinner party.  All the prep work is done well in advance and the dish can wait on the stove until ready to serve.  It’s important to season the chicken early in the day, if not the day before — this gives the best flavor.  We started with a Shrimp and Lettuce Salad with a vinaigrette with a lemon and lime, the Creole Chicken Fricassée with Spring Asparagus, and concluded with another favorite, our Mixed Berry Cream with Raspberries and Blackberries.  We served the 2012 Annefield Pinot Gris with the first and the 2011 Annefield Chardonnay with the chicken; our original impulse to serve the 2011 Annefield Viognier was misguided; the spice in this dish is too subtle to stand up to that wine.

Creole Chicken Fricassée.

• One 2- to 3-pound chicken, cut in six pieces
• Cooking oil, salt, pepper and flour
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup celery, finely chopped (one stalk)
• 1 large bay leaf
• 1 cup tomatoes, chopped (or substitute one 14 ounce can of whole peeled tomatoes)
• 14 ounces chicken stock
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon flour
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 drops Tabasco
• Steamed rice as an accompaniment

1. Apply salt and pepper to the chicken pieces.  For the best flavor, do this early in the day so the salt works its way into the chicken.  Dust with flour before frying.
2. In a large pot, pour enough olive oil to cover the bottom about 1/2 inch.  When oil is hot, add chicken pieces and brown to a dark golden color. Remove from pot and drain on paper towels.
3. In the same saucepan make a roux by adding the tablespoon flour and additional oil, if necessary (it should be about one tablespoon of oil).  Stir the roux over very low heat until it is dark brown.
4. Add onion, parsley, celery, garlic, tomatoes, bay leaf, and chicken stock.  Stir until the mixture comes to a brisk boil, about 20 minutes.
5. Season to taste, and add Tabasco.  Return chicken to the pot and cover.  Lower heat until a slow simmer occurs, and cook about one hour.
6. Allow to rest off heat for about 15 to 20 minutes before serving.  Serve over steamed rice, and dusted with finely chopped parsley.

Serves six.

Visitors to our tasting room always took delight in taking photographs of our two dogs, Missy and Cooper, taking over the sofa opposite the bar.  Missy would usually be on the right, Cooper on the left, more often than not both contentedly snoozing.  Their photos grace many a Facebook page.  We’re very sad to report that our dog Missy died early last Sunday morning.

Cooper got most of the attention, but Missy was the quiet ruler of the household.  She always got her way.  If a human were sitting where she wanted to be, after a little protest (kind of a warning), she’d whack you with her paw since you didn’t get the message.  Sometimes if Cooper were sitting where she wanted to be, she would pick up a toy, toss it in the air as if she were ready to play; when Cooper got off the couch to join in, she would immediately take the spot she wanted and look away, ignoring him.  She was clever and stubborn, and always gentle.

She loved car rides, and always knew when it was time to head to the farm.  Often she would climb in the front seat with you and sit in the passenger seat with you.  On stops for gas, she would climb into the driver’s seat, as if she wanted a turn a driving.  She was 12 years old, which is a long life for a big dog.   It’s a cruel cold comfort that she died at home, rather than under a needle at the veterinarian, and having to cope with the guilt that accompanies that dreadful decision.  We’re grateful she was with us for so long.  Goodbye girl — we love you.

Florence and Venice.  How does one summarize a trip to two of the most fabled places on earth?  You really can’t.  Though the two today are part of a single nation, one needs to remember that through their early history both were independent nations, with wildly different cultures and ways of dealing with the world.

Venice is fascinating for its marriage with the sea.  Its early founders (merchants and traders from the beginning) sought protection from barbarians in the 5^th century, and from that the city grew into the decadent, romantic ruin it is now, culminating in the end of the thousand year old republic before Napoleon in 1797.  Florence with its Medici family and their power is similarly complex and marvelous.  There is just too much — it isn’t our place to recount the pageantry and richness of the two, and the head whirls trying to tie it all together.

We tried to find a way to to summarize this journey, and thought of a couple of themes — perhaps a post about the day we saw three versions of David (“the day of three Davids” — Donatello’s of 1408, Andrea del Verrochio’s of 1473/5, and of Michelangelo’s of 1501/4),  Another theme: the refectories of Florence — one could make a day visiting depictions of The Last Supper all over Florence, but commentary on the art and Italy’s rich, varied and complex history doesn’t seem appropriate to this space.

So suffice with snatches of detail — and the food and wine!  We experienced many memorable meals and tried innumerable wines, but in retrospect there is little value in identifying them because most aren’t available in the States.  Very often we enjoyed the house wine, which was more often than not delicious.

A Visit to Tuscany.

