Autumn in Virginia this year is truly turning out to be a vintage fiery show and this provided the perfect setting for a wine tasting with fellow members of the Concordia University Alumni Association - Washington DC chapter. Our small, but boisterous group included familiar friends Chapter President Therese Morin, Zoran Kahric, Dinesh Mehta and his wife Meera, my own beautiful bride Patricia and new Alumni friends including Rikka Batulan, Soufiane Mebtoul and Harry and Joy Reichel. Click here to check out the full photo gallery of the tour.

Dinesh and I were the Alumni recon task force charged with checking out a few vineyards in the Virginia Loudoun countryside. After some thoughtful vetting, we decided to go with Sunset Hills Vineyard. They had just finished refurbishing a barn and offered an extensive tour of the vineyard, their wine-making facility, oak room and a private, sit-down tasting with none other than their wine maker, Nate Walsh. Sunset Hills and Nate did not disappoint.

Nate Walsh had only been at Sunset for less than a year but had consulted with the vineyard prior to his full-time appointment. He certainly looked younger than what you'd expect considering the great knowledge and insight he easily shared about the vineyard and about wine growing and making in general.

Despite the menacing clouds approaching in the near horizon, Nate and our group took a quick stroll through one of the vineyards where he showed us how they care for the grapes, talked about Sunset's pest management techniques and shared information about the optimal growing conditions in Virginia. He added they had already picked about a third of their crop and were due to pick the rest the upcoming week.

The cool viticulture factoid that I did not know prior was the use of the term "brick" to describe the sweetness of a grape. 24 bricks is the sweetness of a soda, which is the normal "brickness" of a grape at harvest.  He mentioned the expected rain shower is capable of dropping one brick of sweetness from the crop.

Our tour continued to the wine making facility where Nate showed us the holding bins and fermentation tanks. At the time, Nate was re-pumping a full tank, basically taking what's at the bottom and pumping it back to the top which allows for good circulation, thus fermentation and ultimately filtration of any particles such as seed and leftover stems.

We then toured their oak or barrel room. Nate shared how they reused the barrels, which determine the oak or tannin taste of wine. So Chardonnay would be stored in new barrels while other varieties would be stored in two to three year old barrels depending on the type of flavor you'd like the wine to have - Nate added how barrels are the key on manipulating flavor since all the process prior are standard.

Finally, Nate poured. Sunset Hills was kind enough to sit our group in their "Chandelier Room," just inside their tank and oak rooms. As the name suggests, it was richly appointed with chandeliers and nicely hued in the Concordia colors of burgundy and gold. To be honest, after the third glass, I no longer could not recall all the specific wines tasted but I'll include the following list - Nate, if you're reading please chime in and feel free to correct the slate.:

2008 Unoaked Chardonnay
Fermented cold in stainless steel, with no malolactic fermentation and just a hint of lees, this wine was created to showcase nothing but the bright fruit flavors of our estate fruit. No winemaking tricks, just a nose full of citrus, apple, and pineapple, a crisp, lively body, and a refreshing finish.

2007 Reserve Chardonnay
A richer and more complexly flavored Chardonnay, layering toasted almond and softened buttery flavors with the tropical flavors of our Chardonnay. Malolactic fermentation softens the acidity, and the 100% French oak barrique aging adds complexity and richness.

2008 Viognier
Two-thousand and eight produced an exotic, multi-dimensional Viognier, with a fascinating juxtaposition between heavy tropical fruit and a lush, spice-filled body. Neutral French oak barrique aging adds complexity and richness.

2008 Benevino Cabernet Franc
The 2008 Benevino Cabernet Franc is the first installment of our Vineyard Select series, which showcases Loudoun County vineyards who are producing unique and individual wines. Grown on limestone soils and at a relatively high altitude, the Benevino vineyard Cabernet Franc is a delicate wine, with bright cherry and spicy fruit mixed with an earthy, slate quality.

2008 Merlot
The 2008 Merlot is medium bodied, and brimming with red berry, plum, and currant. This is a soft wine, and with the addition of our heartier, more tannic Cabernet Sauvignon as a blending piece, this Merlot is long-lasting with a spicy and fruit-filled finish.

2008 'Sunset Red' Cabernet Sauvignon
Our 2008 Sunset Red is a blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, and 10% Malbec. Deep crimson in color, full bodied, lush, and heavy, this is a wine designed with age in mind, and we suspect it will develop in flavors and texture for another 4 years. In honor of our military.

2008 Summer Ice
Our only sweet wine, this Sauvignon Blanc is made from grapes frozen post harvest, allowing for the development of highly aromatic, lush, concentrated flavors. With a nose full of peach, apricot, papaya, and honey, this wine shows a well-balanced acidity and an elegant finish.

Thanks again to Sunset Hills Vineyard and especially to our most excellent tour guide and wine-maker extraordinaire, Nate Walsh. Sunset Hills Vineyard will certainly be on my must visit list for future Virginia Autumn outings.

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SAF's slow, but sure propagation into the realm of social media continues as we've added a YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/SAFVision to our growing number of outposts. Our first official attempt at capturing video was at the recent SAF 125^th Annual Convention at the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass in Chandler, AZ. And I would say the results are great.

I first started to explore starting a YouTube channel earlier this summer after SAF's Technology Committee suggested at the Spring Meeting we try to capture video vignettes at all futures events. So my first action was to canvass the gadgetland for light, cheap video handhelds. You can check out my exploration here. We eventually decided on the Flip, mostly for its reputed video quality and it did not disappoint. I then checked out how to get the association on YouTube and documented the process in this Floral Management Plugged In column.

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