A visit to Florence calls for at least a day in the country in the Chianti Classico area. — We spent a day visiting Tuscany.  First, a quintessential Tuscan wine estate, graced with  an 18^th century villa in the middle of the Chianti Classico area — Fattoria di Montecchio in San Donato in Poggio, followed by lunch at Tenuta Casanova, an organic farm producing wine, olive oil, truffle oil, balsamic vinegar, essential oils made from lavender and rosemary, honey, sausage, and soap.  The owner guided us through a carefully orchestrated meal — everything on the menu was produced on the farm.  It was a great show and he shipped to the states, so we couldn’t resist ordering a few things.

About seven and a half miles south of Florence in Chianti is the Florence American Cemetery and Memorial, operated by the American Battle Monuments Commission.  The Cemetery contains the remains of service members who died during the last phase of the Italian campaign during the second World War.  This was an offensive to drive German forces off of the Italian peninsula.  Among the dead is an uncle of ours, so we paused a moment to pay our respects.

Florence.

n Florence, we were found ourselves in a blessed location, just on the edge of the old city center.  Our group of seven rented apartments in each city.  Our Florence apartment was a wonder, loaded with massive statues, enormous paintings.  Comfortably furnished and surprisingly quiet.  Everything we wanted or needed was within walking distance.

One restaurant we visited was around the corner, and one of the best was just downstairs from our apartment.  Il Latini served lusty, simple, hearty Florentine fare family style with great gusto and aplomb (us: “May we see a menu?”  Waiter: “I am your menu!”).  It was great fun.

Il Latini, Via dei Palchetti 6/r (Palazzo Rucellai) – 50123 – Firenze – tel. (+39) 055 210916

Another restaurant just downstairs from the apartment proved to be a wonder, with the most innovative and imaginative plating and presentation.  We ate there our last day, and loved it.

Trattoria I Parione, Via del Parione, 74 / 76 r – Via della Vigna Nuova, 17 – 50123 – Firenze - tel. (+39) 055 214005

Yet another star was a place that has a branch in Washington, DC, called Acqua al 2.

Acqua al 2, Via della Vigna Vecchia, 40/R, 50122 – Firenze - tel. (+39) 055 284170

A couple of us ventured out on our own while others went shopping.  It wasn’t time for panic sight-seeing, but almost — we had made it over to see Santa Croce, the final resting place of Galileo and Michelangelo, but it was lunch time and our group caught a cab and joined us at this place.  Santa Croce was interesting for its flood markers that showed the level of the cataclysmic floods that have struck the city over the centuries.  The worst in modern times (November of 1966) had water levels of 20 feet above normal at Santa Croce.

Ristorante la Maremma, Via Verdi 16/r – Firenze – tel. (+039) 055 244615

Another night, a restaurant on the opposite bank of the Arno, overlooking the Ponte Vecchio.

Golden View, Via dei Bardi 58/R, (Ponte Vecchio) – Firenze – tel. (+039) 055 214502

Venice and the Veneto.

Venice is just two hours away from Florence by train.  Our first afternoon in Venice took us to the Fortuny factory on Guidecca for a visit to the showroom and a tour of the garden, but the factory itself is off-limits, because Fortuny’s methods are top secret.  A necessity so they can charge 350 Euro per yard for fabric, which is admittedly the most luxurious imaginable.

Our first full day in the Veneto called for a day trip to Padua and Vicenza, just minutes outside of Venice by train.  We wanted to visit the Giotto’s landmark (an astounding) Scrovegni Chapel in Padua and make a pilgrimage to the Villa La Rotonda in Vicenza, a landmark of world architecture and an inspiration to our own Thomas Jefferson in the building of his Monticello.  Its a majestic yet strangely impractical composition, very much like Jefferson’s Poplar Forest in plan.

In Venice we selected an area little visited by tourists, so it was less congested yet convenient to the rest of the city.  It was a five minute walk to the closest vaparetto stop.  With a good map and a little patience, you could walk anywhere.  We were amused to see that every restaurant in Venice had a business card that included a map showing how to find them — a true necessity in that city.

One night we found ourselves at this quirky little place near the Piazza San Marco.

Enoiteca Mascareta, Calle Lunga S. Maria Formosa, 5183, 30122 Venezia tel. (+039) 041 5230744

And Friday night we planned our most elaborate dinner, since some of our guests had to go on Saturday.  Just off Campo San Polo one finds Ristorante Osteria da Fiore, one of the best regarded restaurants in the city.  Our most decadent evening, with a seven course tasting menu.  We had a different wine with each course (our choice being the sommelier’s choice).  A spectacular evening in a restaurant listed among the best in the world by master chef and reviewer Patricia Wells, and one of only two restaurants in Venice recognized by the Guide Michelin (the other, Met, has two stars and Da Fiore one, but Da Fiore is higher rated by Zagat – pick your poison).  One of the members of our party was a vegetarian who could not eat dairy; we called ahead to warn them, and they handled the request with aplomb and good grace.

Ristorante Osteria da Fiore, S. Polo – Calle del Scaleter 2202/A, 30125 Venezia – tel. (+39) 041 721308

The walk home proved amusing with a late occurrence of Acqua Alta — the notorious high water caused by an exceptionally high tide, occurring with distressingly increased frequency.  Portions of the sidewalk on the walk back to the apartment were submerged in a foot of water.  It happened again the next night, and we heard the warning sirens alerting the populace.  Fortunately that night we were at an Osteria just steps from our apartment, the Osteria da Codroma.  This restaurant served only traditional Venetian specialties (in this instance, all seafood).  Truly a neighborhood gem.

Osteria da Codroma, Dorsoduro 2540, Fondamenta Briati 30123 Venezia – tel. (+39) 041 5246789

Lunches were a mixed affair — sometimes a pizza on one of the numerous campos (there is only one piazza in Venice), a favorite being one on the Campo Santa Margarita, the largest near our apartment.  Another was on Campo San Polo, but the most memorable was A Beccafico on Campo S. Stefano.

A Beccafico, Campo S. Stefano, 2801, 30124 Venizia – tel. (+39) 038 18810271

Here’s a tip: the TripAdvisor app for iPhone proved invaluable, providing the ability to instantly find nearby restaurants and capsule reviews.  It has an invaluable directional feature with a single large arrow to show you that you are going in the right direction — an invaluable feature in a place like Venice.  Note that TripAdvisor has specific city guides, but not all restaurants in the main app are in the individual city guides.

And Finally –

When we originally booked our departure we took into account the time it would take to travel from the city to the airport, so we booked a later flight.  That flight was canceled, and we were put on one departing at 6:45 am, which would necessitate leaving around 3 am.  Not a pretty prospect, so after a minor freak-out we found a hotel close to the airport and spent the last night there.  It was not even five minutes to the terminal, and a humane way to end the trip.

A restaurant within walking distance from there proved to be an incredible find, and provided one of our most interesting meals, and throwback to the lusty meat-fest of the simpler Florentine restaurants. So if you find yourself spending the night near the Marco Polo Airport, you must seek out Ai-Do Fogheri.

Ai-Do Fogheri, Via Trienstina, 138, Tessera, VE tel- (+39) 041 5416107

In conclusion, one could spend a lifetime in either place learning its finer points and mysteries.  We don’t include here everything we saw; omission does more justice than trying to include it all.  It feels like we only brushed the surface, and we’re anxious to return.  There were a lot of churches we didn’t get to, and one must see the art in situ to truly appreciate it.

Giovanni Bellini & Titian, The Feast of the Gods (1514/1529), in the collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

What is a “festival,” anyway?  The Oxford English Dictionary is rather precise, limiting it to two uses: (1)  day or period of celebration, typically for religious reasons, or (2) an organized series of concerts, plays, or films, typically one held annually in the same place, and providing this etymological source: “ Middle English (as an adjective): via Old French from medieval Latin festivalis, from Latin festivus, from festum, (plural) festa ’feast’.”  Bottom line: it’s a feast, a drunken revel, a celebration.

An entry in Wikipedia brings in historic context, A festival is an event, usually and ordinarily staged by a local community, which centers on and celebrates some unique aspect of that community and the Festival.  The traditional European wine festival would take place as a celebration following harvest in September or October, but here in the United States the wine festival often bears no nexus to wine regions, winegrowing or the seasons, with festivals taking place throughout the year.

Nevertheless, these celebrations of the vine provide numerous opportunities to sample the bounty of Virginia’s wineries.  Here is a list of the festivals we will be participating in this year.  There may be more – the Southern Virginia Wine Trail may have one in October, but as of this writing it has not been confirmed.  Also included below is a wine shop appearance scheduled in October.

Think about volunteering  - volunteers receive free admission to our Fall Harvest Party!  This year’s party is on October 5, 2013.

April 13, 2013 – Clarksville Lake Country Wine Festival, Clarksville

This is the 7th annual Clarksville Lake Country Wine Festival, featuring 15 wineries and all the usual trimmings — arts and crafts, fine foods, live music.  Its an interesting event with a resort-like feel, and a great way to open the season.

April 26/27, 2013 – Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival, Winchester

The 86th Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival presents a series of more than thirty events, including band competitions, dances, parades, a carnival, a circus, dinners, luncheons, a 10K Race, the Coronation of Queen Shenandoah, Firefighters’ events, celebrities, and of course the wine festival.  Last year’s Grand Marshall was Mario Lopez.  This is a big one, comparable to the Virginia Beach Neptune Festival — attendance is usually in the range of 250,000 people.

May 11, 2013 – Central Virginia Wine Festival, Glen Allen

This fundraiser is organized by the Richmond Chapter of the Virginia Tech Alumni Association, and features 16 wineries, food and entertainment.    It’s a great cause, raising money for financial need-based, academic scholarships awarded to Richmond area Virginia Tech students.  Additionally, proceeds from this event help support other student and alumni programs throughout Richmond.

May 25, 2013 – Inaugural Wine Club Dinner at Annefield

While not a festival, this will definitely be a feast.  This is a private wine pairing dinner exclusively for Jameson and Read wine club members and special guests.  We plan to hold it in the candle-lit dining room at Annefield, so seating is extremely limited.  We could spill over into the parlor, if necessary.  Invitations are forthcoming.  For information on our wine clubs, see this link.

June 15, 2013 – Richmond.com Uncorked, Richmond

Now this is a fun one — the finest Virginia food and wine outdoors on the grounds of the Virginia Historical Society in the Museum District.  All the trimmings — live music, local artists, glorious food.  This event benefits the YMCA of Richmond.

June 22, 2013 – Clifton Wine Festival, Clifton

This wine festival takes place in the historic Town of Clifton among the shade or sprawling oak trees.  This event brings together wineries, local restaurants, arts, crafts and music.  The 2012 festival featured 16 wineries from all over the Commonwealth.

September 7/8, 2013 – 18th Annual Neptune’s Fall Wine Festival, Virginia Beach

The Virginia Beach Neptune Festival is more than a wine festival.  There are over 35 events, ranging from sporting activities such as golf, volleyball, tennis, Sandman Triathlon, 8K run and surfing competition to the art and craft show, which attracts almost 300 exhibitors. The Boardwalk Weekend also includes the North American Sand Sculpting Championships, the Grand Parade, Youth Day and three stages of entertainment.

Pre-Festival events includes the Wine Festival, Senior Citizens activities, the Endless Summer Beach Bash, and many others.  According to the organizers, it has evolved into one of the Country’s top 100 festivals and is ranked as one of the top 10 on the East Coast.  It is a major visitor draw, bringing thousands of local visitors to the Virginia Beach Boardwalk. It is one of the largest such events in Virginia.

September 28, 2013 – South Hill Wine Festival, South Hill

This one is in an intimate setting in the Centennial Park in South Hill.  Last year’s festival drew 10 wineries from all over the Commonwealth , and featured live music, interesting vendors, and great food.  The proceeds benefit the South Hill Rotary and the South Hill Chamber of Commerce.

October 5, 2013 – Annefield Vineyards Harvest Party, Saxe

Like last year, our volunteers who helped during the year receive free admission to our end of the season blowout.  Fabulous food, great music, a relaxed atmosphere on the lawn at Annefield.

October 19, 2013 – Guest Appearance at Olde Virginia Gourmet, Stafford

Not a festival but a solo appearance at one of our favorite merchants with a devoted clientele.  We usually go home with a case or two of wine ourselves, so you all should do the same.  See this link for an account of last year’s visit.

October 26, 2013 – SoVA Wine Fest on the Lawn at Berry Hill, South Boston

This is the second annual wine fest at Berry Hill, on the lawn below the magnificent Greek Revival mansion now converted into a luxury hotel.  This event features all of the wineries on the Southern Virginia Wine Trail.  It’s the time of year when the air is just turning brisk in that invigorating way that makes you look forward to the warmth and comforts of autumn.

The Boyd Tavern, Boydton, Virginia.

The villages and towns scattered through Southern Virginia are neat little hamlets.  The best are the county seats, because they retain some semblance of vitality because of economic activity by virtue of the presence of the government.  One of many worth seeing is Boydton, the county seat of Mecklenburg County, just 26 miles southeast of Annefield.

The original tavern dates from 1790, and is believed to have been built by Alexander Boyd (1747-1801), though the structure may have been built by the land’s prior owner, Richard Swepson. It is known to have consisted of a small one-story dwelling and tavern. Sometime around 1816, the building was expanded, and by the 1820s, the building had evolved into the then-popular Federal style.  In the mid-nineteenth century (likely before the War Between the States), the owners modernized the tavern and embarked on another expansion in the Italianate style.  These changes are attributed to Jacob W. Holt, the housewright believed responsible for building the house at Annefield.  Both houses bear hallmarks of his style, as does the nearby antebellum Baskerville house, Eureka, an extensively documented Holt-built house.

Eureka, Mecklenburg County, Virginia. Image courtesy of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.

The tavern has been an essential part of the history of the surrounding community, and has been a prominent landmark for over 200 years.  In 1976 the Boyd Tavern was placed on the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places.  Much of the information below was gleaned from the National Register application and the website of the Boyd Family Foundation.

The tavern was sold by the Boyd family in 1824.  A great-granddaughter of Alexander Boyd, Sarah Anderson Boyd (1822-1882), married on 14 February 1839 Hillery M.L. Goode, the man who commissioned Annefield.  It’s possible that this familial connection (with the Boyds residing in Boydton) resulted in Holt obtaining the commission to build Annefield.

Alexander Boyd and the Boyd Tavern.

Alexander Boyd (commonly referred to as “the Elder” to distinguish him from his son of the same name) is known to have immigrated to the Colony of Virginia in 1764.  He married Anne Swepson, the daughter of Richard Swepson, and had eleven children.  Boyd opened a mercantile store from the tavern in 1787, when he was granted a merchant’s license in March of that year.

The land on which the government buildings then existing (the courthouse and the prison) belonged to Richard Swepson, who deeded the land to his son Richard, who in turn conveyed it to his brother-in-law Alexander Boyd, for 1000 pounds in 1794.  This purchase included the 480 acres that held the courthouse and tavern.  That same year Alexander the Elder was appointed Commissioner of the Peace by Governor Henry Lee, then was appointed Commissioner and Justice of the Courts for Mecklenburg County.  Not having time to manage his other businesses, he turned that responsibility over to his sons Richard and Alexander.  Richard was granted a license to keep an ordinary in 1796.

On 11 August 1801, Alexander Boyd the Elder died unexpectedly while presiding in the courthouse, and was buried across the street from the tavern.  His tombstone is quite a memorial:

Sacred
to the memory of
Alexander Boyd
a native of Scotland
who suddenly departed this life
in the Courthouse of this County
while on the seat of justice
in discharge of his duty as a magistrate
August the 11^th 1801
in the 54^th year of his age
’twas on the bench ‘pon a court day

No doubt you’ll read with sorrow
For I was dead before the night
Prepare my friends to follow.
Farewell my children and my wife
Contented may you be
May you obtain eternal life
And safe be lodged with me
God send his soul to rest
They loved him most who knew him best

On the division of his father’s property in 1803, Alexander Boyd, the Younger, received the courthouse tract of 480 acres containing the tavern in which he and his brother Richard continued to operate.  The Boyd family effectively had a monopoly over the town because of his ownership of the courthouse tract.  This did not sit well with the townspeople and especially the county clerk, William Baskerville, who petitioned the General Assembly to establish a town on Boyd’s land.  In 1811 Alexander Boyd deeded the courthouse tract to the county, though he petitioned the legislature complaining of the “wanton confiscation” of his property and the monetary loss he suffered.  He wrote:

As our opponents have not condescended to my mention what particular comforts and convenience they have found it impracticable to obtain at the courthouse, it only remains for your petitioners in this respect to show they might have had and can still have upon as reasonable as any Court House in Virginia a table amply supplied with all the meats raised in this part of the Country and a cellar furnished with the liquors of Europe, Africa, and America, and a tavern of nearly 150 feet in length with fourteen rooms and twelve fire places for their accommodations, with stables as good as any in the state, and your petitioners firmly believe that the most of those who complain of the fare at the Court House find as good there in all respects as they leave at home.

 Boyd also acknowledged that the location was “a place admitted to be convenient and central, where the chief of the public expenses are already incurred and paid for, where the necessary bridges are in use, and where the public occassions are amply provided for as at any Court House in the Commonwealth”   In the petition Boyd offered to divide his property and lay out the town, as suggested by Baskerville two years earlier.

“Boyd Town” was established in 1812, after the General Assembly passed an act making it the county seat.  Fifty acres “lying immediately around the Courthouse”was to be the town site.  Boyd laid out forty acres in lots, which included the streets, and ten acres for himself.

The tavern was acquired and restored by the Boyd Family Foundation in 1976.  The Boyd Tavern is open for tours, Wednesday through Saturday, 9 am to 3 pm, and Sunday, 1 pm to 4 pm.  The tour fee is $5./person.  For more information contact Will Ober at willober@comcast.net or call (434) 738.9800 and leave a message to schedule a tour.  A walking tour of the town is available here.

Click “View Larger Map” below for directions from Annefield.

Meat loaf! Simple, almost pedestrian — diner food. When was the last time you saw it on a restaurant menu? Someone needs to remedy that, so here’s a wonderful recipe adapted from one by the great Ina Garten that appears in her inaugural cookbook, The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook (New York: Clarkson Potter, 1999).

Ms Garten’s recipe calls for ground turkey, but we opted for a mix of ground turkey, ground pork and ground beef for a more complex presentation. Our vegetable was Buttered Kale — also a simple presentation in a French style (inspired by another great chef, Joël Robuchon), simply blanched and served with lots and lots of butter.  Every cook should have in your library The Complete Robuchon (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2009).  Mashed potatoes are the perfect accompaniment, but you’re on your own for a recipe.  Serve with a well chilled dry white wine, like our soon to be released 2012 Annefield Pinot Gris.

Meat Loaf

• 3 cups chopped yellow onions (two onions)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
• 1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce (or Soy sauce)
• 3/4 cup chicken broth
• 1 1/2 teaspoons tomato paste
• 5 pounds ground turkey (or a mix of your choice of ground meats — beef, pork, veal, turkey)
• 1 1/2 cups plain dry breadcrumbs
• 4 large eggs, beaten
• 3/4 cup ketchup

1. Preheat oven to 325° Fahrenheit
2. In a medium sauté pan, on medium-low heat, cook the onions, olive oil, salt, pepper and thyme until the onions are translucent, approximately 15 minutes.
3. Add the Worcestershire sauce (or Soy sauce), chicken broth, and tomato paste; mix well.  Allow to cool to room temperature.
4. Combine the ground meat, bread crumbs, eggs and onion mixture in a large bowl.  Mix well and and shape into a rectangular loaf on an un-greased baking sheet.
5. Spread the ketchup evenly on top.
6. Bake for 1 1/2 hours, until the internal temperature is is 160º Fahrenheit and the meat loaf is cooked through.

Serves 8 to 10.  Serve hot, room temperature, or cold — it’s perfect in a sandwich.

Buttered Kale

Robuchon treats kale the same way as cabbage, which is blanched prior to its final cooking so it is easier to digest.

• 2 pounds kale
• 1 stick well chilled butter, diced
• Pepper

1. Blanch the kale.  In a large sauce pan, bring 1 to 2 quarts water to a boil with 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons salt.  Cut out the fibrous stalks and rinse well under cold water.  Once the water is boiling, add about 6 tablespoons distilled white vinegar.  Plunge the kale into the boiling water and cook for 2 minutes.  Use a slotted spoon to remove the kale to a colander and rinse it under cold running water.  Drain.
2. Bring 1 1/2 quarts water to a boil with 2 teaspoons coarse salt.  When the water is bubbling, add the already blanched kale.  Cook for 15 minutes.  Use a slotted spoon to remove the cabbage to a colander.   Drain well, pressing down on the kale to extract as much water as possible.
3. Put the still-hot kale into a pot over medium heat.  Add the cold, diced butter bit by bit, stirring it in with a wooden spoon.  Add 2 pinches of pepper and crush and stir the kale with a fork.  Taste for salt and pepper, and adjust, if necessary.

Serves 4 as a side dish.

Do Well, Saxe, Virginia. Image Courtesy of Hill Studio, P.C.

Sometimes when you visit these old houses in Southside Virginia you scare up a passel of ghosts.  The long-dead former owners often linger in the shadows.  One such place that lives between two worlds — where a rich and fascinating past mingles with a compelling present — stands on the road midway between the villages of Saxe and Drake’s Branch.  With any luck the passersby can catch a tantalizing glimpse through the trees in winter of an imposing Federal-style house on a one thousand acre plantation called Do-Well.  We had the pleasure of dining there the other night.

The house dates from the early 1800s, probably sometime around 1820.  Some researchers place the date as early as 1810, though a study of the land tax records may reveal the appropriate date, because one can tell when substantial improvements have been made to a property because the assessment changes dramatically from one year to the next.  The house was built for William Morton Watkins (1773-1865), the son of Colonel Joel Watkins (1737-1820).  The National Register application for Henry A. Watkins’ house on a plantation called Woodfork, states that it is unclear whether William had built Do Well or his brother Henry, suggesting they collaborated.

Do Well is of similar design as Woodfork — both are large two and a half story, five-bay brick structures (Do Well has four finished levels), with Flemish bond on the façade and 3 and 4-course American bond on the sides and rear.  It features a Georgian floor plan with identical front and rear porticos (a road side and a river side) and a massive center passage.  The interior and exterior woodwork are similar, featuring Adam-style details and  very fine finishes.  An Historic Architectural Survey of Charlotte County, Virginia completed in 1998 notes that “The Adamesque swags and urns embellishing the mantel at Do Well, built ca. 1821-1822 by William M. Watkins, are the finest example of the Federal style found in Charlotte County.”

Mantel at Do Well. Image Courtesy of Hill Studio, P.C.

Colonel Joel Watkins was born about 1737 in Henrico County, and he died 2 January 1820 in Charlotte County.  According to an early chronicler of the family, Francis N. Watkins (A Catalogue of the Descendants of Thomas Watkins of Chickahominy, VA. Who was the Common Ancestor of Many of the Families of the Name in Prince Edward, Charlotte, and Chesterfield Counties, VA.”  (Written 1852) Prince Edward County, VA.” 1899 Atlas Printing Company, Henderson, SC):

JOEL WATKINS of Woodfork, Charlotte, was the third son of Thomas of Chickahominy, and probably was younger than one or more of his sisters. He removed from Henrico to Charlotte when a young man, at the persuasion of his brother-in-law, Col. William MORTON, herein often mentioned. He married AGNES MORTON, sister of Colonel Morton. His residence was a few miles north of Charlotte C(ourt) H(ouse), at Woodfork. He died about the year—-. Few men appear to have been more beloved than this excellent old man. “I never knew him,” said Mr. Leigh, “and I am very sorry for it, for, according to my information, he was the very best man that ever lived in this world.”

He was remarkable, says another who knew him well, “for plainness, benevolence, and integrity, a pattern of industry, one of the kindest of friends—the friend of the friendless, one who comforted the widow in affliction, the father to the orphan, a friend to the poor, the adviser of youth, without an enemy, and his death mourned by all.” *** “He would court the company of youth.” *** “I have heard him compared to the father of his country.”

Another styled him the “great peacemaker.” There was one virtue for which he and his brother Francis were noted, and which deserves mention, I refer to their purity of character as exhibited by a cordial disgust at hearing vulgar and unchaste conversation. Their kindness and politeness might sometimes prevent apparent rudeness to the retailers of such remarks but they gave no sign of encouragement to the conversation; and Col. Joel Watkins would start off to light his pipe.

Among the papers of the Hon. John RANDOLPH was found a MS written by himself, of which the following is a copy:

“On Sunday, the 2nd day of January, departed this life, at an advanced age, beloved, honored and lamented by all who knew him, Col Joel Watkins, of the county of Charlotte and State of Virginia.

Without shining abilities or the advantages of an education, by plain, straightforward industry, under the guidance of old-fashioned honesty and practical good sense, he accumulated an ample fortune, in which, it is firmly believed, and there was not one dirty shilling.

These fruits of his own labors he distributed with a promptitude and liberality seldom equaled, but never surpassed, in suitable provision to his children at their entrance into life, and on every deserving object of private benevolence or public spirit; reserving to himself the means of a generous but unostentatious hospitality.

Nor was he liberal of his money only. His time, his trouble were never withheld on the bench or in his neighborhood, when they could be usefully employed.

If, as we are assured, that peacemakers are blessed, who shall feel stronger assurance of bliss, than must have smoothed this old man’s passage to an unknown world.”

Joel served in the Revolution as a Lieutenant Colonel in the regiment raised by Colonel Thomas Read in 1781 and witnessed Cornwallis’ surrender at Yorktown with his brother-in-law, William Jameson of Annefield.  Joel married Agnes Morton (1747-1814), the daughter of Joseph Morton and Agnes Woodson.  They produced six children: Mary, Susannah, Hunt, Henry Anderson, William Morton and Jane.  Joel lived in a modest frame dwelling at Woodfork; it was his son Henry that built the large brick house in 1829.

William Morton Watkins of Do Well.

Like his father Joel and brother Henry, William Morton Watkins (1773-1865)  served as a member of the House of Delegates and as trustee of Hampden-Sydney College.   In 1799, William married Elizabeth Woodson Venable, the daughter of Col. Samuel Woodson Venable and Mary Scott Carrington on 6 December 1799.   Mr Watkins studied at Hampden-Sydney College from 1789 to 1791, received his A.B. from Princeton in 1792, and studied law under Judge Creed Taylor of Cumberland County, Virginia.  He represented Charlotte County in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1812-1815, and in 1830 became a trustee of Hampden-Sydney College and served in that capacity for 30 years.

Elizabeth Woodson Venable was born 11 May 1782 in Prince Edward County and died 7 April 1858 in Charlotte County.  She was a great-granddaughter of Colonel Clement Read of Bushy Forest, one of the earliest (and wealthiest) settlers in Charlotte County.  William’s sister, Jane Watkins (1774-1839) married Colonel Clement Carrington, the son of Judge Paul Carrington and Margaret Read of Mulberry Hill; Margaret was Clement Read’s daughter and the sister of Anne Read of Annefield.  Funny how all these lines of descent get all jumbled together and ultimately converge.  We wrote of the life of Paul Carrington in another post, Here Comes the Judge!

William and Elizabeth produced 11 children, one of which was Jane Virginia Watkins (1829-1863), who married Richard Venable Gaines on 27 November 1854.  They had four children.

One of their children, Elizabeth Venable Gaines, was one of the first women in the county to obtain a PhD.  Some of her papers are housed at the Library of Virginia.  She began her education with private tutors, then attended the Richmond Female Seminary.   At age 22, she removed to Frankfort, Kentucky at served as governess for an uncle’s family there, then ran a girls school.  She attended Vassar College, then taught for three years at the State Normal School in Farmville (now Longwood University), before entering the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1892.  After finishing her studies at MIT, Ms Gaines taught at Adelphi College in Brooklyn, New York, where she headed the Biology department for 22 years while simultaneously continuing her own education in the sciences, philosophy and the arts at the University of Chicago, Columbia University and Cornell University.  She returned to Do Well in 1916, and became a leader in historic preservation and the study of local history.

She died 16 April 1942 in Farmville, and is buried in the family cemetery at Do Well, along with her parents and grandparents and several siblings, including her brother Clement Carrington Gaines (1857-1943), an 1875 graduate of Hampden-Sydney College, who was president of Eastman Business College in Poughkeepsie, New York in 1894.

Watkins-Gaines Family Cemetery, Saxe, Virginia.

Jane must have inherited Do Well, for we find mention of it and her husband, Richard Venable Gaines in a scholarly study of his era.  Amy Feely Morsman, in The Big House After Slavery: Virginia Families and their Postbellum Domestic Experiment (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2010) notes that in 1885 , feeling the pain and disappointment of adverse financial affairs and being unable to send his son Dick the $100 he had requested, Richard Gaines wrote that he intended to “settle up” with Dick by conveying to him on his 18th birthday the family property he was always intended to have (Do Well), but found it “deeply painful and humiliating” because he had hoped to give Richard more, but land values were low in Virginia at the time.  Substantial Gaines family correspondence is preserved at the University of Virginia (“Papers, correspondence and records of the Gaines family of “Do Well” [manuscript] 1810-1905“).

Jane Virginia Watkins Gaines died relatively young at age 34.  On 6 July 1866, Richard Venable Gaines married Jane’s sister, Elizabeth Margaret Watkins (1827-1896); they had no children.

Richard fought on the side of the Confederacy during the War Between the States.  He enlisted a Sergeant in Charles Bruce’s Company of Virginia Artillery, and mustered out a 2nd Lieutenant with Capt. Andrew B. Paris’ Staunton Hill Light Artillery.  After the war he returned to farming, and did his part to promote and increase the value of land in Charlotte County; he was the author of a Hand-book of Charlotte County, Virginia : its history, physical characteristics, climatic conditions, social, moral and religious advantages, statistical and other information, with letters from prominent citizens showing its desirability as a home, and the inducements which it offers to the industrious and intelligent farmer and mechanic (1889).

We have not established when the property left the Gaines family, but by the 1950s it was owned by the Stanley Land and Lumber Company, then purchased by the present owner in 1959.  With that, we’ll leave Do Well and its’ ghosts in peace.

Center Passage Detail.

Ah, pruning!  After the restorative rest of winter, its time to get to work.  You would think pruning a grapevine is a simple thing, but like everything else in this business, nothing is ever easy or quick.  It takes a while to get the hang of it, but even when you think you’re doing great, along comes something to burst your bubble.

That something is our vineyard consultant, Paul Mierzejewski.  Paul has been with us since before we acquired the property.  In fact, he came to walk the land the day we did the structural inspection on the shell of a house we’ve restored.  He picked the first vineyard sites and gave his blessing, and the inspector pronounced the building sound, so here we are, seven years later.

We don’t like to begin until after the winter solstice, and better to do it as close to bud break as possible.  With an eye on the natural cycles so important to biodynamic agriculture, François Bouchet, writing in L’Agriculture Bio-Dynamique (1978), explained the timing and importance of pruning this way:

Following the Twelfth Night Feast, traditionally set on January 6th or twelve days after Christmas, softly comes the period of breathing which separates the centripetal phase of autumn and the centrifugal phase of spring.  The days already start to lengthen, while the inversion of the sap flow, or, according to our physiological model, the apnea phase, is also beginning.  It is possible to begin pruning, since risks of eutypoise contamination are on the decrease from now on.  The vine is ready to weep at the slightest warming brought about by a sunny day, thus preventing spores from being moved toward the inside…. From this point forth, we need to start thinking about the harvest.  Sometimes we don’t realize the important role that good quality of pruning plays in a successful crop.  When teams that lack training take up pruning, I start worrying for their harvest.  It’s always the dark spot in large vineyards.

The first few years we took his benevolent counsel and did the best we could.  Then Paul would arrive, not too pleased with what we had done — some canes too short, others too long.  Too many buds here, not enough there. Not tied down right — what were you thinking?  There was no pleasing him, so since then we bring in a crew of professionals and peace is restored in the kingdom once more.